The 'Alcoi, Indústria i Festa' initiative highlights the deep connection between the Moors and Christians Festivals and the industrial history of the city. This project, which has gone unnoticed by many, will now be made public through a new itinerary that will complement the existing heritage and modernist routes in Alcoy.
To carry out this research, the City Council awarded the project to the Centre Alcoià d'Estudis Històrics i Arqueològics (Caeha). Its secretary, Lluís Vidal, explained that about twenty members of the entity worked intensively for a month and a half to gather the necessary data.
The fundamental criterion for including a filà in this route was that its headquarters had a previous industrial use. Documentary research revealed that 26 of the 28 filaes met this condition. Subsequently, the Almogávares filà was added, which, despite being in a working-class house on La Sardina Street, housed a textile space in its rear. Only the Alcodianos filà, located in the Salesians school, has been excluded from this categorization.
Among the notable examples, the Chano, Verdes, and Berberiscos filaes occupy a former stately home and cigar factory. The Judíos and Mudéjares filaes are located in the first site of the Carbonell knitwear factory. The Cides are in an old textile warehouse that later housed a section of Papeleras Reunidas. Other filaes such as Realistas, Muntanyesos, Llana, Abencerrajes, and Andaluces are located in different facilities of the Hijos de Anselmo Aracil textile company.
Lluís Vidal contextualizes this urban and social phenomenon in the 1970s and 1980s, when many factories in the city center closed or moved to industrial estates due to the crisis. Simultaneously, the filaes experienced significant growth in their social base, requiring larger premises for their members and families.
“"This route will allow visitors and the people of Alcoy themselves to better understand the evolution of our Festival in honor of Sant Jordi and the importance that the filaes have had in the conservation of these historical spaces in the city."
The acquisition and rehabilitation of these old industries by the festival entities, according to Vidal, saved invaluable architectural heritage from abandonment and ruin. These buildings were designed by renowned local architects such as Vicente Pascual, Timoteo Briet, or Joaquín Aracil, and included cigar factories, textile mills, paper mills, foundries, timber warehouses, and carpentry workshops.
The public presentation of this work will take place on Tuesday, April 14 at 7:30 PM at the Parque Tecnológico Urbano de Rodes. During the event, researchers Lluís Vidal and Josep Maria Segura will give a conference detailing the results of the research and the transformation of these properties.
The project includes the publication of explanatory brochures for the tourist route, the installation of methacrylate plaques on the facades of the filaes, and the future placement of interior panels with expanded historical information, photographs, and architectural plans. These exterior plaques will allow visitors to learn about the building from the street, as the interior is not usually open to the public. Additionally, the information will be available in five languages and with sign language, ensuring universal access.
“"This initiative demonstrates how our industrial history and the Festival intertwine, creating a tourist product that enriches the city's offering and highlights Alcoy's uniqueness. We are generating a new route that integrates perfectly with our modernist tours, making knowledge of spaces that have been vital to our economy and are now the soul of our celebrations accessible to the public."
The Councillor for Tourism, Lorena Zamorano, highlighted that, although the idea had been brewing for years, it has now come to fruition, coinciding with the 750th anniversary of the patronage of Sant Jordi.
