Surely, if I ask you to think of a ‘cremà,’ your mind will immediately travel to Calle Colón in Valencia or the Plaza del Ayuntamiento. That’s only natural. But what not everyone knows is that you don’t have to cross the Ebro to smell gunpowder and watch as fire devours papier-mâché monuments. Just a short train ride from Sants, the city of Gavà keeps alive a tradition that makes it a unique exception on the national festival map: it is the only municipality on the entire peninsula, outside the Valencian Community, that officially erects and burns fallas.
This phenomenon is neither a coincidence nor a modern whim. It all began in 1981, when the Casa de València in Gavà decided that homesickness was best cured with a good mascletá. Since then, the festival has grown to the point that UNESCO recognizes these celebrations as part of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. In 2026, the city will not only celebrate its 36th Fallas anniversary, but it will also mark the 26th anniversary of its Moors and Christians parade, creating a blend of popular culture rarely seen elsewhere in Catalonia.
An even earlier plantà and the debut of the young artists
The big news this year is that the ritual begins earlier than usual. On Thursday, April 16, Jaume Balmes Square will already see the main monument take shape with the ‘Plantà.’ This is the moment when the ingenuity of the fallero masters—who often bring the pieces directly from Valencian workshops—faces the judgment of the locals. But the true crown jewel arrives on Friday with the children’s falla.
For the first time, this monument isn’t coming from outside the city; instead, it’s a collective effort involving students from Gavà’s schools and high schools, such as Sant Pere, l’Eramprunyà, and El Calamot. It’s the city’s way of ensuring there will be a new generation to carry on the tradition for decades to come. That same Friday afternoon, the ‘Cridà’ will mark the official start of a few days when noise and color will flood everything.
Moors, Christians, and the Final Explosion
If Friday is the day of excitement, Saturday is the day of the epic. Starting at 6:30 p.m., the downtown streets will fill with djellabas, armor, and Moorish processions during the Moors and Christians parade, a spectacle that ends right at Jaume Balmes to make way for a nighttime mascletá at 9:00 p.m. It’s the perfect prelude to an open-air festival that usually goes on until you can’t take it anymore.
Sunday, April 19, is a day of contrasts. The morning begins with the solemnity of the offering to the Mare de Déu dels Desemparats, which this year moves its mass directly to the square so that no one misses a detail, and coexists with the joy of the sardanas and the regional houses.
It’s that blend of local and foreign elements that makes the Fallas of Gavà unique: you can watch a dance of the bastons and, shortly after, get swept up in the ‘cremà’ that, at 9:00 p.m., will reduce the monuments to ashes to bring the festival to a close. If you’re looking for something different without leaving the metropolitan area, you know where to find the spark.
