Before the Parador

by JC Admin May 20, 2024

written by JC Admin May 20, 2024

Before the hotel chain’s takeover in 1963, during the mid-50s, this was one of the two locations occupied by the (at the time) legendary Bar Noy.

This once famous bar owes its name to its owner, who, after a period in Catalonia, was nicknamed ‘NOY’ (the boy). Upon returning to Javea, he decided to name his business after his nickname. At the time he never imagined that it would become a meeting point for the social and cultural life of the town.

They bought the Bar Noy, located in Punta del Arenal, for 45.000 pesetas. This establishment was not only a large bar with a terrace, but was also the owners’ home.

It became a meeting place for friends and hosted celebrations, such as weddings, since it had the capacity to accommodate more than 200 people. In addition, buses full of visitors arrived to enjoy the restaurant.

Ana, daughter of the owners, remembers those days with nostalgia, “as in the past there was no telephone, the arrival of tourists meant running to feed them. Since without a reservation about 100 people would suddenly appear!

Furthermore, Ana and her brother Jaume remember how their father used to ride a motorcycle to the ice factory to keep the products cold, “since at that time there were no refrigerators. The products of the day such as bread and vegetables came by horse and cart.

In the 50s, Javea was the setting for the filming of several films and its actors stopped by this bar to taste the specialties. “Paco Rabal, Errol Flynn and Robert Stack were some of the actors who stopped by our bar asking for paella and potato omelette,” say the Iborra brothers.

But, unfortunately, the story of Bar Noy had an end. In 1963, the government expropriated the bar to build the Parador Nacional. Ana remembers that moment as traumatic: “I remember my parents crying, and even more so when they demolished the bar itself. My parents lost everything, because it was also our home. We were left with nothing. The financial compensation received was insufficient, it was barely enough to pay for the wood for the small beach bar ‘El Delfín’ that allowed them to set up in the Arenal Beach in exchange for what they had achieved during these years,” says Ana.

Even so, that did not mark the end of the entrepreneurial spirit of the Iborra family, who, despite everything, continued in the hospitality sector. Now, this part of his life remains in the memory of the oldest people of the town, those who lived and knew the Bar Noy del Arenal as the epicenter of the social life in the town.