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ARCHIVED - Valencia Fallas becomes latest victim of the coronavirus
The Fallas de Valencia has been cancelled
A new date will be selected once the epidemic has abated, but for the moment, the Valencian Regional Government, the Generalitat, has decided to cancel the celebrations which were scheduled to take place between the 15th and 19th March of this year.
The president of the regional government, Ximo Puig, announced that his government has also taken the decision to cancel the fiestas fundacionales de la ciudad de Castellón, la Magdalena, which were scheduled to begin on Sunday.
The government has decided to follow the recommendations issued by the Ministry of Health to cancel or postpone events which were likely to attract a large number of people, putting the population at risk of contagion from the coronavirus.
Understanding full well the economic implications to businesses of the region by cancelling the events, the regional president explained that a videoconference had taken place between his government and the Ministry of Health, after which it had been decided to “minimise the risk of contagion” and “protect the most vulnerable” over and above the economic implications of the decision.
The intention is to reschedule the celebrations for another date, although at the moment there has been no indication of when this may be, as much will depend on the evolution of the coronavirus.
The economic implications of the decision are far reaching.
To date nearly eight million euros has been spent constructing the 761 Fallas which would have gone up in smoke on March 19th during the fiestas, without even starting to take into consideration the amount of money spent on other aspects of the fiestas or the money spent by the million people who normally visit Valencia during the san José fiestas.
The fiestas have only been cancelled five times since they began in 1896 (due to the Spanish Civil war, the Cuban war and due to a workers protest)and represent an economic impact of around 700 million euros per year, accounting for an average of 15% of all of the tourism activity generated in the city during the calendar year, with costume makers, musicians, firework manufacturers, hotels, restaurants, transport companies etc, all actively generating revenue related to the fiestas.
Yesterday the regional health authority confirmed 15 new cases of coronavirus in the Valencia region, bringing the total to 65. There are 63 cases active, with 2 people having already made a full recovery.
Two of the cases are considered to be serious.
What to do if you are in the Region of Murcia and believe you may have contracted the virus:
The regional government has set up a special helpline to supply information to members of the public (900 121212), and also urges people to call the 112 emergency services line if they suspect that they may have contracted the virus rather than going straight to hospital or to a medical centre. Medical staff will be sent to your home to test for the virus.
The Region’s public hospitals have limited the number of visitors to patients in the region's hospitals to just one visitor per patient.
Sensible precautions
The advice being issued to members of the public by medical authorities all over the world coincides on the following points:
- Wash hands frequently with either soap and water or a sanitiser gel
- Catch coughs and sneezes with disposable tissues – and throw the tissues away immediately after use before immediately washing your hands!
- If you don’t have a tissue, use your sleeve – and wash the item of clothing used at the next opportunity
- AVOID touching your eyes, nose and mouth with unwashed hands
- AVOID close contact with people who are unwell
- Don´t panic!
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