Spent 7 wks in Valencia many yrs ago and lived with a family. Our landlady taught us well. She was, as all Valencians are, quite fussy about the supreme local dish. Now, what I came to enjoy had: very fresh local seafood (no, not chicken, sausage etc) including cigalas (crawdads) and mussels.Also a vegetable known as judias verdes (kind of large flat string beans things) tomats, saffron.When I once asked her about chicken,pork,etc she quietly paused, and informed me that maybe some Barcelonans or Madrileños might do such things. (But not in her household).There was definitely a local pride issue here. I did not argue. And I had the seafood paellas offered in many different places around Valencia.
Later I read about paellas as originating as outdoor food sizzling over available tree branches and whatever was readily available near the rice fields. The outdoor paellas might have (in other times) included such handy ingredients as rabbit or snails.
So to this day I wonder if anything with chicken isn't just good ol' arroz con pollo (chicken & rice). See if you can get the seafood version. It is transcendant. No comparison.Divine.