Our reason for being
If the illustrious historian Pedro María Orts had not, through his tireless searching of the archives, managed to document what might have remained a beautiful legend, but which has instead become one of the most cherished chapters in our history—the discovery of our Patron Saint—there would be no reason for our existence.
An important member of the ACR La Barqueta was its founder, José Bayona Vives (1911-2001). He also served as its president from 1984 until 1995, when the presidency passed to Francisco Llorens Orts, who currently holds the position.
If the enthusiastic members of the Festival Committee of 1971 had not had the happy initiative to plan and carry out the first reenactment of the discovery of the Virgin of Suffrage, we would not have had a starting point.
If the large group of theater enthusiasts in our town had not put so much effort and affection into carrying out the aforementioned event programmed by the Festival Committee, so that it would have such a strong impact, we would also have no reason to exist.
If those who captured that glorious Benidorm event in vivid images, after the staging was established as the prelude to our main festivities, some of them now deceased, had not decided to perpetuate it by forming an association in 1984, thus laying our foundations; these lines would never have been written.
