March 18-20, 2007.

Immediately upon our return to Barcelona after our fabulous trip to Lisbon, we were on a train to Valencia for a famous festival called Las Fallas, which is known as one of the most unique festivals in Spain. If you like the smell of firecrackers, gun powder accompanied by huge flames licking in your direction, then this is the festival for you. What started as a feast day for St. Joseph, the patron saint of carpenters, has evolved into a 5-day, multifaceted celebration of fire. Valencia is usually a quiet city with a population of a half-million, but the town swells to an estimated three million flame-loving revelers during Las Fallas.

The focus of the fiesta is the creation and destruction of ninots-huge cardboard, wood and plaster statues-that are placed at over 350 key intersections and parks around the city. The ninots are extremely lifelike and usually depict bawdy, satirical scenes and current events (lampooning corrupt politicians and Spanish celebrities is particularly popular). They are crafted by neighborhood organizations and take about six months to construct (and often cost upwards of $85,000). Many ninots are several stories tall (up to 20 m!) and need to be moved into position with cranes.

 On March 19th, the day known as “La Crema”, all of these incredible ninots are burned to the ground. There was quite a schedule for their demise as well- the littlest ninots had to go first, followed by the larger ones and the award-winning ninots were saved for last. Crews would clamber up the larger ninots and hammer holes into the statues and stuff fireworks into them for the maximum effect when the match would finally be lit to them. Over the years, the local firemen, “bomberos,” have devised unique ways to protect the town’s buildings from torching along with the ninots, by draping and covering storefronts with fireproof tarps, as well as hosing these tarps down before the ninot close by was set alight.

But all are not lost. Each year, one of the ninots is spared from destruction by popular vote and exhibited in the local Museum of the Ninot along with the other favorites from years past.

Another highlight is the daily mascletá which occurs in the Plaza Anyuntamiento at exactly 2pm. A huge pile of firecrackers gets ignited and the ground literally shakes for the next ten minutes. Thank goodness for the earplugs which our hostel generously supplied!

But it isn’t all about the pyrotechnics. It seemed like the parades were endless, and we are certain that every single Valencian was in the nightly parades, full of ‘falleras’ and ‘falleros’ young and old. They wore beautiful full gowns with floral designs and either a white or black veil. (We couldn’t figure out why some wore white and some wore black.) The streets were all lined with lights and it kind of felt like Christmas in North America.

And let’s not forget the food! After four days in Lisbon of eating several pasteis de nata every day I did not know what I was going to do without my sweet fix. Well, Valencia introduced us to churros, and then the ‘bunyols’, which were freshly made little donuts made in front of you and rolled in sugar. You ate them while they were still hot, and if you were really aching for a stronger sugar high, you could get them at a cafe with a little mug of hot chocolate. But this was not like the h.c. you get in Canada, it was literally melted chocolate, and not a drop of milk on the scene. Hard core! Needless to say, I did not want to leave Valencia and would have happily eaten myself to death there.

All in all, a very enjoyable couple of days, and it only took a couple more to get our hearing back…. QUE??

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