In short: Fireworks in Guatemala are legal to make, move and sell under licence, and the licensing law is Decreto Ley 123-85, the Ley de Especies Estancadas — not the arms law. Decreto 15-2009 (Ley de Armas y Municiones, DIGECAM) never uses the words pirotecnia, fuegos artificiales or cohete. Exactly two products are banned by name — silbadores and canchinflines. What is not published is as important: no national instrument found sets an hour after which fireworks must stop, or a minimum age to buy them. And you may not fly home with any of it. This is general information, not legal advice.
If you have spent a December in Guatemala, or a patron-saint feria, or been woken at 4 a.m. by cohetes for somebody’s birthday, the honest question is not “are fireworks legal” but “legal under which rulebook, run by whom, and does any of it apply to me.” The answer involves seven state bodies, and the single most common mistake in English-language write-ups is attaching fireworks to the arms law.
The instrument question: it is not the arms law
| Instrument | Body | Date | Does it govern fireworks? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Decreto Ley 123-85 — Ley de Especies Estancadas | Emitted by the Jefe de Estado; administered by the Ministerio de la Defensa Nacional | 29 November 1985; in force 8 days after publication (Art. 36) | Yes — this is the parent law. Art. 1 makes chlorates, nitrates, explosives, cartridges, detonators, ammunition and pólvora especies estancadas |
| Acuerdo Gubernativo 28-2004 — Reglamento de la Actividad Pirotécnica | Presidency, countersigned by the Ministro de Trabajo | 12 January 2004; in force 8 days after publication (Art. 59) | Yes — the sector regulation. Issued expressly under Art. 29 of Decreto Ley 123-85 |
| Decreto 15-2009 — Ley de Armas y Municiones (DIGECAM) | Congreso de la República | 31 March 2009 | No. Zero occurrences of pirotecnia, fuegos artificiales or cohete in the full text. Its only powder is ammunition propellant (Art. 40) and explosives as a class (Art. 14). Art. 150 does not name Decreto Ley 123-85 among the instruments it repeals |
| RAC 101 — Regulación sobre aeronaves no tripuladas, aeronaves de modelismo y fuegos artificiales | DGAC | 22 July 2013 | Partly — Subpart “C” regulates displays only to the extent they affect air navigation (§101.79) |
So the acronym to remember is not DIGECAM. The Ministry of Defence unit that actually handles this is the Dirección General de Especies Estancadas y Explosivos Industriales, created by Acuerdo Gubernativo 130-2016 and citing Acuerdo Gubernativo 192-2023, the Reglamento de la Ley de Especies Estancadas, among its instruments (MINDEF, retrieved 2026-08-11). One open edge, stated plainly: that same MINDEF page dates Acuerdo Gubernativo 192-2023 to 18 August 2023 and says it repealed Acuerdo Gubernativo 14-74, the old explosives regulation. The copy of 192-2023 we obtained is a scanned image with no text layer, so we could not read what it does — if anything — to the pyrotechnics chain described below, and no claim on this page is drawn from it.
Seven bodies, one firecracker
Acuerdo Gubernativo 28-2004 splits the chain deliberately. This is the table nobody publishes:
| Step in the chain | Who authorises it | Instrument |
|---|---|---|
| Authorising a factory | Ministerio de Economía | AG 28-2004, Art. 3 |
| Certifying the factory technician’s competence | Ministerio de Trabajo y Previsión Social, with a health certificate from MSPAS | AG 28-2004, Art. 4 |
| Licencia de funcionalidad (hygiene and safety of the premises) and the technician’s competence licence | Instituto Guatemalteco de Seguridad Social (IGSS) | AG 28-2004, Arts. 3(d)(e) and 8; Decreto Ley 123-85, Art. 14 |
| Environmental impact study | Ministerio de Ambiente y Recursos Naturales | AG 28-2004, Art. 3(f) |
| Authorising and supervising warehouses for finished product | Ministerio de Gobernación, on a favourable IGSS opinion | AG 28-2004, Art. 26 |
| Authorising transport; vehicle inspected by the Cuerpo de Ingenieros del Ejército | Ministerio de la Defensa Nacional | AG 28-2004, Arts. 28–29 |
| Checking transport on the road | Ministerio de Gobernación via the PNC | AG 28-2004, Art. 30 |
| Import licence | Ministerio de Economía, on a favourable MINDEF opinion | AG 28-2004, Art. 32 |
| Sanctioning the gravest offences | Ministerio de Economía | AG 28-2004, Art. 46 |
Two details from that regulation are worth carrying in your head. Warehouses may not sit closer than 200 metres from the factory itself or from centres of social gathering and housing (Art. 27), and a licensed factory must be outside the urban zone, at least 50 metres from any dwelling or collective-use installation, may not be used as a dwelling, and may not have electrical installations or artificial lighting except in an administrative office kept at least 25 metres from the production area (Art. 9).
What is banned by name — and what is not
Decreto Ley 123-85 Art. 15, as reformed by Art. 1 of Decreto del Congreso 73-2007 on 22 December 2007, prohibits:
- a) importing cohetillos, and selling foreign-made ones in the country;
- b) importing other pyrotechnic artifices of the same class or variety as those produced by the national industry;
- c) importing, producing, manufacturing, storing, depositing, distributing and commercialising silbadores and canchinflines.
Sanctions sit in Art. 27, also reformed in 2007: cancellation of the licence, seizure of the goods, and a fine of Q10,000 to Q50,000 — rising to a flat Q50,000 for a breach of Art. 15(c), without prejudice to criminal and civil liability before the ordinary courts.
That is the whole published list of products banned by name at national level. Longer lists circulate in Guatemalan media each December — Prensa Libre’s 19 November 2023 explainer names chiltepitos, mariposas, morteros, cañitas and others alongside canchinflines — but those additional product names do not appear in the text of Decreto Ley 123-85 or of Acuerdo Gubernativo 28-2004. The same article, describing the widely-reported ban on fireworks packaged to imitate sweets, sodas or instant soups, attributes it to “las autoridades” and cites no decreto number; we did not locate an instrument that establishes it. One caveat cuts the other way: Art. 1 of Decreto Ley 123-85 lets the Ministry of Defence classify further materials as especies estancadas by Acuerdo, and we did not enumerate those Acuerdos.
Manufacture of pólvora is, on its face, “absolutely prohibited” by Art. 13 — with the exception that people habitually in the pyrotechnic industry may make the black powder they need with prior MINDEF authorisation, using only a mixture of saltpetre, charcoal and sulphur, colouring agents permitted, pyroxylin-based powders absolutely excluded.
How to tell a legal product from an illegal one
Art. 23 of Acuerdo Gubernativo 28-2004 makes the label carry the proof. A legally manufactured product must show the maker’s razón social and registered trademark, the words “Peligro fuego pirotécnico”, net and gross weight, components, place and date of manufacture, instructions for correct use, and the resolution number of the Ministerio de Economía authorisation. That last item is the checkable one, and it is the reason a market stall product with no maker’s name on it is not simply “cheaper”.
The silences — and they are the answer
Several of the questions travellers actually ask have no published answer, and saying so is more useful than a plausible guess.
| Question | What the instruments say |
|---|---|
| What time must fireworks stop at night? | Not published. Decreto Ley 123-85, AG 28-2004 and RAC 101 contain no curfew, quiet-hours window or decibel limit for discharge. The only clock in AG 28-2004 is Art. 39(d), banning factory work between 18:00 and 06:00 |
| Minimum age to buy fireworks? | Not published. AG 28-2004 Art. 34 bans employing under-18s in pyrotechnic activity; the regulation has no retail-sale article — venta, vender and consumidor do not appear in its text |
| May a private person set them off in their own yard? | No instrument found either authorising or prohibiting it at national level. The closest published recognition is RAC 101 §101.85(2), which exempts fireworks “used at domestic premises by or for someone who lives there” from the DGAC notice duty — an exemption from notice, not a grant of permission |
| Is there a national noise law that covers cohetes? | None found. Noise ordinances in Guatemala are municipal. We could not retrieve the Municipalidad de Guatemala’s published reglamento index on 2026-08-11 (HTTP 403 / bot-verification page, bare request and text-proxy both blocked) — that is a source-access failure, not evidence that no municipal rule exists |
| Does DIACO regulate fireworks? | AG 28-2004 does not name DIACO anywhere. The bodies named in the regulation are MINECO, MINTRAB, IGSS, MARN, MSPAS, MINGOB/PNC and MINDEF |
The airspace layer almost nobody knows about
Guatemala’s civil aviation authority regulates fireworks directly, in the same regulation that governs drones — the full title of RAC 101 is “Regulación sobre aeronaves no tripuladas, aeronaves de modelismo y fuegos artificiales”. Subpart “C” states that it does not affect or contradict any other Guatemalan law on the use and handling of fireworks; it exists only to protect safe aircraft operation (§101.79).
| RAC 101 section | Rule |
|---|---|
| §101.81 | Without DGAC approval, no person may use, in a castillo de fuegos artificiales, a projectile capable of exceeding the section’s stated ceiling |
| §101.83 | No castillo in or over an aerodrome movement area or runway, or in a runway approach or departure path, without written DGAC approval |
| §101.85(1) | No castillo within 3 nautical miles of an aerodrome unless the DGAC was notified in writing at least 48 hours beforehand |
| §101.85(2) | Exemption: fireworks used at domestic premises by or for a resident, not exceeding 400 feet |
| §101.87 | The notice must give the responsible person’s name, address and phone; the date, start time and duration; how many projectiles exceeding the height threshold will be launched; a general description of each projectile’s pyrotechnic characteristics; and the maximum estimated height. Non-compliance is an offence under Art. 119 of the Ley de Aviación Civil |
One flag on that instrument: §101.81 expresses its ceiling as “más de 400 metros sobre el nivel del suelo” while §101.85(2) and §101.87(1)(c) use 400 feet. Those are not the same number, and the discrepancy is in DGAC’s own published text of 22 July 2013 — we report it rather than pick one. The drone half of the same regulation is covered in our Guatemala drone rules guide.
Moving them, buying them, flying with them
On a bus: no. Decreto Ley 123-85 Art. 22 prohibits transporting especies estancadas and pyrotechnic products in passenger or mixed vehicles. Acuerdo Gubernativo 28-2004 Art. 31(i) reinforces it from the other side: an authorised pyrotechnics vehicle may not carry passengers other than the driver and helper. A licensed transport vehicle must display “PELIGRO PRODUCTO INFLAMABLE” front, back and both sides, legible at 25 metres, plus a red flag at the rear, and carry a filled 2.5-pound extinguisher (Art. 31).
The transport licence itself is free. Guatemala’s official trámite catalogue lists Licencia (Transporte y Traslado de Artificios Pirotécnicos), responsible institution MINDEF, cost Q0, processing time 22 días hábiles, filed at the Dirección General de Especies Estancadas y Explosivos Industriales, with 13 documentary requirements including criminal and police record certificates, the vehicle’s circulation card and photographs of the vehicle showing its hazard signage (tramites.gob.gt, retrieved 2026-08-11).
Bringing them in or taking them out: no. Import of pyrotechnic products requires a Ministerio de Economía licence on a favourable MINDEF opinion (AG 28-2004, Art. 32), on top of the Art. 15 import bans — this is a commercial licence, not a traveller’s baggage procedure. Our Guatemala customs guide lists fireworks and pyrotechnics among the items prohibited outright in arriving traveller baggage; the wider import-control picture sits in prohibited and restricted imports. Going home, the TSA lists fireworks as “Carry On Bags: No / Checked Bags: No”, and IATA’s Table 2.3.A permits no fireworks entry at all.
If you want to understand why any of this matters in December, the 7 December bonfire tradition is covered separately in our Quema del Diablo guide.
Sources
- Decreto Ley 123-85, “Ley de Especies Estancadas”, 29 November 1985 (Jefe de Estado; administered by the Ministerio de la Defensa Nacional), including the reforms introduced by Decreto del Congreso 73-2007 of 22 December 2007 to Arts. 15 and 27. Articles consulted: 1, 2, 4, 5, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 22, 23, 27, 28, 29, 36. Full text retrieved 2026-08-11 from
https://cretec.org.gt/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/decretodelcongreso1238543.pdf. Guatemala’s trámite catalogue additionally names Decreto 82-2005 as a reform to Decreto Ley 123-85; we did not locate and read its text, so nothing on this page rests on it. - Acuerdo Gubernativo 28-2004, “Reglamento de la Actividad Pirotécnica”, 12 January 2004 (Presidencia de la República, countersigned by the Ministro de Trabajo y Previsión Social). Articles consulted: 1, 2, 3, 4, 8, 9, 23, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 34, 36, 39, 44, 46, 51, 59. Retrieved 2026-08-11 from the WTO import-licensing repository copy,
https://www.importlicensing.wto.org/sites/default/files/members/59/Acuerdo%20Gubernativo%20No.28-2004%20-%20Actividad%20pirot%C3%A9cnica_12.01.2004.pdf. - Decreto 15-2009, “Ley de Armas y Municiones”, Congreso de la República, 31 March 2009. Full published text retrieved 2026-08-11 from
https://portal.pnc.edu.gt/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/LEY-DE-ARMAS.pdfand searched in full: zero occurrences of pirotecnia, fuegos artificiales or cohete. Articles referenced: 14 (explosivos), 40 (pólvora/propelentes for ammunition), 50 (transport authorisation), 150 (derogatorias). - Dirección General de Especies Estancadas y Explosivos Industriales, Ministerio de la Defensa Nacional — institutional page naming Decreto Ley 123-85, Acuerdo Gubernativo M. de la D.N. 14-74, Acuerdo Gubernativo 28-2004, Acuerdo Gubernativo 130-2016 (creation) and Acuerdo Gubernativo 192-2023 (Reglamento de la Ley de Especies Estancadas).
https://www.mindef.mil.gt/Organizacion/1mdn/2funciones_control/5direccion_especies_explosivos/5direccion_especies_explosivos_historia.html, retrieved 2026-08-11. We downloaded a copy of Acuerdo Gubernativo 192-2023 but it is a scanned image without a text layer, so no claim on this page is drawn from its contents. - RAC 101, “Regulación sobre aeronaves no tripuladas, aeronaves de modelismo y fuegos artificiales”, Revisión Original, 22 July 2013 — Dirección General de Aeronáutica Civil (DGAC). Sections cited: 101.1, 101.77, 101.79, 101.81, 101.83, 101.85, 101.87. Retrieved 2026-08-11 from the Internet Archive copy of
https://www.dgac.gob.gt/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/RAC-101-Revision-Original.pdf. - Catálogo de Trámites, “Licencia (Transporte y Traslado de Artificios Pirotécnicos)”, Ministerio de la Defensa Nacional —
https://tramites.gob.gt/servicio/1722/, retrieved 2026-08-11. - Transportation Security Administration (TSA), “What Can I Bring? — Fireworks” —
https://www.tsa.gov/travel/security-screening/whatcanibring/items/fireworks; entry reads “Carry On Bags: No / Checked Bags: No”, page last updated 29 June 2017, retrieved 2026-08-11. - IATA Dangerous Goods Regulations, Table 2.3.A, “Provisions for Dangerous Goods Carried by Passengers or Crew” —
https://www.iata.org/contentassets/6fea26dd84d24b26a7a1fd5788561d6e/dgr-62-en-2.3a.pdf, retrieved 2026-08-11. - Prensa Libre, “Pirotecnia en Guatemala: productos prohibidos para vender, sanciones y recomendaciones para evitar accidentes”, 19 November 2023 — cited only for what the press reports and for the absence of an instrument behind the food-packaging claim.
- Municipalidad de Guatemala reglamento index —
https://www.muniguate.com/reglamentos/; not retrieved on 2026-08-11 (HTTP 403 and a bot-verification interstitial on both a direct request and a text proxy). No municipal claim is made on this page.
General information for travellers and residents, current as of 2026-08-11. Pyrotechnics rules sit across several bodies and municipal ordinances vary by municipality; confirm with the relevant authority before acting. This page reports published rules and does not give handling, storage or safety instructions. Not legal advice. En español: ¿Es legal la pirotecnia en Guatemala?.
