FIESTA IN VALENCIA

Every year on March 19th, the Spanish metropolis Valencia is on fire. Las Fallas, which are up to 20 meters high, are burned down under huge fireworks at midnight. This is the climax and final act of the Fallas de San José of Valencia. In many cultures winter is adopted with fire, the old is burned and the evil spirits are driven away. The Valencianos celebrate this pagan ritual every year from March 15th to 19th. During that time the city is a state of emergency, theatrical scenes from oversized paper mache figures are set up in around 400 locations. People from politics, current affairs or fairy tales are portrayed in a satirical way. Trained artists and craftsmen work on the opulent figures made of wood, cardboard and hard foam for a whole year. A figure costs up to € 300,000, which was then admired by millions of visitors for five days and is finally burned.

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