The Matías Perelló-Luis de Santángel-Peris y Valero commission faced one of those days nobody forgets this Friday — and not for the festival. At around four in the morning, someone set fire to a wooden pallet leaning against the casal's facade, on Calle Canals, a narrow alley in Russafa where the group has its headquarters.

The fire spread quickly across the front. The metal shutter buckled from the heat and the illuminated sign announcing the commission's name was completely destroyed, its neon lights exposed. Part of the entrance wall was also affected. Local Police and firefighters acted quickly to stop the flames reaching the inside.

Then came the second mishap of the morning: water from the hoses slipped under the shutter and flooded much of the casal, damaging three loudspeakers and part of a piece of furniture. Members spent hours airing out the premises because it still smelled of smoke, painting over the blackened door.

«We feel unprotected», the commission said. Its president, Juan Guixeres, summed up the cruel timing of the calendar: «It turns out that in a few hours, at 20:30 this evening, we have the proclamation of our 2027 representatives scheduled, and look at the situation we find ourselves in». The representatives had pinned «great hopes» on a day that opens their reign.

The commission decided not to cancel anything. With the shutter half-raised and the sign awaiting a first repair, the proclamation went ahead that evening. The falla sits in Segunda A in the 2027 classification, with an allocation of 28,000 euros for its monument.

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