The name of our "Kábila" (Arab Battalion),
like all the rest of the groups inside the "Federación
de Moros y Cristianos" (Arabs and Christians Federation), comes from a
nice countryside near Abanilla and of course it
comes from the arab language.
Our group was a pioneer in the "Moros y Cristianos Fiesta". We and the
Mesnada Calatrava (Mesnada = Christian
Battalion) were the first ones to parade in 1973
dancing to the rhythm of "Chimo" and "Paquito El Chocolatero" (popular songs).
There are very few affiliates left in the "Kábila" from the original ones,
some of them already departed, like Manolo Están
Gutiérrez. Other ones left the "Kábila" for a while, but the call of "La
Jaira" made them come back again. We still have with us two of the original
founders
Ramón Rocamora Jover and
Manuel Luis Lozano Vives.
The heavy "alfanjes" (arab swords) and the helmets of our first costume were
made by local craftsmen that still are active members of "Calatrava":
Ginés "El Conde" did all the metal works and
"Rodolfo y Cervantes" did all the costumes.
We will like to point out that in the first year there wasn't any kind of
rivalry or competition between "Moros" and "Cristianos". We just wanted to recover
this popular "fiesta". Some of our founders were working in towns that belong to
Alicante (Alcoy, Novelda, Elda, Petrel, etc.), where the "moros y cristianos fiesta"
was very well stablished, and they thought that in Abanilla, for its history, its old
streets, its idiosyncrasy, somehow, could also be nice. And that's how it all
started.
Margarita Pacheco Guirao.
DESIGNER'S NOTICE
As you can see, these pages are far from finish. We are still working on them.
The designers would appreciate any suggestions.
For example we would like to use a medieval language here, but we don't know
enough english to do that.
If you can contribute with any ideas just send us an e-mail
