Did you know ... that the spirit of the Archaeological and Ethnological Museum of Xàbia has been strongly marked by two of its most notable directors ?

Juan Bautista Soler Blasco, the founder and eponymous first director, and Joaquim Bolufer Marqués, Ximo, who retired in July 2024, after 27 years as  director. Thanks to these two men´s passion and dedication, the patrimony of Xàbia has been preserved as a live entity. After all, the museum attracts 20,000–25,000 visitors every year !

 Soler Blasco, whose mother was from Xàbia ( Calle Santa Lucia ) and whose father was from Albaida, was born in Gandia in 1920. Soon after, the family moved to Barcelona, where Soler Blasco attended school and then studied art. He later moved with his parents to Castellón, where he spent most of his young adult life. He became an acclaimed artist. His Impressionistic paintings were exhibited in many towns and cities, including San Sebastián, Bilbao, Alicante, Córdoba, Granada, Madrid, Castellón and Montpellier to name a few, and were also sold at auction. As he himself wrote in his curriculum : he painted whatever was in front of him : portraits, landscapes, marinas, murals, frescoes, book illustrations. He also painted alterpieces. 
(In Xàbia, he painted the alterpiece of the Agustinas chapel and that of the Ermita del Pópul on the Jesús Pobre road. There is also a mural painted by him in the „Surco“, a former school that has now been converted into the music school. Furthermore, the museum has a set of his paintings, depicting daily life in Xàbia. There is currently a very interesting exhibition of his work in the museum, organised by the present director, Josep Castello Mari, which connects the contents of the paintings to traditional Xàbiero life. The exhibition ends on 31 August.)

In 1956, Blasco and his wife, whom he married in 1937, moved to Xàbia.  He became actively involved in the town and developed a keen interest in its history and heritage. Over the years, he gathered a large group of young people around him, imparting his passion for Xàbia's past to them. Together, they collected everything they could find relating to the past. They amassed such a large quantity of artefacts that the idea of a permanent place to keep and exhibit them gradually emerged. In 1975, Blasco became mayor of the town and initiated the acquisition of the Casa-Palacio de Banyuls by the town hall, with the intention of housing a museum and a library there. The museum was inaugurated on 20 February 1977. As Blasco was not a specialist, the collection was not always catalogued nor presented professionally, but thanks to his passion, a lot was salvaged that might otherwise have been lost forever!

Ximo Bolufer, whose father was from Benitachell and whose mother was from Valencia, grew up in Valencia. After completing his schooling there, he went on to study history with a specialisation in archaeology at the universities of Barcelona and Valencia from 1976 to 1981. At that time, archaeology was not offered as a subject in its own right. He undertook further studies in Alicante from 1990 to 1992. As an archaeologist, he has directed or been involved in numerous excavations throughout the province of Valencia and the Balearic Islands. He has participated in many national and international congresses, seminars, and symposiums and has written abundantly for local and scientific magazines. His extensive knowledge of the region's history and archaeology has established him as a leading authority.

Ximo was first employed as the town archaeologist by the Xàbia Town Hall from 1985 to 1987. His work focused primarily on the Séquia de la Noria and the cataloguing of the museum's artefacts. He was appointed director of the museum in 1997. He has played a key role in revitalising the museum and maintaining its appeal for all visitors. He has modernised the way exhibits are displayed by using interactive technology and placing panels to improve accessibility for children and tourists. He has developed educational programmes and published pamphlets for children, as well as offering workshops aimed at engaging children, locals and tourists in the rich history of Xàbia. He contributed to the former museum magazine Xabiga and is the creator of the annual publication Quaderns del Museu, which has been published since 2017 and focuses on a different aspect of Xàbia's history in each edition. He also organised exhibitions in the museum, that attracted many visitors.

Ximo initiated many new excavations, including those at the caves of Montgo and Portitxol. He worked tirelessly to preserve structures from various past eras, including hydraulic structures (watering systems), houses, grain pits, towers and ceramics. He also encouraged underwater excavations in the Portitxol bay, where many amphorae and anchors were found, as well as a few sunken ships. Ximo has also contributed to contextualising these finds within the historical framework of ancient maritime commerce.

In 2011, a small group of friends, interested in making the museum more accessible to foreigners, approached Ximo offering him their collaboration, which Ximo happily accepted. Thus was born the Association of the Friends of the Museum (AMUX), which has grown to almost 150 members and is very active in keeping the memory of the past alive through conferences, talks, walks and excursions, all of which focus on local and regional history.

Both Ximo Bolufer and his predecessor Soler Blasco approached their work with heart and soul. Ximo had the academic training and the expertise that Soler Blasco lacked. Without these two figures, Xàbia's museum would not play the dynamic role it does today. Thanks to them, Xàbia can be proud of its museum, and the memory of the past is kept alive.
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