City relaxes New Year’s Eve rules: Drink responsibly and don’t burn dummies on the train tracks

Mayor Marcelo Cabrera announced Thursday that bars in Cuenca will be allowed to remain open until 4 a.m. on New Year’s Day and until 3 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday.

Dummies go up in flames on a Cuenca street during last year’s New Year’s Eve celebration.

“We want people to have a good time over the holidays but we remind them that they should act responsibly,” the mayor said. “There will be additional law enforcement personnel on city streets over the weekend to ensure public safety,” he added.

Although it’s not official policy, police typically do not enforce the city ordinance against public drinking on New Year’s except in what they call “out of control situations.”

Jumping over burning dummies can be hazardous to your health.

The mayor’s office also issued its annual caution to citizens to observe safe practices for the handling of fireworks and burning New Year’s monigotes, or dummies. “Every New Year’s, the city’s hospital emergency rooms are crowded with citizens who fail to use common sense around fire and fireworks. We urge everyone who participates in the festivals to have fun but to be careful,” the message read, adding, “We specifically ask that citizens refrain from the tradition of jumping over burning dummies.”

The city transportation office asks that dummies not be burned on asphalt roadways, warning that intense heat can damage the surface.

Citizens are also asked not to light fires on the tram tracks. “Although fires will not damage the tracks directly, they will require extra hours for work crews during clean-up,” the office says.