La Fallera Mayor
The Fallas Queens, the most recognisable figures in the festival, the Fallera Mayor and the Fallera Mayor Infantil
La Fallera Mayor in a nutshell…
The Fallera Mayor is the face of Fallas, a symbolic ambassador who represents the festival and its deep-rooted traditions. Elected annually, she embodies the passion, dedication, and cultural pride of the falleros.
Alongside her, the Fallera Mayor Infantil serves as the representative for children involved in Fallas. Though the role is purely ceremonial, it is an immense honor, requiring commitment, public appearances, and a love for Valencian heritage.
Scroll down to learn more about the selection process, responsibilities, and traditions behind this prestigious title.
If you were to ask a Valencian who is the key presence in the Fallas festival, the one that symbolises the event as a whole, they would undoubtedly tell you it’s the Fallera Mayor. This figure encapsulates all the effort, love for Valencian traditions, hard work, and enthusiasm that define the falleros and falleras, the people that make this festival possible. She is the spirit of Fallas.
A Fallera Mayor de Valencia is a female member of a comisión fallera (Fallas committee) who is elected every year by a jury to represent all other members in the city. The term Fallera Mayor also defines the representatives of every single committee, but more often than not it is used for the aforementioned festival Queen.
The Fallera Mayor is also accompanied by a Fallera Mayor Infantil, who represents the children involved in the Fallas committees, much like adult Fallera. Together, they are the ambassadors of the festival, both in Valencia, and in other Spanish cities. The figure of the Fallera Mayor is found all over the Valencian region, wherever there is a version of the Fallas festival to be celebrated.
The Types of Falleras Mayores
The Fallera Mayor is the main representative of the falleros community, those Valencians that dedicate so much of their time to organising, fundraising, and making Fallas happen in general. She is the Fallas Queen.
There are a few important distinctions to keep in mind about the Fallera Mayor. First of all, every Fallas committee, composed of falleras and falleros, has their own fallera mayor, their female representative. However, every year a Fallera Mayor de Valencia is elected to represent not just the members of her own committee, but every fallera and fallero in the city.
The Fallas Queen is surrounded and helped by the Corte de Honor, a group of twelve other falleras.
Even though the Fallera Mayor doesn’t really get to make any executive choices (she is a symbolic figure), her role is exhausting and extremely demanding. She has to preside over numerous ceremonies and events in her time as Queen.
On top of that, contrary to what one might think, she does not receive a salary. Actually, the title is quite the investment in terms of money, time, and energy. So why do hundreds of falleras apply every year to become Fallera Mayor? The answer really does encapsulate the Valencians’ love for their city and the Fallas tradition. The most important payoff a Fallera Mayor will get is the satisfaction and honour of having represented her city and her community before thousands.
Fallera Mayor Infantil
Something to keep in mind is that there really are two city representatives each year. One is the Fallera Mayor already mentioned, the other is the Fallera Mayor Infantil.
The Fallera Mayor Infantil represents all young girls and boys who are part of thefalleros community. Much like her adult counterpart, she is a symbolic figure, which generally accompanies the Fallera Mayor in her representative duties.
Each year, the Fallera Mayor Infantil de Valencia is also accompanied by the Corte de Honor Infantil. This is a group of twelve other falleras infantiles who help and assist the young queen in her duties.
The requisites
The Fallera Mayor and the Fallera Mayor Infantil are chosen every year through a pageant-like selection process. As such, there are requisites a fallera must comply with to become Fallera Mayor.
- She has to be a registered fallera in a committee.
- If she is applying to be a Fallera Mayor, she has to be at least 15 years old by the application deadline.
- If she is applying to be a Fallera Mayor Infantil, she must be under 14 years of age by the end of the registration period.
- She must have been registered for at least two years in her committee.
- She cannot apply if she is subject to an unresolved sanction or disciplinary file by the Junta Central Fallera or a higher body.
- A fallera (adult) who has been part of a Court of Honour (adult) in the past cannot participate in the selection again.
- Although many candidates are, they don’t necessarily need to be falleras mayores of their own committees.
The selection process
Every year, a Fallera Mayor de Valencia and a Fallera Mayor Infantil de Valencia are chosen through a lengthy selection process in three phases, which starts in July and ends in October. The process is pretty much the same for both roles.
Pre-selections
Each committee (there are 392 in Valencia) can nominate one of their falleras and one of their falleras infantiles as a candidate. Committees are then gathered into various sectors (there are 26 in total). These sectors group together numerous committees that are geographically close to one another.
Each sector chooses two or three candidates for each of the two categories (girls and adult women) in a process similar to a pageant, where the candidates wear the traditional Valenciana dress. The possible Falleras Mayores are judged not solely on the basis of how good they look wearing their traditional dress, but also on their stage presence, posture, charisma, and manners.
Second selection
After this, the so-called elección de cortes takes place. This selection process consists of several days of observation by a jury of Junta Central Fallera (JCF) members. At the end of this stage, the number of fallera and fallera infantil candidates will have gone down, from the 73 selected at the end of the previous phase to 13 (for each category).
Final selection and La Telefonada
Finally, the 13 candidates in each category are judged and observed for several days by the jury. In early October, on a determined date, all candidates stay at home waiting for a phone call from the Mayor of Valencia. La Telefonada (The Phone Call, in Spanish) will let the future queen know she has been chosen as Fallera Mayor.
Only one of them will receive La Telefonada, while the other 12 will make up the Corte de Honor. This is a group of falleras that accompany the Fallera Mayor in official events. The same will happen in the case of the Fallera Mayor Infantil.
The responsibilities
Being Fallera Mayor is no cakewalk. Even though the role is only representative and symbolic, rather than executive, it is still very costly, both financially and in terms of time and energy.
Fallera Mayor responsibilities
A Fallera Mayor will have to visit other festivals in Spain as a representative and especially preside over almost all Fallas events. For example, the Fallera Mayor speaks at the Crida and has to be present at the award ceremonies, mascletàs , and Cremà of the falla municipal.
She is of course busiest during the culminating weeks of Fallas, around the 1st-19th March. She has to get up at dawn and go to bed very late to attend all events in the festival, leaving her barely any time to sleep. On top of that, the Fallera Mayor needs to wear the traditional Valencian costume (which includes a particular hairdo) to all these events.
Fallera Mayor Infantil responsibilities
Being Fallera Mayor Infantil is not as strenuous as being Fallera Mayor, but it’s still extremely demanding for a child.
A Fallera Mayor Infantil will accompany the Fallera Mayor to almost all Fallas events, like the Crida (where she is expected to give her own speech), the mascletàs, and Cremà of the falla municipal. The Fallera Mayor Infantil, just like her adult counterpart, needs to wear the traditional Valenciana costume to all these events.
The dress
The dress is certainly what makes a fallera most recognisable and often fascinating, especially to tourists who have never seen such dresses.
The traje de valenciana, also called traje de fallera (fallera costume), is based on the way the women of Valencia used to dress in the 18th and 19th centuries. The level of historical accuracy is usually left to the personal taste of the falleras. In any case, the general structure and components of the dress are broadly the same for everyone, independently of age and role. Only a couple of elements distinguish the Fallera Mayor from other falleras.
Since 2001, the Fallera Mayor has to wear a specific fabric, whose floral design was chosen by the Junta Central Fallera (JCF). The fabric is referred to as the official espolín de Fallera Mayor de València. Espolín is a specific silk fabric made by hand with a wooden loom. So every year, the elected queen gets to wear a fabric design reserved exclusively for Falleras Mayores. Bets are often placed on which colours she will choose to make her dress.
The other distinctive element is the sash in the colours of the Valencian flag (red and yellow stripes with a blue band). However, the sash is not mandatory, so the choice whether to wear it or not is left to the Fallera Mayor’s preference. All Falleras Mayores (not just the Fallera Mayor de Valencia) can wear sashes.
If you’d like to learn more about the traditional fallera dress, you can have a look at our dedicated article.
FAQs
Here you can find quick answers to all of your questions. Linked, you’ll find the articles or the sections of the articles that can give you more detailed information.
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A Fallera Mayor de Valencia is a female member of a comisión fallera (Fallas committee) who is elected every year to represent all the falleros in the city.
The term fallera mayor is also used to indicate the representative of a single comisión fallera, of which there are 392 in Valencia.
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The Fallera Mayor is arguably the most important figure in the festival, she symbolises the event and the community as a whole.
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Every Fallas committee has their own fallera mayor. Then, every year, a Fallera Mayor and a Fallera Mayor Infantil are elected to represent all committees.
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A Fallera Mayor Infantil is a young Fallera Mayor. She represents all the children involved in Fallas.
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A Corte de Honor is a court of honour, a group of 12 falleras who have been selected to accompany the Fallera Mayor.
There is a Corte de Honor for adults and a Corte de Honor Infantil.
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A Fallera Mayor has a symbolic and representative role. She presides and gives speeches in almost all Fallas events, and often travels to other Spanish regions to represent falleros for the rest of the year.
She has no decisional or executive power in the Fallas festival events.
If you’d like to know more about her responsibilities, you can check the relevant section of our article.
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No, a new Fallera Mayor and Fallera Mayor Infantil are elected every year.
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Every year, a lengthy pageant-like selection officiated by a jury determines who is going to be Fallera Mayor of the year.
If you’d like to know more about the selection process and how the falleras are judged, you can read the relevant section of this article.
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No, but it has happened quite a few times that a past Fallera Mayor Infantil later became a Fallera Mayor.
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The candidates are proposed by each committee, but then a jury of Fallas-involved people get to select the Fallera Mayor.
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The Fallera Mayor wears a typical Valenciana hairdo and dress like all other falleras. What distinguishes her is the design of her silk gown, which only the Fallera Mayor can wear. She could also be wearing a Valencian flag sash, but that is not mandatory.
If you want to know more about the Fallera Mayor’s dress, you can check the relevant section of this article.
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There are a couple ways to recognise the Fallera Mayor, but they are not as evident as you might think.
During official functions the Fallera Mayor might be wearing a Valencian flag sash, but this is not assured.
If you are close enough, you could also recognise her by the design of her gown’s decorations, as only she wears that specific floral motif.
If you’d like to know more about this, you can check the relevant section of this article.
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As long as a woman has been a registered fallera with a Fallas committee for at least two years, technically yes.
Of course, there are specific requirements, but they are not too restrictive. If you’d like to know more about them you can check the relevant section of this article.
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The Fallera Mayor is nominated every year in early-mid October.
If you’d like to know more about the selection process, you can read the relevant section of this article.
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La Telefonada (The Phone Call), is the call that the newly elected Fallera Mayor will receive from the Mayor of Valencia to tell her that she has been chosen for the role. This phone call takes place in October, on a specific date that is determined year by year.
