Marina Planelles Fernández: "We also offer and give thanks to the Immaculate because my bonfire belongs to her neighbourhood"

Marina Planelles Fernández took her first steps in the Hogueras of Alicante at the age of six. Since then, she has been linked to the city's official festivities for two decades, intending to remain for many more to enjoy each of its events.

This Alicante native highlights the grand days, the Entrance of bands, the Offering to the Virgin of Remedio, or the cremà. "Choosing just one is very complicated," but she opts for one "very emotional within my bonfire," the Sagrada Familia district.

During the grand week, "we set aside an afternoon from our busy schedule" to offer "and give thanks" to the neighbourhood's patron, the Immaculate. "Sagrada Familia is a bonfire that belongs to its neighbourhood, and for us, it is a way to enlarge and take pride in it."

The bonfire members of this commission have also done so with Marina Planelles Fernández, bellea of Sagrada Familia during the past 2024. It is now that she walks the path as a candidate for bellea del foc of Alicante, an additional role to her festive history: child bellea, child banner, child godmother, child president, lady of honour, and honorary commissioner.

Whether with mantilla and sash or without them, this Alicante native lives the Hogueras of Alicante. "They are a tradition and a very special feeling," besides describing the Fiesta as "a beautiful custom that those of us who live and enjoy it can no longer live without."

From her reign, she recounts an anecdote that still gives her goosebumps. "I remember it with humour, but at that moment I said 'ohhh'." While dancing in the racó a shout of "lift the bellea" was heard, so "without knowing how, they tossed me with quite some force and I, simply, flew and flew." Every time this moment comes to her mind, "a smile appears as I remember the effort they put into making me reach high."