If you have never seen a Falla being erected or being burnt, it is something that is well worth seeing. A year's work for 5 days of glory and then it all goes up in flames.
In translation, la plantà means something like “finishing touches”. It is actually the moment when the Falla’s top part is finally put in place. Since the Fallas are higher and more spectacular every year, the positioning of these pieces has become a difficult task which may take several days and which is observed with great expectation by dozens of onlookers.
Over time, the expression has become generalised: the “plantà” is now taken to be the exact moment when the Falla is completely finished and ready to be visited, with all its “ninots”, posters and various details (grass, lights, explanatory signs, etc.)
This takes place on the night of March 15th. You can see the video of the ‘Plantá’ of this year’s First Prize Winner below: Falla Convento Jerusalén
In contrast to the Plantà, which marks the proper start of the Fallas Festival, the Cremà marks its finish.
It is probably the most popular event internationally and the one that gives the concept of “Fallas Fiesta” its full meaning: the monuments are exhibited in the street to be burnt. That is their fate and, at the same time, their grandeur.
In the small hours between the 19th and 20th of March, enormous pyres burn around the whole city. The splendid monuments, which a few hours before stood proudly in the streets and squares, are reduced to ashes amidst the clamour of hundreds of people who attend the ritual every year.
Symbolically, the “Falleros” throw everything that is considered to be superfluous, harmful or simply unusable onto the bonfire and, by doing so, aim to make a new start and regenerate the spirit. This objective has always been the basis of this kind of pagan rite, since ancient times. Below you can see the burning of this year’s First Prize Winning Falla: Falla Convento Jerusalén
Planta Convento Jerusalén - How a Falla is erected
The Burning of the Falla Convento Jerusalén - Part 1 & 2