Start of summer San Juan celebration put back to Boxing Day on Spain’s Costa Almeria

ALMERIA’S June San Juan celebrations have been put back to winter.
City Mayor Ramón Fernandez-Pacheco announced on Monday night that the council had taken the “responsible decision” and cancelled the traditional bonfires on the night of June 23 as a preventative measure to stop the spread of coronavirus.
“It is best for everyone,” the mayor commented, even though San Juan is not for another two and half months.
The bonfires up and down the city’s beaches usually attract thousands of locals, the council pointed out, hence given the current uncertainty over when lockdown confinement measures will be lifted and that all measures have to be adopted from a position of responsibility, suspending San Juan was necessary.
Fernandez-Pacheco said his administration would be putting in a request to the Junta de Andalucia to stage the local June 24 fiesta on December 26 instead.
“The festival days are always an economic attraction for the hospitality sector, and therefore we believe it is a positive to transfer it to a date when we can all enjoy it safely,” the mayor commented.
He also revealed that the decision had been influenced by the ASEMAL Almeria business confederation’s suggestion to revise the calendar of fiestas to give a bit of boost to consumption.
Fernandez-Pacheco called for residents’ “understanding” that this was a decision which could help to saves lives.