In his speech as the Master of Ceremonies, Rafael Alemany reviews the rights and obligations that Bernat de Sarrià stipulated for the first settlers in this charter
Benidorm claims its seven centuries of history in the performance of the Town Charter
Mayor Toni Pérez has defined Benidorm as a "land of opportunity" from the very beginning and as a city "capable of making millions of people happy"
Benidorm celebrated its seven centuries of municipal history last night with a reenactment of the granting of the Carta de Poblament (Town Charter) by Admiral Bernat de Sarrià on May 8, 1325. This event brought together a large audience in Plaça de Sant Jaume, where the first Benidorm was located, to commemorate this 700th anniversary.
Mayor Toni Pérez presided over the event alongside Jonathan López de las Huertas, president of the Associació de Penyes Verge del Sofratge (Town Charter Association); Rafael Alemany Ferrer, the sponsor of the 2025 event and honorary president of the 700th Anniversary Commission; Mariluz Navarro, president of the Carta de Poblament (Town Charter Group); and numerous members of the municipal council. Among them were the Councillors for Festivals and Culture, Mariló Cebreros and Jaime Jesús Pérez; José Ramón González de Zárate, also a regional deputy; his colleague at Les Corts, Mario Villar; and the Director General of Housing of the Generalitat, Sebastián Fernández.
Also in attendance were the queens of the 2025 Festes Majors Patronals, Paula Pascual Sánchez and Aitana Pérez Guitiérrez, along with their court of honour, as well as the president of the Commission, Susana Martínez, and some members of the Commission, and the parish priest of Sant Jaume i Santa Anna, Juan Antonio González.
The event began just after 9:30 p.m., this time with a musical performance by the Lucentum XVI group of ministers, who performed several pieces composed between the 13th and 16th centuries on medieval instruments.
The performance then began with the play, written and directed by Pasqual Almiñana, which depicts how Admiral Bernat de Sarrià granted Benidorm its charter of naturalisation seven centuries earlier. It was notably performed by the members of the club (peñistas) Jaume Llorca, Ana Hernández, Arturo Orgilés, Lourdes Fuster, José María Mariana, Manolo García, Jaume Cortés, Pere Buigues, Fernando Vilaseca, and José Pallarés, along with the child Juan José Ferrer and the children Paula Mariana, Ana Luque, Carmen Luque, and Ariadna Orgilés.
After the performance, Rafael Alemany Ferrer, professor emeritus of the University of Alicante and honorary president of the 700th Anniversary Commission, acted as host. He delighted the audience with his extensive knowledge of the Town Charter and the Middle Ages, as a professor of Catalan Philology specialising in medieval literature.
During his speech, the doctor and researcher gave an exhaustive review of Benidorm's founding document and the rights and obligations that Bernat de Sarrià granted to the first settlers through this charter, explaining in detail the various capitulations regulated in this Charter, which was signed in a notary's office in Valencia on May 8, 1325.
After this interesting presentation about the Town Charter, it was the turn of the president of the Association of Penyes, Jonathan López de las Huertas, to congratulate the performers and the organisers and thank the audience for their presence.
Finally, the mayor of Benidorm, Toni Pérez, closed the event by highlighting the seven centuries of Benidorm's history that we are now celebrating. The mayor argued that "if over the centuries, and especially since the beginning of the 20th century, we have been able to make millions of people happy, we also have the right to vindicate ourselves and say that here is a people with a soul, a people who feel, who live, who believe, and who strive every day to be a better people. This must have been what those first settlers thought 700 years ago when, with this legal document, they understood that they had an opportunity to live in this wonderful town of Benidorm.
Pérez congratulated Rafael Alemany for his speech and expressed his admiration for him, stating that "today it would be difficult to find a person with so much experience, such academic rigour, and a resume like his, who is also a true Benidorm native like him."
Finally, he congratulated the members of the Grup Carta de Poblament for this event, as well as all the individuals and organisations that make up the '700th Anniversary Commission'. "This is a celebration about the significance we have always wanted and envisioned," he stated. The mayor concluded his speech by congratulating the entire population of Benidorm on this anniversary.
The events for the '700 Years of Benidorm' continue this afternoon, starting at 7:00 p.m., with the 700th Anniversary commemorative concert by Societat Musical l'Illa in the Cultural Centre Auditorium. Admission is free.
