Illegal bonfires and huge jams at the beaches for San Juan

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Illegal bonfires and huge jams at the beaches for San Juan.

Neither the police nor the possible penalties of up to 6,000 euros were able to prevent hundreds of Valencians lighting their traditional bonfires last night for the festival of San Juan.

The City had announced in advance that they would pay special attention to prevent a fire in any protected areas and that there would be fines for those ignoring the warnings.  However, it seemed that few knew of the warnings.

Despite everything, according to eyewitnesses, in the area as Perellonet de Pinedo they had their campfires, in most cases out of ignorance of the law: "Every year I come with friends to Perellonet and make a small bonfire and never has been no problem. I had no idea it was prohibited, "explained a young valenciano.

However, most went to the beaches at Malvarrosa & Cabanyal where the City Council distributed 34 tons of firewood from 7 p.m. Many of the attendees saw this and helped themselves, since most of them came in the afternoon.

Many users of the trams of the Generalitat Valenciana (FGV) had trouble getting on them on the tram lines 4, 5 and 6 as they were all full, especially after the stop at Benimaclet at around 19.30. EMT buses were full between 21 and 23 hours.

83.4% consumed alcohol

A total of 61 Red Cross volunteers and 300 local police officers took part in last night at the special of the night of San Juan in Valencia. Its main mission was to prevent any incidents arising from the manipulation of fire and especially the consumption of alcohol. In this sense, according to the Foundation for the Study, Prevention and Assistance to Drug Addiction (Fepade) 83.4% of young people consumed alcohol last year during the night of San Juan. In addition, 7.4% said that they had used cannabis, whilst 2.8% said they consumed crystal and 2% cocaine.

From 7 p.m. the local police began to cut off various routes in Valencia to avoid jamming up the roads any more than they already were, as traffic jams were significant.

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