The Covid-19 pandemic extinguishes the fires of Sant'Antonio Abate that animate the squares of the towns of central Sardinia, when around the bonfires, on 16 and 17 January, the barbarian masks make their first appearance, thus opening the Carnival celebrations.

The ban comes from the government decree which, with the spread of the Omicron variant, has imposed a squeeze on events deemed to be at risk, decreeing the stop even for street parties until January 31st.

The mayors of Nuorese will enforce the ban, but reluctantly: "Health measures are necessary but the stop at the Carnival is a blow to the local economy".

Luciano Barone, mayor of Mamoiada, the town of the Mamuthones, has already canceled the demonstrations. "The fires and the masks are a very strong attraction for the country, but unfortunately we have to enforce the law", he explains. “There will not be any kind of celebration with us, also due to the difficult condition on the contagion front in the country and I doubt that the situation can be recovered in February. For our economy, which thrives on cultural tourism, it is a great damage also because the refreshments, provided for seaside tourism and for the mountains, are not available for these operators. We have 38 wine cellars, several museums, bars, restaurants, B & Bs, artisans, who will not work. This is why I am urging the Region to find refreshments for these workers as well ".

Marco Ziranu, the first citizen of Orani, the town of the Su Bundu mask, is of the same opinion: "I will not make an order to cancel the celebrations of Sant 'Antonio because the government decree that prohibits the parties in the square already exists - he clarifies - In this type of events where there are gatherings there is a huge health risk and tracing is impossible. In the village after the holidays the infections exploded and with the celebrations of St. Anthony the virus would spread. It is certain that this new stop penalizes our economic activities that need to be compensated ".

The Boes and Merdules of Ottana, on the other hand, could go out without creating gatherings: "We will not hold any official demonstrations but this will not be able to block the spontaneous release of the individual masks - says the mayor of the country Franco Saba - There are many entrepreneurs and artisans tired of making the hunger, we are talking about events that are the strong point of our poor economy and that in pre-covid times for the carnival gathered from 10 to 15 thousand people ". "We mayors, beyond reiterating the bans, cannot do much - concludes Saba - just as we cannot plug the holes in the Region and the Government that do not provide refreshments for these categories of workers".