Xàbia Unveils Wide-Ranging Programme for International Women’s Day

The programme of events organised by the local council to mark International Women’s Day, 8 March, has been announced, a schedule which features a wide range of activities set to take place over the coming weeks, including cultural, educational, sporting and family events aimed at different audiences.

The presentation was led by the councillor responsible for Equality, Raquel Violero (PP), together with the councillor responsible for Culture, Mavi Pérez (CpJ), and the councillor responsible for Sports, Toni Molina (PP). They highlighted the collaborative and cross-departmental nature of the programme, which has involved several municipal areas including Equality, Culture, the Library, Education and Sports, as well as local associations and sports clubs.

According to the councillors, the aim is to bring the message of 8 March to the entire community through activities designed for different age groups, from children to adults, while encouraging participation from across the population.

The councillor for Equality explained that the programme seeks both to highlight the demands that remain necessary in order to advance gender equality and to make visible the contributions women have made to society that have long gone unrecognised. She also emphasised the active role of young people and the importance of promoting equality from an early age. In this context, organisers also stressed the need to recognise the diversity of experiences and ways of living femininity, an idea that runs through several of the planned activities.

The programme begins on 5 March at 19:00 at the Casa de Cultura with the event La fuerza joven del 8M (The Young Strength of 8M), where music videos created by students from the Antoni Llidó and La Mar secondary schools will be presented.

On 6 March, several events will take place. At 10:00, the Golf Club will host the talk Women Today: Anger, Voice and Change, organised by the association European Union of Women Mujeres en Igualdad Marina Alta. Later, at 12:00, the institutional ceremony will be held in the Plaza de la Iglesia, featuring the reading of the official manifesto and a dramatised reading of the monologue The Woman Alone by Dario Fo and Franca Rame, performed by Inma Sancho. In the afternoon, at 17:30, the Historic Centre Library will host the children’s activity The Magic of Reading with Mágica-Majo, including storytelling sessions, values-based activities and creative workshops for children aged 6 to 9.

The programme continues on 7 March at 11:30 in Plaza de Maruja Varó in Duanes de la Mar with the clown and mime performance Empar by the company La Bufoneta, which humorously addresses the invisible work carried out by women.

On 8 March, coinciding with International Women’s Day, the Women’s Regatta will take place between 08:00 and 09:30 at the Yacht Club as part of the official league calendar.

On 12 March, from 18:00 to 21:00, the Palau d’Esports will host a Women’s Day programme organised by the Washinkai Karate Club, including family and women’s self-defence activities. Later that evening, at 20:00, the multipurpose hall at Portal del Clot will host the concert Women in Music, now in its seventh edition.

On 13 March, the Historic Centre Library will host the talk Women in the 13th Century: Poetesses at 19:00, delivered by Dr Irene Ballester (University of Valencia), as part of the commemorative programme Al-Azraq: 750 Years Without the Blue. Earlier that day, at 17:30, the Duanes Library will hold the children’s storytelling session and workshop The Cow That Laid an Egg.

Sporting activities will continue on 14 March, from 11:00 to 14:00, with a pickleball open day at the courts on Carretera de la Guardia , organised to mark Women’s Day.

Several activities will take place on 21 March. In the morning, from 11:00 to 13:00, the Palau d’Esports will host an open day organised by the Muay Thai Toro Prats Club. At 12:00 in Plaza de la Constitución, the family show Rebeldes by Maracaibo Teatro will be performed. Later that evening, at 20:00 at the Casa de Cultura, the same company will stage the theatre production Feas.

The cultural programme will continue on 27 March at 17:30 at the Historic Centre Library with the children’s storytelling event Selvaventures.

To close the programme, the Cursa de la Dona (Women’s Run) will take place on 12 April at 10:00, starting from CEIP Graüll and organised in collaboration with the Club d’Atletisme Llebeig.

In addition, the local council plans to organise a roundtable discussion on women and sport, with the date and venue to be announced soon.