Overview
- Swiss investigators identify bottle-attached sparklers as the leading hypothesis in the Crans‑Montana Le Constellation blaze, which killed at least 40 people and injured 119 on New Year’s Eve.
- Spain Nightlife condemns the tragedy and criticizes the dispersion and ambiguity of Spain’s fire-prevention rules, urging harmonized and enforceable standards.
- Catalonia effectively bans indoor sources of ignition in clubs, while Spain’s national RD 989/2015 regulates pyrotechnics broadly without interior-specific rules.
- Many venues have replaced real sparklers with LED alternatives and seek international safety certifications, though social media and eyewitness accounts show some clubs still using live-fire effects.
- Industry and technical groups are drafting an international fire-prevention guide for nightlife venues, and Spain Nightlife says it will act as a popular accuser in the 2023 Murcia nightclub case.