We are in our most Valencian week, the one that owes its origin to the patron saint of carpenters and manual workers, Saint Joseph. Valencian carpenters used to burn leftover wood and old junk at the end of winter to clean their workshops and welcome spring. That gesture was more than just cleaning, it symbolized the transition from darkness to light, from cold to warmth. In other words, it was a way to close one chapter and make space for everything new that spring would bring.
Fire has always been a symbol of purification, and in Valencia, fire is the heart of the Fallas. However, let’s be realistic… The Fallas are fire, tradition, and art, but they also require environmental responsibility. In recent years, initiatives have been introduced to reduce pollution, such as the use of biodegradable materials. Even so, the Cremà concentrates, in just a few hours, pollution levels that far exceed recommended limits.
Lights everywhere, screens everywhere. Lights everywhere, screens everywhere. I remember last year, at an intersection, people were looking at their phones to watch another giant screen full of advertising, mixed in with fallas monuments. But is such an invasion of artificial light really necessary? The magic of a falla lies in its shape, colours, and detail, in the emotion it awakens when observed directly. Perhaps we could return to simply observing an artistic monument without so many distractions.
Moreover, the city overflows. Streets are saturated. Traffic collapses. Access becomes impossible. At certain times, more than a celebration, it feels like a battlefield.
And what about animals? Pets and urban wildlife become disoriented and frightened. Many hide or run away, and in some cases, they even suffer accidents due to panic. At what point did we let ourselves go like this?
My heart is divided. I no longer feel it as the festival of Valencians; I feel it as a depersonalized circus that retains little of its essence. Even so, I admit it, I was born in Valencian, there are still certain moments when the Fallas give me goosebumps.
Despite this world of excess in which we live, there is always space to reconnect with the roots, with the beginning… although less and less often.
