![\"17353125_1677501925599185_7919123378327932220_n\"](\"http:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2017\/03\/17353125_1677501925599185_7919123378327932220_n-450x253.jpg\")
<\/p>\nI still find it hard to believe that I have witnessed one of the biggest and most impressive festivals in Spain. Las Fallas de Valencia take place in the period 15th-19th March each year and this is a celebration you don’t want to miss. The preparations start very early on and during the official days of the festival there are all kinds of shows and events in many different parts of the city. The atmosphere is so unique that I can’t even begin to describe it in words…thousands of people in the centre, parades, music, fireworks and light shows every day. In the evenings there were “mobile”\/outdoor discos on basically every corner and each one had different type of music, so everyone could find something to suit their taste.<\/p>\n
Apart from all the fun and performances, Las Fallas is a time of the year filled with a lot of colour and beauty. Local people dress up in traditional costumes and walk through the streets of the city, followed by bands of musicians. My favourites are the little Falleras y Falleros, whom you can see on the picture:<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
And, of course, lets not forget about the impressive sculptures, called ninots, which are the symbol of the festival. They usually represent critics of current political affairs:<\/p>\n
![\"17264717_1679375562078488_5234543471165116294_n\"](\"http:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2017\/03\/17264717_1679375562078488_5234543471165116294_n-450x338.jpg\")
![\"17265228_1679375632078481_9176863115065803891_n\"](\"http:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2017\/03\/17265228_1679375632078481_9176863115065803891_n-338x450.jpg\")
![\"17265232_1679375885411789_6545425123668378882_n\"](\"http:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2017\/03\/17265232_1679375885411789_6545425123668378882_n-248x450.jpg\")
![\"17342856_1679375852078459_4185127415253944226_n\"](\"http:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2017\/03\/17342856_1679375852078459_4185127415253944226_n-248x450.jpg\")
![\"17342967_1679375662078478_8919036347147496525_n\"](\"http:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2017\/03\/17342967_1679375662078478_8919036347147496525_n-338x450.jpg\")
![\"17343017_1679375398745171_2195253320955457733_n\"](\"http:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2017\/03\/17343017_1679375398745171_2195253320955457733_n-248x450.jpg\")
![\"17342843_1677501898932521_7787051939035609313_n\"](\"http:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2017\/03\/17342843_1677501898932521_7787051939035609313_n-248x450.jpg\")
![\"17352100_1679375832078461_4759845292375717412_n\"](\"http:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2017\/03\/17352100_1679375832078461_4759845292375717412_n-450x338.jpg\")
![\"17352126_1679375482078496_8757508971361884256_n\"](\"http:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2017\/03\/17352126_1679375482078496_8757508971361884256_n-248x450.jpg\")
![\"17353386_1679375288745182_8200656865799985013_n\"](\"http:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2017\/03\/17353386_1679375288745182_8200656865799985013_n-338x450.jpg\")
![\"17353388_1677501905599187_2668466388447117204_n\"](\"http:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2017\/03\/17353388_1677501905599187_2668466388447117204_n-248x450.jpg\")
![\"17353662_1679375892078455_6469987637653398385_n\"](\"http:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2017\/03\/17353662_1679375892078455_6469987637653398385_n-450x253.jpg\")
![\"17361980_1679375738745137_608560767595958769_n\"](\"http:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2017\/03\/17361980_1679375738745137_608560767595958769_n-450x253.jpg\")
![\"17362014_1679375575411820_1920180839940097913_n\"](\"http:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2017\/03\/17362014_1679375575411820_1920180839940097913_n-338x450.jpg\")
![\"17362416_1679375808745130_4324532255976269432_n\"](\"http:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2017\/03\/17362416_1679375808745130_4324532255976269432_n-338x450.jpg\")
![\"17362595_1679375608745150_3095238073601886534_n\"](\"http:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2017\/03\/17362595_1679375608745150_3095238073601886534_n-338x450.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
The best part of Las Fallas for me was to see two of my best friends from the first semester again. During the day we enjoyed the decorations around Valencia, the historical city, the sun, the beach and in the night we joined other friends for street parties and to see the fireworks. As we were going out mainly with my Italian group of friends, we had the chance to learn some Italian as well as to have a lesson on the meanings of different gestures in their culture \ud83d\ude00<\/p>\n
![\"17353160_10212281484611315_6491715522785049496_n\"](\"http:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2017\/03\/17353160_10212281484611315_6491715522785049496_n-450x338.jpg\")
![\"17264504_1680331385316239_4806949514622569556_n\"](\"http:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2017\/03\/17264504_1680331385316239_4806949514622569556_n-450x450.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Although we are all really tired now, I have to say it has been my best weekend so far!!! Las Fallas is the time when you realise that Spanish people truly are the best at having fun (and pyrotechnics :D).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"I still find it hard to believe that I have witnessed one of the biggest and most impressive festivals in Spain. Las Fallas de Valencia take place in the period […]","protected":false},"author":1048,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[268],"tags":[42,249,90],"class_list":["post-1982","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-europe","tag-erasmus","tag-europe","tag-studying"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4QQbz-vY","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2008,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/lingomap-environment\/","url_meta":{"origin":1982,"position":0},"title":"LingoMap: Environment","author":"Simona Dundova","date":"March 27, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"In stead of talking only about environmental issues and how people in Spain treat them, in this blog post I have decided to demonstrate the relationship between this topic and the one about festivals and celebrations discussed previously. As I mentioned before, one of the biggest and most spectacular festivals\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "European Placements"","block_context":{"text":"European Placements","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/category\/europe\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"17353125_1677501925599185_7919123378327932220_n","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2017\/03\/17353125_1677501925599185_7919123378327932220_n-450x253.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3150,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/festivals-and-celebrations\/","url_meta":{"origin":1982,"position":1},"title":"Festivals and Celebrations","author":"Emily James","date":"April 5, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"When most people think of Spain, one of the first things that they think is that the spanish are either sleeping (una siesta), or partying (una fiesta), and to be honest, it\u2019s not too far from the truth! There are so many different festivals and celebrations that take place in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "European Placements"","block_context":{"text":"European Placements","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/category\/europe\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2018\/03\/Con-los-churros-450x338.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1829,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/lingomap-in-the-land-of-festivals\/","url_meta":{"origin":1982,"position":2},"title":"LingoMap: In The Land of Festivals","author":"Simona Dundova","date":"February 13, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Spain is in no doubt the country of festivals, parties and celebrations and the people here definitely know how to have fun! That is why I find it hard to summarise my knowledge on this topic and the great experiences I have had in one single blog post. However, I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "European Placements"","block_context":{"text":"European Placements","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/category\/europe\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"14522711_1478847442131302_4552362729741471017_n","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2017\/02\/14522711_1478847442131302_4552362729741471017_n-450x253.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3133,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/lingomap-blog-los-festivales-y-las-celebraciones-de-espana\/","url_meta":{"origin":1982,"position":3},"title":"LingoMap Blog: Los festivales y las celebraciones de Espa\u00f1a","author":"Lewis Hacker","date":"March 27, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a1Hola a todos! \u00bfQu\u00e9 tal? The theme of this month\u2019s blog is Spanish festivals and celebrations, and in this blog post I\u2019m going to talk about the two that I\u2019ve experienced since I\u2019ve arrived in Spain. Cuando llegu\u00e9 a Salamanca no hab\u00eda sido a un festival espa\u00f1ol, pero ahora he\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "European Placements"","block_context":{"text":"European Placements","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/category\/europe\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2018\/03\/Carnaval-del-Toro-450x281.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5997,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/how-my-year-abroad-helped-my-career\/","url_meta":{"origin":1982,"position":4},"title":"How my year abroad helped my career","author":"Global Opportunities Globetrotters","date":"June 6, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Name: Garin Chapman (BSc 2020) Degree subject and school: Business Management with a European Language (Spanish), Cardiff Business School \/ School of Modern Languages Global Opportunity: Year of Study Abroad - Spain \u00a0 Tell us about your Global Opportunity: where did you go and what did it involve? As part\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "European Placements"","block_context":{"text":"European Placements","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/category\/europe\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2025\/06\/IMG-20221209-WA0011.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2025\/06\/IMG-20221209-WA0011.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2025\/06\/IMG-20221209-WA0011.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2025\/06\/IMG-20221209-WA0011.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2239,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/nextsteps\/","url_meta":{"origin":1982,"position":5},"title":"So, what’s next?","author":"Liam Barrett","date":"June 22, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"And we\u2019re done! 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