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IN PICS: Red hot satire at Las Fallas fiesta in Valencia

The Local Spain
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IN PICS: Red hot satire at Las Fallas fiesta in Valencia
Four ninots depicting (L to R) dictators Francisco Franco, Joseph Stalin and Adolf Hitler, and US president Donald Trump, all naked. All photos: AFP

A naked Donald Trump stands alongside figures of Hitler, Stalin and Francisco Franco: This can only be the satirical world of Valencia's Las Fallas festival.

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Las Fallas is celebrated each March in Spain's eastern city of Valencia with a week-long fiesta honoring Saint Joseph, the patron saint of the carpenter's guild.

The festival, which dates back to the 18th century, is marked with the construction of hundreds of giant wooden, cardboard, or papier-mâché sculptures, known as ninots.

These figurines are often satirical in nature and send up the politicians of the day.

Each afternoon during the fiesta, at 2pm, an ear-shattering display of colourful firecrackers are set off followed by parades and traditional dancing in the street

On March 19th, the final day of the fiesta, huge bonfires are built and the ninots are burned while the city sky is filled with fireworks.

The fiesta attracts an estimated 1.5 million people to celebrate in Spain's third largest city.

In 2016, UNESCO recognised Las Fallas for its “intangible cultural heritage” status.

Some of the world’s most important political figures make an appearance at the Fallas festival, but at the end of the four day festivities, the satirical effigies of Spanish politicians, members of the Royal family and late dictator Francisco Franco, as well as Donald Trump,  to name a few, are all set on fire.

Didn’t make it out to Valencia this year? Take a look at the highlights of the celebration below, and make sure to add this surreal festival to your bucket list:


People gather around a 'falla' to watch the traditional 'Mascleta' (firecrackers show) during the Fallas festival in Valencia on March 16, 2019. 


A ninot depicting Spanish prime minister Pedro Sanchez flying in the Falcon presidential plane is pictured in the "Antiguo Reino" falla during the Fallas festival.


A ninot depicting a gorilla with the face of US president Donald Trump


Ninots depicting Spanish former queen and king, Sofia (L) and Juan Carlos I, are pictured in a falla, 


Three 'ninots' depicting dictators Joseph Stalin (L), Adolf Hitler (C) and Augusto Pinochet 


A woman watches two ninots depicting Spanish prime minister Pedro Sanchez (L) as a prince who tries to wake up a Sleeping Beauty thatt turns up to be Spanish dictator Francisco Franco.


Brexit also got a menton, alongside deposed president in exile, Carles Puigdemont. 

Pablo Iglesias. leader of Podemos depicted as a bathing Roman alongside PM Pedro Sanchez

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A ninot depicting jailed Catalan independence leader Oriol Junqueras will also be set on fire at the end of the fiesta. 

READ ALSO: Twelve epic festivals in Spain to attend in 2019

 

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