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Ask residents of Villajoyosa what makes their town so different and the answers will vary. But it is certain that four answers score very high. We give the floor to four imaginary residents, who all share their views on the importance of Villajoyosa. The word is successively for the bon vivant, the architect, the party-goer and the politician.
The bon vivant: Our city is proud of Valor. The factory that makes Spain's best-selling chocolate brand for 125 years. It is still a family business for generations. They take their role as ambassadors for Villajoyosa very seriously. They hold free tours of the factory every day for people interested in chocolate and the history of that delicious stuff. And not just for Spaniards. The tours of the chocolate museum and the factory are also in English. And they show a video and let visitors taste all kinds of chocolate. Valor really is a great calling card for Villajoyosa. And that makes our town different.
The Architect: The first sight of Villajoyosa is one that conveys our exuberant zest for life. Look at the houses along the boulevard and you will see such a colorful waterfront in few other places in the world. The houses offer an inviting color palette. The history of that is quite funny. When we as a village still lived from fishing, the houses were decorated with such bright colors, so that the fishermen could quickly recognize their home port. Nowadays many houses in the narrow, winding houses have a colorful facade. And that makes our town different.
The partygoer: We Spaniards are proud of our party culture. In our region, the festivals of the Moors and Christians are the most important of the whole year. Villajoyosa is no exception. But nowhere are historical events celebrated as they are here. Like all other towns and cities, we have parades with beautiful uniforms, music and dance. But our highlight of the parties is unique. On the last day, the landing of the Moorish attackers is reenacted on the beach from five in the morning. About 30 craft arrive and the battle with the Christian soldiers begins. In the morning the Moors win and push their opponents back to the base of the castle. In the afternoon the Christian troops hit back hard and symbolically drive the attackers back to sea. And that makes our town different.
The politician: Villajoyosa is located a few kilometers from Benidorm. They have beautiful beaches for more than 5 kilometers. We have sandy beaches over a length of more than 3 kilometers. That's not a big difference. But otherwise Benidorm and Villajoyosa are towns, which seem to lie on different planets. We have consciously opted for a different development of the town than our neighbors have done. It would have been easy to get mass tourism off the ground here too. Fortunately, we have resisted the temptations of mass tourism and have chosen to preserve our identity. And that makes our town different.
It is difficult to say who is right. Maybe all four.
