We visited previously unknown lime kilns, dry stone walls and small fields of wheat. We were led by Josep, who explained that Les Planes" has poor soil. The poorer people of Xàbia once grew almond trees and made lime there. The wide stone walls were the result of clearing the land for crops. This lifestyle disappeared when tourism developed in the 1960s. Today,  hunters grow fields of wheat to feed partridges and the lime kilns are mostly in ruins and hidden from view.

On Saturday, February 21st, around 40 members of AMUX and friends visited Oliva, guided by Josep Castelló, director of the Xàbia Museum. We visited the Oliva sugar mill and listened to a very interesting talk about sugar production. At the beginning of the 15th century, Oliva was at the forefront of sugar production, made from molasses, a product that dominated European markets at that time. The Oliva sugar mill, the place where the sugar was manufactured, is a building that is still partially preserved and is located next to Carrer del Ingenio (Sugar Mill Street). Josep guided us through the old town. Among other things, we visited the archaeological museum, the Portalet de la Virgen María, the Torre de la Carrer de la Comadre, Carrer de les Moreres, and the Raval.​

 Prior to this, the only refrigeration method that was familiar were the substantial stone structures in the mountains known as neveras, utilised from the 16th to the 20th centuries. Here snow would be accumulated during the winter months, subsequently transforming it into ice. This ice was then conveyed at night to proximate towns during the summer months, primarily for commercial purposes such as preserving fish, preparing beverages, and for medicinal ends. Javea and Denia obtained their ice mainly from Alcalà de la Jovada, which has two ‘neveras’, both still very well preserved.

For the ordinary individual, the ability to preserve food during periods of abundance for consumption during times of scarcity was of paramount importance. Over millennia, a plethora of preservation methods have been developed and handed down from generation to generation all over the world. In Xàbia, too, until the mid 20th century, it was customary to employ a variety of techniques : salting, pickling, drying, fermenting, bottling in oil or brine, or cooking with sugar.

Local friut would primarily be made into jam. The array of fruits included quince, red and green tomato, nispero (Japanese loquat), moscatel grape, lemon, melon and even water melon ! Making moscatel grape jam entailed peeling and deseeding every single grape, notably a very time-consuming procedure. (One wonders whether the required patience would be available to one today !). Often they would combine melon (piel de sapo) with moscatel. In this case the pieces of melon would be immersed for an hour in quicklime and water (generally employed for whitewashing the house) so that they would not disintegrate in the cooking process, but keep their form.
Another distinctive speciality of the region was “arrop i talladetes”. One would buy the whites of water melons from external vendors or use the whites of unripe water melons remaining in the field at the end of the season. Sometimes even small aubergines that did not grow anymore would be included. (Nothing was wasted in those days !). This would be cooked in sugar and cognac or, more often, wine.

Other ways of preserving fruit in the local tradition included sun-drying (figs, grapes, tomatoes), bottling in aguardiente (a homemade spirit) or in anis seco (grapes) or in sugar water (nispero). Also courgette, pumpkin and orange would be candied (frutas escarchadas) for use in the traditional roscón de reyes, a pastry eaten on Epiphany. They also had a method to preserve whole melons and bunches of grapes. Melons, placed in a cotton or esparto grass sack, and whole bunches of grapes wrapped in a paper bag, were suspended from the beams of the open attic (cambra) to allow the air current to preserve them. Consequently, they had melons for Christmas and grapes for the New Year wishes.

A variety of techniques were utilised to preserve vegetables. Olives were cured for weeks in sea water before being placed in jars with herbs and brine. The central ribs of cardoons-penca- were preserved in brine, as were cooked lupin beans (altramuces). Tomatoes were either cooked in olive oil as “frito” or jammed raw into jars and subsequently heated in the oven to create vaccum pressure for preservation. Alternatively, they were sun-dried with salt. Roasted peppers were placed in jars with their juice and also heated in the oven. Two typical Valencian edible wild plants were marine fennel and raïm de pastor/caspinell (sedum sediforme) which were pickled in vinegar and water and were delicious in a salad or a bocadillo.

The seeds of various types of beans, chickpeas, and peanuts (also grown here) were dried on the plant, which was unearthed and left on the side of the field to dry. Once completely dry, they were taken up in bunches and beaten on the ground until all the beans had fallen. These were collected in cotton or esparto sacks and hung up in the well-ventilated cambra.

The start of the winter was the “matanza” season, when the larger animals (primarily pigs) were slaughtered. Meat, which was not consumed as often as it is today, was preserved using mainly two methods. Some of the meat was made into sausages, such as botifarrà, botifarrón or blanquet, salchichas and sobrasada, while other pieces were fried and placed in jars with olive oil and lard to preserve them until the next matanza. They would do this with the meat of chicken and rabbit too. This is known as ‘frito’ and would be eaten in a rice dish or bocadillo.

Given that they lived in a coastal town, it was only natural that the Xàbieros would want to preserve fish, too. They had various methods for this, too. Fish such as dorado (llampuga in Valenciano), bonito tuna and lemon fish would be completely coated in a thick layer of coarse salt, with a hole left at one end for the liquid to escape during the drying process. The fish were put at an angle for 4–5 days until they were quite dry. The salt was then washed off before the fish was hung up for a week. Finally, it was ready to be placed in a jar with olive oil. This would keep for eight to twelve months.
Salt was also used to preserve other types of fish. The insides and heads of anchovies (boquerones) were removed before they were tightly layered in coarse salt and pressed. After three months, they could be consumed with the salt washed off and served in olive oil. Cod and mackerel were opened flat, sprinkled with salt and hung up to dry. Before eating, they were briefly thrown onto a fire. Another type of fish was the "capellans" (greater forkbeard or phycis blennoides). These were hung up whole through the eyes and left to dry for approximately three days, after which they were wrapped up in paper. However, this method did not preserve them for very long. After a brief time over the fire, it was cut into strips and served with olive oil.

When an octopus was caught, its head would be cooked fresh in a sauce, while its arms would be hung up to dry in a well-ventilated place. (After refrigerators were invented, octopus was first frozen for two weeks to soften it before drying.) After a week, it would be dry and could be kept for months.

Sadly, Xàbia is no different to the rest of the Western world in that food comes almost solely from the supermarket. Ready-made products loaded with preservatives, pesticides, chemicals and even toxins that lack any real nutrients are the norm. Since supermarkets are always full, why bother preserving food? But what if the fragile system breaks down one day and the shelves are empty?…..

Fortunately, some grandmas in Xàbia  are still continuing the tradition !

* A heartfelt thank you to Inès Marì Bisquert, who provided most of the information in this article. Thank you  also to Vicenta Cruañes for her contribution and Maria Jesús Costa Bisquert for the photos of her mother´s recipients.

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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Wednesday, 11 June, 7 p.m. Conference room, Soler Blasco Museum
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In the summer of 2021, two young swimmers made a lucky discovery while diving in the waters of Portitxol — eight gold coins dating back to the late 4th and early 5th centuries AD. The following day, they brought the coins to the Xàbia Museum. These solidus coins, minted during the reigns of various Roman emperors, marked the beginning of what has become one of the most significant archaeological finds in the region.
Since then, ongoing excavations and research have uncovered hundreds more coins, greatly expanding the scope of the discovery.

In this presentation, we will share the progress of the archaeological work conducted to date and explore the most important aspects of this exceptional treasure.