Dénia is in luck. After years of demands by the city's festive community, especially the Fallas collectives and Moors and Christians, will soon have its own festival museum, which they have named House of the Festa.
It took many years of pleading until the project was finally given the green light. Dénia would have its Museu Fester. This was announced at the beginning of 2023 when the project that would be located in the then building was first shown children's classroom at the Pou de la Muntanya school. It immediately received the approval of the Local Board Fallera and Federation of Moors and Christians, main stakeholders.
This is what Dénia's festival museum will look like
What was presented that day was a plan of the layout of the premises, allocating the main floor to a permanent museum about the history of the festivals in Dénia and the upper floor to offices for both entities, as well as a large meeting room and another multipurpose room. The budget was valued at around €631.000.
Almost two years have passed and the works are more than advanced. They did not start immediately as they depended on the Pou students moving to what would definitively be their classrooms., in the same center, but they have picked up a good pace (as can be seen in the photographs that accompany this news) and it finally seems that the space can be used for its first big event.
At the moment, it has only been able to be visited by representatives of the Local Board Fallera and FEMMICC, being able to take a tour of the interior organized by the Town Hall. But the rest of the neighbors will soon have a golden opportunity to cross that threshold as well.
The grand opening of the Dénia Festival House
Next month of in February, Saturday 22 Specifically, it will open its doors for the first time to all citizens of Deniera. It will do so in order to host the Ninot Exhibition 2025 of the Fallas of Dénia. Curiously, this event has already served to inaugurate other important cultural spaces in the city, such as the Marquesa's House in 2022. Therefore, at least from Saturday, February 22 to Sunday, March 9, according to the Dénia Fallas 2025 program, you can visit the renovated interior of the building.
However, nothing more than the exhibition itself will be appreciated. The musealization process has not yet begun, so there is still a long way to go to see what the result will be like. The main floor is expected to host a permanent exhibition on the history of the Dénia parties, as we said, but with a style and level similar to the current one MAD (Denia Archaeological Museum) which can be visited on the first floor of the Marquesa's House. Completing this process will take time and the council is not yet willing to give a date for the opening of the museum. The entities will be able to use the private spaces and offices, but the rest of the residents will have to make do with this first glimpse offered by the Ninot Exhibition.
Partying and tambourines! That's what these non-rulers seem to care about.
Too bad!
Partying and tambourines! That's what these New Rulers seem to care about.
Too bad!
Sánchez subsidizes unions and the press so that they suck up to him and here, logically with a smaller budget, but important for a city, we subsidize chiringuitos for a few instead of dedicating the money to the enjoyment and service of all citizens.
This project is the perfect example of how the urban planning priorities of a city can be manipulated based on political and image interests, instead of addressing the real needs of the citizens. Instead of allocating the space of the old Pou de la Muntanya school to a playroom or a social centre that would benefit the entire community, especially the most vulnerable sectors, a project has been chosen that responds exclusively to the interests of festive groups, leaving aside a golden opportunity to improve the quality of life of the residents.
It is outrageous that this museum, whose necessity is debatable compared to other urgent matters in the city, has had an investment of 631.000 euros, while other projects promised for the poorest neighbourhoods - and used as an electoral hook - continue to accumulate delays or have not even begun. It is no coincidence that initiatives that look good on the surface are given priority, especially in a town with a marked festive identity, but the question is: at what price?
The fact that the works have progressed at a good pace while in other neighbourhoods residents have been waiting for improvements for years demonstrates partial and self-interested management. Spaces that favour certain groups with political weight are prioritised, while essential facilities, such as children's leisure areas or community centres, are relegated to the background.
Furthermore, the announcement of the opening with the Ninot Exhibition, taking advantage of such a significant date, is evidence of a clear propaganda strategy. The event will serve to disguise the lack of real progress in the musealisation process, giving the impression of completion when, in reality, the project is still only half-finished. It is revealing that they do not dare to give a date for the complete opening of the museum, which reveals a lack of planning and foresight beyond the initial spectacle.
In short, the Casa de la Festa is a project that, while it may have its cultural value, represents a clear disconnection with the real social needs of Dénia, prioritizing the showcase over the well-being of citizens. It is time for the municipal authorities to stop governing for the photo and start attending to the needs of those who really require support and resources.
That's right: people DO NOT LISTEN TO THEIR CITIZENS, and if we live in Las Marinas (because we live there, not spend the summer) they simply despise us!!
The famous political chiringuitos