Just the whole fiesta always has me amazed, and how relaxed everyone can be when they close down main roads in town for a week or more to build a Fallas, have a party, throw fireworks and banger at each other, the Fallas Queens in their dresses, then burn the lot down in a big fiesta on the 19th March in a big "up yours" to Elf n Safety.
One from 2007 in a small street in Valencia:
Its always an experience going down to Valencia and seeing the 2pm Mascletà. Thousands of people flock to the city centre out side the town hall for the 2pm spectacular. You feel the ground shacking as the "bomb" go off, and you cannot help wondering about how the glass in the buildings around you stays in!
The Mascletà is covered on TV, and they even have a decibel meter level on the screen to show you how loud it can be.
The Fallas can be huge, and have been in preparation for many months, and usually have a humourous side to them, usually at the expense of polititians or world events.....
Then they wait until the firemen arrive. Not to put out the burning fallas, but to spray the nearby buildings with water to stop them from burning whilst the fallas burn away. Sad to see all that time money and effort go to waste, but good when the huge cheers from the crowd happens as the fallas topples over onto itself.
Something you would not see in the UK at all, and was one of the times that I liked to visit Spain before I moved over here.
Roll on the 19th March.....
More on Valenica and the Costa Blanca area can be found at
Valencia Costa Blanca Tourist Information
Oliva Costa Blanca Tourist Information
