The Artisan Guild of Florists of the Valencian Community has set its sights on a new Guinness World Record with the floral mantle of the offering to the Virgen de los Desamparados, which is traditionally made after the Fallas festivities in Valencia. As read in Valencia Plaza, the president of the guild, Juan Lluesma, believes that the mantle is already the largest in the world and doubts that it can be surpassed. He has already contacted the Fallas Councillor of the Valencia City Council and the Junta Central Fallera (JCF) for support in his quest to have the cape officially recognized by Guinness World Records.
The cape is made from the carnations of the bouquets carried by the participants in the Offering to the Virgin. In 2023, the mantle weighed an estimated 4,000 kilograms and covered an area of 800 square meters. According to Lluesma, the 2024 mantle will be even larger, and he is confident that it will meet the criteria for a Guinness World Record.
“We deserve it because there is no floral mantle like ours in the world,” Lluesma said in a statement to Europa Press. “The floral mantle of the Virgin of the Forsaken (Virgen de los Desamparados) is a symbol of our city and our culture, and we want to share it with the world.”
Lluesma has already received some positive feedback from Guinness World Records, and he is optimistic that the mantle will be officially recognized in time for the Fallas festivities in 2024. The Guild is also working with Fallas officials in Valencia to collect data on the number of carnations used in the mantle and to ensure that the mantle meets all the necessary requirements.
If the mantle is officially recognized by Guinness World Records, it will be the latest in a series of successful attempts by Valencian florists to achieve international recognition. In 2018, the guild created a floral mosaic of the Virgen de los Desamparados that was 6,000 square meters in size, and in 2021 they created a floral heart that was 20 meters in diameter.
