Towards the middle of the XIXth Century the decline of Mojácar began. Continuous droughts wore down the resistance of an agricultural people, who began their exodus, first towards different regions of the peninsula and then, at the end of the century, towards South America and California.
From the history of those emigrants we could mention by way of anecdote the mystery which has grown up around WALT DISNEY. Son of José Guirao and Isabel Zamora, little José was born in Mojácar around 1901, from where the family emigrated to América; there his father died when he was 12 years old; he was welcomed along with his mother into Disney family, farmers in California, who adopted the little boy on the death of his mother, and gave him the name of Walt. Years went by, and the Guirao family, a victim of the emigration which so many others suffered, was forgotten, until two elegant American men, appeared in Mojácar , searching for the birth certificate of José Guirao Zamora ( Walt Disney). Those secretaries never found the certificate, owing to the lamentable state of archives of Mojácar, a result of attacks suffered during the recent civil war. But they did meet many witnesses who testified to the Mojácar origins of Disney, who, far from denying his Andalucian origins, always maintained the mystery of his humble beginnings. In the most recent biography which was written about Walt Disney, its author, Marc Elliott, includes an entire chapter on this visit of the secretaries looking for the baptismal certificates and also establishes some very interesting connections on the theme. |