València (EFE).- Valencia has welcomed the Fallas 2023 this Wednesday, the first without any type of restriction after the pandemic, with the firing of the first mascletà of the official cycle in the crowded Plaza del Ayuntamiento, a show in the which has opted for a traditional style.
As every March 1 for 28 years, the Peñarroja pyrotechnics has been in charge of opening the mascletaes in the Plaza del Ayuntamiento, with a shot in which it has used a total of 120 kilos of gunpowder and which has filled it with rhythm and sound. the whole city.
A square up to the flag and under a blue sky has enthusiastically received this show, which started at 2:00 p.m. but with a brief delay, as a fault in the microphone prevented the older fallera from pronouncing the classic phrase: “Senyor priotècnic, to start the mascletà!” (Sir pyrotechnician, you can start the mascletà!). The technical failure has been resolved in a matter of a minute and the show has been able to start without further problems.
A classic Mascletan
Pepe Nebot Peñarroja, designer of the show, wanted to shoot a classic mascletà, because, after more than 30 years coming to these festivities, he says that he already knows what Valencians like and he did not want to risk it, calling it “special ” the shot after completion.
The show, which has been dedicated to all the popular festivities in the Valencian Community and to the people who enjoy and carry them out, began with three announcements and a dribble of thunder from the air.
It has continued with three aerial phases and six ground retentions with aerial accompaniment, which have been followed by a ground earthquake with air bombardment with streamers, casings, volcanoes, discharges and thunder casings, which have given way to an ending with a closed blow and volcano. of cicadas.
Among the people invited to the main balcony of the City Hall to see this first mascletà were the Minister of Economy, Rafael Climent; the first vice-president of the Mesa de Les Corts, María José Salvador, and the LGBTI+ activist Carla Antonelli.
The first Unrestricted Fallas
The Fallas of 2023 will be the first without any kind of restriction after the coronavirus pandemic, which forced the suspension of the 2020 festivities, to modify the date of those of 2021, which were held in September, and to still celebrate the Fallas with protection measures. of 2022.
The end of all the anti-covid measures and the fact that the five big days end on the weekend suggest that these festivities will be massive, and a massive arrival of visitors from Madrid is also expected, as it is a holiday in their community on Monday the 20th.
In fact, hotel occupancy for the city and metropolitan area is already at 80% of consolidated reservations for the week of March 13 to 19, while the occupancy peaks for the weekend of March 17 to 19 rise to 90-95%, according to the hotel management Hosbec.
More falleros and falleras
In addition to returning to the pre-pandemic situation, the Fallas 2023 have also recovered the fallero census, which as of March 1 stands at 103,317 falleros and falleras, of whom three quarters are adults (78,456) and one quarter are boys and girls (24,861).
Women account for 55.93% of the census, with a total of 57,787 falleras (33,917 adults and 13,248 girls), while men are 45,530 (33,917 adults and 11,613 children).
This Fallas census is not only higher than the one in the pandemic (88,685 people in March 2021), but it is also higher than the census of previous years, when it ranged from 94,136 in 2017 to 99,756 just before the pandemic.
More Cleaning Resources
This year, the Valencia City Council will allocate 1.94 million (12% more than in 2022) to cleaning and collecting waste during these holidays, the highest economic item in its history, and will carry out an environmental education campaign in the matches, with workshops, contests, the preparation of a guide and the distribution of 100,000 reusable cups.
The cleaning collection and waste management campaign will allocate a minimum of 226 additional workers this year to the ordinary operation, with an exceptional increase for the night of La Cremà, in which 1,193 more people will work to clean the city .
Manual sweeping, technical sweeping and street washing will also be reinforced, and specific reinforcements are planned at times of mass activities.
Thus, the Plaza del Ayuntamiento will have a special reinforcement at the time of the mascletà, as well as in the area where the fireworks are scheduled to go off and, especially, the Nit del Foc, which this year will be held for first time in the area near the City of Arts and Sciences.
Also the Fallas concerts, which this year return to the Alameda, will have a special cleaning service and, likewise, there will be a device for cleaning areas of nighttime festivals.
As every year, the waste collection containers will be relocated and moved close to areas of great falla activity. Specifically, 2,387 containers will be relocated, 126 will be removed and 189 ash containers will be installed; 315 urinals and portable toilets will also be installed at 75 points in the city.
