The president of the Portuguese Firefighters League, António Nunes, reacted on Sunday night on TVI/CNN to the controversial fireworks display during the Marinhais festival in Santarém district over the weekend.
“There are not many comments to make,” lamented the official, noting that “in August, it is natural to have a series of festivals because it’s a time when emigrants like to visit their hometowns.”
The festival organizing committee of this village, located in the Salvaterra de Magos municipality, decided to move up the fireworks from their local festival to 11:30 PM on Saturday, avoiding the prohibitions of the state of alert, which began at midnight, after the government declared an upcoming alert status.
“We have a weak culture of safety as citizens,” António Nunes remarked, stating that the situation in Marinhais reflects “how we handle safety, and it’s not just in the summer.”
Nonetheless, the president of the Portuguese Firefighters League noted that “such local actions are understandable because often these festive events involve large sums from festival committees.”
“Safety doesn’t win votes”
The solution, he suggested, lies in investing more in educating people about these extreme phenomena during the summer.
“Portugal doesn’t have a safety culture, and that’s one of the competencies civil protection should exercise more accurately because when we do, we achieve good results. We are not proactive but also aren’t challenged to be,” he emphasized, referencing that initiatives like “the ‘Safe Villages, Safe People’ program” encouraged “a large number of people to join these projects.”
Recalling that “the world is not the same as a few years ago and there are climate changes,” António Nunes explained why fire safety lacks significant investment.
“Safety doesn’t win votes. During this time, there are always politicians saying that more investment is needed in prevention and combat. But after the distressful days, we turn to other daily matters – housing, wages, cost of living – and forget about safety until another accident occurs,” he contended.
Marinhais advances fireworks to evade prohibitions
Minister of Internal Administration Maria Lúcia Amaral declared on Saturday, in a conference from Palácio de São Bento, a “state of alert across the entire mainland” – effective from midnight and lasting until 11:59 PM on Thursday, August 7.
“This decision arises due to the persistence of very high temperatures, low humidity levels, and the need to adopt preventive and special measures in response to the risk of wildfire in much of the mainland,” the minister stated.
The festival organization in Santarém district pushed forward the launch of fireworks by an hour to 11:30 PM to avoid the alert situation enforced by the government starting at midnight.
Carolina Pereira Soares | 10:15 – 03/08/2025
Just hours after this announcement, the Marinhais festival organization advanced the fireworks display by an hour, initially scheduled for that day.
A Facebook post the previous day indicated that the fireworks would be launched at 12:30 AM on Sunday—half an hour after the alert came into effect. Following the government’s alert, the event was moved up by an hour to begin at 11:30 PM, thus not violating the government’s declaration.
The decision sparked reactions, with many accusing this local authority of “lack of judgment.”
