Carolinas Altas Wins First Prize for 'Best Medical Bonfire Scene 2025'

The Alicante Medical College has actively participated in the San Juan Bonfires by awarding prizes for the 'Best Medical Bonfire Scene 2025'. Carolinas Altas, Ángeles-Felipe Bergé, and Pla-Hospital have respectively claimed the top three prizes in the competition, which saw the participation of 13 commissions.

On Saturday, June 21, the jury visited the 13 participating monuments in an atmosphere filled with fireworks, camaraderie, and Bonfires. Representing the COMA, the jury included Dr. Natalia Acín, Tutor and Teacher Doctors' Representative; Dr. Elena Díaz, Emergency Doctors' Representative; and Dr. José Luis Bataller, Private Medicine Representative.

Accompanied by representatives from the Federation of Les Fogueres de Sant Joan, they shared experiences with the artists and Commissions, witnessing how the Festival can also be a voice for Medicine and its protagonists.

Carolinas Altas focused on mental health as one of the central themes of its monument, which breathed Medicine from every angle. The Bonfire captivated the jury with an emotional scene of a female figure sitting in a curled-up posture with a deeply sad expression. Surrounding her were grey clouds representing mental illnesses, increasingly common in our society.

According to the Commission, the main objective of the scene was "to break the silence and stigma that still surrounds those who suffer from mental health issues today." The awarded scene is full of details, combining plastic beauty, harmony of forms, and a deep emotional charge. This first prize includes a banner accrediting the 'Best Bonfire Scene' and a financial award of €1,500.

Mental health was also a protagonist in this Bonfire, which secured the second prize from COMA with a scene of impeccable technical execution, featuring a doctor "holding a brain in his hands, analyzing its complexity."

Medical research against mental illnesses, symbolically depicted in silhouettes wandering around a mask of a robotized female face, "the inner world." This second prize includes a banner accrediting the 'Best Bonfire Scene' and a financial award of €1,000.

Pla-Hospital opted for a scene loaded with narrative weight and advocacy. The Pendulum of Medicine is a metaphor describing the "constant tension between disease-centered medicine, focusing on diagnosis and treatment of pathology; and person-centered medicine."

The issue of precarious professional and working conditions for doctors "negatively influences this balance," as highlighted by the Pla-Hospital Bonfire. This third prize includes a banner accrediting the 'Best Bonfire Scene' and a financial award of €500.