Overview
- Tuesday night, thousands of people gathered on Galician beaches, ports and plazas to light hundreds of bonfires and take part in traditional San Xoán rituals such as sardine grills and jumping the flames.
- A Coruña authorities reported 174 medical attendances from the event, including 56 burn treatments and 28 patients taken to hospital, with most incidents concentrated between 1 a.m. and 3 a.m.
- Parts of inland Ourense reached level 5 on the regional fire-risk index, leading several municipalities to revoke bonfire permits and cancel programmed festivities to reduce wildfire danger.
- Coastal towns balanced tradition and safety by banning fires in sensitive areas while authorizing supervised large bonfires and pre-staging resources, for example Vigo’s 21 permitted neighborhood pyres and emergency water tankers plus Nigrán’s roughly 200-person security deployment with Guardia Civil drones.
- Organizers and emergency services said the festival went ahead in many places under tighter controls and warned that the ongoing heat and drought will keep authorities vigilant and could shape stricter rules for future celebrations.