Parcent is a municipality located in the southwestern part of La Marina Alta’s inland area, nestled within the valley La Vall de Pop. It sits on the border with the neighbouring region of La Marina Baixa, at an altitude of 295 metres above sea level. It has an area of 11.77 km² and 983 inhabitants, called Parcentino and Parcentina.

HISTORY

Parcent is a part of La Vall de Pop along with the other villages that constitute it: Benigembla, Murla, Alcalalí, Xaló, Llíber, Senija and Benissa. Its municipal area is located along the middle stretch of the River Gorgos valley.
Around 1256, after the first revolt led by Al-Azraq, Parcent was occupied by the troops of Jaume I. On 17th February 1259, the king ordered the mayor, Eximen de Foces, to donate houses and lands of the area of Parcent to Pedro Cortés and other settlers. During the first years of the 16th century, a new Moorish revolt took place when they were forced to be baptised. The revolt was suppressed and, in 1534, the Moors of Parcent fled, taking the local lord, Pedro Andreu de Rueda, as prisoner. Another notable event in Parcent was an attack by Red Beard's pirates. In October of 1529, a lieutenant of the famous Mediterranean pirate, the so-called 'Cachidiablo', raided and sacked Murla and Parcent. The escape of the pirates was also used by some of the Moors to flee to Africa.
At the time of the patriarch Ribera, Parcent had 52 Moorish hearths. After their definitive expulsion in 1609, Parcent was left completely deserted. For this reason Francisco d’Almenar, prior of the Carthusian monastery and Lord of the barony, granted a settlement charter on 12th of August, 1612, with people coming from Pego and Murla, two of the old Christian villages in the region. However, in 1646, only a quarter of the original surnames remained, with the list of marriages of 1631 including surnames such as Serra, from Ibiza, and Poquet, from Sa Pobla. Thus, it would appear that there was a renewal of settlers of island origin.
In 1635, the Carthusian monastery sold the barony to the Cernesio family. Under the rule of this noble family, King Felipe IV granted the status of barony to Parcent. A reminder of that ownership is the current municipal coat of arms, at the bottom of which one can see the town and, above it, the Cernesio family coat of arms, consisting of a tower flanked by two rampant lions above two palm leaves.
This historical richness is joined by the hydrological wealth of the area. This can be seen in its fountains, washing places, reservoirs and an old mill known in the documentation as Molí del Primo.

FESTIVITIES

• Festivities of the patron saint, Saint Llorenç, are celebrated in the second week of August.
• The fiesta of Saint Antoni is celebrated around the 17th of January.

GASTRONOMY

• Coca amb pimentó i tomaca (Savoury pastry of the region that resembles pizza, topped with red pepper and tomato).
• Espencat (a type of salad of roasted vegetables, cod and boiled eggs).