It’s now Spring and here we have the TV advert by El Corte Inglés for the Spring season. It was recorded in the streets of Madrid where it tries to reflect the arrival of the first rays of Spring in the city.
The background music is “Il pericolo numero uno” by Renato Carosone.
Las Fallas is the most extraordinary festival, celebrated only in the Comunidad de Valencia and mainly in the city itself. Supposedly originating from a time way back when carpenters would chuck out old offcuts of wood into the street and set fires to welcome spring – the festival has grown into a feast for all the senses. The festival is a celebration in honour of the patron of Valencia, Saint Joseph. The term Fallas refers to both the celebration and the monuments created during the celebration.
Up to 500 huge, highly decorative and beautifully made satirical sculptures, constructed from flammable materials, are set up in every square of the city on the 15th of March. Each sculpture carries satirical verses written in Valenciá, and street parties are held by each one every day and night of the week.
The days and nights in Valencia are one running party during the five days of Falles. There are processions galore; historical processions, religious processions, and hysterical processions. The restaurants spill out to the streets. Explosions can be heard all day long and sporadically through the night. Foreigners may be surprised to see everyone from small children to elderly gentlemen throwing fireworks and bangers in the streets, which are littered with pyrotechnical débris.
Each day of Falles begins at 8am with la despertà (“the wake-up call”). Brass bands will appear from the casals and begin to march down every road playing lively music. Close behind them are the fallers throwing large firecrackers in the street as they go.
On 1st March, the first of the mascletas (an explosion of firecrackers) in the square in front of the City Hall announces the start of the festival period, although the most important events begin on the 16th. The Mascletà, (see video) an explosive display of the concussive effects of co-ordinated firecracker and fireworks barrages, takes place at 2 pm every day of the festival; the main event is the municipal Mascleta in the Plaça de l’Ajuntament where the pyrotechnicians compete for the honour of providing the final Mascleta of the fiestas (on March 19th). At 2pm the clock chimes and the Fallera Mayor (dressed in her fallera finery) will call from the balcony of the City Hall, Senyor pirotècnic, pot començar la “mascletà”! (“Mr. Pyrotechnic, you may commence the Mascletà!”), and the Mascletà begins.
The day of the 15th all of the falles infantils are to be finished being constructed and later that night all of the falles mayores are to be completed. If not, they face disqualification.
The biggest and most spectacular event is the Ofrenda de Flores a la Virgen de los Desamparados (a floral offering to our Lady of the Forsaken). On 17th and 18th March, from 4pm until nightfall, there is an enormous multi-coloured procession of 150,000 Falleras wearing their marvellous, intricately decorated, traditional costumes and carrying bunches of flowers to the cathedral to decorate an enormous Virgin Mary with flowers.
On the nights of the 15, 16, 17, and 18th there are firework displays in the old riverbed in Valencia. Each night is progressively grander and the last is called La Nit del Foc, the night of fire.
At midnight on 19th, the dramatic closing act takes place. All, except one ninot chosen by the people from all the different fallas, are set alight and burnt.. This is known as the cremà and this is of course the climax of the whole event, and the reason why the constructions are called fallas (“torches”). Traditionally, the falla in the Plaça de l’Ajuntament is burned last.
Many neighbourhoods have a falla infantil (a children’s falla, smaller and without satirical themes), which is a few metres away from the main one. This is burnt first, at 10pm. The main neighbourhood fallas are burnt closer to midnight. The awesome fallas in the city centre often take longer. Each falla is adorned with fireworks which are lit first. The construction itself is lit either after or during these fireworks. Fallas burn quite quickly, and the heat given off is felt by all around. The heat from the larger ones often drives the crowd back a couple of metres, even though they are already behind barriers that the fire brigade has set several metres away from the construction. In narrower streets, the heat scorches the surrounding buildings, and the firemen douse the façades, window blinds, street signs, etc. with their hoses in order to stop them catching fire or melting, from the beginning of the cremà until it cools down after several minutes.
There is so much to see and do, the city is alive night and day and if you have the stamina you could party for five days and nights without a break. There are free concerts and dances throughout the city , there are street markets, food vendors selling a special type of doughnut (Buñuelos) available only at this festival time eaten with thick dunking chocolate, there are bullfights, marching bands and solemn processions, and every bar and café in the city is open all hours to keep your strength up with food and drink.
Another day in paradise 