Indira Rosa Cardona and Natalia Moya will be the standard bearers for Moors and Christians 2023 in Xàbia

Friday 16th February 2023
Mike Smith

The Moors & Christians in Xàbia have announced their standard bearers for the 2023 edition which will take place in the port this summer. They will be Indira Rosa Cardona Delange, representing Moorish Filà Al-Tariks, and Natalia Moya Llidó, representing the Christian Filà Contrabandistes de Xàbia, and they will be formally presented as the highest representatives of the fiesta at the traditional Mig Any celebrations on Saturday 4th March.

Indira will be 18 this year and is studying Business, Economics, Photography and Graphic Design, whilst 20-year-old Natalia has just finished an internship in Administration and has set her sights on studying Social Integration. Both young women carry the fiesta in their blood and have been closely linked to it since they were born through their families and their respective filaes.

Natalia admits that she feels “especially proud” to become a standard bearer for the fiesta. “I was born a Contrabandista and the fact that they decided to appoint me to hold such an important and symbolic position for all of us who make up the fiesta is very exciting. They had always told me ‘when you grow up, you will be a standard bearer’ and that moment has arrived.”

Indira feels the same. “I started parading when I was one year old with my father and, for me, being a standard bearer this year will have the same symbolism as when, here in Xàbia, you are a quinto or quinta of the Fogueres; it completes the journey from childhood to maturity. Before I go to live abroad, I will celebrated it in style with what I feel really makes me know that we are the Moors and Christians.”

Both Natalia and Indira are looking forward to each of the acts that they will share together “from the smallest to the most spectacular”. However, if they have to choose, they don’t hesitate to express their enthusiasm for experiencing some of July’s fiesta from the position of standard bearers.

The Christian representative is clear in her favourite moments: “The Christian Reconquest and the Gala Parades. They are acts in which the standard bearer shows herself with all the leadership and character that she really has.” On the other hand, the carrier of the Moorish flag has opted for the camaraderie between the filaes: “I think that the public doesn’t see the most beautiful thing about the fiesta, which is what happens before and after each act. I want to live that brotherhood of participants more intensely and bring a standard bearer I will do so!”

The two new standard bearers admit that it is an honour to represent the fiesta “and join that spectacular group of women that we were able to get to know better last year during the 25th anniversary of the institution of the position of standard bearers was commemorated and confirm that, not only were they all great representatives who have been setting the bar very high, but they have become admirable women”.

Echoing the tribute that the fiesta paid to its top officials in the 2022 edition, they are even more aware of the important of the role that they are about to play. “Xàbia was a pioneer in giving women prominence and identity in the fiesta. Unlike what happens in other towns, the standard bearers in Xàbia have autonomy of their own and represent the entire fiesta, regardless of the filà that hols the Captaincy. That’s why it is an honour to carry out the position of a warrior woman with so much power. They are the ones who, at the moment of being proclaimed at Mig Any, have to dignify the fiesta by showing, through the dedication and commitment, the effort that each participant makes to be able to take the fiesta forward and be the image of creativity and beauty that characterizes the Moors and Christians”.

Both Indira and Natalia have the date of Saturday 4th March well marked in their calendars. Among the acts that will be held within the Mig Any programme, the most important bears their name. From that moment, they will begin to represent the fiesta wherever it is present and hold a position expected by both of them and by their families.