Las Falles, UNESCO World Heritage in Valencia

After some Yoga and a Spanish lesson in the morning, we left Matorò and Barcelona behind and headed for the small town of Tarragona.

Founded as Tarraco in 218BC by the Romans, this was the very first Roman city beyond the Western Empire stronghold on the Italian peninsula. Roman ruins are scattered all around the city and because it's rather small and easily accessible on foot, I was parked in a little side street just outside the center and my human and Carmelo went off to check out some old stones.

Via the Balcò de Mediterrani, kind of a terrace which affords a great view over the lower part of town and the ocean, they were headed for the Amfiteatre romà, which was built in the 2nd Century and carved right out of the underlying bedrock. With a capacity of 14.000 it was used for gladiator fights and also public executions.

From there they went on to the Circ romà. The circus was without a doubt the favorite past time of the old Romans. This one was build at the end of the first Century.  With a dimension of roughly 325 meters by 115 meters it was used for chariot races. Walking through on of the underground tunnels you can practically feel them coming up behind you at high speed!

The four bottom steps are original                                                             

Afterwards they walked around the city for a while, eating ice cream and just enjoying themselves. Until they remembered me! So they came back and we drove on to the little town of l'Aldela. There we parked on the official camper parking space and had a quiet night with three or four of my compatriots.

The next morning we headed for Godella, which is a small city just outside of Valencia. You remember Javier, my human's friend? Right, the one we stayed with in Benasque. Now he was back home and we could stay with him again in his family home. Which is awesome, by the way. It's got a pool. What more can you want?

The biggest festival in Valencia and one of the biggest in Spain usually happens every year in March. Because of the pandemic, it didn't happen in 2020 and neither did it happen in March this year. But because the situation is looking good here now, the city decided to hold the festival later in the year, in September.

Which, by coincidence, is RIGHT NOW, when we are here! What a streak of luck! This festival has it's origins in the Middle Ages, when artisans disposed of the broken artifacts and pieces of wood they saved during the winter by burning them to celebrate the spring equinox. Over time the piles of wood evolved into elaborate figures, which are the actual Falles and the whole thing became a very big celebration.

With the intervention of the church, the date of the festival was made to coincide with the celebration of the festival of Saint Joseph, the patron saint of carpenters.

So after "moving in" and having lunch, they took the Metro to town and had a walk around the center, visiting some Falles. Each neighborhood has a club of Falleras and Falleros and they take a lot of pride in it. There is a healthy rivalry between the clubs. They contract professionals to build the Falles for them, which can be as high as 20 meters. 

The last season came out just in time

Another part of the festival are "Mascletas". These are enormous fireworks, professionally set up in large places in the city. Or in smaller places, really. They are not too worried about fire hazards. As we will see later. If I say fireworks, I really mean firecrackers. It's loud as hell, very, very loud. My human didn't like this part very much and after standing very close for the first one, she hung back a couple of blocks for the next ones. For a lot of Valencians, this is their favorite part. Others leave this city. That's kinda the two options you have. 

Another part is "La Ofrenda". The Falles walk from their neighborhood to a central square in a large procession, all dressed in their traditional, very elaborate clothes. There stands a large wooden structure with a Virgin Mary and Jesus figure on top. The ladies carry small bouquets of flowers which then get offered to Mary and are stuck into the wooden structure. Which in the end looks like a beautiful skirt.

In the evening they met with some friends of Javier's and went for dinner. Which happens at a time my human has trouble adjusting to. Of course lunch happens much later, too, but still, it's somewhat difficult for her. Old habits die hard. But in the end, there is always very tasty food, drink and great company, so all is good.

The biggest, and final, event of the whole festival is "La Cremà", the burning of the Falles. They get prized every year as well, and a friend of Javier's has her appartment on the fourth floor just a few meters down from this years first prize. The luck is holding up! 

So on Sunday night, we met at her place to watch the spectacle from a very priviliged viewpoint. There is strict timing to when which Falles get burned and the first prize is set on fire second to last, just before the one the city put up. There are also kids Falles, which are obviously much smaller than the "real" ones, but also very beautiful. They get burned in the early evening, so the kids can watch. Not that they would be able to sleep afterwards with all the excitement still going on outside. And the fireworks, of course.

So at 10.30pm the first prize was set on fire and it's an unbelievable thing to see. You have to understand that these structures stand right in the city, in between the houses, on small cross roads. And they get burned right there. There are firefighters around, thankfully, and they wet the surrounding houses, just in case, but still, it's incredible!

There were thousands of people in the streets, cheering and singing and crying. Really a sight to behold. It didn't take long for the whole structure to go down, maybe 10, 15 minutes. To finish it all off, we watched the town Falla get burned on TV and then made our way home. 

After all this excitement over the last few days, my human was very happy to spend the next day by the pool, just relaxing, reading, swimming. In the evening they went to town briefly for dinner and then hit the sack rather early. At least for Spanish standards.