It is nine in the morning on a Sunday in February and the mayor of Jesús Pobre, a minor local entity dependent on the municipality of Dénia in the Marina Alta, Josep Fornés, is preparing to reveal to a group of about 20 people the natural treasures and cultural attractions of this town with a great agricultural tradition, behind the impressive Montgó park, which last century exported raisins (pansa in Valencian) to the whole world through the Dianense port. Fornés, an anthropologist and History teacher in Xàbia, has agreed to be the local guide for an outing by Expedició Cavanilles, a youth association that, supported by the Provincial Council of Valencia and the Generalitat, has been organizing a kind of Quetzal route since 2023, only by territory. Valencian. ”It emerges as an experience linked to the knowledge of our land, which is very necessary because it is being lost,” says José Francisco Requena, director of the project. The association contacted the councilor to guide them through this enclave, now plagued by foreign residents.
José Francisco and Miguel Ángel Requena and Ana María Puig, hiking fans, former members of the junior movement and today teachers, came together to create this award-winning initiative recognized by the University of Valencia and the European Union. In 2023 they organized their first Cavanilles Expedition with 40 young people from 39 Valencian municipalities, between 15 and 17 years old, through the Vall del Xúquer. Interested young people registered online, submitted a motivation letter or video, and underwent a brief online interview.
This year they are preparing a second edition, from July 20 to August 2, in the Serranía del Turia, but to whet your appetite they have planned an edition of Cavanilles Explora, from April 1 to 7. “We see the sedentary lifestyle among young people, the excess exposure to new technologies, the indolence of some with respect to culture and we decided to organize these routes through the Community,” says the director. The three entrepreneurs participated in the Quetzal route and believe that this type of trip has always focused on visiting other countries “while ours was a bit forgotten, limited to the Saturday excursion. When you ask young people, they ask for Ordesa, Picos de Europa, Germany, England, and all that is very good but we never know what we have nearby,” says Requena.
This expedition, which takes the name of the famous Valencian botanist, arises as a concern linked to knowledge of the Valencian territory. “Now news about depopulation, the abandonment of inland lands, is common, so we are going to do something so that new generations have that bond and awareness about our natural and cultural heritage,” says Requena.
The group, after a breakfast to gain strength, makes its first stop in front of a centuries-old communal well, one of the symbols of the rural architecture of this town of about 900 inhabitants. “If you don't make it visible, it is seen as something common because it is not a cathedral or a palace,” the mayor acknowledges. It is the well of It looks like a pear which appears in one of the ceramic altarpieces from the 18th century inside the convent that gives its name to the town. All rural architecture is related to the raisin and the work of the scald or the riurau, roofed and ventilated constructions to promote the drying of the grapes and protect them from the rain. The Gran Riurau, in the center of the town, before the lord of the town, now hosts a market of local products several Sundays a month.
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“Raisins were quite a business in the town, they were exported to the United States, England, Germany or Canada. The raisins left the port of Dénia towards the whole world. Nowadays it is not what it was then, but it remains a home tradition,” explains the mayor, who remembers his grandmother blanching the raisins at home and then seasoning the typical coca of the area. “Since the Escaldà festival was created, the use and tradition have been recovered,” he explains to the expedition.
The group leaves the great riurau behind and enters paths with scattered houses, heading towards Tossal dels Molins along the Montgó greenway. From the top you can get one of the best views of the valley, behind the massif. The land has been tertiaryized a lot, especially in Xàbia and Dénia, but for some time now in Jesús Pobre the cultivation of wheat has recovered, with native seeds.
On the Sunday excursion it is impossible not to notice a bustling group of young people. Aitana, 17 years old, a student from Benimàmet, repeats the march with the youth association. She studies artistic high school and is satisfied because they have chosen her again for the getaway next Easter. “Last summer's experience was great, it was very immersive and I made a lot of friends,” she explains. In the middle of a pine forest, halfway along the route, the young woman and the rest of her companions take out a large sign that reads #salvemosaMateo and they show it to the organizers dying of laughter. “We all signed up for the second expedition but Mateo did not receive the confirmation email and out of camaraderie we were going to demand that he be included,” explains Aitana. The organizers assure them that Mateo is included, only that the mail had to be misplaced and everyone is breathing. After the short break, the morning march continues through the French pine forest, so called because its owners donated it to the municipality to preserve it from urbanization since a few meters away stands an extensive golf course.
Miranda, a 24-year-old secondary school teacher, has participated as a monitor in the camps. “You can tell that it is a technological generation and there are moments when I have to say: 'Come on, put down your cell phone!', but on expeditions they disconnect. There is time for everything: for the phone, for getting on a kayak and going down the Xúquer and for walking. As for the groups, there are some that are more athletic, more physically active, others are more curious, there are the jokers but in the end they all work together and when they have to get up, even if it is very early, they are compliant,” she explains. “It's a cool project, because in a society where you never disconnect, and on top of that you're a teenager, in full personal development, I think it's very good to discover new people, get to know nearby destinations and be in contact with nature,” he says.
Silvia, a 48-year-old nursing assistant, has gone on the route with her husband and two children. She found out about the activity through the Facebook of the Valencian Youth Institute (Ivaj), which publicized it. “I got excited and wrote to them because it was only for young people, but since it was far away and my children had no way to get there, they let the entire family participate,” she says. They have been in Valencia for 20 years, their children were born here and the route brings them closer to what is now their culture. “The valley seems wonderful to him. The name of the municipality, Jesús Pobre, does not do it justice. And when you search for it on Google, only one street appears, but when you see it, it is incredibly beautiful,” she points out.
They have covered more than 10 kilometers, with a blazing sun in the middle of winter, and the last stop before eating is in front of the Alquería de Colomer, built in 1696, with a small defensive tower because the municipality was militarized, first due to the presence of Moorish pirates and already in the 19th century by banditry. The mayor played indoors when he was young because it was abandoned. Now, after the real estate rush, it is private property. The expedition members look for the shade while listening to the story from the professor. They applaud him when he finishes the explanation and announces “now let's eat!”