La Barqueta recognizes all the collaborators of the entity and claims the Discovery as a Festival of National Tourist Interest

La Barqueta Cultural and Recreational Association held an event last night to recognize all the individuals and organizations that have helped and collaborated with the association throughout its 54-year history. The event took place in a packed Benidorm City Hall Auditorium, attended by all the honorees. It also served as a prelude to a weekend packed with events to commemorate March 16th, the day of the city's patroness saint, Our Lady of Sufragio.

La Barqueta folk band also took part in the event, performing several pieces interspersed with the numerous recognitions and awards. The program included the works "Pepe Bayona," "La canción de Solveig," "La Aurora," "Rhapsody Valenciana," "Recuerdos de la Alhambra," and the folk band adaptation of the pasodoble "La Barqueta" by Rovira Peretó.

The event, led by La Barqueta members Jaime Lloret and Ángela Llinares, was attended by a large part of the local council, led by Mayor Toni Pérez; the regional deputy José Ramón González de Zárate; the regional secretary of Housing, Sebastián Fernández; the queens of the Festes Majors, Paula Sánchez and Aitana Pérez; the president of the Commission, Susana Martínez; the president of the Association of Penyes, Jonathan López; members of La Barqueta; actors from the Hallazgo (The Finding), and various cultural organizations.
From the outset, the members of the Cultural and Recreational Association made it clear that they will continue to demand "that the Finding be declared of National Tourist Interest. We only have a few steps left to achieve this, and we will comply with everything they ask of us."

La Barqueta then began the recognitions that fell to the Association of Peñas and the Commission of Festes Majors Patronals, the Department of Education, the Municipal Archive, the Yacht Club, the fire brigade and the Local Police, the parish priest of San Jaime, Juan Antonio González, the Nadal Aznar, Pérez Aguilar and Puchades families, the Department of Technical Services and the artist Miguel Ribes Sogorb, the actresses, queens and ladies who have performed in the Finding, the Departments of Festivals and Culture, Pere María Orts -whose distinction was collected by his nephew Vicente Ibáñez Orts-, the Commission of the year 1971, the actor of the Finding Pedro Devesa (the only one who continues from the beginning), Juan Calvo, member of the first Board of La Barqueta, the sailors Josemi Martínez, Miguel Signes and Vicente Martínez Rostoll. Also recognized were Ángela Barceló, Matías Pérez Such, Sebastián Fernández, and the Alicante Provincial Council and the Generalitat (Catalan Government). Their recognition was accepted by the mayor and president of the provincial body, Toni Pérez, and the representative José Ramón González de Zárate. The final recognition went to the people of Benidorm, received by the city's mayor.

After the awards, the presentation of the association's website, designed by Miguel Ángel García, Maca, took place. It is written in Spanish, Valencian, and English and is accessible from any device at www.acrlabarqueta.org.

On the new website, visitors will find La Barqueta's activities, literary contributions, photographs, a newspaper archive, etc. "We also compile historical writings, so that it will be a website recognizable everywhere, an open door to the infinite world of the internet, and one that is very fluid and welcomes contributions from anyone who wants it," explained Jaime Lloret.

The Mayor closed the event highlighting "exceptional moments that changed the history of this town, like that March 16th, with the Discovery." A date, the mayor said, that was later acknowledged by Pere María Orts i Bosch. "One of his works is the script for the Discovery staged by La Barqueta," he noted before emphasizing that "we are pursuing greater recognition, that of National Tourist Interest, and the City Council will do everything possible to make it a reality."

He also encouraged everyone to attend the weekend's events. "Tomorrow we have the Offering, and on Sunday we will accompany her, our patron saint, once again. Benidorm will be there, tomorrow and Sunday," he added. Toni Pérez concluded by stating that "few of us will forget what you have made us feel from La Barqueta over these five decades. Thank you."