FOGUERES @ 75 – A History: The 1970s

An emotional year for Xàbia, 2024 marks the 75th anniversary of the beginning of the Fogueres de Sant Joan, a fiesta that has become arguably the biggest party of the year. Two books have been published, the first in the year 1999 to celebrate the 50th anniversary and the second in 2024 to bring the history of the fiesta up-to-date. Here we provide a summary translation from the information provided in both books to tell the history of the Fogueres.

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The 70s arrived and with the death of Franco in 1975, the way opened for “La Transición”, the shift from dictatorship to democracy, a period of political and social change in Spain. It was a decade in which the world danced in the style of John Travolta and Olivia Newton John, as the film ‘Grease’ took the world by storm. As for cinema in Spain, there was Carlos Saura, the innovative Pedro Almodóvar and the subtle terror of Xixo Ibáñez Serrador. The Fogueres also saw a change with the debut of the Reina Xabiera as the fiesta shifted towards a more local focus. In addition, the fiesta spread to the Freginal and Thiviers sectors and the Valencian language became more prevalent, the first proclamation is made outdoors on the football pitch and the first “penyas” that have contributed so much to the Fogueres also appeared.

🔥 1970 🔥

By the beginning of 1970, the lack of willing volunteers meant that a Fiesta Commission to organise the year’s festivities had not yet been formed. However a few people were eventually persuaded to create the committee along with members of the quintà, the Women’s Commission and the children’s representative, all held together under the direction of a new president, Antonio Ern Martínez.

And thus, three days after a popular vote, the two queens were proclaimed with Mª Rosa Bisquert Mulet as Regina del Foc and Rosario Guardiola Sapena as Regina de la Foguera whilst the younger members of the community would be represented by María José Cholbi Cardona as Regina de la Foguera Infantil.

Of the events programmed, the Painting Exhibition-Contest returned for a third year.

The foguera monument, located in Placeta del Convent, was designed by local artist Fermín Espinosa, who created a splendid monument around the concept of a lighthouse on top of which sat an upturned urn that seemed to be expelling such modern luxuries as televisions, fridges and washing machines. And he managed to do so despite continuing problems with the Fiesta Commission over funding.

Regina de la Foc: Mª Rosa Bisquert Mulet
Regina de la Foguera: Rosario Guardiola Sapena
Regina de la Foguera Infantil: María José Cholbi Cardona
President of the Commission: Antonio Ern Martínez

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🔥 1971 🔥

Under the presidency of Antonio Ern Martínez, the Fiesta Commission recovered the enthusiasm to organise the festivities, composed of members of the quintà as well as the Women’s Commission and the youngsters, all of whom had great zest for the fogueres celebrations.

Voting took place to choose the highest representatives of the fiesta after a formal presentation of the candidates at the Teatre Espídos and, due to the increased enthusiasm for the festivities, the proclamation took place in the open air for the first time, taking over the town’s football pitch which is now the athletics track next to CEIP Graüll. Isabel Bertolín Espasa was proclaimed Regina del Foc, Gertrudis Pastor Polvoreda was named as Regina de la Foguera and Ángela Mª Espasa Serrat was announced as Regina de la Foguera Infantil. The night was a great success and the celebration would continue at the same location for some time.

In this year, the town’s Majorettes made their debut appearance, delighting the public with the acrobatics and skill with a baton. Some years later, a band of trumpets would be created to accompany them in their performances.

Finally, for the first time, the design of the foguera monument would be offered to external artists and Valencian artist Enrique VIguer would create “Majaderias” (which means “stupidity” or “nonsense”) which featured as its central theme a women dressed in a small bikini painting a landscape whilst standing on a giant palette which itself is supported by a book entitled “La Maja Desnuda”,  a painting by the Spanish artist Francisco de Goya.

Regina del Foc: Isabel Bertolín Espasa
Regina de la Foguera: Gertrudis Pastor Polvoreda
Regina de la Foguera Infantil: Ángela Mª Espasa Serrat
President of the Commission: Antonio Ern Martínez

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🔥 1972 🔥

Miguel Serrat Mata was chosen as the new president of the Fiesta Commission but the group remains largely the same. The election of the queens took place in the town hall with the proclamation ceremony hosted on a stage on the football ground dominated by the magnificent butterfly designed by Felipe Bisquert. Paqui Santacreu Costa was named as Reginal del Foc whilst Teresa Quero Moragues was proclaimed as Regina de la Foguera.

The Children’s Commission was expanding and in their own dedicated evening at Teatre Espídos, the youngsters proclaimed Fina Doménech Bisquert as Regina de la Foguera Infantil.

Listed in the programme of events were several special acts, including the opening of the municipal museum located in the chapel of Santa Anna in Carrer d’Avall, promoted by Juan Bautista Soler Blasco.

Regina del Foc: Francisca Santacreu Costa
Regina de la Foguera: Teresa Quero Moragues
Regina de la Foguera Infantil: Fina Doménech Bisquert
President of the Commission: Miguel Serrat Mata

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🔥 1973 🔥

The Fiesta Commission continued under the presidency of Miguel Serrat Serra. Twenty candidates stood for election by popular vote with Rosa Caselles Mayor selected as Regina del Foc and María Rosa Català Cardona proclaimed as Regina de la Foguera. At the presentation of the Children’s Commission at the Teatre Espídos, Rosa María Cholbi Cardona was proclaimed as Regina de la Foguera Infantil. The programme of events included two new sporting acts, the first Fogueres Tennis Trophy, organised and hosted by the tennis club, and a go-kart race held through the streets of the historic centre.

The foguera monument created in the Placeta del Convent criticised the sad state of the fish market and the port harbour whilst also demanding more parking spaces in the centre of the town. The agricultural problems with farmers and the price of oranges was also mentioned whilst the arrival of tourist from all over the world was, according to the designer, endangering the identity of the town.

Regina del Foc: Rosa Caselles Mayor
Regina de la Foguera: María Rosa Català Cardona
Regina de la Foguera Infantil: Rosa María Cholbi Cardona
President of the Commission: Miguel Serrat Mata

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🔥 1974 🔥

The Fogueres de Sant Joan de Xàbia reached its 25th anniversary and the preparation to commemorate this special occasion started almost as soon as the last embers of the 1973 bonfire were extinguished. A special commission was created with plenty of volunteers willing to give up their spare time to create a programme of events that would perfectly mark this special milestone in the history of the town.

This year it was the Fiesta Commission that chose the highest representatives of the party and it happened not in June but at the beginning of January when Mª Milagros Benimelí Estrellés was declared Regina del Foc and Pepita Torres Chorro proclaimed as Regina de la Foguera. The children’s representative was declared to be Mari Paqui Cardona Ferrer as Regina de la Foguera Infantil. Each was given a commemorative fan to mark the occasion.

But the acts began a couple of months earlier when, starting in November 1973, a series of gala dinners took place every fortnight during which the Queens and their Courts of Honour from the past 24 years were honoured, each queen presented with a tiara. Held in the Salones Toscamar, the evenings proved to be a great success and during the last of them, on Sunday 14th April, the 25th edition queens were presented, honoured by the queens and presidents from the previous quarter of a century.

On Saturday 1st June, the proclamation and coronation ceremony took place on the football ground in front of thousands of residents and local authorities as well as mayors from towns and villages across the Marina Alta. This was the first year that a physical crown was used in the coronation. The evening concluded with music and dancing to Conchita Bautista y Los Tres Sudamericanos. Conchita is best known for her participation in the Eurovision Song Contests of 1961 and 1965.

On Saturday 15th June, the proclamation and coronation of the Regina de la Foguera Infantil took place, an evening which included a fun show for the little ones and the town hall laid on free buses for children who lived in the port area who wanted to attend the act.

The programme of events was extensive and residents embraced festive mode by decorating squares and streets. The programme was extended so that something took place every night each neighbourhood of Thiviers, Freginal, Bon Aire, the historic centre and the Placeta del Convent. Sports competitions included tennis, go-karting and football whilst the first Children’s Day took place, a day totally dedicated to celebrations for the little ones. The processions, the flower offering and the float parades featured music bands from across the Marina Alta.

Special tribute was paid to the founders of the fiesta at Casa Montaner, a grand house that disappeared barely a year later and only the Parque Montaner reminds us of its existence. The festeros from 1950 also organized several events, including the popular hot chocolate in the Placeta del Convent.

The foguera monument, created by Valencian artist Enrique Viguer, was dedicated to the 25th anniversary and primarily dealt with the history of the Fogueres fiesta in Xàbia also there was still room for criticism of the issues of the day, including references to the oil crisis, tourism and the countryside.

Regina del Foc: Mª Milagros Benimelí Estrellés
Regina de la Foguera: Pepita Torres Chorro
Regina de la Foguera Infantil: Mari Paqui Cardona Ferrer
President of the Commission: Bartolomé Català Palacio

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🔥 1975 🔥

Despite the economic crisis and the hangover from the 25th anniversary celebrations, the next era for the Fogueres began with a growing close relationship between the Fiesta Commission and the town hall, especially with mayor Juan Bautista Soler Blasco. The artist designed the covers of the fiesta magazine during his four years in office between 1975 and 1979 and continued his relationship with the fiesta by also painting the cover for the 1980 edition.

A new executive committee was made up of eight positions with Juan Ivars Salvá as president, a man with plenty of experience in the world of fiestas who had held the position in 1968 and 1969. Sixty-five quintòs were involved, described by the president as “tireless workers” whilst twelve former falleras made up the Women’s Commission. A Youth Commission was also established by 23 youngsters who demonstrated a love for the fiesta, a large part of whom will continue in its organization well into the 1980s.

The festivities began on Tuesday 17th June with the participation of the town band, the majorettes, the drum and trumpet band, and representatives of neighbouring towns. Bull-running around the historic centre featured in the opening days.

On Saturday 21st June, Antonia Ros Sala was proclaimed as Regina del Foc whilst Mª Vicente Fornés Sart was crowned as Regina de la Foguera. The day before, the children’s proclamation had seen Milagros Cervera Bolufer proclaimed as Regina de la Foguera.

This year there were four foguera monuments placed around the town. To that of the Placeta del Convent and the Infantil were added “18 de juliol” in Carrer Mestre Àngel Palencia and one at Portal del Clot. The seed was planted for the division of the fiesta into sectors.

The foguera monument highlighted the global crisis affecting tourism whilst the one in Carrer Mestre Àngel Palencia symbolised tradition with the eye of a river, the coca and the wine. The most original was that of Portal del Clot which was a traditional bonfire where old junk was burned.

Regina del Foc: Antonia Ros Sala
Regina de la Foguera: Mª Vicente Fornés Sart
Regina de la Foguera Infantil: Milagros Cervera Bolufer
President of the Commission: Juan Ivars Salvá
Quintà “LA BREGA”

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🔥 1976 🔥

Two years after the 25th anniversary of the Fogueres, the fiesta disintegrated into three sectors – Thiviers-Roig, Freginal and Central – although the decision greatly increased the number of participants.

The Central Fiesta Commission was headed by Antonio Ern Martínez, returning to the helm after two years at the top in 1970 and 1971, and included a Women’s Commission and forty-two quintòs. The Youth Commission had really taken hold just two years into existence with 52 young people organised into two executive boards and two separate groups for boys and girls.

Seventeen young women put themselves up for election as Queens and the popular vote selected Maria Marí Ronda as Regina del Foc and Paquita Cabo Gómez as Regina de la Foguera. Both the election and proclamation ceremonies took place in Cine Espídos. For the youngsters, Ángeles Buigues Gavilá was proclaimed as the Regina de la Foguera Infantil.

The festivities began on Wednesday 17th June with the proclamation; on the same day, the proclamation of the fiestas is celebrated in the Freginal sector and, for the first time, it is conducted entirely in the Valencian language. The rest of the programme continued with the traditional events, incorporating celebrations in Thiviers and Freginal, whilst on Sunday 20th June, the municipal museum was officially inaugurated in its current location in the heart of the historic centre. a source of great pride for the mayor of Xàbia at the time, Juan Bautista Soler Blasco and the museum now bears his name: Soler Blasco Archaeological and Ethnographic Museum.

Regina del Foc: María Marí Ronda
Regina de la Foguera: Paquita Cabo Gómez
Regina de la Foguera Infantil: Ángeles Buigues Gavilá
President of the Commission: Antonio Ern Martínez
Presidents of the Youth Commission: Ana Maria Soler Ivars and Vicent Andrés Cardona

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🔥 1977 🔥

Preparations for the 1977 edition of the Fogueras came in the midst of the election campaign for the first democratic general elections which took place on Wednesday 15th June. (The UCD party of Adolfo Suárez comfortably won in Jávea with 3,366 votes, well ahead of PSOE who attracted 615 votes.)

The president of the Central Fiesta Commission, Fracisco Bisquert Diego, was supported by 15 members of the commission, twenty-one members of the quintà, and fourteen members of the Women’s Commission. The Youth Commision remained as strong as ever.

The eighteen young women were up for election and voting was held at the Casa de la Falange in Plaça del Baix where the current Casa de la Cultura is located. In the vote count, Elvira Berruti Fuentes emerged as Regina del Foc and Josefa Buigues Ivars as Regina de la Foguera. Clara Vallés Sapena would represent the twenty-seven boys and girls as the Regina Infantil.

The festivities began on Saturday 18th June with a grand parade of the Queens, Ladies and Court of Honour and the Fiesta Commisions which ended in front of the town hall where the proclamation of the start of the celebrations was made before the fireworks. Down in Thiviers, the bulls were released.

The programme included the bull-running, a children’s day organised in Ronda Colón, the flower offering, the complimentary wine, the processions, the fire-jumping, the mass, the mascletà and finally the burning of the foguera monuments.

That of the Placeta represented the “worker’s strike” with the figure of a dog around which a “lamb” passed as well as the elections and the need to save energy and oil.

Regina del Foc: Elvira Berruti Fuentes
Regina de la Foguera: Josefa Buigues Ivars
Regina de la Foguera Infantil: Clara Vallés Sapena
President of the Commission: Francisco Bisquert Diego

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🔥 1978 🔥

The 1978 edition of the Fogueres featured the introduction of two young queens which leads to an important change to the format of the fiesta the following year. The Central Fiesta Commission also remained strong under the leadership of Francisco Bisquert Diego whilst the quintà would be responsible for organising the Three Kings Parade in January for the first time.

Fifteen young women sought election to become one of the queens, all of whom had to be part of the fiesta in which they wanted to participate. Mª Dolores Delhom Codoñer was chosen as Regina del Foc and Pepa Vallés Bisquert as Regina de la Foguera whilst representing the boys and girls owas Mª Angeles Ortuño Rodriguez as Regina de la Foguera Infantil. To these were added the “Xàbia Group” with Josepa Buigues Alentado proclaimed as Regina de la Foguera Juvenil and Josefa Cardona Bas as the equivalent as Infantil.

A budget of 1,800,000 pesetas was available for the 1978 edition, a quarter of which was funded by the town hall as a subsidy whilst the rest was raised with raffles, tombolas and the sale of works by regional painters.

1978 was full of incident. The president resigned due to disagreements over his intinerary whilst the foguera monument at Portal del Clot, created by Ateneu Cultural, was set ablaze by quintòs at 2pm in the afternoon of Friday 23rd June.

The foguera monument in Placeta del Convent dealt with urban problems such as the Avenida Amanecer, Avenida Jaume I and the controversial road on Montgó to support plans to install a television repeater station.

Regina del Foc: Mª Dolores Delhom Codoñer
Regina de la Foguera: Pepa Vallés Bisquert
Regina de la Foguera Infantil: Mª Ángeles Ortuño Rodríguez
Regina de la Foguera Infantil: Josefa Cardona Bas
Regina de la Foguera Juvenil: Josefa Buigues Alentado
President of the Commission: Francisco Bisquert Diego
Presidents of the Youth Commission: Ana Maria Soler Ivars & Vicente Andrés Cardona

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🔥 1979 🔥

In 1979, a new stage began in the history of the Fogueres. The Fiesta Commission was headed by Bonaventura Buigues i Costa, a figure who had participated in the organisation of the festivities almost since the fiesta began in 1950 and was previously president in 1958 and 1959. He now took on the challenge of changing the fiesta by creating the positions of Reina Major Xabiera and the Reina de la Foguera and changing their costume to that known as the alicantina. The aim was to represent the town with the xabiera costume, the province with the alicantina costume, and the region (at that time) with the valenciana costume.

The commission was made up of volunteers, members of the quintà and the women’s commission that consisted of festeras from previous years. They organised several events to raise funds which included a fashion parade at the nightclub Cactus.

Twenty-six young women were distributed among the three courts and among them were Mª Rosa Catala Torres, Regina de la Foguera, Dorotea Offinger, Regina del Foc and Merce Marí Garoz, the first ever Reina Major Xabiera. The proclamation took place on Friday 15th June in the Central Cinema and included a memorable performance from famous Spanish actor and comedian Arévalo.

The children’s court was Ana Rosa Llidó Bas as Regina Valenciana and Isabel Bolufer Ginestar as Regina Xabiera. The Youth Commission was still going strong.

Finally, the foguera monument in Placeta del Convent was shaped into a large street lamp on top of which stood a night watchman, conveying resident demands to improve the power supply system which often failed during periods of rain as well as a call for a park for the elderly and improvements in public health, etc.

Regina del Foc: Dorotea Offinger
Regina de la Foguera: M Rosa Català Torres
Regina Xabiera: Merce Marí Garoz
Regina Infantil Valenciana: Ana Rosa Llidó Bas
Regina Infantil Xabiera: Isabel Bolufer Ginestar
President of the Commission: Bonaventura Buigues i Costa
Presidents of the Youth Commission: Ana Maria Soler Ivars & Vicente Andrés Cardona

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