Festivals

In Valencia, the Las Fallas fiestas begin March 1 and reach a climax between March 15 and March 19, El Día de San José (St. Joseph's Day), Father's Day in Spain. Las Fallas originated from St. Joseph's role as patron saint of carpenters; in medieval times, carpenters' guilds celebrated the arrival of spring by cleaning out their shops and making bonfires with scraps of wood. These days it's a 19-day celebration ending with fireworks, floats, carnival processions, and bullfights. On March 19, huge sculptures known as Fallas, effigies of political figures and other personalities, the result of a year's work, are torched to end the fiestas.