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Sunday, March 6, 2016

We are now in the Season of Fallas




Valencia, Spain has now entered into a three week period of fiestas leading up to the planting of temporary monuments in the streets of downtown Valencia and throughout the villages dotted around and about. Expert craftsmen and women have been busy since the day after Fallas ended last year in making ready for this year's event. Similarly, they will begin anew on the 20th of this March thinking about their presentations for next year.

This is the largest event of the year on the Valencia calendar which changes the total mood of the area. The event around which everything else revolves is the daily mascleta, a daylight sound show of very noisy fireworks that provide about five to seven minutes of sheer violent noise. Because we like to live life on the very edge it's wonderful to feel the concussion against our chests, but the spoilsports they are, authorities are saying, come on guys, we have to be sensible about this. They have moved the crowds back to a  safe distance where we can observe the beautiful starbursts, but we can no longer feel them up close and terrible.

This is one tradition to have continued over the years when the economy was at its best, as well as through some rather dark days, both politically and in the economy. However grand it may be, for many true Valencia city dwellers, when it comes time for the celebrations of Fallas that is a good time to leave home.

It's that time of the year when sleep will be at a premium, so party on young ones, us slightly older ones are outta here. The city is all yours.

Copyright (c) 2016
Eugene Carmichael