Bangs and Crackers

 

This is the mascleta, possibly the most nuts thing you will ever see in your life.  Imagine Trafalgar Square, with a metal cage in the middle of it that fills about half the square.  Now fill that metal cage with about 10,000 firecrackers, the really loud kind, all attached together by a string lit by taper.  Imagine the roads being closed about an hour before around the square and then by 2pm, mass crowds gather and before you know it, it goes off.  The bangs are so loud the ground is vibrating, your heart is pounding and the smoke fills the air so it's quite overwhelming.  That, my friends, is the mascleta.

This is all part of the Fallas celebrations from 1- 19 March in Valencia to celebrate Spring.  Here's a link to the full video if you want to know more.  https://youtu.be/9ldIgZOUZuk

Two things have struck me as absolutely bonkers:

1.  That kids let off fireworks in the street day and night.  I've just about stopped jumping every time one goes off, but we've noticed that some kids come into school with burns on their hands.  We're not talking fun snaps, but proper bangers and crackers.  

Yesterday at the Palau de las Artes, we watched a 6 year old letting off fireworks and going back and looking at them - can you imagine that in the UK?  It's totally bonkers.  If I was in London and heard the bangs I hear here, I would be running for cover.

2.  The second thing that has struck me more is that only a few thousand miles away from here, people are hearing explosions and ducking, running for their lives in Ukraine.  I don't have the words to express my sorrow.  My heart goes out to them and I know when I return to the UK that I will volunteer in some way to help them.