The Health Councillor, Ana Barceló, confirmed that the Fallas could be held from September onwards. However, it will not be a regular festival, but rather a Covid Fallas, with limitations and measures. In the case of Valencia, the Junta Central Fallera is in favour of organising it from the 1st to 5 September.
The choice of September is no coincidence; it is when they think that herd immunity can be achieved. The president of the Generalitat, Ximo Puig, said so yesterday. “The vaccination process is designed so that in September 70% of the population will be vaccinated so that that herd immunity can be achieved and in these conditions, we can celebrate Fallas, which will never be the ones we know”. He stressed that “it will always be based on health and safety criteria”.
After the meeting, councillor Carlos Galiana explained that “in Valencia, the children’s plantà will take place on the night of 31 August and the festivities from 1 to 5 September if the presidents, who are the sovereigns, ratify it”.
In the case of the 108 municipalities in the Comunitat where fallas are planted, the situation could be very different since, as the spokesman for the Juntas Locales, Salvador Doménech, explained, “Health has said that it can be held from 1 September until 31 December”. Nevertheless, it should not be forgotten that there are juntas (boards) such as those of Sagunto, Gandia, Onil, Pego and Burriana that had planned to organise it in July, but “we will have to look at another date or go to 2022”. And is that, for example, Burriana from 5 to 12 September organizes the festival of Misericordia.
The president of the Federación de Especial, Rafa Mengó, explained that it will be “the best Fallas, without a doubt. The dates are the ones that sanitarily will give permission for group immunity and why would we say no. We will go ahead, they will be very safe festivities and we will be able to celebrate them in a very safe way. Go ahead; it will be a very safe and dignified festival”.
Primera A president, Francisco Romero, said that “the important thing is to have a date and follow a roadmap. We are going to support it, and I hope the presidents do too. July was a dream, but reality is stubborn and if there are more people vaccinated, there will be more security.
