Valencia is known internationally for the Falles (Las Fallas), a local festival held in March and for paella valenciana, traditional Valencian ceramics, intricate traditional dress, and the architecture of the City of Arts and Sciences designed by Santiago Calatrava and Félix Candela.
La Tomatina, an annual tomato fight, draws crowds to the nearby town of Buñol in August. There are also a number of well-preserved traditional Catholic festivities throughout the year.Holy week celebrations in Valencia are considered some of the most colourful in Spain. Valencia has a metro system, the Metrovalencia (Valencia Metro).
Valencia is the current location of the Formula One European Grand Prix, first hosting the event on 24 August 2008. The city will host the event until at least 2014.
The University of Valencia (officially Universitat de València Estudi General) was founded in 1499, being one of the oldest surviving universities in Spain, and the oldest university in the Valencian Community. It was listed as one of the four leading Spanish universities in the 2011 Shangai Academic Ranking of World Universities. In 2011, Berklee College of Music in Boston announced the opening of a new campus at the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofiaproviding focus on the music of the region through its Mediterranean Music Institute.
Languages
The two official languages spoken in the city are Valencian and Spanish. Due to political and demographic pressures in the past, the predominant language is Spanish, but Valencian is taught and spoken in most of the surrounding metropolitan area and province of Valencia.The government emphasizes the usage of the local language by posting signs and announcements of the metro area in Valencian with Spanish translations. Valencian is also used when naming streets. Street signs generally give the Valencian name for the street. However, older streets and those which span longer
