Lack of fireworks factories creating dangerous concentration of explosives

Enthusiasts believe the shortage of fireworks factories in Malta is creating a situation where large quantities of fireworks and explosive materials are being concentrated at a limited number of facilities.

The concerns about safety were raised following the massive explosion at the Salini fireworks factory last Monday. The explosion which shook Malta hit international headlines and registered 1.9 on the Richter Scale.

The subsequent explosions which were spaced apart allowed for people to film the incident from a number of locations.

While the country has more than 100 fireworks groups spread across the islands, there are only around 35 licensed fireworks factories. The imbalance means that a single factory often caters for multiple village feasts, resulting in substantial quantities of fireworks and explosive compounds being stored and processed in the same location.

Sources familiar with the industry told MaltaToday the Salini factory was storing fireworks destined for around five separate feasts, including two in Gozo, at the time of the explosion. Industry enthusiasts who spoke on condition of anonymity said the problem is not necessarily the storage of completed fireworks, but the accumulation of materials and fireworks at various stages of production.

“The ratio of fireworks committees to fireworks factories is heavily skewed,” one enthusiast said. “As a result, factories are having to produce and store fireworks for several festas simultaneously.”

The issue is compounded by planning challenges which have limited the development of new facilities. Only one completely new fireworks factory has been approved in the past five years.

Enthusiasts said another issue facing the sector is the lack of factories in Gozo, with a number of Gozitan committees having to outsource production to Maltese factories. This, enthusiasts said, creates another risk, with the fireworks having to be transported through the Mġarr port each time.

Storage limits

Current regulations limit the amount of certain oxidising agents that factories can purchase annually. Each factory is allowed a yearly quota of no more than 1,000kg of potassium chlorate and 3,200kg of potassium nitrate.

However, there is currently no legal limit on the amount of potassium perchlorate a fireworks factory can purchase.

Potassium perchlorate is an oxidising agent used to provide the oxygen required for fireworks compositions to burn. It has become increasingly popular in recent years because it is considered significantly safer than potassium chlorate, a less stable substance linked to several fatal accidents in Malta’s fireworks industry.

According to industry sources, a single week’s feast celebrations can require between 350kg and 1,250kg of potassium perchlorate. Potassium nitrate, which is stored by the Armed Forces of Malta, is primarily used to produce black powder, while perchlorate is now widely used in sound-producing fireworks due to its greater stability during combustion and storage. Such fireworks are normally heard during mornings and early evenings.

This means storage of fireworks is regulated by the quota of explosives allowed for every factory, rather than the number of fireworks themselves.

Limited number of fireworks factories 

The concentration of fireworks production at a limited number of sites has long been a concern for industry stakeholders, who question whether existing policies are restricting the creation of additional factories.

In May, the Court of Appeal dismissed an appeal filed by the Għaxaq Local Council against the development permit for a new fireworks factory on the rural outskirts of the locality.

The permit, originally issued in 2023 to the Għaqda tan-Nar San Gabriel of Tarxien, was challenged by the council and supported by local band clubs, which argued that the factory would pose a risk to feast activities conducted nearby.

A central issue in the case concerned the 183m safety distance required under the Explosives Ordinance. However, both the Environment and Planning Review Tribunal and the Court of Appeal concluded that nearby structures did not qualify as an inhabited place under the law, allowing the permit to stand. Other projects have faced significant obstacles.

In January 2025, the Planning Authority refused an application to reconstruct the fireworks factory in Għarb that exploded in 2010, killing six people.

The application exposed broader tensions created by a 2015 fireworks factory policy that introduced stricter safety requirements. While intended to improve safety, the policy also increased the amount of land required for new or reconstructed factories.

Although the proposed Għarb facility had received clearance from the technical committee responsible for safety matters, planning officials recommended refusal because compliance with modern safety standards required a larger footprint, resulting in the take-up of protected rural land. Għarb mayor David Apap had also objected to the application, arguing that the village already hosts two fireworks factories.

The Planning Authority ultimately rejected the application by nine votes to three.

The contrasting outcomes of the Għaxaq and Għarb cases highlight the dilemma facing the fireworks sector. While safety concerns demand stringent regulation, restrictions on new facilities may be contributing to the concentration of fireworks production and storage at a small number of existing factories.

MaltaToday reached out to the Malta Pyrotechnics Association (MPA) for comment, but a spokesperson declined, adding the organisation was helping out in an ongoing magisterial inquiry on the Salini case.