The days and nights in Valencia are one
running party during the two weeks 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.
If you come to Valencia during Fallas,
don't expect to sleep much. Your day will begin at 8am with la
despertà ("the wake-up call"). You'll be lying
in bed trying to recover from last night's partying when it
starts. Brass bands will appear from the casals and begin to
march down every road playing lively music. Close behind them
will be the fallers throwing large firecrackers in the street
as they go (large enough to set off nearby car alarms, which
will add their sirens to the bedlam!). This continues for an
hour or so, until you decide you might as well get up and face
the day ahead.
Sometime around 2pm there is the
mascletà (an explosive display of the concussive effects
of co-ordinated firecracker and fireworks barrages) in each
neighbourhood; the main attraction is the municipal Mascleta in
the Plaça de l'Ajuntament where the great pyrotecnic
masters compete for the honor of providing the final Mascleta
of the fiestas (on March 19th). Huge crowds gather from all
corners of the city to see this event (go early!). At 2pm the
clock will chime and one of the lovely maidens (dressed in her
fallera finery) will call from the balcony of the City Hall,
Senyor pirotècnic, pots començar la mascleta!
("Mr. Pyrotechnic, you may commence the Mascleta!").
Suddenly the square rips with a pyrotechnic display of a power
rarely seen outside the battlefield. Louder is better as far as
Valencians are concerned, and the masters don't disappoint
them. For six or seven minutes hundreds of kilos of flash
powder is gradually detonated. The crowd rocks with each
explosion and great billowing clouds of smoke rise as it builds
to the finale. The final crescendo of noise will leave you
stunned and senseless for several seconds, at which point a
huge cheer goes up from the crowd and the people run forward to
applaud the pyrotecnic masters as they bow to their fans.
Mascleta is a very Valencian activity,
hugely popular with the Valencian people and found in very few
other places in the world. Smaller neighbourhoods often have
have their own mascleta for saint days, for weddings and for
other celebrations as well. In Valencia, any reason is a good
reason for Mascleta!
On the final night of Falles, around
midnight on March 19th, these falles are burnt as huge
bonfires. This is known as the cremada or cremà, i.e.
"the burning", and this is of course the climax and
point of the whole event, and the reason why the constructions
are called falles ("torches").
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 falles are burnt closer
to midnight. The awesome falles in the city centre often take
longer. For example, in 2005, the fire brigade delayed the
burning of the Egyptian funeral falla in carrer del Convent de
Jerusalem until 1.30am, when they were sure they had all safety
concerns covered.
Each falla is adorned with fireworks which
are lit first. The construction itself is lit either after or
during these fireworks. Falles 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.
Away from the falles, there are people
going crazy through the streets, with the city resembling an
open-air nightclub, except that instead of music there is the
occasionally deafening sound of people throwing fireworks and
bangers around randomly. There are stalls selling products such
as the typical fried snacks porras, churros and
buñuelos, as well as roast chestnuts or various
trinkets.