Las Fallas - Thursday & Friday

The last two days I have been around the city centre with Jussi and Sophie and some other friends. This party just keeps getting bigger. Right now I am kind of excited what will happen tonight. The fallas will be burned starting at ten o'clock. Nobody will sleep tonight.

Every day the macletà at two o'clock draws more and more people to the central square.




The Plaza de la Reina has a marvellous monument made of roses. I hope to add some more info here.




At night the riverside was full of people, by hundreds of thousands. Music, lights, outdoor bars and of course, fallas...







This is the falla that won the premium prize. We did not think it was as funny and detailed as some others but it sure was big.



Now you see falleras (women and girls dressed in a traditional suit) during both night and day. They even have their small children with them dressed up. Around seven the Cabalgatas (parades) start all over the centre and people rush to the streets.







We have seen the fireworks they put every night on the river. Last night was the biggest fireworks display, Nit del Foc (Noche de Fuego, night of fire). They used 2000 kilograms of powder on a show that went on for 30 minutes. According to the news this morning there were like 500.000 people there watching the fireworks. I had never seen so many people at once. Our places could not have been any better, so we were very lucky.

Las Fallas - Wednesday

Poeta Artola 25


More fallas and decoration around Valencia






Cabalgata Folklórica




Castillo de Fuegos Artificiales



Partying on the streets


Jussi and Sophie

Las Fallas - Tuesday

This was the mascletà today.


The main thing about fallas is that every block makes its own sculpture (called a "falla") constructed of paper, fiber and wood. They are usually sarcastic or intelligent in some way. The fallas are being built troughout the year by specialized artists. The most expensive fallas can cost anywhere between 30.000 and 300.000 euros. Still, on the night after next saturday they will all be burned right where they are standing now (called "la quemada" in castellano or "la cremà" in valenciano). All the fallas were put in place yesterday.




Here is the biggest of these sculptures on Plaza Ayuntamiento.

Las Fallas - Part I

Las Fallas : a traditional party in Valencia celebrated between 15.3. - 19.3.
mascletà : a Valencian fireworks display focusing on making loud noise

Today I went to see one of the mascletàs in the Plaza de Ayuntamiento. There has been a show every day for the last two weeks. Every barrio (part of town) has their own group competing who makes the best mascletà. So every day at 2pm the main square is filled with thousands of valencians and tourists who have reserved the best hotel rooms (with good balconies) many months beforehand. A tall cage has been built in the center of the plaza, and in this closed area the noise-specialists arrange their firecrackers and bombs.

Every mascletà follows about the same pattern, first there are the opening shots that tell the audience what is about to begin. Then follows series of different bombs that get louder each time. The final part of the show is always something that looks like a firework factory in flames. The whizzles and booms hit your ears really hard, and first-timers feel like putting hands on their ears. After the noise only thick smoke is left behind.






Right next to the mascletà cage there are already some fallas. Some of them aren't yet fully put together but it looks like they can be really big.

Campeonato Escalada

I got on a beginners' climbing course a few weeks ago (after all, I had brought my gear all the way from Finland). The climbing courses of UPV are held by Pedro Pons, who is a world-famous climber, a boulder world champion. The indoor climbing wall they have here in UPV is just fantastic. They say it's one of the few of it's kind in Europe, of course made by a Spanish company.

The word about a competition just came up on the last climbing class. I was practically forced to sign my name and get on. Well, no regrets there... it was awesome to see the best competeers on the final route. The winner was no suprise. Juan Pons, the little brother of the campeón, did the final route even quicker than Pedro himself.

And by the way... I finished 18th :)

Starting up.. It was freezing cold inside


This is the Rocódromo


At first all the contestants had to do three routes


I'm getting ready for Via 2


The final route being prepared while the girls still climb


Here is the campeón Pedro Pons showing us how to do it


These are the finalists who finished second and third

Visiting Alcoy with Javier

It was time to see the traditional ensayo (rehearsal) they have each month in Alcoy, a small city close to Valencia. Javier asked me and Jussi (another finnish Erasmus) to come and see the what the party was all about. It turned out to be very fun. Especially the way that the fathers and sons drank and ate together and had a good time. People at the fiesta were really interested to know about Finland, so we had a lot to talk about.

Alcoy lies in a valley surrounded by steep rocky mountains. There are four long bridges that take you over the valley and to downtown. It's something that really catches your eye. I heard the rate of cars per population in Alcoy is the second highest in Europe after Milan. Just look at the cars running by - they all have just one passenger!

I learned that Alcoy was one of the first two cities in Spain to have a textile factory, in addition to Barcelona. The small town became wealthy and the alcoyans still have a strong relationship with barcelonetas. After all, the streets of Alcoy do resemble Barcelona with the narrow, rundown streets full of small balconies. On the other hand, there are the posh, miles long shopping avenues full of small shops. It seems you can find most of the things you need right here in Alcoy.

Javier, big thanks for all your effort! Let's see if we can get those hotel rooms booked for April's Gran Fiesta ;)

Here are some of the fotos I and Jussi took in Alcoy