"Tres Reines per a la Reina: No deixes Ciutat Vella per novella". That is the motto with which the Reina-Paz-San Vicente commission — the Tio Pep falla — approaches the 2027 Fallas. The project was presented to the court of honour this Friday and shines a light on the debate running through those very streets: the touristification of Valencia's historic centre.

The three queens in the title are not monarchs but the three neighbourhoods that meet within the falla's area: Seu, Xerea and Mercat. Each figure will wear a crown bearing the monumental icons that identify its neighbourhood. Falla artist Manuel Algarra signs the monument for the third year running, with a design by illustrator Ramon Pla.

The commission explains that the project stems from a "concern" about the urban transformation that, for years, "has been profoundly altering the social fabric of the historic centre". The argument is not about the stone itself but about what happens inside it: traditional shops replaced by franchises and homes turned into tourist flats, with the consequent flight of lifelong residents. "A model that threatens to turn streets and squares into spaces of tourist consumption," they warn.

The location works in favour of the message. The falla is planted at the foot of the Cathedral, with Santa Catalina alongside, one of the most photographed settings in the city. The three female figures will seek out that very paradox: evoking "the extraordinary heritage and historical wealth of these neighbourhoods, but also the paradox that this same beauty becomes a magnet for mass tourism".

It is not the first time this commission has used its monument to talk about its surroundings. In 2025, 'Re-Nacer' also meant the reopening of Algarra's workshop in the hands of his son; the 'Beso por la Paz' of 2026 consolidated the project. The Reina-Pau-Sant Vicent children's falla, meanwhile, is permanently anchored in the Especial section, which guarantees the area a presence in the top category.

The closing appeal defends preserving the centre as "a living space, with shops and with neighbours", because "a city is not only its cultural heritage or its scenery, but a space of coexistence built over generations". The commission claims more than two hundred years of history for itself. Fancy that: the most photographed falla of 2027 may also end up being the one that best explains what is happening in those streets.

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