The Fallas of Valencia

From March 15th to 19th you can find throughout Valencia a big amount of giant papier-mâché monuments of more than 5 meters high. These monuments are called “Fallas” (“Falles” in Catalan) and they are believed to have a history of more than three centuries. Historians say that the origins of the festival go back to the time when carpenters cleared out their workshops at the end of winter, throwing out ends of wood and old candles and lighting them on the street the day of Saint Joseph.

Since then the Fallas became more artistical: the ends of wood were replaced by papier-mâché figures called “ninots” representing political personalities of the city or the neighbourhood around the 1700s. Gradually the “Fallas” gained height and beauty and nowadays are considered Fiesta of International Tourist Interest of Spain.

Maybe you recognize these two people:

One is Angela Merkel (maybe the most hated person in Spain), using her puppet Rajoy to do what she wants for the good of the European Union. 

Here Angela is teaching Rajoy and his government how to cut in social welfare expenditure.

Perhaps you may not know this man. He‘s Alberto Fabra, President of the autonomous government of the Valencian Country. He was severely criticized for doing what he‘s doing in the image, killing the regional television, Canal 9, the only channel we had in our language (The emissions of TV3 [The Catalan regional Television] were blocked in the Valencian Country).

On the night of March 19th is the night of the "Cremà" and all the monuments are burned. This was the origin of the critique, burning those personalities who had done bad things for the city or for the country.