The regional costume that represents the Autonomous City of Melilla blows out no less than thirty candles. Its history is relatively recent, dating back to 1994, when Joaquín Callejón and Diego Piñero designed the current regional attire.
At that time, Melilla did not have a representative costume, so the then Minister of Festivities, Mari Luz López Iglesias, decided to hold a contest where several candidates from the city could present their proposals to select the costume that would ultimately be chosen to represent the Autonomous City in the Miss Spain pageant. The costume had to be designed in accordance with the rules of the competition, which had been established by the Department of Festivities. They asked that it be something typical and rooted in Melilla. In addition, it had to be blue because of the flag of Melilla and represent the four cultures. This was a real challenge, but it was achieved.
During the creation process, several ideas emerged, but they were discarded and those that best suited them were chosen.
When the regional costume turns three decades old, The lighthouse speaks with Joaquín Callejón, one of the co-authors along with Diego Piñero.
Joaquín Callejón started out in the world of sewing when he was only 12 years old, so he has plenty of experience and passion. Callejón remembers perfectly how the day was when his creation was chosen: “On July 1, 1994, a wonderful gala was held in Lobera Park in an incomparable setting, to choose the costume that would represent the Autonomous City of Melilla. Between each pass, Pilar Muñoz’s girls danced and the Melilla Orchestra livened up the dinner. It was a wonderful show.”
Sixteen designs were submitted to the competition, three of which belonged to Joaquín Callejón: “the competition rules required that it be a costume that was representative of Melilla and multicultural.”
A month before the gala, Joaquín was thinking about the characteristics that should be highlighted in the clothing: “We had various ideas that we put on various mannequins until we came up with three different models of suits that we presented at the pageant and of which a dress inspired by fishing won.”
There were three outfits that were paraded by Callejón and the winner was the one worn by model Conchi Sarmiento, the first to wear the regional costume of Melilla. A moment that Joaquín will never forget: “having your work recognised was a source of pride for me and my partner. It is not in vain that they wanted us to be part of the history of Melilla.”
Hence, the characteristics of the regional dress were nets, accompanied by arbutus which were the corks of the nets. The embroidery on the apron and sleeves represent the riches of the parks of Melilla and the fabric is similar to the Hindu fabric of the sari. The neckline, for its part, has applications with fringes on the neckline that emulate the Star of David, “in this way we pay homage to all the cultures of the city.”
The choice of the dress that will be linked to the Autonomous City of Melilla was presented to society at the Miss Spain 1994 pageant, held in the Canary Islands. The representative from Melilla was among the 12 finalists. “That same year the gala was held in the Canary Islands and Norma Duval, who was on the jury, commented that the dress had caught her attention a lot.”
After the Miss Spain gala, the director of the pageant commissioned Joaquín Callejón to create a regional men’s costume, inspired by the women’s one.
This outfit, which Mister Melilla usually wears in the national beauty pageant, has common features such as the blue color, the white net and the strawberry trees, simulating a fishing net.
In addition to being one of the outfits that representatives of Melilla must wear at the Miss and Mister Spain pageant, it can also be seen on dates such as the Victory Day procession. Even so, Joaquín Callejón claims that it should have more presence at institutional events.
