In the Expósito-Micer Mascó falla house, next to the Mestalla field, they placed a plaque this year to commemorate that in 2023 they won the first falla prize in all categories. A feat that came to them with the falla that had the motto “Kromática” and thanks to the hands of the artist David Sánchez Llongo, with whom they repeat this year, longing to revalidate success. In its plaza this year there is also no shortage of striking colors that give life to the beautiful figure of a woman, the central finish of the “Sensitiva” falla. It costs 182,000 euros and could be the winner tonight, if the jury decides so.
And a lot is at stake this Saturday, the first big day of the Fallas, by the commissions that bet large budgets. Above all Convent Jerusalem-Matemático Marzal, one of the most centrally located because it is located next to the North station of Valencia, and the most expensive this year. His “Olimpia”, costing 245,000 euros, shows all the cards in a project signed by Pere Baenas, also co-architect of the municipal failure and who this year says goodbye to this square to get some oxygen.
The third in price is El Pilar, whose location in a hidden square in the Sant Francesc neighborhood always gives it an aura of magic. Much to his dismay, because he is a member of the commission, Paco Torres has created a monumental work called “Voodoo” that features sorcerers, magicians and incantations. A work worth 175,000 euros for a commission that has been aiming for first prize for several years.
And in the Campanar neighborhood, where this year there are so many open wounds, L’Antiga – as Monestir de Poblet-Aparicio Albiñana is known – opens the door to the artist Josué Beitia. A spectacular project, with two opposing finishes, that dialogues about climate change under the design of Carlos Benavent. With a budget of 170,000 euros, La Falla wants to once again savor the success of 2019, when they won first prize. Yesterday afternoon he already received the Ninot Indultat with the figure “Horchatería L’Antiga”, so his nerves will be on edge.
Of equal cost is the proposal of Na Jornada, emblematic falla del Carme. His “Memories of the Future” imagines in 1924 what the Fallas would be like a century later. With the artist Mario Gual, the falla seeks to improve its latest awards, also in Ingenio and Gracia, where they are especially strong.
In the Gran Vía neighborhood, visitors and tourists will discover at the top of the Almirante Cadarso-Conde Altea falla a soldier Charles Chaplin speaking, also like the municipal falla, about the war. “La raó de la desraó”, by Toni Pérez and José Luis Santes, reflects on conflicts and reaches our days riding a technological horse from which joy is not always expected. Its budget: 160,000 euros.
If Chaplin expects photographs, let him tell Frida Kalho, who stars in the Cuba-Literato Azorín monument, a falla located in the Russafa neighborhood, a common area of ??the Valencian nightlife. With “Quiéreme loca”, with a budget of 150,000 euros and signed by Vicente Martínez Aparici, the commission narrates the ideas of artists like Picasso, characters like Don Quixote or nobles like Juana La Loca.
And the failure of Sueca-Literato Azorín speaks of nobility, in the same neighborhood, and a few meters from the previous one, with whom it competes in the same category, with only 6,000 euros difference. The “Give me a like” of the falla, starring a duchess, talks about the demands of social networks, the tyranny of the image and influencer stardom. It is the work of Pedro Santaeulalia and design by Josete Santaeulalia.
Last but not least, Regne de València-Duc de Calàbria presents “The Regnepolitan Museum”, a work by Sergio Musoles with a design by Carlos Sanz at a cost of 96,000 euros that updates the history of art from the most fallacious satire.