Moors and Christians Xàbia grows with constitution of Filà Bandoleres

Wednesday 15th March 2023
Mike Smith

The Moors and Christians festival in Xàbia does not stop growing. At this year’s Mig Any, the great festive family welcomed a new filà that joins the celebration in this 2023 edition. The Filà Bandoleres was born with the aim of balancing the forces of the Christian side against those of the Moorish side. A total of twelve filaes make up, to this day, the festivity in honor of Sant Jaume.

Fourteen young women make up this new squad that emerges, like almost all good things, around a table and surrounded by friends. According to what they say, one day, in the middle of a conversation without great pretensions; one of its members sowed the seed: “Why don’t we form a new fila?” All of them were already fascinated by the Moors and Christians festival and longed to stop being spectators to start living it from within.

Quickly, they contacted the Junta de Festes and it activated its protocol for the creation of new filaes that allows them to be promoted and offered facilities for their consolidation during their first years of existence. The internal regulations advocate maintaining a balance between the two sides for a greater brilliance and variety of the festival, so this new filà had to be Christian. This was not an inconvenience for these thirteen young women who were very clear about which side they wanted to belong to and what type of filà they wanted to be.

The bandit style in the Moros i Cristians festivities gives off a lot of power and is perhaps one of the most marked, especially in the case of the female squads. Similar to that of the Contrabandistas, it is rooted in the character of the south with numerous Andalusian reminiscences. The challenge is huge and the Filà Bandoleres assure that they are “practicing a lot to offer a decent parade and live up to the rest of the colleagues from both sides who have been making the public vibrate for years”.

In order to have their participation in July well tied, the new filà is immersed in all the preparations. “We already have the costumes, we have chosen the colors and clothing that will identify us at the fiesta, and the banner is in the works.”

Les Bandoleres assure that, although this year the number of components is already limited, they would like more young women from the municipality to join them in the coming years: “We are an open and hospitable filà, new to this great fiesta, but with great enthusiasm and win.” Like the Filà Xibia, it is tmade up entirely of women; they want to be their counterparts on the Christian side. In fact, their incorporation into the fiesta not only equates the sides but also the number of women and men that make up the party, thus demonstrating its equality.

The Mig Any celebrated the first weekend of March was its presentation in society. They assure that they enjoyed the event “a lot” and that they felt “welcomed by the rest of the members of the filaes” who they thank for their encouragement and advice for the celebration of the month of July.