Valencian Community marks 9 October with Jaume I anniversary and calls for unity
Opinion columns from Valencia, Alicante and Castellón tie the Valencian Community's day to the 750th anniversary of Jaume I's death, while Castellón marks 775 years since the Privilegi del Trasllat.
A legacy of the future
Valencian Community Day falls on 9 October 2026, and Juanfran Pérez Llorca, president of the Generalitat Valenciana, marks his first 9 October in the post with an opinion piece titled 'Un legado de futuro' (A legacy of the future). He argues that the best way to celebrate the day is to ask which Valencian Community should be passed on to future generations. The column ties the date to the 750th anniversary of Jaume I's death and presents the king's legacy as an infinite one that forms part of a shared collective identity. Pérez Llorca describes the day as a living reality that keeps expressing itself in institutions, culture, traditions, languages, symbols and, above all, in how people understand coexistence.
Valencian identity never needed to be built against anyone.
Self-government, the column says, is the contemporary expression of that collective will and the tool for managing public services and defending the region's interests.
Three provinces, three voices
Pérez Llorca calls for defending the own voice of the three provinces, Castellón, Alicante and Valencia, a voice that he says does not need to shout but must be heard. He rejects the idea that this voice belongs to conflict and says:
It is not the voice of conflict. It is that of a hardworking and generous land that wants to take part in the common project of Spain from loyalty and from respect for itself.
In a column titled 'Avanzando juntos' (Moving forward together), Luis Barcala says Alicante celebrates 9 October with its own accent and that 2026 marks 750 years since Jaume I's death. He notes that Jaume II the Conquistador incorporated Alicante into the old Kingdom of Valencia in 1296, and that the Castillo de Santa Bárbara is today the most visited tourist monument in the Comunidad Valenciana. Barcala also points to the Venus de Alicante, a Roman sculpted head from the high imperial period, whose find site is now an open space that residents and visitors enjoy. He describes Alicante as the tenth city in Spain and says its residents express their identity in Castilian and Valencian freely and without impositions.
Castellón's 775 years
Begoña Carrasco's column marks two anniversaries in Castellón: the 750th of Jaume I's death and the 775th of the signing of the Privilegi del Trasllat, a manuscript by the same king that allowed the population of the Castell Vell to settle the fertile lands of La Plana and gave rise to the city. Celebrations run until September 2027 with activities for all audiences. The exhibition 'El Privilegi d'Existir' at the Menador building can be visited until 8 November and shows the original document signed by Jaume I, made possible by the Ayuntamiento de Castellón, the Generalitat Valenciana and the Archivo Histórico Nacional. This year's programme includes fireworks, dolçaina i tabal music from the Banda Municipal de Castellón and a Parade of the Three Cultures through the centre to Plaza Mayor, along with a Homenaje a la Cultura Popular recognizing Els Dansants de Castelló. Marta Barrachina, in 'Hagamos historia' (Let us make history), recalls Jaime I entering Burriana in 1233 and speaks of obstacles that brake the province's prosperity and limit investments.
The Senyera and the sword
The column 'Respeto y concordia' (Respect and concord) says that, as every 9 October, the Real Senyera descends from the Casa Consistorial, and this year it is escorted by the sword attributed to the monarch, which the city keeps. The column quotes the Llibre dels Fets, where Jaume I describes his reaction on seeing the Senyera atop the tower after the surrender of Zayyan's troops:
When we saw our Senyera on top of the tower, we dismounted and, looking east, we wept with our eyes, kissing the earth, for the great grace God had done for us.
The column also places the day within a moment when Spain faces an early call for general elections and a level of polarization not seen in decades, with housing and the basic pillars of democracy at stake. It calls for concord on a day that belongs to all Valencians.
