· During this period, 180 arrests have been made and 270 records have been issued for possession and/or use of drugs
· The Government delegate highlights “the normality of the holidays, guaranteed by the coordination and effectiveness of the security forces and bodies”
· Barnabas has reported the arrest of 12 people linked to pyrotechnic tourism for which there is “zero tolerance” and on which “the full weight of the law will rest”
The delegate of the Government in the Valencian Community, Pilar Bernabé, has informed together with the provincial commissioner, Vicente Martínez, that the device deployed by the National Police in the Fallas 2025, “has guaranteed a safe festival in which the infractions in relation to 2023 have been reduced by an average of 37.78% during the 14th to 19th of March”. In the same period, 180 arrests have been made and 270 acts have been carried out for possession or consumption of narcotic substances
The balance has been “positive” with “a notable decrease in the entire criminal typology”. In this regard, he has indicated that “just like last year, the most serious crimes such as robberies with violence have fallen again. Theft and in-vehicle subtractions have also dropped.” The delegate added that “the intensification of the activity of the National Police during this period has allowed to increase police effectiveness by more than 7%.”
From March 1 to 19, compared to 2023, the number of infringements decreased by 29.65%. During this period, 593 arrests were made for criminal offences and 786 acts were carried out for possession or use of drugs. In this case too, all crimes decreased, while police effectiveness increased by more than 10%.
Zero tolerance against pyrotechnic tourism
The delegate has also confirmed the detention of 12 people of German and Dutch nationality linked, according to the investigations, to the so-called pyrotechnic tourism. These arrests, Barnabas said, are allowing “to continue in the investigation of how these calls are taking place and to determine the organization of travel with pyrotechnic material.” The Police Information Brigade “is now looking for the connections they can have here to supply some of the pyrotechnic material, although it is not ruled out that it can come by parcel or courier from other parts.” However, the delegate assured “these 12 arrests, with the criminal consequences that they entail, are going to continue and will exist and there is already zero tolerance in this regard”. “To make it very clear to them, from any group of social networks that is organized in this sense: that they know that the full weight of the law will fall on them,” he concluded.
The FCSE operation has consisted of about 3000 National Police officers and 600 Civil Guard officers. In the case of the National Police, to the agents who usually carry out their work in the capital of the Turia, Police Intervention Units (UIPs) have been added from other provinces. As explained by Bernabé, the National Police has carried out specific services coinciding with the main events of the festivities. In the case of the Civil Guard, in addition to intensifying the control of pyrotechnic products, the surveillance of the districts surrounding València and the traffic of the accesses to the city has been increased. In addition, the agents of the Civil Guard have carried out alcohol and drug consumption controls and surveillance of critical infrastructures in their area of competence.
Bernabé highlighted “the work of the FCSE in preventing illegal pyrotechnics with a significant number of troops distributed along the old riverbed to prevent acts of vandalism.” In short, the delegate has highlighted “the normality of the holidays, guaranteed by the coordination and effectiveness of the security forces and bodies”. In addition, he thanked “the work and professionalism” of the National Police and Civil Guard troops who have worked during these days in the city of València.