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history
More than a century of history and success
Kings and celebrities have visited our establishment and tasted our sweets. In this century of history we have made our product known to people from all five continents, from its origins as a modest bakery at the beginning of the century to today's popular physical and online shop.
La Violeta sweets were already known to King Alfonso XIII. It is said that he used to buy violets for his wife and also for his mistress. The exclusivity of these sweets, whose flavour is unequalled, made them a highly coveted gift for this king.
Mariano Gil Temiño
Maruchin Gil Temiño, Pilar Gil Temiño, Carmina Gil Temiño, Pilar Temiño y Tere Gil Temiño
But it was not only the taste of La Violeta sweets that captivated Alfonso XIII and many other famous people, writers, politicians, actors..., but also their presentation. Because this sweet is designed in a way that reproduces the violet flower, making it an original present not only for its taste, but also for its aesthetics.
Many history experts claim that King Alfonso XIII's fondness for La Violeta sweets was inherited by his son, Leandro de Borbón. Thus, from the year 1915, when the shop opened, these sweets were increasingly in demand. Not only by people of such renown as the king, but also by ordinary citizens.
Literary people, nobility...
Not many people know that Jacinto Benavente was one of our most unconditional addicts. In fact, the Nobel Prize winner for Literature rarely failed to buy a 100-gram box of our famous sweets on his daily visit to the café El Gato Negro.
And not many people know that Victoria Eugenia chose our shop as one of her favourites during her time as queen. Later, Don Juan and Doña Mercedes would continue to be fans of our product from their exile in Estoril. It is also said that President Chamorro of Nicaragua, after visiting Spain and tasting our sweets, placed recurring orders from her country in the years that followed, longing for their flavour, which she fell in love with. It must have had something to do with the fact that she was also called Violeta.
Top photo: Jacinto Benavente
Photo w/b: Maruchín, Tere, Carmina y Pilar
Colour photos: modelos
Three generations
Originally, the shop was a bakery called El Postre, owned by the great-grandfather of the current owners, Mariano Gil, who sold the shop to his son in 1915 for 25,000 pesetas. Mariano changed the name to start selling chocolates, candied fruit, marron glacé and sweets. These were the foundations of Caramelos La Violeta.
The grandparents married six years later and began to run the shop together, winning the favour of a clientele that appreciated the rich sweets.
Neither the Civil War stopped them, nor did it prevent the shop from remaining open during those years to sell peaches in syrup, sandwiches and household items (plates, vases, etc.).
During the war, grandfather Mariano was confined to his house and it was grandmother Pilar who ran the business and remained in charge, especially after the early death of our dear Mariano.
Pilar's death meant that in the 70's Teresa, Pilar and Mariano Gil (the second generation) continued the family tradition, who would later give way to the current owners, the three direct descendants, who have promoted and modernised the business, adapting it to the new market opportunities and opening the online shop, which allows the delicacies served in the shop to reach any corner of the world.