The mayor of Tomelloso, Javier Navarro, suffered a significant loss of hearing in his right ear after the opening ceremony of the Feria y Fiestas on Monday, 24 August 2026. According to his own account, the firework launched for the traditional Chupinazo exploded less than a metre away. Navarro said on social media that he had lost his hearing in his right ear “to a considerable extent”.
On Tuesday, the mayor went to the emergency department of the Tomelloso Hospital and was subsequently transferred to Hospital Mancha Centro in Alcázar de San Juan There, the doctors on duty diagnosed acoustic trauma affecting the inner ear. A final assessment of the prospects for recovery is still pending. Navarro stressed that it was “too early” to assess how things would develop, but said he was confident he would make a full recovery.
The incident took place at the start of the Feria y Fiestas, when the traditional firing of a Chupinazo marks the beginning of the celebrations. According to local media, the mayor initially thought the impairment was temporary and went ahead with his scheduled engagements. It was only the following day, when the symptoms persisted, that he sought medical help. No official information has so far been released about a police investigation or changes to safety requirements.
The town of Tomelloso, which is in the province of Ciudad Real hosts the ceremony each year, attended by many visitors. Pyrotechnic opening events are rooted in many municipalities across the region. However, they pose risks to spectators and participants if safety distances and protective rules are not consistently observed. The issue is regularly addressed in municipal safety plans; no specific short-term changes in response to the latest incident have been announced so far.
The information available so far is based on public statements by the mayor and consistent reports in local media dated 26 August 2026. According to these, he has a medically confirmed hearing impairment caused by acoustic trauma in his right ear. Further audiological checks are expected to clarify how his hearing develops over the coming days. Navarro publicly thanked people in Tomelloso and the surrounding area for their many get-well wishes.
Editor: Mira Cadena (Article created with AI assistance).