Last modified: 2020-10-31 by ivan sache
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Flag of Torremayor - Image by Ivan Sache, 16 March 2020
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The municipality of Torremayor (957 inhabitants in 2019; 2,100 ha; municipal website) is located 50 km east of Badajoz and 40 km east of Montijo.
Torremayor was settled by the Moors as Alguijuela. After Alfonso IX had defeated the Almohads in 1230, Mérida and the neighboring land was granted to the archbishop of Santiago de Compostela. Unable to defend the domain, the archbishop transferred it to the Order of Saint James. Alguijuela was incorporated in 1255 to the Priorate of San Marcos de León.
Alguijuela was re-settled in the 15th century by Portuguese, Castilian and Galician colonists
On 24 November 1626, Alguijuela was sold by Philip IV to Juan Antonio de Vera y Zúñiga, Count of La Roca. Granted the status of villa in 1649 by Philip IV, the town was renamed to Alguijuela del Conde, to be eventually renamed in 1690 to Torremayor.
José de Avellaneda Sandoval y Rojas was made Marquess of Torremayor by Charles II on 17 April 1691. On 22 June 1951, Matilde Cabeza de Vaca y Garret obtained the rehabilitation of the title of Marchioness of Torremayor.
Ivan Sache, 16 March 2020
The flag and arms of Torremayor, adopted on 17 October 1994 and 31 March 1995 by the Municipal Council and validated on 7 March and 17 May 1995 by the Assessing Council of Honors and Distinctions of the Government of Extremadura, are prescribed by an Order issued on 25 May 1995 by the Government of Extremadura and published on 8 June 1995 in the official gazette of Extremadura, No. 67, pp. 2,685-2,656 (text).
The symbols are described as follows:
Flag: Rectangular, in proportions 2:3, composed of three vertical stripes, the central white, twice wider than the other, red at hoist and blue at fly, charged in the center with the municipal coat of arms in full colors.
Coat of arms: Per fess, 1. Gules a tower or port and windows azure masoned sable superimposed to a bend sable, 2a. Argent a cross of Saint James gules, 2b. Vair. The shield surmounted by a Royal crown closed.
The quarter vair features the arms of Juan Antonio de Vera y Zúñiga, Count of La Roca.
Juan Antonio de Vera y Zúñiga (1583-1658) was a noted member of the Andalusian cultural circles and academies in Seville. He met Cervantes and was for long a close friend of Lope de Vega. In 1621, he moved to Madrid, where his dialogue on diplomacy El Enbaxador increased his fame. He joined the political circle set up by the Count-Duke of Olivares and became, together with Quevedo and Hurtado de Mendoza, an efficient propagandist of the regime. He published several panegyrical biographies, with a deliberate political intention, and an epic poem relating Ferdinand III's feats.
[Royal Academy of History]
Ivan Sache, 16 March 2020