No Fallas due to virus?

WHILE many are questioning whether the Fallas festivities across the Valencian Community should go ahead due to the spreading coronavirus, the Ministry of Health has confirmed that there are no moves to suspend events such as this. The main night is the 19 March, but people are already flocking to Valencia City and other towns dotted up and down the Community. From next weekend the hundreds of Fallas association will start gathering in their marquees and there will be numerous events such as concerts attracting crowds. However, Valencia has been the epicentre of outbreaks in Spain, recording 44 infections by Monday (9 March) and rising daily. The Ministry has said there are no plans to postpone such events at this time and reminded people about basic personal hygiene precautions while asking them to stay away if they thought they had any reason to believe they were infected. The Fallas generates an estimated half a billion euros for the region and has only been called off three times since their inception in 1886, despite events such as civil war and flooding occurring over this period.