Tax officers make surprise swoop on Fallas associations
Valencia mayor says timing insensitive in middle of fiery annual celebrations
Tax inspectors made surprise visits on Thursday to the Valencia associations in charge of the Fallas, the popular yearly fiesta in which large papier-mâché figures are burnt down.
Several associations on Thursday reported surprise visits by the taxmen, who requested invoices for the 2012-2013 expenses for lighting, flowers, cranes and pyrotechnics.
Sources at the Spanish tax agency said that the associations are not being investigated, but that inspectors want to know whether some ancillary services are going undeclared.
The mayor of Valencia, Rita Barberá, said the tax agency was being "insensitive" for making such a move in the middle of the fiestas.