STORY: :: Big figures goal flood administration failures at Valencia’s annual Fallas pageant
:: March 16, 2025
:: Valencia, Spain
:: Maria Jesus Andres, Vice President, El Pilar Falla
“Fallas are about criticism and satire, however all the time with respect. They naturally must reference politics and present occasions, which is why they critique all the pieces we see as fallacious, however with a satirical perspective.”
Vacationers and locals visited the Fallas pageant held yearly within the Valencia area the place sculptures, a few of them satirical are scattered throughout town earlier than being set on fireplace.
The large figures, or “ninots”, which is the Valencian phrase for dolls, are sometimes constituted of wooden, plaster and paper mache over many months.
Valencia’s regional chief Carlos Mazon and Spain’s prime minister Pedro Sanchez have been among the many figures featured at this 12 months’s occasion.
This 12 months’s pageant has a cathartic side, coming after rain and flash floods prompted rivers to overflow in Valencia and different components of Spain killing greater than 200 individuals and destroying properties and property in October 2024.
The winner of this 12 months was a Fallera, a historically dressed Valencian girl, and employees lined in mud, referencing the affect of the storm.
