From China all the way to Spain, this is how fireworks got to Valencia, becoming a huge part of the local way of celebrating Fallas.

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• Around 200 BC Primitive firecrackers

  Proto-firecrackers were invented in China from bamboo stems.

• Around 800 AD Gunpowder

  A Chinese alchemist mixed sulfur, charcoal, and potassium nitrate, inventing gunpowder. The powder was packed into bamboo tubes and lit on fire, thus becoming the first actual firework. These fireworks were used for celebrations and festivities. That of the pyrotechnician soon developed into an independent and respected profession during the Song dynasty (960–1279).

• 900-1200 Fireworks brought to Spain

  Fireworks were brought to Spain by the Moor expansion into the peninsula. They thus laid the foundations for a long-lasting tradition of gunpowder, especially in the eastern coast of Spain, where Valencia is.

• 1830 Modern fireworks

  Italian pyrotechnicians gave fireworks their modern colouration by adding metal salts to their chemical composition. However, other forms of colouring the smoke and flames already existed in China as early as the 14th century.

• 1930s First Castillos de Fuegos

  Castillos de Fuegos Artificiales started being organised on Saturdays and Sundays in March on the occasion of a primitive version of Fallas.

• 1942 Integration into the programme

  The Castillos de Fuegos Artificiales were officially incorporated into the Fallas events programme.

• 1980s Current date

  The programme started resembling the current one. The Nit del Foc started being celebrated on the night between the 18th and the 19th, and other Castillos de Fuegos were established.

• 2016 Albà de les Falles

  This 1966-67 tradition was recovered and established as part of the official pyrotechnic programme.