For more than half a century we have been with the spear in our hands.
Our origins
When it comes to finding the origins of the realist Moors of Elda, like almost all the groups in our town, we have to look in Villena for the roots of the Fiesta.
In September 1943, Octavio Moreno González, a traveller from Elda who wore shoes, quickly fell in love with the splendour of the parades and the joy of the festivities. He even donned a realist’s suit from Villeneuve, and if he had any doubts left, he cleared them up by stating: “In my town we have to found a Moorish troupe”.
When he returned to Elda, he told his experiences to his brothers Manuel and Francisco, as well as to his good friend Francisco López Cerdán, whom everyone would later call “Don Din” because he managed the money of the Comparsa.
The first meeting
With the arrival of the autumn of that distant 1943, the meetings to lay the foundations of the Comparsa de Moros Realistas began. The first of these meetings was held in the women’s shoe factory called “Ocmavi”, owned by the Moreno González family, located in San Pedro Street, 5(perpendicular to San José Street).
Together with them, the following people collaborated in the creation of the group: José Vilar Alba “El Royal”, Ataúlfo Coloma Marín, José Luz Esteve, José Amat Juan, Pascual Giménez del Rey, Andrés Rico Ayelo… Of all of them, only two live there, Francisco López and Pascual Giménez, although the latter lives in Zaragoza.
Blessing of the flag
Coinciding with the Major Festivities of September 1944, the flag was blessed. It was the 10th of that month when the symbol of the Comparsa was blessed. Then began a parade where the first flag bearer. Francisca Payá Barrachina, was accompanied, among others, by the young Royalist Captain, Octavio Moreno Samper, son of the founder. Maruja Rico Bellod, the first woman to leave the squad in the Comparsa. José Vilar Alba “El Royal”, always near the Abanderada and handing out cigars to the comparsistas. With a harquebus in hand, Francisco Hellín Almodóvar, first Moorish Ambassador of the Eldense Festival.
