THIS IS BENIJOFAR

ROJALES    BENIJOFAR    TORREVIEJA    CABO ROIG    GUARDAMAR

Benijofar is a very small village close to Rojales. It has one of the smallest municipal districts in the Alicante region being only 4.4 km2. Benijofar is one of the many Vega Baja (low fertile valley) villages of the southern Costa Blanca, Spain.

Whilst the settlement of the Vega Baja region goes back to around 3,000 BC, Benijofar’s known history dates back to the times of the Arab conquest (8th - 13th Centuries). The name of the village is undoubtably Arabic in nature and roughly translates as “son of pearl”, it is not certain if this relates to a family name or of a topographical feature of the area.

With the Arab surrender of 1243, Benijofar and many of its neighbours went to the Murcia region and in 1244 the Treaty of Almizra gave the whole region to the kingdom of Castile.

For many years Benijofar appears to have been under the control of Orihuela, in 1582 it appears as an estate of Orihuela, with the owner being the Togores family. In 1617 the estate was brought by The School of Preachers from Orihuela and it became de-populated during these times, and there was no mention of Benijofar as part of the Kingdom of Valencia in 1646, nor any mention of it in the Orihuela census of 1649. It was brought again in 1686 by a Galician named Jaume and one of his descendants, Jaime of Castro is considered to be the “father of Benijofar” - he settled 17 families in the area with land and farming rights.

Throughout the 18th Century Benijofar became established as an agricultural community and grew in wealth and prosperity.

Benijofar was seriously damaged in the devastating earthquake of 1829 and the 17th Century parochial church of Saint James was mostly destroyed. Benijofar along with many other towns and villages of the area was rebuilt by two engineers, José Larramendi and Eugene Fourdinier - 75 new houses were constructed in Benijofar alone.

Benijofar has continued to grow from this time, and its importance as an agricultural community has been helped by the proximity of the River Segura and the use of its water for the irrigation of the land. The River Segura, though, has not always been beneficial as it burst its banks in 1957 and almost destroyed the entire village, with several people losing their lives.

These days Benijofar tries to promote a somewhat modern image and has a good selection of shops, bars and restaurants (some English). Places of interest from times past are the parish church of Saint James, rebuilt after the 1829 earthquake, and the cave dwellings just outside the village.

The fiesta to honour Saint James is held in July and as with all Spanish villages there are lots of other fiestas held throughout the year.

Benijofar is easily accessible from Ciudad Quesada or Guardamar del Segura, lying on the CV 940 and sitting right on the banks of the Segura river, close to the town of Rojales. It can also be accessed via the AP-7 motorway junction 745.