Embajada

In the Moors and Christians fiestas, the embajada (literally “embassy”) is the theatrical scene in which an ambassador presents himself at the castle and demands its surrender before the battle. It has nothing to do with a country’s diplomatic mission: here the embajada is a parley in verse, with the whole town watching from the square.

What the embajada is

It’s a double performance, one for each side, staged in front of a castle, either a real one or one built for the occasion. First the Moorish ambassador arrives and demands that the stronghold surrender; the Christians refuse, battle is joined and the Moors win. Then, the same day or a few days later depending on the town, the roles are reversed: the Christian ambassador claims the castle and the fiesta ends with a Christian victory.

So each embajada has two parts: the declaimed text and the battle, which is the alardo. In the north of Alicante province, the Moorish victory is often marked by placing an effigy known as la Mahoma on one of the castle towers.

Characters and texts

Only a handful of characters take part: the ambassador, the captain or defender of the castle and a sentry from each side. The classic texts date from the 19th century and are in verse, in Spanish with the odd passage in Valencian. Some neighbouring towns have almost identical versions (according to historian José Fernando Domene, those of Villena, Sax and Petrer match a text written between 1810 and 1815), while others were written for a single fiesta, such as Ontinyent’s, by Joaquín José Cervino in 1860. The more recent ones, such as those of Elche, Crevillent and Campo de Mirra, aim more for historical accuracy than for literary merit.

Where it comes from

The scene grew out of the mock battle itself, not the other way round. A chronicle from Jaén in 1462 already describes something very similar: a letter demanding surrender, combat in the form of a juego de cañas (a mock joust) and an effigy of “Mahomad”. In Alicante there’s mention of a castle for embajadas in 1697, and in Alcoy the embajadas began in 1741, modelled on Alicante’s.

What it’s like in Alcoy, Elda, Alicante and Villena

• Alcoy. Alardo Day begins with the estafeta: a Moorish rider carries a message to the castle demanding surrender; the Christian captain reads it from the battlements, tears it up and throws it back down. Then the Moorish ambassador arrives with his escort. In the afternoon it all happens again with the Christian estafeta and embajada.
• Elda. The embajadas are 19th-century works in verse, epic and declamatory in tone, now accompanied by short texts explaining the local history, according to Spain’s Ministry of Industry and Tourism.
• Alicante. In 2023, the parade ground of Santa Bárbara Castle hosted the Moorish embajada (in the morning) and the Christian one (in the afternoon), staged by Alicante’s Federation of Moors and Christians.
• Villena. It’s performed in front of the Atalaya castle.
• Aspe. The official tourist office highlights the embajada as the part of the fiesta that tells its cultural story.

The embajada in the fiesta programme

The embajada shares the programme with the Moorish and Christian entradas, the alardo and the parades of each comparsa, and its leading players are usually each side’s fiesta officers. These are long mornings and afternoons, with crowds in the streets from early on, and meals have to fit in between one event and the next. At Xepep we serve meals and drinks receptions for comparsas timed around those hours. If you’re organising your comparsa’s meal, our article on the comparsa or filà meal will help.