A delegation from the Vila-real City Council, including representatives from Museums, Archives, and Institutional Relations, met last Wednesday with officials from the Xàtiva City Council, led by the Culture Councilor. The main objective of this meeting was to establish greater institutional cooperation between the two localities.

During the meeting, the Vila-real delegation highlighted the deep historical and symbolic ties connecting Vila-real and Xàtiva. Both cities suffered destruction during the War of Succession and share a collective memory as burned towns. In this context, the figure of Carles Sarthou was emphasized as a cultural and heritage link, as he himself described both towns as his “two Valencian homelands.”

Vila-real has proposed a work schedule that includes a technical review of files, the exchange of documentation, and progress in institutional collaboration for the 150th anniversary of Carles Sarthou's birth, to be celebrated in November 2026 with a specific program. The Xàtiva City Council has been asked for collaboration through the transfer of materials, digital reproductions, technical advice, and participation in outreach and exhibition activities.

The Vila-real delegation particularly valued the documentary and photographic collection preserved in Xàtiva, as well as Sarthou's role as archivist, museologist, and heritage defender. The meeting also opened new avenues of cooperation, such as potential coordination between the cities' music bands, the study of a shared heritage axis around Sant Pasqual and the convent of Sant Onofre in Xàtiva, and the exchange of museum materials related to their common history.

In his role as director of the Xàtiva museum, Sarthou championed the decision to hang the portrait of Philip V upside down as a protest against the city's burning during the War of Succession. The chronicler of Xàtiva was also a prolific writer, in addition to being a judge and photographer, among other facets.