Villajoyosa Fiestas

This Fiesta is 150 years old, existing testimonies of the celebrations. Those were done esporadicaly and alternatibely and always were done to conmemorate anything important that happened in the city.

From 1963 and thanks to the Mayor of the time D. Juán LLorca Agulló, became the "ASOCIACION SANTA MARTA " to organize this Fiesta that is done since then all these years.

To celebrate this Festivity is important to count with people who scenificate the acts, as it is the king moro and the christian king, moro and christian ambassadors, beduins, contrabandists and the governor of the castle that has to talk before the battles and the capitans of each company that have to wear the best dress uniform on honor of their
positions.

The Festivity of Moros and Christians are celebrated in lots of places of Spain but they have more tradition in the region of Valencia and more on the province of Alicante. The scenification of these acts are historic from the reconquist of Spain and dedicated to a Saint Patron.

People who participate in the feast form 22 companies or agrupations which are divided into 2 armies: moor & christian, eleven moor companies and eleven christian companies.

"Alijo", is the action of smuggling from the sea to the land, and that is what the company of Smugglers and Pirates do while are being pursued by the sailors and other Companies of Christians to avoid their objective.

When they reach the beach and after a battle, they arrive at the Castle and offer to fight with the Christians against the Moors, the ships reach the land before the Embassy, a beautiful and violent discussion between the Governor of the Castle and the speaker of the Smugglers and they offer to fight against the Moors that have landed in a near beach. The Governor of the Castle in the beginning did not want to join his troops with outlows, but at the end they decide to join each other against the Moors.

When the Moor troops disembark, a battle begins that finishes in the Vllajoyosa Castle and just before the final assault, the Moors want the Christians to surrender and as they do not accept, the Castle is assaulted by the Moor who win and conquer the Castle.

Like in all the celebrations of this kind, the last day and generally last act, is the Christians victory over the Moors and in Villajoyosa the tradition says that after the Embassy of the Christians and the battle of blunderbuss of great noise the Moors are defeated and symbolicaly sent back to the sea in Villajoyosa.