When Alicante and Oran Burned in the Same Fire

For four consecutive years, between 1933 and 1936, a rather unique bonfire was erected in Alicante's Plaza del Mar, precisely where the Explanada commission is located today. It was the Oran bonfire, the first sight for those arriving by ship from the Algerian coast. Many were Alicantinos who had emigrated to Oran decades earlier in search of prosperity.

The idea of erecting a bonfire in Oran's name was conceived by Alicante businessman Carlos Ramos Pinsa, a native of Benalúa and involved in wine exportation. A bonfire enthusiast from his neighbourhood, he moved his business to Algeria without losing ties to his hometown. In 1932, he promoted the creation of the 'Comité d'Orán des Festes d'Alacant', aiming to boost tourism and strengthen cultural ties through the Fogueres.

The proposal was so successful that a delegation, including Mayor Lorenzo Carbonell, the bellea del foc, authorities, and members of the Managing Commission, travelled to Oran to forge closer relations. These journeys continued with round trips, giving shape and life to the Oran bonfire.

"With this bonfire that our compatriots are going to erect here, we initiate the most cordial relations that our predecessors in government and administration never cared about," Carbonell recorded in the first booklet of this commission, which was planted for the first time in 1933 by the Unió Art collective with the motto 'Let's return to the old ways of dressing'.

At that time, five years after its founding, the Alicante Bonfires had shed their bourgeois character and embraced a popular atmosphere, notes Agustín Medina, a retired official from the Alicante Municipal Archive, in the article 'The Oran Bonfire in the Second Spanish Republic, a Historical Relationship' published in the 2024 booklet of the Plaza de Santa María bonfire.

This bonfire grew in impact and symbolism, both in Alicante and Oran. The two lands shared not only maritime journeys but also space in the booklets. Oran's businesses displayed advertisements, while local establishments promoted tourism and the Fiesta itself with messages like "Visit Spain" or "Alicante in Sant Joan festivities".

The festive relationship between the two lands flourished for nearly half a decade. In 1934, the Oran bonfire continued its activity with 'Ofrenda' by Gastón Castelló; in 1935, 'Piscina' - the year the Algiers bonfire, an independent commission, was also planted; and in 1936, 'Dos Chermanes', a work by Juan Roca Such that paid tribute to the Air France company. The Civil War cut short this pioneering experience that left a lasting mark.