HISTORICAL DATA OF THE “MOROS I CRISTIANS” FESTIVAL.
Cocentaina is the capital of Comtat County. It celebrates its “Moros i Cristians” festival the second weekend of August in honour of its patron saint, St. Hippolyte.
This event originated at the beginning of the XVII century, right after the election of the patron Saint on May 7th 1600. Originally it was a purely religious celebration, but later it evolved and was transformed into its current form as the “Moros i Cristians” festival.
In the XVIII century, the City Hall paid for the whole festival, as documented in the book “Libro de Claveries” (1711) (“the City Hall gives to the clergy of the Cocentaina St. Mary’s church an amount of 53 lliures for the St. Hippolyte’s party”).
From 1766 a different “Abanderado” and “Capitán” were chosen each year. At the beginning the Moorish side of the festival were called Turkish and then in 1734 the titles changed. Although these are the official dates, the Cocentaina Archives reveal in the “Libro de Claveries” that in 1695 a celebration honoring the Virgin was celebrated: the “Alardo”. That is then the first historic record of the festival celebration.
Cocentaina has been celebrating the “Moros i Cristians” festival for many centuries and the festival has been evolving throughout history.
At the beginning it was a very simple celebration in which the main and almost the only element was the gunpowder (which itself was forbidden by Charles III). Nowadays it is a diverse event where many activities have been added to distinguish it from the festivals held in other towns.
Some of these events take place within the three main days of celebrations (“Embajada del Contrabando”, “Presentación de Armas”, “Embajada de los Tomates” and “Guerrillas”) and some others occur along the year (“Publicación”, “Olleta de la Purisima” and “Fuera”). All of these are particular to Cocentaina.
The “Embajada del Contrabando” (or “Alijo” in the festival book of 1900) is like a play in which there is a comical dialog between two “Filaes” (Maseros and Contrabandistas). The Contrabandistas ask permission to the Maseros to come into the village; at the beginning they say no, but at the end they agree and the two “Filaes” join in fighting the Moorish. This play originated in 1864.
The “Presentación de Armas” takes place on St. Hippolyte’s Day. After the Mass all the “Filaes” participate in a parade that honors the “Abanderados” and “Capitanes”.
The “Embajada de los Tomates” is a battle between the “Filaes” Bequeteros and Caballería Ministerial (Cavallets) in which they only use tomatoes as weapons. At the beginning of the festival these two “Filaes” because they were part of the cavalry did not participate in the “Alardo” and so they organized their own battle.
It was to be 1966 before they had the right to play the “Abanderado” and the “Capitan” roles like the rest of “Filaes” and participate in the “Alardo”. Due to their cavalry origins these “Filaes” put on a distinctive show of much interest to the tourist.
The “Guerrillas” are battles held in the mountains at the site of the Castle. They commence at dawn and signify the introduction of the “Alardo”, the last day of the festival.
As previously mentioned, two other historical events are celebrated annually since the XVIII century: the “Publicación” and the “Olleta de la Purísima”.
The “Publicación” was first celebrated in 1765, on Jesus Ascension Thursday (June); then in 1976 the day changed to the Sunday following that Thursday and since 1985 it has been held the last Saturday of June. The “Publicación” is a parade in which a member of each “Filà” makes a line (escuadra) led by a person in front of them carrying a sword (formador). There is a Moorish and a Christian “escuadra” and, since 1977, the “formador” role is carried out by whoever acts as Captain that year (before 1977 the formador was a special character, the “Sargento”). Since 1975, children are permitted to participate in this event and they make their own “escuadras” following the same rules as the adults.
The “Olleta de la Purísima” is a dinner with a menu of the typical Cocentaina dish, “olleta” (rice with beans, bacon, pig’s ribs, “morcillas” and cardoons). Each “Filà” has this dinner in their regular meeting hall the evening before the Immaculate Conception. Though in ancient times eating meat was forbidden on this day, the “festers” from Cocentaina got a papal bulla (bula from the Pope).
Finally, we have to talk about the “Fuera”, an event that lasts a weekend and is held in September a few weeks after the three-days festival. “Anar-se’n de fuera” (which means “to go out”) is a popular expression that is used when one is going to spend a whole day or weekend gathered with other members of the “Filà” in a place outside the town (usually a house in the country, a farmhouse, etc.).
The event today is organized and administered by the federation “Junta de Fiestas de Moros y Cristianos”. However it was the XIX century that saw the first attempts at formalizing the organizational structure. In 1853 the first written document appeared entitled “Costumbres y Pautas de Conducta Festeras” and contained the rules for conducting the festival. Later, in 1887 a set of regulations within the “Filà” entitled “Caballeros de la Edad Media” was written though this no longer exists. Most of the “Filaes” that exist today existed in the XIX century Manta Roja, Maseros (known originally as Labradores), Llana, Contrabandistas y Caballería Ministerial. As time went by, other “Filaes” appeared: from the Moorish side; Kabileños in 1904; Bereberes Borts in 1939; Bequeteros in 1941 (possibly developed form the Caballería Realista); Guardia Jalifiana in 1941; Mudéjares in 1942 and Muladíes in 2008. From the Christian side developed Cruzados in 1952; Almogávares in 1954 and Gentiles in 1963 (developed form the Comparsa de San Hipólito with a costume modeled on the St. Hippolyte sculpture).
With the appearance of new “Filaes”, others disappeared such as Navarros, Tomasinas, Cides, Estudiantes, Marineros, Manta Blanca, Manta Verde, Carpasos, Moros Elegantes, Judíos, Edetanos and Contestanos.
With regard to the festival of “Moros y Cristianos” today in the XXI century the role of women deserves mention. At the beginning, the woman’s role was limited to accompanying the male ‘warriors’, performing dances, etc. Later in Cocentaina the role of “Festera Mayor” (Queen of the festival) was established and existed between 1971 and 1987. The ‘Queen’ was elected from a group of candidates with one representative from each ‘Filà.’ It was not until the middle of the 1990’s that women starting participating in the festival with the same roles as men and over time they were fully integrated and now they represent a significant proportion of some “Filaes”.
A very important element of the festival apart from the “festers” is the music. The most important pieces are called: pasodoble (for the Christians side), marcha mora (for the Moorish side). Cocentaina has been the birthplace of important composers that have contributed to the development of the typical and characteristic music associated with the “Moros y Cristianos” festival celebrated not only in Cocentaina but in the surroundings. Amongst the very long list of contributors some examples include; Manuel Ferrando Gonzáles (creator of the oldest known pasodoble, entitled "El Moro Guerrero"), Gustavo Pascual Falcó (writer of the world famous pasodoble “Paquito el Chocolatero”), Justo Sansalvador Cortés, Miguel Picó Biosca, Enrique Torró Insa, Enrique Pérez Margarit, José Pérez Vilaplana, José Insa Martínez, José Francisco Molina Pérez, José Vicente Egea Insa, Rafael Lledó García and younger composers such as Ignacio García Vidal and Francisco Valor Lloréns. June 5th 1766 is thought to be the first time a band participated in the festival when the Cocentaina City Hall hired a band from Albaida (Valencia).
As we hope you can appreciate Cocentaina has a rich history steeped in the origins and traditions of the “Moros y Cristianos” festival tradition with a dynamic balance of old and new customs and a healthy proportion of history and light-hearted fun. The Cocentaina festival offers the visitor a unique cultural experience which has been declared of international touristic significance. It provides an alternative and variety to the beach with great weather and fabulous food accompanied by music and dance. Visiting Cocentaina the second week of August opens a window on history with the sensual experiences of musical variety, colourful costume designs of the “Capitán”, “Abanderado” and the special “escuadras” with face painting (escuadras de negros). One will awaken to the “Primera Diana” at dawn, participate in the devotion honouring St. Hippolyte, and be filled with the sounds of “Alardo” day. And if this is not enough, what better way to fight the heat of the region than the typical drink of Cocentaina, named “mentira” (lie), made with frozen lemon juice, caramelized sugar, cinnamon and coffee liquor.
