Luck smiles at the passage of Carlos Mazón. As soon as the next president of the Generalitat Valenciana got up from an informal café with a small group of local journalists who were having lunch in the racó de la Hoguera Diputació-Renfe, a few meters away the cheers of the hosts, who had just received the call in which the mayor of Alicante informed them of the victory of his monument, 'L-Emental'.
It is the first time since its founding in 1946 that Diputació-Renfe has won the most coveted award of the main Alicante festival, which will focus all attention on the sculptural group located on Avenida de la Estación, almost at the gates of the Palace Provincial, until midnight on June 24, when it will be one of the first to burn in the cremá, after the official one that is installed each year in the Plaza del Ayuntamiento.
The work of the Valencian artist David Sánchez Llongo makes him the second in history to win the Fallas de València and the Bonfires in Alicante -something that only Pere Baenas had achieved- where he also won the First Category with the sculpture made on the Esplanade.
It so happened that the president's casting vote was necessary to unbalance an 88-point tie between the commission that ultimately won and that of Florida-Portazgo.
The news, by mobile phone, has been communicated by the mayor to President Carlos Ruiz after the deliberations of the jury. Barcala was accompanied at that time by the Councilor for Fiestas, Cristina Cutanda; members of the Municipal Corporation; the president of the Federation of Fogueres, Toñi Martín-Zarco; the Bellea del Foc, Belén Mora, and her Bridesmaids.
“We must congratulate the Diputació-Renfe foguerers for the success achieved. It has not been the result of chance. Yes, from the work of a whole year to obtain the necessary budget and to make a bonfire like 'L-Mental' a reality, which alludes with good judgment and original aesthetic forms to the origins of life”, commented the mayor.
Sánchez Llongo, who had already planted in Alicante in different categories, makes his debut this year in Special and with Diputació-Renfe. It is the first time that this commission has achieved a First Prize in the Special category, since it was instituted in 1946. With it, there are already eleven bonfires that have achieved the highest distinction in the 'queen' category. The artist from L'Eliana had already won first prize in Las Fallas 2023, in clear competition with Pere Baenas, who won second.
As for the huts, the first special prize has been for 'La Millor de Totes', planted in the Plaza de la Montañeta, next to the Treasury delegation.
Minutes after learning of the ruling and still shouting with enthusiasm, the president of the bonfire, Carlos Ruiz Romero, has confessed that they had "high expectations" of reaching the highest award for the quality of the construction artist, David Sánchez Llongo, of whom he has commented that "it is wonderful for its finishes, volume, color and composition" of the bonfire.
'L-mental' takes a tour of the Universe from the primordial Big Bang to artificial intelligence (AI) to reflect "how life has made its way from the four elements: water, earth, air and fire ". To finish the monument, more than 18 meters high, in the back Sánchez Llongo has reflected the doubts that exist around "how far can AI go".
One of the first to attend the celebration was the still president of the Provincial Council and next president of the Generalitat, Carlos Mazón, who was in the surroundings and who congratulated himself on this first highest award of the bonfire "of the Dipu " assuring that he has seen with his own eyes that success is deserved.
"I have seen them work, make an effort and go for the first prize. They have given everything," stressed Mazón, who in the morning had received the belleas of this bonfire, which is planted a few meters away, at the Palacio de la Diputación of the headquarters of the provincial institution.
