Spain's Fallas festival declared UNESCO cultural heritage

The Fallas festival in the Spanish city of Valencia was declared Intangible Cultural Heritage of the Human Race by UNESCO on Wednesday.

UNESCO cites the week-long festival held March 14-19 as an "opportunity for collective creativity and the safeguarding of traditional arts and crafts."

The festival revolves around firework displays and seeing neighborhoods compete to build gigantic temporary statues, known as Ninots, usually with satirical messages, before they are all consumed by fire on the last day of the celebration.

The festival also includes music, literary competitions and cultural events, while locals erect stands with food and drinks on many streets of the city.

"It is also a source of community pride, contributor to cultural identity and enhances social cohesion. In the past, the festivity was also a way of preserving the Valencian language when it was prohibited," explains the UNESCO website.

The Fallas dates back to the Middle Ages when local artisans burned broken artifacts and pieces of wood to celebrate the spring equinox and has developed over time into today's complex fiestas which contain human elements, such as the morning wake-up with fireworks, the midday "mascleta" firework display and the statues of Ninots.

The Fallas was proposed as the Spanish candidate for Intangible Cultural Heritage a year ago, with the candidacy not only referring to the Fallas in Valencia itself, but also to all of the towns and villages where the celebrations are held in the Autonomous Community of Valencia.

UNESCO describes the Intangible Cultural Heritage as "not limited to monuments and collections of objects," but also "traditions and living expressions inherited from our ancestors and passed on to us." Endi