1. “Mare de Déu de l’Olivar II”- Alaquàs Valencia- SPAIN

2. We are a group of Spanish students from a secondary school called “Mare de Déu de l’Olivar II” in Alaquàs (Valencia). There are 245 students in our school aged between 12 and 16 years old.

4. We live in the Valencian Community. It is divided into three provinces: Alacant, Castelló and Valencia, and thirty four counties. Valencia is our city and it is also the capital of our community. It is the third largest city in Spain after Madrid and Barcelona.

5. Valencia was founded as a Roman colony in 138 BC. Some interesting places are our Cathedral, our Torres de Serranos, and Torres de Quart (medieval gates when the city had a wall around it), the Llotja de la Seda (declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1996), and the Ciutat de les Arts i les Ciències (City of Arts and Sciences).

6. Our Cathedral Torres de Serranos Ciutat de les Arts i les Ciències

7. We are sure you will have heard about Valencia's main festival (Les Falles) and our traditional dish… the delicious paella! Les Falles are our most traditional festival. They are celebrated in commemoration of Saint Joseph in March.

8. In these photos, you can see our school Falla. It was done by using cardboard figures and balloons. This is our Fallera Mayor (Fallas Queen) with some teachers. She came to our school the day of La Cremà (the day when the burning of the monument took place).

9. In our school we prepare a lot of activities to learn and practise English. For example, we have written a song in groups of four people and we have performed it in front of our class. Last year, 4th ESO students acted out their own sketches in English. We are eager to do it!

10. OUR TOWN: ALAQUÀS Alaquàs is about 30,200 people. It has got a Muslim origin and many interesting monuments: our Castle (built in 1582) or our churches. We think that our town is very nice!

11. There are two official languages spoken in the Valencian Community: Valencian and Spanish. And we are very proud of being bilingual! We are already impatient to start with this project and to share with you our Xmas cards and traditions! Ja estem impacients per començar aquest projecte i compartir amb vosaltres les nostres targetes i tradicions nadalenques! ¡Estamos impacientes por empezar este proyecto y compartir con vosotros nuestras tarjetas y tradiciones navideñas!

13. Alaquàs, Valencia (Spain) mdolivarii@planalfa.es www.mdolivar.com