Las Fallas 2014: Mascletà

The first day of March if you find yourself walking around in the Plaza del Ayuntamiento you may wonder why there are so many people milling about. Las Fallas is 15 days away, what’s the big deal?

This was just day one. Imagine how many people there are on day 19!

Each color firecracker has a different amount of gunpowder. The designer knows exactly when to light each one.

Well, that would be the Mascleta. Which is one of the most exciting parts of Las Fallas. I mentioned before that this festival is a celebration of noise and fire. There is no better example of that than the Mascleta. Starting on the first of March and going until the 19th (the last day of Fallas) people start trying to get the best spot in the Plaza del Ayuntamiento starting as early as 11:00 am. The whole plaza packed and even back as far as the estacion del norte is wall to wall people.

The Falleras watch from the Ayuntamiento building

When the clock chimes at 2:00 pm, the Fallera Mayor of Valencia says: “Senyor pirotècnic, pot començar la mascletà!” (Mr. Pyrotechnic, you may commence the Mascleta!) Then…

BOOM!

The loudest firecrackers you have ever heard in your life begin. Unlike Valencia’s midnight Castillo which is a beautiful firework display. The Mascleta is a massive celebration of sound and light. Even at 2pm you can see colorful fireworks, and smoke rising up from the plaza. The last few minutes of the mascleta are known as “The Earthquake” because the ground below you literally is shaking from the noise. The sound reaches up to 120 decibels which is just above the average human pain threshold (source). The noise from the display can be heard all over the city.

Once the show is over people rush to the center of the plaza to congratulate the designer of the show. He is often times carried out on the shoulders of the people. Each day there is a different designer of the Mascleta and whichever display is deemed the best has the honor of designing the final mascleta on the 19th of March.

Las Fallas 2014: History

Las Fallas is a festival full of noise and fire and is Valencia’s most famous. It’s celebrated in early March every year to honor Saint Joseph the patron saint of carpenters. Many, many years ago this festival was nothing special. Not even a festival really. It is said that the carpenters would take all their unusable scraps and old tools from their shops and burn them in the streets out front. Ever since then, Las Fallas has come to represent change from old to new and also Winter to Spring.

From the 2012 festival

The structures have come a long way from old wood scraps! Now they are up to 30 meters (100 feet) tall! The materials include: paper, wood, wax, paper mache, Styrofoam and anything else that they can think of as long as it is flammable. Each neighborhood in Valencia has a Casal Faller which is the group in charge of raising the money, electing their falleras and constructing the ninot (the Valencian word for puppet or doll). The structures are made according to the theme of the year which is usually some satirical jab at a famous political figure.

Some falleras in their traditional dresses. 2012 festival

From the 2012 festival

Las Fallas officially begins on March 15, but the celebration starts a lot earlier. This year, it began on the evening of February 23 at the Torres de Serrano. These towers used to be the only way in to Valencia so it is pretty symbolic that this festival is started there. During this celebration all the falleras from the different parts of the Comunidad Valenciana are introduced. There is music, acrobats, light shows, history presentations and of course….fireworks! At the end of the presentation the mayor of Valencia and the fallera mayor of Valencia give a speech and announce the beginning of the festival.

Here is a short video of the night:

On March 15th and 16th the structures are finished in the streets, if they are not fully constructed by the 16th they will be disqualified. Throughout the festival there are mascletas (firecracker displays), castillos (firework displays), parades and lots of music and food!

From the 2012 festival

From the 2012 festival

On the night of the 19th the structures are all set on fire! Only the structure that is voted the best is not burned and becomes part of the Fallas Museum

Dia de los Reyes Magos: Three Kings Day in Spain

The Christmas season in Spain is a lot longer than in the US. Dia de los Reyes Magos is the official last day of Christmas. This holiday is celebrated all throughout the Spanish speaking world. It is the 12th day after Christmas and is called Epiphany in the Christian calendar. On this day, the Kings called Melchor, Gaspar and Baltazar arrived to Bethlehem bearing gifts for the baby Jesus.

In Spain, preparations for this holiday start weeks before. Children write letters to the kings telling them what presents they would like. As the day gets closer the bakeries start redecorating their windows with Roscon de Reyes or a Kings Cake. This is a circle shaped sweet bread often filled with a cream. The top of the cake is decorated with candied fruits which are meant to represent the gems on the King’s robes. Inside the cake, there is a a bean and/or a baby figurine. The person who finds the baby is supposed to host the next party, and the person who finds the bean has good luck for the whole year! Like I mentioned in my post American Christmas vs. Spanish Christmas, most Spanish families have a Nativity scene in their house. The night before Three Kings Day, the three kings are placed in the Nativity scene. Children often will leave out some hay for for camels and some candies for the kings.

Just some of the people waiting for the parade to start

Beautiful sunset!

The most exciting part of the whole holiday is the Parade! In all of Spain’s history, this is the longest standing parade. In Valencia it starts at the port where the Kings arrive by boat. A few hours later, the actual parade starts with the kings in the Turia River bed and they go all through the old town and end at the Plaza del Ayuntamiento. It starts around 6pm, but people are in their spots as early as 12pm! It pays to have a spot close to the street during this parade because all the floats have candy and small toys which are thrown out to the crowd. The parade lasts about an hour and a half and includes music, dancing, costumes, animals, elaborate floats and of course the Kings!

Umbrella, AKA candy catcher

This man and his helpers were collecting the rest of the cards for the kings, there were lots to collect!

So, who gets to be the Kings? This is usually decided by who has had something exciting happen during the year. It can be sports stars, politicians, people from the neighborhoods who have done good things for the schools. Really anything that makes the public recognize you as a good person can get you nominated for a spot as one of the Kings. For this reason, something that is incredibly taboo in the US is completely alright here. The last king (and most people’s favorite), Baltazar, is traditionally a Spanish man done up in black face. It was definitely a huge shock the first time I saw some pictures!

Here is a little compilation of all the videos I took during the parade. The last three videos are of the kings!

Tourist in My Own City: Día de la Comunidad Valenciana

Every autonomous community in Spain has it’s own special day to celebrate its history. After celebrating for 2 years in Andalucía (and finally memorizing the song!), I was excited for Nou d'Octubre (October 9th) and experiencing The Day of the Valencian Community.

The 9th of October is one of the most important holidays in Valencia. There is lots of preparation and excitement in the weeks surrounding this festival. Bakeries decorate their windows with beautiful marzipan figures in the form of all different types of food. Traditionally these sweets are wrapped in a silk scarf and given as gifts to and from people in love.

This history of this day is not just important in the Valencian Community, but also in the history of Spain. In 1238, King James I of Aragon liberated Valencia from more than 500 years of Moorish rule. He named the newly liberated land the Kingdom of Valencia and has since become one of Valencia’s most important historical figures.

The festival officially starts on the night of October 8th, with outdoor concerts in the Turia Gardens and an amazing fireworks display near the Aragon metro station also in the Turia Gardens. In my opinion, Valencia has some of the best (and loudest!) fireworks displays in the world.

On the morning of October 9th the festivities start outside the Ayuntamiento (City Hall) with the lowering of the Valencian flag to street level. Once the flag is lowered a procession begins through the city ending at the statue of King James where flowers are placed at the base. The flag is brought back to the Ayuntamiento and is welcomed with another fireworks display (Mascletà).

Later in the day, in the Plaza de la Virgen there is traditional dance and music. Around 100 men and women in traditional dress dance all while playing castanets. A band playing traditional songs accompanies them. It’s really cool to see and hear.

After that, another procession passes through the old part of the city ending at the Plaza del Ayuntamiento. If you want to read the history of this procession, check out my post on Godella's Moros y Cristianos.

Moros y Cristianos: Festival of History

A few weeks ago a friend of mine invited us to her hometown for the weekend to celebrate Moros y Cristianos. When I lived in Almeria I heard about this festival being celebrated in Mojacar, but I wasn’t able to go because of transportation. So, I was super excited to spend the weekend in Godella and participate in the festivities.

Moro flag

Cristiano flag

Now, for those of you who haven’t studied Spanish history as much as I have this festival might not have any significance to you. Worlds fastest overview: about 780 years of battle between the Moors and Christians. The first Moorish invasion was in 711 starting around Gibraltar and made its way northward. Many many battles and changes in power (between the Moors and Christians) happened along the way. The last of these battles was called the Granada War and took place between 1482 and 1492 when the Catholic Monarchs (King Ferdinand II of Aragon and Queen Isabella I of Castile) were in power. Granada was the last place on the Iberian Peninsula to have Islamic rule. This period of time is known as La Reconquista (The Reconquest). If you ever visit Spain, especially Andalucia, you will notice A LOT of Islamic influence in the architecture, art and even some of the language.

Cristianas

Cristianos

The guy did stand up, I just didn't get it on camera :(

Anyway, back on track. This multi-day festival commemorates the history of The Reconquest. Parades are the most common sight with costumes, animals, music and dancing. In some of the bigger cities you can see elephants, horses and camels. We were very surprised when the small town of Godella had a camel in the parade!

The Christian King

After the Christians the Moors came

The Queen. Obviously exaggerated a bit...I don't think they had dragons then.