Ok, I may have been too quick to judge Valencia’s blue collar feel, especially after just returning from Sevilla. This week all hell is about to break loose as Las Fallas begins for real.

From March 15-19 (the feast of Saint Joseph, day of the father in the whole country), Valencia is given over to a carnival of bonfires, fiesta, fireworks and a healthy dose of satire known as Las Fallas- the fires. The festival also signifies the end of winter as today revealed with the 70 degrees plus temperatures.

You cannot escape the sounds (and smells) of fireworks! Kids of all ages- and I mean all- are igniting and throwing firecrackers.

As we walked down the city street, come to discover that many are closed off to traffic and open to a gathering of paella cooks! In several places throughout town, corners and streets were sequestered from traffic as fires burned (using orange and lemon wood we discovered) with pans of paella boiling atop them.

But wait, there is more to come. Every afternoon at 2:00 p.m. fireworks erupts from a large square downtown. Today (Sunday) was crazy crowded, so we’ll see what a weekday looks like. On corners throughout the city are colorful ninots, giant paper-mâché figures, some over 20 feet tall. They are placed all over town, like more portable Rose Bowl floats.

They are still under wraps, but they satirize political figures, soap opera stars, or more exotic creatures from the movies, You can be sure that Mr. Trump will be revealed in some of these art pieces. Some are grotesque, others playful, and all are larger than life and up for public scrutiny. Oh, and get this:

The night of March 18 they get torched in the streets. Holy crap! Anyone want to torch The Donald?

Sometimes you just luck out, and that is what happened here as we arrived just in time for this annual event. People come from all around the world to celebrate Las Fallas, so I’m glad to be here.

#valencia, #valenciaspain, #lasfallas, #ninotes, #thefires