The 16 Alfàbegues of Bétera will bear the names of women in the Rodà

The 'Va de Dones' campaign names the 16 plants that will star in the Rodà on August 15 after women of significance from the municipality.

The Bétera Town Hall presented the 'Va de Dones' campaign this Friday, an initiative whereby the 16 Alfàbegues that will parade through the streets of the municipality in the traditional Rodà on August 15 will for the first time bear the names of women. The symbolic 'baptism' event took place in the Hort de les Alfàbegues, the space where these specimens are cultivated.

Bétera's mayor, Elia Verdevío, explained that the campaign aims to "highlight the contribution of the women of Bétera to the development of the municipality and their involvement in the preservation and transmission of one of our most emblematic traditions." In her opinion, women "have been, and continue to be, a fundamental part of our town's identity."

Among the chosen names are those of the four workers for this year's festivities: Mireia García Ricart, Daniela Ferriol Fuentes, Nathalie Martínez, and Gely Garañana. An Alfàbega has also been reserved for the Immaculate Conception, the perpetual mayor of Bétera, and another for the Assumption, the Marian devotion to which the August festivities are dedicated.

The mothers of the single workers, Francisca Ricart Llistó and Manuela Fuentes Gil, who were workers in 1989 and 2022 respectively, will also have their own specimen, as will Sophie Marie Valero Martínez and Yaiza del Pi Garañana. The list is completed by Amparo Doménech Palau, mayor of Bétera from 1999 to 2003; Marieta Guerrero Ricart, from the cultural association l'Aljama; Amparo Garay Cebrián, from Pensat i Fet Rondalla i Ballaors; Mari Luz Asensi Ramón, president of the Artistic Musical Centre of Bétera; and the sisters Amparo and Maru Martínez, known as 'les Palmeres'.

The Councillor for Festivities, Manuel Pérez, highlighted that the August festivities "represent one of the main symbols of identity for Bétera" and emphasised the role of women in their preservation. For her part, the Councillor for Heritage, Women and Equality, Marisa Martínez, noted that the campaign recognises "the mark that the women of Bétera have left on our collective history."

The Rodà dels Alfàbegues, declared of tourist interest, gathers thousands of people every August around a centuries-old tradition. This year, the two largest plants accompanying the single workers in their offering to the Virgin will be dedicated to the Immaculate Conception and the Assumption.