The Forgotten Story of Dalila Compañ, the First Child to Wear the Bellea del Foc Infantil Sash in Alicante

When travelling from Alicante to Benalúa required crossing a bridge, the Montañeta was a small hill where children played, free from the surrounding government buildings, and only six years had passed since the end of the Civil War, Dalila Compañ Poveda was named the bellea del foc infantil.

It was 1945, and this six-year-old girl appeared in photos with a serious face, a black bodice, and a mantilla draped over her hair. Now, as a woman over 80, she fondly recalls the year she represented the children of Alicante.

Among her memories is riding in a carriage through the city, visiting the governor of Alicante, or participating in a festival organised by Tomás Valcárcel at the Teatro Principal. "I was seated on a heart, and the girls would pass by, and I would give them sweets. At that time, sweets were not given out so often," Dalila explains.

This 2025 marks 80 years since this girl was chosen as the bellea del foc infantil, a role that only existed in 1945 and 1946. It wasn't until 1961 that the position was officially recognised with the appointment of Edna Soler Díaz, daughter of the mayor Agatángelo Soler.

But in 1945, things were very different. Dalila was chosen as the bellea of Belando Street, which was associated with the San Vicente Street bonfire — at just five years old, she was also the bellea of Calderón Street. Shortly after, one of the most beloved figures in Alicante's history, Sergeant 'Moquillo', was the driving force behind her selection as the bellea del foc infantil.

The event took place at the Rialto cinema on Sevilla Street, and according to Dalila, it was by popular vote. She still hears the applause of the audience that led her to wear the two sashes of the bellea del foc infantil.

In those years, the bonfires were very different. They were made by the neighbours themselves, with cardboard figures and a lot of social criticism, although quite limited by censorship. "They were more critical, more ironic, but be careful, you couldn't criticise the government at that time," Dalila recalls.

Among the memories this woman treasures are countless small photographs of her with her ladies of honour — one was from San Antón Alto and the other she doesn't remember from which commission — riding in a carriage, with the children from her street, or on the day of the election, wearing a white dress sewn by a seamstress in a few days.

There are also some memories like a raffle by the Comisión Gestora Infantil de les Fogueres de Sant Joan where the prizes were a can of milk, a quarter kilo of sugar, a can of tobacco, five kilos of potatoes, and four litres of ordinary wine, among other foods.

Dalila's figure remained in obscurity for a long time. On one hand, her appointment was made outside the official channels of the Commission Gestora, and on the other, no one knew of this girl's existence. Her successor, Teresita García González, from 1946, was mentioned in the festival museum. It was a former president of the Carrer Sant Vicent bonfire who revived her memory.

The newspaper clippings and photographs kept by Dalila's father were key. They handed over their archive to the Commission Gestora, and the sashes of the then-child are displayed in the Hogueras Museum. In 1995, the president of the Gestora, Antonio Llorens, officially recognised Dalila's role, despite the fact that at the time, the entire selection was made without the festival's governing body.

Since then, Dalila has been a presenter at events, given interviews, served as a judge, and participated in City Hall events. However, since she stopped being the bellea del foc, she has never dressed as an Alicante bride again. "I've dressed my nieces or my goddaughter, but I've never paraded again, I was too shy," this woman admits.

Dalila's Alicante bride dress includes all the elements of the current one, yet it is very different. The skirt was shorter, and the mantilla was pulled further back, without today's showy waves. Her neighbours made it in four or five days, which was the time she had from knowing she would be the bellea until the presentation on her street.

Today, Dalila is still moved when she remembers being the first bellea del foc infantil at just six years old. This year, she will enjoy the cremà of the bonfire made by the residents of the nursing home where she lives, a simple but handmade monument, just like in the 1940s. "It pains me that they will burn it, with all the effort it took us. I think I will cry like the belleas of today," she admits. This woman, at just six years old, etched her name into the book of the Hogueras, and although she explains she was too young to remember everything, what excites her most is "being part of the history of my land."