Fire of Spring

Fire. Purification. Sympathetic magic. To the ancient peoples of Europe, lighting a bonfire at certain times of the year was a way to burn out the evil spirits and call back the power of the sun to warm the earth and make crops grow. The most important bonfires were at Midsummer and Midwinter. But there were also bonfires at the equinoxes. The Guy Fawkes bonfires in Britain in November could well be the remainder of the fall equinox bonfire. And the Fallas in Valencia are probably the remains of the vernal equinox bonfires that used to stud the Mediterranean like so many stars.

There is really no way to know how far back the Falles have always been celebrated. But I think it's safe to assume that the origin of this celebration stretches back to the pagan celebration of spring and the rebirth of plants and trees. The earliest mention of it dates back to the Middle Ages, when carpenters used to burn leftover wood in the streets in front of their shops on the feast day of their patron saint, Saint Joseph, the 19th of March. It coincided with the beginning of spring. It simply kept growing, despite government prohibitions at times, until reaching the major festival it is now. Gradually, the ninots came into existence. They are sculptures of cork and papier maché that represent different things that happened during the year, mostly satirical. 

Each neighborhood has a casel faller. It's a committee that organizes people and work, and tries to bring a good artist to create the neighborhood ninots, generally a towering sculpture parodying a social or political event. This monument is called a falla, hence the name for the festival, Fallas. The word comes from the Latin facula, which means torch. Gradually the pure Latin of the Romans degenerated to the vernacular Latin, and the word changed to facla, and eventually dropped the c and became falla. Because the ultimate destination of all these works of art is the fire that still celebrates the return of spring. 

The festival of Fallas in Valencia is a week-long string of events, with plenty of fireworks each night, culminating in La Nit del Foc, on the evening of the penultimate day. Each day there is also the Mascletá, the lighting of firecrackers and fireworks every afternoon around two o'clock. And on the last night, the nineteenth, is La Cremà, when all the fallas are burned. First, firecrackers are set off on them, and then they burn. The fire fighters that night have their work cut out, keeping the surrounding buildings cool so that the fires of the enormous monuments don't damage them. 

The Valencian Community is the only region that still celebrates the spring equinox with fire. In many other parts of Spain, the main bonfire is the one at Saint John's Eve, at Midsummer. But they're simple bonfires, not at all like the Fallas, where the monuments that are burnt are satirical works of art. I've never been, but I can imagine the crowds. It's one of those festivals known outside Spain that attracts thousands, like the festival of San Fermín in Pamplona, or the Feria de Abril in Sevilla. Other towns in the Community also have their own Fallas, but they're all overshadowed by Valencia. 

There is something hypnotic about fire that has fascinated humans since the beginning of time. Jumping orange-red flames that consume their source, twisting and reaching up higher and higher to the stars. Undulating waves of heat that kept off the cold dark of the night, warming and lighting its surrounding area and everything in it. No wonder ancient humans once compared it to the sun, with its light and warmth, and used it to call back the sun when it had been gone too long. No matter how modern we become, there are things in nature we can never set aside or ignore. We are compelled to keep them in our lives and rituals, just like our ancestors.