Each Fallas in the city of Valencia spends an average of 638.13 euros each year on the festival, according to the first Report on the Economic Impact of the Fallas 2023 prepared by the Chair of Sustainable Economic Model of Valencia and Environment (MesVal), of the City Council and the University of Valencia.
With these data, the total global expenditure per family on the Fallas festival increases to 1,760.84 euros per year and shoots up to 11,488.21 euros if, in the family, there are major falleras, presidents or members of the Cortes de honor.
The study has been carried out based on 800 face-to-face surveys carried out in the districts of Ciutat Vella, l’Eixample and Extramurs, online surveys carried out with 11,376 falleros and 3,611 fallera families and 76 online surveys with fallera commissions registered in the city of València . All questionnaires have been done throughout 2023.
The survey also details where the majority of expenses go and establishes that 58% goes to Valencian clothing; 12% to bars and restaurants; 7% for lottery purchases; 4% to accommodation; 3% to the beauty section and another 3% to the purchase of blouses, parkas and other complementary textile elements.
If the family has honorary members, 43% is allocated to the purchase or making of Valencian clothing; 20% for the acquisition of private clothing; 10% for food and drink intended for gifts and entertainment; 5% to protocol gifts; 3% to bars and restaurants and another 3% to photographs.
The city’s Fallas commissions have an annual budget of 120,432 euros on average. The main annual expenses of the commissions are the falla (28%), food and drink (16%), the house (14%), the different activities (14%), the rental of personal property (8%) and and, at a greater distance, the rental of real estate, flowers, printing, protocol or transportation.
The Valencia City Council has spent 906,217.32 euros on this year’s Fallas, to which must be added 3,541,767.92 euros in subsidies and 3,029,469.05 euros in complementary expenses such as firefighters, cleaning or subsidies to traditional sectors, among others.
Visit València also allocated an expenditure of 38,993.43 euros to this year’s Fallas while the Central Fallera Board dedicated another 3,583,415.47 euros.
The tourists who visit the city each year in Fallas are mainly Valencian, meaning from other provinces. Thus, in the 2019 Fallas, 58% of the tourists who came to Valencia to see the Fallas were Valencians and 31% were Spanish tourists, while the rest were foreign tourists. In the Fallas of 2022, after the pandemic, foreign tourists were already 14%, 27% were Spanish and the remaining 59% came from a municipality in the province of Valencia.
The average stay of tourists in the city varies depending on their origin. Thus, international tourists are the ones who spend the most days in the city (4.8 days on average) and the ones who spend the most money (478 euros of average expenditure of the total number of days). The national tourist is in Valencia for a total of 3.7 days and spends 241 euros. The Valencian tourist stays for 3.5 days and spends 159 euros, while the city’s resident spends about 126 euros in Fallas.
Accommodation is the main expense of visitors, followed by restaurants, shopping, day and night entertainment and transportation.
