Burning Midnight Foam

By Megan
Nothing starts a day off quite like a cafe americano (one of the many styles of coffee found across Spain) and pan con tomate (the sadly misunderstood catalan food of favor created by smothering tomato, olive oil, and salt on bread) before a bus ride to visit Valencia to witness of the most bizarre and dream-like celebrations ever conjured.

Photo by Amy John

'Las Fallas' (a word used both to describe the festival and the sculptures) is a week long celebration in honor of Sant Josep (Saint Joseph) wherein teams create large-scale sculptures out of styrofoam.
The creations often depict political or other local events of the past year, or sometimes simply reflect the artist's fantastic sense of humor. The amount of detail put into the cartoonish pieces is stunning with no corner sparred of color or thought, and yet, is baffling as all of the works are eventually burned to a crisp in the streets of the city before the festival week is through. Oh, and they are all constructed overnight on the first day of the festival.
This entire trip felt a bit ludicrous, especially our 5 am bus ride back to Barcelona.  I mean, the entire point of the festival is creating massive foam structures and burning them to the ground.  After the uneventful bus trip to the city, we- my two brave friends and I- spent several hours wondering the streets in search of the fallas that had yet to be set aflame, before splitting a seafood paella made on a street cart near the market.

"The Big Enchilada"- Photo by Amy John

A few more hours of sitting in parks and exploring the sites of the city and we were exhausted- the main event was scheduled for mid-night.  We took a coffee break and suddenly we found ourselves in the middle of a pyrotechnic parade- another Spanish favorite. Drums pounding, feet dancing, and fireworks shooting into the crowd, I began to look forward to the main event of the evening; the burning of the largest, most detailed falla of the entire festival.
Around 11pm, sore feet and all, the three of us packed into the main plaza, along with the enormous crowd of rowdy teenagers and grandparents alike, excitedly waiting for the main event. Over an hour later, music blared, the crowd roared with anticipation, and fireworks shot out of the giant genie before it burst into flames. The intense heat waved down over the mass and faces laughed with delight, while flakes of mystery fluff rained from the sky. It took the entire, several story falla less than ten minutes flat to burn to the ground. Styrofoam, while not very environmentally friendly, sure burns quickly.

Before...   Photo by Amy John

After... Photo by Amy John

The rest of the evening was spent walking to the beach, giddy with energy from the night's unimaginable events. It is clearly a game to create something so extravagant, overnight, knowing that it's purpose is to be admired for the  impermanence of the structure.
A falla is designed to be destroyed. There is a playful passion that clearly exists in this celebration that makes one stop and think about the events of the past year, whether political or otherwise. But, the overall message is clear; learn and reflect on the past, but accept the future and it's new, fresh experiences. So, while on the crowded 5am bus back to Barcelona, I started mapping out my next journey while my seat partners attempted to sleep.
Next week: One Beautiful Series of Mistakes- An accidental visit to Pobla Segur via Lleida