Sobrassada and identical surnames: what unites Petra and a town in Alicante 400 years later

PetraOn Saturday at 7:00 a.m., while waiting for the arrival of the delegation from Vall de Laguar (Alicante) at the port of Palma, the councilwoman of Petra, Catalina Gibert, thought that this group of people was making "the reverse journey" to what her Petrarchan ancestors did "more than 400 years ago, when they were expelled from Mallorca". The reflection summarizes the meaning of the twinning that these two municipalities have formalized this weekend, united by a shared history that is still preserved today in nicknames, gastronomy, and collective memory.

This new twinning between Petra and Vall de Laguar is added to the one that the Mallorcan municipality already established in 2013 with Pedreguer, also in the Marina Alta. The origin is the same: the Majorcan repopulation of the 17th century, when numerous families from the island —many from Petra, but also from Manacor, Artà, and other municipalities— settled in these lands after the expulsion of the Moors decreed by Philip III in 1609.

This legacy continues to live on in surprising little details. The philologist and councilwoman of Culture of Vall de Laguar, Marina Marhuenda, presented the book Some raise the fame and others comb the wool: nicknames of the town of Vall de Laguar, which collects nicknames still in use in the Valencian municipality. Among them, there are some that coincide with those of Petra, such as Bessó, Manyo, Moreno, Cocoera, Frare, and Fuster.

Mallorcan repopulation

The connection also goes through gastronomy. In the tasting of typical products with which the day concluded, attendees were able to taste the traditional wines and cured meats of Vall de Laguar, among which a sobrassada practically identical to the Mallorcan one stood out, a further example of the footprint that the Mallorcan repopulation has left in the region.

The Valencian delegation arrived in Mallorca on Friday and, before traveling to Petra, visited the Caves of Drach. Already on the Plain, they learned about the Convent, the ancestral home of Saint Juniper Serra, and the museum dedicated to his figure. The younger sector also participated in the Summer Carnival, framed within the patron saint festivities of Santa Praxedis.

The central event of the visit took place on Saturday at the Petra Town Hall. The delegation from Vall de Laguar presented their municipality with an audiovisual projection in which all members participated. Afterwards, the mayor of Petra, Salvador Femenias, and the councilwoman Catalina Gibert addressed a few brief words before inviting the Valencian representatives —headed by mayor Juan Carlos Mengual and the councilwoman of Culture, Marina Marhuenda— to sign the Consistory's visitor book to formalize the twinning.

Both the mayor and the councilwoman of Petra valued the meeting positively. "We are very satisfied with the twinning and we are eager to return the visit and take the excursions that have been recommended to us in the municipal area," they stated. Gibert also confessed what she most looks forward to from the future trip to Valencian lands: "Personally, I am very much looking forward to the excursion where you can see Ibiza from above, at sunrise".