Did you know that the fiesta of the Moors and Christians, held every July in the Aduana port area, is not a fiesta with a long tradition in Xàbia ?

In fact, it only began in 1978, on a very small scale. Over the years, it has grown into a spectacular pageant with beautiful fancy costumes. Although celebrating historical facts, the event is more of an excuse for another celebration and a tourist attraction.

For the true origins of this fiesta we have to go back to Alcoy in the year 1276 and the figure of al-Azraq, a Moorish vizir. But first, to set the scene, here is a very brief history of Muslim Al-Andalus. 
From the seventh century, the Islamic empire, with its capital in Damascus, spread rapidly across North Africa. The Umayyad caliphate sought to expand into Europe, and in 711 AD, Tariq ibn Ziyad crossed over to what is now Gibraltar. (Incidentally, the name given by the Arabs was „Jabal Tariq“ (Mount of Tariq), in honor of this conquering commander, which was later pronounced as Gibraltar). The  key event for the conquest of the Christian Visigoth kingdom was the victory at the Battle of Guadalete (711). After this, Muslim forces expanded rapidly across the Iberian Peninsular. By 719 AD almost the entire peninsula was under their control. Only a small strip in the north was never conquered. They established Al-Andalus as a province of the Umayyad Caliphate, with Cordoba as its capital.
When the Umayyads were overthrown by the Abbasids in Damascus in 756,  they fled to their province of Al-Andalus and severed ties with Damascus to become an independent emirate. Abd-al-Rahman became the first emir of Córdoba. Almost 200 years later it was declared a caliphate.

With weak rulers in the 11th century, the caliphate collapsed in 1031, giving way to many independent kingdoms -taifas- ruled by local nobles, each vying for power. This made it easier for the small Christian kingdoms in the north to reclaim land and gradually, over a century, they moved south. The Berber Almoravids from Morocco tried to unite the Muslim kingdoms. Their decisive defeat of the Castilian forces at the Battle of Zallaqa (Sagrajas) in 1086 consolidated their control of southern Iberia and halted the Christian advance for a time.
But Muslim discontent eventually led to the downfall of the Almoravids and another powerful North African dynasty, the more puritanical Almohads (1147-1212) succeded for a time in uniting the Muslim forces against the Christians.
The Nasrid dynasty (1212-1492) was the last Muslim dynasty to rule in Al-Andalus. They established the Emirate of Granada in 1238 and were surrounded by territory that had been reconquered by the Christian forces. They survived only through diplomatic negotiations and a system of tribute payments. There were also a number of other small Moslem kingdoms and valiates that still existed, dependent on Granada. The fall of Granada on 2 January 1492 marked the end of Muslim rule in the peninsula.

Now back to al-Azraq. His name was Abu Abd Allah Muhammed ibn Hudhayl, the blue-one, as his nickname al-Azraq suggests, referring either to his blue eyes or perhaps to his turban. We do not know too much about him. A lot of what we do know comes from the chronicle „El Llibre dels Fets“, written by his victor, James I of Aragon. It is believed that he was born somewhere between 1218 and 1220. He could have come from the Hud family, linked to the kingdom of Murcia or from the Yemenite line of Hudayl, established in Orihuela. He was probably born in the castle of al-Qal’a (Arabic for fortress/castle), the residence of his father, the visir of the small valiate in the mountains of Valencia. The ruins of the castillo can still be seen near the village of Alcalá de la Jovada, which did not exist at the time. After his father´s death in 1230 he became visir. He maintained good relations with both Muslim and Christian rulers, but when the Christian leaders committed massive injustices against the Muslim population, he was a brave leader of the revolt having much military experience. In 1244, when Denia and Xàtiva fell to the Christians, he became even more dependent on treaties with the enemy, although these were always to his disadvantage. With the feudal armies of Jaume I conquering Moorish territory at a rapid pace, al-Azraq was obliged to sign a pact (Pacto del Pouet) in 1244, perhaps to buy time to obtain help from the Emir of Tunis or Granada, help that never came. It was a pact for 3 years, after which he was to give up all his territory, except for the Castillos of al-Qal’a and Perpuxent. Possibly provoked by his enemies, he broke the pact towards the end and resisted in the mountains of Valencia for the next 14 years, still hoping for help from his allies. It seems that one of his advisors betrayed him, in 1258, leading to his capture and subsequent exile. He probably went to Granada, where the emir was a relative. Nothing is known of him for the next 18 years, until 1276, when he returned to lead once again the rebellions that had been raging in the mountains for some time.

​During his exile his people suffered many injustices : arbitrary confiscation of property, tax disadvantages, persecution, plundering, kidnapping. This led to the rebellions, which were undoubtedly fuelled by the victory of the Muslim troops of Granada and their Marinid allies over the Castilian armies at the Battle of Écija (1275). With 250 horsemen and 1200 footmen, joined by hundreds of locals, al-Azraq marched to attack Alcoy in May 1276. During the battle, in front of the ramparts of the town, al-Azraq was mortally wounded. With his death the rebellion lost its momentum. For the people of Alcoy this was cause for great celebration. The fiesta has a long tradition in this town, although in a different form to the one we know today. It began to take on its present form in the 15th and 16th centuries.

This fiesta was declared of International Tourist Interest by the Spanish government in 1980 and has become a reference for many other towns in our region, including Xàbia. Here it is celebrated on the third weekend of July and lasts 9 days. It is a highlight in the town´s calender of events that should not be missed. A spectacular experience for locals and tourists alike.

Main source of information : AL-AZRAQ El visir que soñaba la Montaña by Just I. Sellés