El Bol beach in Altea will host the historical re-enactment ‘Basset arriba a Altea’ on Sunday 8 November at noon, recalling the arrival of forces supporting the Habsburg claimant in the bay in August 1705, during the War of the Spanish Succession.
Organised by the council’s Culture Department, the event is free and open to everyone, with a programme combining theatre, historical interpretation and Valencian popular culture for audiences of all ages.
Theatre and historical re-enactment on the beach
The Miquelets del Regne de València, theatre group Pla i Revés, Bellaguarda Tradicions and residents of Altea will take part in bringing this episode of the town’s history to the stage.
The event poster also lists Escola Valenciana and the Biblioteques Municipals d’Altea as collaborators, alongside the Culture Department responsible for organising the occasion.
Teachers Maria Josepa Juan and Reme Gadea created and promoted the project, which they began developing in 2018 and which has been performed in several Valencian towns before coming to Altea.
Maria Josepa Juan also wrote the theatrical text, intended to introduce audiences to the protagonists and the political and social circumstances surrounding the War of the Spanish Succession.
The events of August 1705
The performance recalls the arrival in Altea’s bay of the allied fleet supporting Archduke Charles of Austria against Philip V, in the struggle for the crown following the death of Charles II without an heir.
After the landing, Valencian general Joan Baptista Basset i Ramos played a decisive part in the capture of Dénia, where the archduke was proclaimed king under the name Charles III.
The movement supporting the Habsburg claimant subsequently spread to other towns and reached the city of Valencia in December of that same year.
The event on 8 November will revisit this historical setting through a performance on El Bol beach itself, one of the places associated with the events being remembered.
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