Valencia prepares for festival climax

Holidaymakers staying in Valencia will be gearing up for the dramatic end of the city's Las Fallas celebration on Monday night.

The vibrant festival is an essential part of holidays in Spain for many travellers and is held in honour of St Joseph every year.



Kicking off on March 15th, the festival sees more than 370 wooden and papier mache creations, known as Fallas and often satirising political figures and celebrities, paraded through the cities.

Townspeople put great effort into making their colourful creations, which often reach 20 metres tall.

The celebrations go on for five days, including bullfights, spectacular fireworks displays both during the day and the night, and plenty of feasting and merriment.

Local women and girls dress up in traditional Fallas costumes, a kind of lavish and highly-ornamented 18th century-style dress, and parade through the streets, with a Fallas Queen chosen to reign until the next year. Meanwhile, thousands of bouquets of flowers are given as an offering to the patron saint of Valencia, Our Lady of the Forsaken.

On the night of March 19th, St Joseph's Day, the celebrations are brought to a climax with the burning of all but one of the Fallas creations in a giant bonfire, along with a dramatic fireworks display.

Brit travellers head to Spain

Spain holidays are set to be a hit this May bank holiday weekend, with more Britons set to head off to the sunny Mediterranean country than any other holiday destination.

This is according to the Association of British Travel Agents (Abta), which estimates that 1.9 million UK holidaymakers are set to leave the country over the holiday period.

Abta said that after holidays in Spain, breaks to the Canary Islands and holidays in the Balearic islands, such as Ibiza have proved the most popular, with temperatures likely to be in the 20s, with lots of sunshine.

In addition, holidays in Italy and Croatia - which offer good food and architecture - have been top sellers, according to the association, while Egyptian holidays and Greek holidays have been popular too.

Justin Fleming, Abta President, said: "May is one of the nicest times of year to travel with cheaper prices and bearable temperatures, but bank holidays are always busy, so check the travel news for your destination."

The organisation predicts that record numbers are set to fly out from the UK, with 400,000 set to leave from London Heathrow and 240,000 from London Gatwick.

Among the attractions for those on holiday in Spain will be the Louis Vuitton sailing cup, taking place in Valencia between April 16th and June 12th 2007.

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