the origin of the gandia fallas
This party is born within the neighborhood celebrations, groups of revelers appear who organize the party of the fallas in the style of the capital.
At the end of the XIX century Gandia was a small city that counted around 7000 inhabitants but with expectations of growth, thus it had the need to open the walls to be able to widen in addition it had obtained the concession of the port thanks to Rausell i Gutiérrez Mas 6 .
In Gandia the beginning of the Fallas festival is documented towards the end of the 19th century, specifically according to J.J. Coll there is a falla documented in a chronicle of the newspaper Las Provincias in 1876 of moral satire planted in the main square of the city 7. It is very probable that previously more monuments had already been planted without being reported in the newspapers.
The first falla of which we have evidence in Gandia was planted in 1876 in the main square of the city, it was dedicated to moral satire.
The fallas are a popular festival, neighborhood, in Gandia appear by the desire to imitate the capital where they already had a fundamental importance. It is true that the bourgeois ruling classes of the time were wary of this party that criticized and satirized in a scathing way the problems of the time and with them public figures that are part of them.
Groups of festeros organize the party of their streets planting fallas in the style of the capital, that makes their parties, are recognized and differentiated from the rest of the city. The most important festival of the city of Gandia was the one celebrated in early October, in it a whole series of comparsas, festive dances, joined to make a great parade that paraded amid the jubilation of the citizens. But the most heartfelt festivities for every citizen were those of their neighborhood, the mockery of the troupes, the costumes fit perfectly with the fault that gathered based on ninots all a satire explained by poems that were pasted along the street or on the corners.
The falla as an element of bonfire, fire and light, was already used by the gandienses before 1876, but the inclusion of the critical and satirical ninot is an invention of the popular classes of the city of Valencia and that Gandia will adopt looking at the capital.
Gandia was no exception in the use of fire as an ancestral custom commemorating dates that marked seasonal changes. These faults have very old written references relating to the Middle Ages.
As for the Josephine festivities, it is likely that given the great guild tradition that existed in Gandia, the carpenters wanted to celebrate their patron saint in the same way that was celebrated in Valencia and that had been so successful. In the press the devotion to the cult of St. Joseph is noted along with the custom of burning the classic falla (8) (bonfire of old junk).
The official festivities did not have a massive participation of the citizenship, the dominant bourgeoisie wanted to implement the July Fair as in Valencia, a party of good taste to the bourgeois measure, but the people enjoyed especially in their neighborhood festivals. Seeing the repercussions of the fallas in the capital city, and how well they adapted to the spirit of the neighborhood, it is not surprising that they had a great acceptance.
In 1885 there is evidence of another monument made for the inauguration of the bridge over the river Serpis that linked the railway line between Carcaixent-Gandia-Dénia. This one extolled progress in a patriotic way and was sponsored by the manager of the railway line.
A very important boost was given by the artists Josep Martínez and Francesc Sambonet, who came from the capital of Turia. On their arrival in Gandia, they opened a religious carpentry shop, known as “Els Doradors”, and promoted the custom of planting a falla on Saint Joseph’s Day.
In 1904 Martínez and Sambonet planted a falla that criticised the authorities for the poor functioning of the public lighting and drinking water, the relevant positions of the city took it as a discredit and the festival was repressed. In this early period, the falla depended on private initiative, and so discouragement spread among the local residents at the possibility of conflict with the authorities.
These first moments of the Fallas festival, as we have already mentioned, were part of the neighbourhood celebrations. The monument was erected on the eve of Saint Joseph’s Day and burnt the same night, either on the initiative of the neighbourhood (private or joint) or of a sponsor. There was no organisational structure as we understand the fallas in the city today.
It was not until 1927, when the intermittent movement of imitation of the festival became continuous and fully established in the city of Gandia with the birth of the first Fallas commission.
At a meeting of friends at the Sociedad de Fomento, after the press echoed the success of the fallas in the city of Valencia, the idea arose to continue with the festival that had not been celebrated for years in a more institutional way. With Antoni Viña and José Viña at the head, the idea was to reproduce the festival in the capital to give the city of Gandia a greater tourist attraction.
The first commission of the modern period was formed, presided by Antonio Viña Tarazona, in the passeig de Germanies i voltants. The neighbourhood, the local press and the Town Hall were involved. Here we can see how all the elements that make up the festival up to the present day are articulated. Without the involvement of all these agents we would not be able to understand the development of the Fallas phenomenon in the city of Gandia. The sketch was made and presented in the town hall with the theme of the orange business.
From this moment on, monuments were built every year, sometimes with more local repercussions, which meant more monuments, and sometimes with fewer. In 1929 five commissions were formed, while in 1933 only one falla was planted.
In order to revive the Fallas movement, the Fallas Committee was set up between 1934 and 1935. The Fallas committees had developed their activity within their neighbourhoods without any kind of coordination between them. The influence of Valencia, which organised the festival with its own committee, made Gandia see the need to organise the festival around a coordinating body.
In this way, for the first time in 1935 the ninot indultat was elected and in 1936 the fallera mayor of the city. We are in the framework of the Second Republic, the popular vote was the most accepted and this is how the contests were decided. It was the first and only time that the ninot indultat and the fallera mayor were chosen in this way.
The year 1946-1947 was momentous for the history of the faults in the city of Gandia.
The year 1936 was especially prolific in the Fallas festival in the city, new commissions were created and the general atmosphere of optimism made the festival very participative with different popular events. The integration of the festival into the social fabric of the city of Gandia had been more than achieved, at this time it was the festival that received the most attention from the citizens, all this was cut short with the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War that sadly destroyed the country.
The year 1936 was especially prolific in the Fallas festival in the city, new commissions were created and the general atmosphere of optimism made the festival very participative with different popular events. The integration of the festival into the social fabric of the city of Gandia had been more than achieved, at this time it was the festival that received the most attention from the citizens, all this was cut short with the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War that sadly destroyed the country.
After the civil conflict, a post-war falla was improvised in 1940, proof that the festival had become firmly rooted in the city. It was in the years 1942-1943 when the foundations of the Fallas reorganisation were laid again. Due to a lack of human and economic resources, the City Council asked the Fallas commissions to take charge of organising the programme of the festival. The power of Fallas’ organisation was demonstrated in the form of a colourful and brilliant programme of festivities.
The year 1946-1947 was transcendental for the history of the fallas in the city of Gandia. The monuments were planted annually but the enthusiasm was different and intermittent, due to the lack of joint organisation of the different commissions and the total dependence on the Town Hall. It was at this time that the Junta Local Fallera was created, a body that was responsible for regulating and managing the festival independently of any public body up to the present day. This cohesive body arose from within the commissions and demonstrated its capacity as an associative and executive element.