FIREWORK FURY: Locals rage at ‘inappropriate’ display on the Costa del Sol

LOCALS in Malaga took to social media last Sunday evening to complain of insensitivity after a cruise ship was spotted letting off fireworks after a day of heavy flooding.

The Marella Spirit’s fireworks display began at around 11pm. Residents reported hearing loud bangs which some thought were the start of a thunder storm before seeing fireworks explode in the skies off the coast of the city.

Some locals commenting on social media said the letting off of fireworks was inappropriate after floods ripped through the province and claimed the life of a firefighter.

Twitter user Pipe Alonso said: “One more example that in Malaga anything goes. It is not the day or the time.”

“It is not the day, or the hour after floods and a firefighter passing away,” said Andaluztv.

Inmaculada Martinez said: “With such a storm we heard noises and half the neighbourhood went onto its balconies.”

Malaga City’s Port Authority confirmed they had given permission to the ship to stage the display.

The Authority said in a statement it wanted to express its solidarity with people who had been affected by the floods.

It also offered its condolences to the family of Jose Gil, the firefighter who died while working to tackle the floods.

Malaga City Council said on Twitter the ship had let off the firefighters before its scheduled departure from the port.

The local authority said it was not notified that the display would go ahead and that such matters fell under the remit of the government’s sub-delegation in Malaga Province.