La Mascleta

Have you ever felt as if your head were going to both implode and explode as your body quickly disintegrated into a million pieces? That is the closest description I can give to explain how I felt during today’s mascleta at Ayuntamiento Plaza. It was an experience I will never forget and one I will never experience again. Once is enough – for the sake of my sanity and my hearing. I still feel like my head and insides are a jumbled mess. Is it possible to physically dislocate the inside of your body?

Our journey to mascleta at City Hall began on Monday when John mentioned that there was a possibility that we could experience the mascleta up close and personal. One of John’s colleagues (Pepe) at the university has a connection at City Hall and was applying for tickets for us. The applications were approved and today, after we (“the distinguished professor from Illinois and his family” – apparently, these our application titles) met up with Pepe, Jordi (John’s host at the university) and his wife, and another visiting professor (“the distinguished foreign dignitary from Cuba” – another application title) at the train station around 1 PM, we all made the short walk to City Hall where would be experiencing the mascleta from the rooftop of the building.

Already, part of the road leading to City Hall was closed to traffic. Crowds (by the end maybe there were thousands?) had begun to gather and stake their “coveted” places around the square and you could feel the sense of anticipation. Everyone in the area was there for one reason alone – to view and hear the mascleta. As we made our way to the back entrance of City Hall, we happened to see a convoy of cars. It turned out to be the falleras, the Fallas queens (both the grown-up and the child ones) and their courts. So we stopped to watch and one car stopped right in front of us. Inside the car was the Infantil Fallera Major (the child Fallas queen), Maria. Miia was beside herself as Maria smiled and waved at us, especially at Miia. To a 5 year old going through a princess phase, nothing could be better. The Fallas queens are dressed in beautifully made, elaborate, poufy dresses and their hairdos must have been an inspiration for Princess Leia’s cinnabuns in Star Wars. Pepe tried to ask her bodyguard/driver if she could pose for a picture with the visiting professor and his family all the way from America, but to no avail. I didn’t expect that she could come out of the car for a photo opportunity. One photo taking would unleash the crowd upon the poor girl. But I’ve learned that for the Spanish, it never hurts to ask. You never know what will happen.

We left the convoy and made our way to the City Hall entrance. There by the door were two more falleras. This time, we were able to have our pictures taken with them. Again, this was a highlight for Miia. To her, they are real princesses. After the photos and navigating the mini-security inside, our Spanish hosts took the stairs as we crammed into the elevator with our buggy and at least 6 other people. Once on the rooftop, Jordi led us to a space toward the front. “This is the best spot. We will be right in front of the last part of the mascleta.” From viewing the mascleta on the television, I knew he was talking about the moment where half of the Square’s mascleta go off simultaneously for about a minute or so. But who knew how loud it could possibly get? That’s not something you can sense from the televised mascleta.

With 30 minutes left, I had time to take some photos from the roof. I tried to get a picture of the square all set up with its mascleta and other gunpowder tubes. But there was a safety fence around the perimeter that blocked my ability to get one of the whole square. I also had time to scope out a “safe” place – one where I could move to if the sounds and smoke overwhelmed Miia and me. John already found a place farther on the roof to watch and listen (mostly listen) with Analea. With 10 minutes left, the pyrotechnics set off one giant booming firecracker. With 5 minutes, another one goes off. And then, the two Fallera Majors announce the beginning of the mascleta and the madness begins.
The booms and firecrackers start off innocently enough, though they are loud. Then the rhythms begin to change and grow. As each minute passes, the booms get stronger and the earth seems like it’s beginning to vibrate from the booms. Then everything changes as sounds, smoke and vibrations just collide and you have the feeling that you’re being enveloped by it all. There’s so much going on and it’s so loud, you don’t know whether you should laugh or cry. It’s a sonic and mental overload. Then the moment where Antonio warned us that it would feel like you are going to explode happened. I had the video camera rolling and it just started to freak out as if the screen were having an epileptic fit. In one loud and insanely choreographed symphony of explosions, the firecrackers and tubes on the last half of the square started exploding all together. I think there was some kind of pattern but it was so loud you couldn’t hear anything. And more than the sounds, the vibrations from all the booms just made me feel like I too was booming. I was holding Miia and noticed that she was keeping her mouth open and yelling or laughing. I couldn’t tell. More than one person told us that we should keep our mouths open during “the moment” to let the sound pass through us – that this would work to protect our ears. I guess it worked. At some point during this madness, I looked around and saw others with their mouths open, covering their ears. I was reminded of the Edvard Munsch painting, “The Scream.” Perhaps, he was witnessing a mascleta!

This sonic overload went on for a minute or so to close the mascleta which lasted about 10 minutes. In the end, all I could do was breathe and laugh with the others around us. Maybe we were laughing because we all had gone a little crazy or maybe it was the only thing our brains could think to do. Analea and Miia survived the booms – the wind luckily was not blowing our way so the smoke and ash didn’t cover us. Apparently, Analea enjoyed the show and spent the whole time with her mouth open, pointing at the fireworks going off in the sky.

The view from the roof was incredible. We could see the crowds below us. As soon as the mascleta was over, the masses below us began to move. The show was over; time to move on. We could also see the City Hall’s Fallas monument (based on Bioparc, Valencia’s zoo) and all the ninots already attached to it and those waiting to be attached. We were able to take some pictures before the police asked us to make our way downstairs. Once there, we were able to gather in a center, inner court of the building for awhile where there’s a beautiful stained glass ceiling. Then suddenly, the falleras started appearing. Apparently, we were in a main gathering place for all of them. Again, more pictures with falleras who also were taking photos. Another moment of bliss for Miia.

And then our mascleta experience was over. We all exited City Hall and went our separate ways. Our hosts to the metro while the “distinguished professor from Illinois and his family” headed to lunch and then Miia’s school…while following a fallera court member on the way there.