Sagunto's Fallas group demands more regional representation in UNESCO heritage body
The Federació Junta Fallera de Sagunt (Sagunto's Fallas federation) signed a manifesto complaining that local Fallas boards from outside Valencia city have no voice in the body that protects the Fallas' UNESCO heritage status.
The Federació Junta Fallera de Sagunt (FJFS), which brings together 30 Fallas neighbourhood groups, called comissions, from Sagunto, Puerto de Sagunto, Gilet and Faura under president Hugo Morte, has joined a joint manifesto calling for real regional representation on the body responsible for protecting the Fallas as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
The text, released this Tuesday, argues that the current make-up of the Comissió de Seguiment (Follow-up Commission), the body overseeing the Fallas' UNESCO status, still leaves out local Fallas boards and federations from outside Valencia city, even though they played an active role in the file that won the festival international recognition. The signing groups point out that the Fallas are not exclusively Valencia city's heritage, but also belong to towns such as Paterna, Manises, Gandia, Alzira, Torrent, Xàtiva, Sagunto, Dénia, Borriana and Sueca, among many others that keep the tradition alive.
The immediate trigger for the manifesto, according to eldiario.es, reporting this Monday, was a recent restructuring of the Comissió de Seguiment that left out l'Associació d'Estudis Fallers (ADEF), a group with official accreditation as a UNESCO advisory NGO on intangible heritage that took an active part in preparing the file that won the declaration. The signing groups say it makes no sense to exclude organisations that have spent decades studying, documenting and promoting the Fallas, arguing that protecting intangible heritage means adding expertise and perspectives, not cutting them out.
The manifesto sets out five specific demands. The first calls for real territorial representation, with direct seats on the Comissió de Seguiment for the boards and federations that were already part of the original UNESCO file. The second calls for plural participation covering every part of the festival: Fallas members, artists, firework specialists, musicians, researchers, cultural groups and regional representatives. The third demands transparency, so that any change to the body's make-up follows public, objective and verifiable criteria. The fourth asks that UNESCO's own principles be respected, since UNESCO treats the participation of the community that carries the heritage as a core part of any such declaration. The fifth calls for work to resume on creating an official region-wide Fallas body (Ens Faller), linked to the Generalitat Valenciana, able to bring together the different boards, federations and organisations under one, balanced voice when dealing with public authorities.
The manifesto arrives at a symbolic moment, ten years since the festival was added to UNESCO's Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage. That declaration was made on 30 November 2016, when UNESCO's Intergovernmental Committee, meeting in Addis Ababa (Ethiopia), added the Fallas de Valencia to its international list, as reported at the time by La Moncloa (the Spanish government's press office). The signing groups present this anniversary as a chance to open a dialogue about how the festival is governed, rather than to dig in on fixed positions.
Sagunto's federation is no minor signatory in this movement. Made up of 30 comissions across Sagunto, Puerto de Sagunto, Gilet and Faura, according to elperiodic.com's Valencian-language edition, the FJFS is one of the largest Fallas federations outside Valencia city, with the reach to bring together much of the festival scene across the Camp de Morvedre district. Its involvement gives the manifesto a district-wide dimension, on an issue that ultimately concerns how decision-making power is shared over a festival declared heritage of all humanity, not just of those who organise it in the capital.
For now, neither the Comissió de Seguiment nor the Generalitat Valenciana has publicly responded to the demands in the manifesto. The signing groups, including the Federació Junta Fallera de Sagunt, insist the best way to honour UNESCO's recognition is to make sure everyone who keeps the festival alive has a say in decisions about its future. According to the Federació Junta Fallera de Sagunt, with data from eldiario.es and elperiodic.com.