Fallas del Pirineo

We drank a beer but then our interest in La Pasarela wained and we went in search of the preparations for Tradicionales Falls de Sahunc. Wandering the tiny streets it was clear that someone is taking a lot of care over the restoration of the buildings and many are beautifully done with the stone walls either rebuilt or at least re-pointed.

I’m appreciative of this sort of building work but find it confusing when differing types of stonework and painting are employed. This happens just as much at home in the Peak District National Park. Some buildings have had rubble walls re-pointed, flush-style, where the mortar is scraped back and rubbed if needed to provide a flush joint. Others have been re-built in the coarsed style of some old buildings, with occasional large pieces of stone and much thinner pieces used to in-fill. Such care has been taken over the selection of these stone pieces that it almost looks artificial. Some are then flush pointed but others have the mortar joints raked back behind the stone surface to produce a quite severe look that I think is totally out of keeping with the style. Two hundred years ago the builders would never have bashed the stone about as much as it would have taken too long.

We saw that the youth of the village were beginning to gather, collecting their previously made Falles from wherever they had been stored and they were gathering on one of the main ‘streets’, close to what would be a fire used to light them.

Meanwhile we followed a relatively small group of people and walked a little way up to the outskirts of the village where we realised the main event would be held. Here 90% of the visitors were already assembled. This explained where all the people were. They hadn’t bothered to watch La Pasarela and were instead sitting on the steep grass hillside above and on chairs, around a wide flat area that almost resembled a bullring.

Here the local fire crew were in position with hoses ready and a small band were tuning up.
It was great to be able to sit on dry grass. There was no dew, yet it was almost dark. The band’s playing got more intense and then as darkness proper fell, the music changed to signify the first Falle and down the slope and into the ring ran a very young child, aged four maybe, with an adult helping. Between them they held the big stick, the bark well alight and proceeded to “twizzle” it around at shoulder height in a full circular motion horizontally around their bodies. The crowd cheered them on as bits of burning bark, thrown off by the motion of the stick, fell onto the ground and continued to burn.

A second child and adult joined and then a third until it was time for more to run in, now unaccompanied as they could be considered old enough. The timing of the entry was decided based on the number of “twisters” still in the ring and as one left, the flame having finally burnt out, a new carrier came in to a chorus of cheers and whistles.

It was now very dark and careful positioning ensured that even with four of five “twizzlers”, there was just enough room for them all to do the job. There was little separation between flaming falles and the heads of others. Meanwhile all the debris, still burning, built up on the ground. Every new person ran in with a bigger flame and twisted it with more gusto, so that flaming bark was scattered widely, sometimes into the crowd at the sides, whereby the Firemen would open a hosepipe and damp it down. Surprisingly no-one was hit by a twister, even at the end when the old hands, with plenty of muscle, took the twisting to new heights, going faster and faster, with the crowd cheering even more loudly.

Finally after maybe fifty Falles it was clear that it was over, at which time the old hands embraced each other and a short firework display then started on the hill above us. The bangs reverberated around the mountains just as a thunderclap. It was a sensational event.

Many of the crowd then dispersed and although we thought about sleeping in the parking field, some cars near us didn’t leave and we imagined that the owners were staying for the final event, that wasn’t scheduled to finish until the early hours. We therefore drove back to Benasque and to a “Park4nite” indicated spot, which was a car park being built specifically for Autocaravans in which to “overnight”.

We parked at the end, levelled the Landy with the ramps and climbed in the back. It’s all very slick. We are used to that now.