BELÉN PICORNELL
Updated Saturday, February 3, 2024-01:52
Influencers Marta Lozano, on the accounts that show the influencers' retouching: "They say they are doing a favor to society, but they are generating hate"
Can an influencer praise the highest representative of the Valencian party without being criticized?
Last Friday, January 26,
the presentation of the Fallera Mayor of Valencia (FMV), María Estela Arlandis,
was held in the capital of Túria . This solemn act marks a before and after in the Fallas calendar. The bands that accredit to the greatest fallera of Valencia and her court of honor - twelve girls - are imposed on them and they also present their official costumes.
That of the major fallera, until that day, is a secret
. All the eyes of the attendees are on each suit and piece.
Sentiment faller
.
But this year there was a new addition that the falleros did not take their eyes off: the influencer Marta Lozano, chosen as maintainer. This function is limited, above all,
to highlighting with a speech the figure of the major fallera
and her court on the day of her presentation. The attendees applaud at every pause, and that's it. But in the case of this Valencian content creator, she has gone to much more.
Marta has a million followers on Instagram, is the owner of the cosmetics company Glowfilter and usually appears in the magazine
¡Hola!
. When the Fallera Central Board (JCF) announced in her profile that she was going to be a supporter of Arlandis,
reactions were unleashed
. The publications on the Instagram account of this autonomous body of the City Council usually have three, four, seven or no comments. However, 165 people have commented on the photograph where this body made its decision public. "After the greatness of
Miguel Prim [maintainer of the Fallera Mayor of 2022]
, you add a person who will go for the photo," is the comment with the most likes in the publication.
See this post on Instagram
Another: "I don't understand what Marta Lozano looks like, she's not even a faller."
The influencer remained silent in the face of these criticisms and conveyed to her community how excited she was about this function. The
fallometer
had already spoken. But Marta Lozano was a faller, from the Santa María Micaela fault, located in the Extramurs neighborhood. According to what LOC has learned, she was signed up for ten years.
The person who decides who highlights the major Falleras of Valencia each year is the president of the Central Fallera Board, a position that these Fallas embodies
Santiago Ballester
, Councilor for Festive Culture of the Popular Party. He attended on Friday with María José Catalá, mayor of Valencia, who
introduced for the first time the band
that accredited Arlandis as the maximum representative of the fallaes.
Afterwards, the influencer took the stage at the Palau de la Música and dedicated a 14-minute and 10-second speech to María Estela Arlandis and her court. She developed it in Valencian and Spanish, something for which
she was also criticized
when she uploaded an excerpt to her Instagram profile. The truth is that this is not the first time that a maintainer mixes the two languages. Without going any further,
Ana Cuesta
, journalist for La Sexta and member of the court of honor of the Fallera Mayor of Valencia in 2008, had this assignment in 2018 and her speech was one of the most praised. The Valencian mixed both languages in the exaltation of the falleras.
Marta Lozano on her way to give her speechINFOFALLES
This communicator's speech resonated so much that, as LOC has learned, it is one of the speeches that Junta Central Fallera sends as an example to the maintainer each year. And Lozano took note. On that occasion, the journalist said: "
You represent, yes, officially, Valencia
. But I want more. I want Valencia to be identified inside and outside of this city with women like you."
In her speech, the influencer was heard saying: "From now on you officially represent Valencia and the Fallas. But we want more. We want
Valencia to be identified within and outside our borders with strong
and empowered women like you."
This
similarity
was brought to light on his Instagram by Pere Fuset, spokesperson for Compromís and last president of the Junta Central Fallera. The politician has only declared to LOC that they are not aware that Lozano
"has received compensation of any kind"
for his assignment. The influencer did not want to comment on this or on what happened a day after the exaltation.
SACRED PIECE
Lozano uploaded a
story
about some bands from Artesanía Bordada, the company that has been making the pieces that credit the major fallera and her court for two years.
"These bands have reached me
," he was heard in the video. What the Valencian firm sent him is only available to those chosen to represent Valencia. The
faller sentiment
exploded. For Valencians these pieces are sacred.
The bands that Marta LozanoIG received
This organization demanded in a statement the immediate return of those bands. The company defended itself by ensuring that it was a commercial action. And the headlines placed Lozano as the problem: "JCF demands Marta Lozano (...)". It was not so. JCF has confirmed to LOC that
they demanded it from their supplier, which is Artesanía Bordad
a, not from the
influencer
. So that it does not happen again, the Fallera Central Board decided to stay with the gang bosses to "avoid misunderstandings."
LOC has contacted the company that sent the bands to Marta Lozano but has not received a response.
Fem foc or fugim?
(Do we make fire or run away?).