Gustavo Pascual Falcó

Francisco Pérez Molina is the brother of Consuelo, the wife of Gustavo Pascual Falcó. Due to their parents’ profession, who sold chocolate along with other spices, they were known by the nickname “Chocolateros.” Francisco was known in the town as Paquito El Chocolatero.

He was born in Cocentaina in 1905. Paquito has a vocation: the Moors and Christians festivals. They are, along with music, his life. Hence, Paquito and Gustavo forged that friendship that would immortalize them both. They are the two sides of the same coin: on one side the musician, on the other the festival-goer.

In the summer of 1937, Gustavo spent the summer with his wife’s family in a little house at the foot of the Sierra Mariola. One afternoon, Gustavo showed his brother-in-law Paquito three musical compositions. He asked him to choose one of the three to bear his name. Paquito listened attentively and without hesitation chose a pasodoble, cheerful and festive, which rhymed well with his festive character. This pasodoble is what we know today as “PAQUITO EL CHOCOLATERO.” Gustavo, a great observer, knew how to capture the personality of his brother-in-law and friend. The pasodoble holds within it the festive sensitivity, the joy of that fantastic world into which we immerse ourselves year after year.

Like Paquito, that festival-goer who, longing for the magic of those days, was able to make others feel the excitement of those moments with a simple family band and a squad of children, at a time when the war seemed to destroy everything.

The pasodoble is a simple piece, but indispensable in the Moors and Christians festivals. Its originality emanates from that inner strength that the audience discovers at the moment. It doesn’t matter if that audience is unaware of our festivals, if they are of a different nationality than ours, its melody vibrates the most sensitive fibers within us, dragging joy and brotherhood in its wake. “Paquito el Chocolatero” is already a universal pasodoble, it has crossed the borders of our culture and will continue to make its way in all those places where it can make its notes sound.