I'm still not clear on the origin of Las Fallas, but throughout Valencia, almost every street spends a year fundraising for their "falla," which is a giant paper maché creation that is burned during the Cremá (last night) of Las Fallas. There is also a tradition of offering flowers to the Virgen de los Desamparados (helpless), and then a giant Virgin is constructed from the flowers. I don't think she gets burned. Also, as I am now an expert on Spanish art (which is inherently Catholic), I can say it is pretty typical that even on the Feast of St. Joseph, the Virgin takes center stage.
Las Fallas start on March 14, but we just went for the day of La Cremá by bus (good luck trying to find a place to stay in Valencia during Las Fallas). We got into town around 12:30 and just wandered around for a while. The city center seemed small, but Valencia is actually Spain's third-largest city, with over 700,000 residents. Something surprising is that all of the street signs and such were in catalán. Pretty much everyone seemed to be speaking in castellano, but I guess Valencia is trying to preserve that part of their heritage.
At 2 p.m. they start La Mascleta, which is when they set off rows of firecrackers throughout the city (although all day people of all ages were setting off firecrackers). After that, we hopped on the metro to go to the beach, which was a really good idea. It was a bit chilly with the wind on the beach. I stuck my toes in the Mediterranean and it was warmer than I thought. The beach was uncrowded and very relaxing, and we had a really good lunch (which we thought might be free since Donique saw the waiter drop a 50 euro bill and gave it to him). You almost wouldn't know that Las Fallas was going on except for a few kids with firecrackers. One thing that surprised us is that we saw fallas throughout the city. They were less concentrated outside of the main downtown area, but the celebration is citywide. On the metro back, we saw Raquel, one of the program mentors, who had met Joe, a kid from my Prado class last semester, on the bus in. Small world.
Back in the center of Valencia, we wandered, enjoying the many street vendors and street performers. By the time it was dark, Donique and I put in earplugs. It was a very good call. We weren't sure exactly what the Cremá was going to be like or how early to stake out a spot. We were in the Plaza del Ayuntamiento and starting to think about hanging out, but then we found out that they start burning the small fallas at 10 p.m. After more wandering, feeling like we just missed seeing them light the fallas, we were able to see one from start to finish. We had just run down this alley and passed these boxes with pictures of fireworks on them, wondering what that was all about. Barely a minute later, those fireworks were going off. It seemed pretty dangerous. Then they doused the falla with gasoline, and a Valencian family lit a line of firecrackers, which resulted in the falla more or less exploding before catching fire. We were pretty close so it was very surprising.
After that, we wandered again but eventually decided to stake out spots for the big falla in the Plaza del Ayuntamiento. Most of the big fallas get burned at 12 a.m., but that one doesn't get started until 1 a.m. This falla was animal themed, as you can see below, with giraffes, a vulture, a gorilla, and an elephant.
We were able to get pretty good spots, although these spots were subject to constant change. Unlike the burning of the small falla, which has seemed a generally unsupervised affair, the Plaza was flooded with all variety of emergency personnel. At one point they decided that the corner where we were standing was too close and that we would all have to relocate. They split us up. In the direction Donique and I went, the firefighters literally pushed us in front of the people who were already there. You would think firefighters would know that wasn't an effective means of crowd control.
Some people were getting upset. One woman in particular started shouting at a police officer about how she had a "derecho" to have a good spot (I always find it very interesting the things Spaniards think they have a right to), but he informed her she was very "mal educada." I mean, losing your spot sucks, but generally when a firefighter or police officer tells me something is not safe, I take their word for it. Another thing is that the Spanish in general have a bigger mistrust/dislike of the police. I think it is very possible a riot could have broken out.
As it turns out, we were fortunate that we went where we did, because the firefighters determined that the people who had gone in the other direction were still too close. They sent those people all the way to the back of where we were standing.
Then we waited. We were right by the area with the stretchers for the people who passed out or had a panic attack. Luckily I did not need such services, but standing and waiting for two hours is not easy.
Finally, the big moment came. The fireworks were very impressive...and very close. The lighting of the falla was similar to that of the small one, and they set off more fireworks at the same time. When the smoke cleared, the falla was on fire. The fire quickly spread and it was VERY hot where we were standing, so I could definitely understand why the firefighters had moved us earlier in the night. The firefighters also started spraying it with water to get it under control. For such a large falla, it burned more quickly than I expected.
Then we ran into Christian and his friend and Spencer and his girlfriend and entertained ourselves with firecrackers. I did not touch any and kept a safe distance. By then, it was about time to head to the bus station for our 3 a.m. bus. Mercifully, I was able to sleep.
I'm glad that I went to Las Fallas. It was more fun than I expected it to be, although I'm not sure I'd go back. I guess if I happened to be in Spain during those days I would. Walking around during the day, we were struck by how close the fallas were to the houses, and most people left their cars parked on the street, which seems to invite danger. It seems kind of a miracle that the entire city doesn't just burn down, because all it would take is one spark. All day we saw kids playing with firecrackers and later with the bruning remains of the fallas with limited adult supervision. I hear a lot of Valencians go on vacation that week, because it's just so noisy. I can't imagine being an artist and spending so much time on the falla so see it burned to the ground!
Falla in Plaza del Ayuntamiento:
Fireworks:
The Falla is lit:
Engulfed by smoke and flames:
Fire:
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