Hogueras are these very artfully sculpted and colorfully ordained displays depicting characters from Spanish, or Alicantan culture. During the celebration of the patron saint San Juan, these scenes, which stand as tall as traffic lights, are positioned in central plazas and intersections.

Everyday at 2:00PM Alicantans leave their jobs, or more likely, beds, to gather around the hogueras and hear fireworks. The fireworks are launched just higher than the plaster portraits so that the crack of the explosions can travel farther into the corridors of the city. More and more fireworks are lit, not to be seen, but to be heard and felt, until the pace almost synchronizes with the rapid heartrates of the audience. Most of the explosions are about as loud as M-80s.

Each hoguera, crafted by artists called falleros, is designed around a theme. The one that I photographed today was a political / media satire depicting figures from Aznar to pop artists to famous widowers. The exhibit that I appreciated the most had to do with these people selling their souls for money and had them all chasing a 50 Euro bill.

I need to see more displays, there are potentially around one hundred. I get the impression that this is all part of a cleansing procedure similar to starting over on New Year’s Day. I say that, because, on Jun.24 they will burn all but one just where they stand and people will dance around them in an urban ritual rejoicing in flames and explosions.

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