Days 16-19 València and Las Fallas

 Valencia was a whirlwind! Nothing written here until we were getting ready to leave so doing the best I can! Our time at Las Fallas was both magical and manic, feet are hurting and there’s been little sleep but what an experience !!

Day 1 

Standing room only on our first bus trip into the city. Easy enough though, leaves from outside the campsite every 30 mins and takes around 30 mins to get in. The city end of the route repeats some of what we’d seen the day before and the famous architecture of the old river is no less stunning today as we pass on our way to Puerto de Mar. 

As soon as we are off the bus it’s apparent that the city is in festival mode. The constant crackles and bangs of fireworks being set off in the street also mean that the city smells a little of smoke and gunpowder. The majority are ‘firecracker’ type , thrown by children onto pavements in squares and narrow roads where they’ll get the most from the sound. Whilst parents are usually present there is often quite ‘light touch’ which is slightly uncomfortable to watch. A lot of children carry wooden boxes on strings around their neck… looking a little like WW2 gas masks boxes , in which they carry there own supply of fireworks with a smouldering cord to light them with carried in their other hand. It’s a far cry from sparklers, and bizarre to see the apparently lax attitude of everyone handling them. 

Nearer the town centre we start seeing groups of people in national dress walking the streets accompanied by brass bands playing joyful music. The women look incredible with their full skirts in heavy brocade bouncing as they walk like rows of dolls carrying flowers. 

It’s not before we catch our first sight of ‘Fallas’ either. These are huge sculptures constructed by community groups over the course of a year, and anytime there’s a space between buildings it appears to filled with one! They are not easy to read for tourists, they often contain representations of local celebrities or comment on issues we aren’t aware of, but there are global themes too and everyone of them is worthy of a good look!

Close to the cathedral we stopped for a (really good) gelato then popped our heads into the cathedral. We were welcomed in where it was mid-mass and we stood at the back for a bit enjoying the stillness and contrast to the chaos outside. 

We then headed to the town hall square, aware that 2pm will bring our first visual experience of ‘La Mascleta’. More by luck that judgement, we find a spot on a slightly raised central reservation. We have 20 mins or so to wait but it’s made much easier by the party in one of the flats above us where people periodically hang out of the window and play stirring Spanish tunes on brass instruments. Whilst we dont know the songs many around us do and are singing along very happily.

There are single ‘bangs’ signalling the countdown and each time one goes off  the crowd gets more excited. When the display starts there’s nothing that would prepare you for it. There are sparks in the sky but this it’s all about the noise, there is a lot of noise!! And it escalates over five mins or so building to a crescendo that makes the crowd go crazy… an incredible ‘bucket list’ level experience!

We were told about the Fallas back in February by friends who had already booked a mini-break to visit so our next task was to meet up with them. Google had us circling a building until we realised that the bar they were in was within it. It was great to see familiar faces and nice to meet their Spanish friends, so had a beer and a chat for a bit and made arrangements to meet up again later. 

More parading costumes nearby and we decided to try and get to their destination. Easier said than done if you aren’t in the parade itself as it closes most roads, but we eventually found enough crossing places to enable us to get to the Plaza de La Virgen where the participants pass the flowers they are carrying to those in the process of covering a huge wooden structure with bouquets. As it’s early in the process the structure is still being filled from the top and watching the team expertly throwing bouquets up the ladders is addictive. There is a constant stream of arrivals - over the two days this takes place  tens of thousands of ‘falleros’ and ‘falleras’ will parade to drop off their offerings, the scale is hard to imagine even when standing in the square watching.

A text arrived to point out it was also St Patrick’s day and our friends were in the Irish pub celebrating, so we were back to socialising. Almost three weeks in and really nice to be talking to more than each other. A Guinness or two then some more parade watching before finding a more Spanish bar for ‘Agua de Valencia’ and patatas bravas. 

The plan to get to the late fireworks was scuppered a little when we failed to find the metro very quickly and it was already underway before we got off the train but even from the station it was impressive and gave us enough of a taster to want to try again tomorrow! 

We waited for the bus back for some time! Timetables go out of the window during Las Fallas it seems as buses can’t restart until the parading is over which invariably runs late so when we got back to the van at about 2.30 we were glad we’d decided to leave the bed out that morning. Fab day but exhausting! 

Day 2 

After out late night we had every intention of spending the morning at the van but couldn’t stay out for long. Having decided we wouldn’t worry about seeing the mascleta today we realised we could make it if we rushed there so a brisk walk from Puerto de mar and we are in the shopping district, in a solid crowd heading towards the square. The best we can do today is much further back than yesterday but the narrow street means the sound hits like a wave as it runs towards us. A different experience but equally fab.

Rather than leaving as it finished we walked towards the town hall square where the fireworks are based and the smell of gunpowder is heavy in the air. The fireworks are strung within a large ‘cage’ in the centre of the square and the aftermath is a lots of tubes and string on already being tidied up ready to set up again tomorrow. 

Today we we’ve decided to walk the ‘old river bed’ and see the buildings we’ve now passed so many times.

Heading to Pass a side set up 

Will come back to this one!