Valencia Fallas 2012 Effigy of Elvis Presley
Valencia Fallas 2012 – On Monday we took a coach trip to see the final evening of the Fallas celebrations in Valencia. We picked up in various places along the way ending in Gran Alacant which was the final pick-up. We then headed along the Costa Blanca coast passing the airport and going up the A31 past many of the old historic towns with castles such as Novelda, Sax, Petrer and Villena, then cutting through to the Font de la Figuera (Spring of the Fig Picker), and picking up the A35 past Moixent, Montesa, L’Alcudia de Crispins and Xativa before reaching Valencia, for us a journey of 4 hours (we got on at Cabo Roig).
While there are many different celebrations in the Fallas, the star of the show is the building of giant effigies which are burnt on the final night together with a massive firework display. Some of the effigies are huge (up to 20 metres high) and make fun of famous people mostly Spanish, though one of the best this year featured Elvis Presley with a number of other famous pop stars such as Jimi Hendrix, John Lennon, Freddie Mercury etc. I must say the giants are amazing an it seems a shame to burn them though they do hand out some smaller sections of the figures to local children.
There was some concern over the weather on the day as rain was expected and in the event the celebrations went on in fine weather (though a bit chilly) and it actually started to rain as we got back on the coach for the journey home (and on through the night, some 6 inches of rain in all!).
We really enjoyed the whole event and the burnings are amazing, if rather smelly and dangerous, with burning pices of polystyrene flying everywhere, the fireworks were excellent, the display of flowers was amazing.
Learn lots more about Valencia here: http://www.needahandspanishproperties.com/valencia.html