Xàbia municipal archive expands with new donation from Cruañes family

The Xàbia Municipal Archive has received a new donation of historical documents from Godofredo Cruañes Aracil, expanding the collection that began in 2024 and is already one of the town’s key resources for reconstructing its historical memory. Cruañes, a direct descendant of the Cholbi family, former owners of the iconic Casa dels Cholbi, has contributed previously unpublished materials that complement over 1,200 photographs, postcards, and writings donated earlier, many dating from the 1920s and 1930s.

The donation is especially significant given that the Municipal Archive suffered a major fire before the Civil War, which destroyed almost all historical records, leaving only volume 3 intact. This collection has therefore become a vital source for studying Xàbia’s political, social, and economic life in the 19th and 20th centuries.

Highlights of the new donation include handwritten minutes from town council meetings between 1894 and 1898, during the term of Joaquín Cholbi Climent (1847–1909), the donor’s great-grandfather. These documents provide firsthand insight into municipal debates, urban development, and neighborhood concerns during a period of rapid transformation. The collection also includes the original manuscript of Ephemerides de Xàbia, written by Cruañes’ grandfather, Godofredo Cruañes Signes (1867–1939). This draft, partially published in 1986 in the first edition of the magazine Xabiga, compiles historical events and data about the town. Preserving it in its original form ensures its lasting value as a reference for Xàbia’s main landmarks and history.

The donation also includes a wide array of administrative and financial documents detailing the town’s operations in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Highlights include executive files, debtor lists, and records from the municipal granary, a social fund for residents and farmers during times of scarcity. The collection features accounting books and minutes from the granary and municipal secretary’s office (1882–1906), including entries and exits, obligation protocols, and records from the union and community of workers.

Technical documents are also part of the collection, including plans for local roads such as the Triana road (1931) and the renovation project for the Guardia Civil barracks (1930). Additional materials include correspondence with the mayor, telegrams, notarial records, complaints, court rulings, electoral lists, and municipal tax records. Among the most unique items are original stamps from the Constitutional Mayor’s Office of Xàbia, payment letters to the Bank of Spain, consumption tax records, and school notebooks, including letters from Jaime Cruañes to his father and grandfather.

The significance of the collection is best appreciated through its creators. Godofredo Cruañes Aracil, an industrial expert and technical engineer, had a distinguished career in metallurgical and food industries and contributed to regulatory councils for Jijona turrón and Toledo marzipan. He also authored genealogical studies, including Genealogía de los Cruañes de Xàbia (2006). His grandfather, Godofredo Cruañes Signes (1867–1939), devoted much of his later life to local history and was a corresponding member of the Valencian Cultural Centre. Joaquín Cholbi Climent (1847–1909), the donor’s great-grandfather, was a law graduate, municipal judge, multiple-term mayor, co-founder of the Cholbi Old’s People Home, and a Knight of the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem.

Since 2024, the Xàbia Municipal Archive has been inventorying, cataloging, and digitizing these materials to make them accessible to researchers, historians, and the public. This latest donation confirms that the Cruañes collection continues to grow, with the expectation of more family documents and testimonies in the coming months. The councilor for responsible for Culture, Mavi Pérez (CpJ), emphasized the importance of the contribution, noting that “thanks to the generosity of the Cruañes family, pages of our history we thought were lost forever are being recovered. These documents reveal not only the political and social life of our town but also the people who built it day by day.” She also encouraged residents to collaborate with the archive, saying, “Juanjo Mas, our municipal archivist, and I invite everyone to open their drawers and family albums to share memories, photographs, letters, and documents. The archive is open to all, and every personal memory is part of Xàbia’s history.”