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Grazalema (Municipality, Andalusia, Spain)

Last modified: 2017-01-08 by ivan sache
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[Flag]

Flag of Grazalema - Image from the Símbolos de Cadíz website, 4 May 2014


See also:


Presentation of Grazalema

The municipality of Grazalema (2,171 inhabitants in 2013; 12,241 ha; municipal website) is located 140 km north-east of Cádiz, on the border with the Province of Seville.

Ivan Sache, 1 December 2009


Symbols of Grazalema

The flag of Grazalema, adopted on 9 March 1995 by the Municipal Council, is prescribed by Decree No. 285, adopted on 28 November 1995 by the Government of Andalusia and published on 23 March 1996 in the official gazette of Andalusia, No. 37, p. 2,975 (text). This was confirmed by a Resolution adopted on 30 November 2004 by the Government of Andalusia and published on 20 December 2004 in the official gazette of Andalusia, No. 246, pp. 28,986-29,002 (text).
The flag is described as follows:

Flag: Bicolor flag, vertically divided into two equal parts, at hoist Andalusian green charged in the middle with the crowned coat of arms of Grazalema, at hoist white charged in the middle with a dark green Spanish Fir. The dimensions of the flag shall be 2.50 m x 1.60 m.

The Spanish Fir, Abies pinsapo Boiss., has two varieties, one in Morocco (A. pinsapo var. marocana) and the typical variety in south-eastern Spain (A. pinsapo var. pinsapo). A. pinsapo var. pinsapo occurs in three locations: Sierra de Grazalema, Sierra de las Nieves and Sierra Bermeja (Málaga). The largest forests occur in Sierra de Grazalema and Sierra de las Nieves. In total the population has an extent of occurrence of 940 km2 with an actual area of occupancy of 28.7 km2.
In the Sierra de Grazalema the main distribution is along the Sierra del Pinar where this variety is restricted to 4 km2. The three small localities in this area contain trees which have not yet reached reproductive age. At the Sierra de las Nieves location most trees are concentrated in the municipalities of Yunquera, Ronda and Tolox, where they occur in an area of 24 km2. The smallest and most isolated subpopulation is at Reales, within the Sierra Bermeja, where it is restricted to a small area of 0.7 km2.
The number of locations is three and there is a decline in its quality of habitat, mainly as a result of fire and more recently, the effects of fungal and insect pathogens as well as effects of recent droughts. These latter problems are most evident in lower altitude stands. It is therefore listed as Endangered.
[IUCN Red List of Threatened Species]

The Spanish Fir is also featured, in two copies, on the flag of Yunquera.

The coat of arms of Grazalema is prescribed by Decree No. 413, adopted on 3 January 1966 by the Spanish Government and published on 22 February 1966 in the Spanish official gazette, No. 45, p. 2,176 (text). This was confirmed by a Resolution adopted on 30 November 2004 by the Government of Andalusia and published on 20 December 2004 in the official gazette of Andalusia, No. 246, pp. 28,986-29,002 (text).
The "rehabilitated" coat of arms "of immemorial use", validated by the Royal Academy of History, is described as follows:

Coat of arms: Per pale, 1. Argent a lion rampant gules crowned or, 2. Or four pallets gules. A bordure azure charged with eight escutcheons or a fess azure. The shield surmounted by a Ducal crown.

The coat of arms belonged to the Ponce de León family, lord of the domain of the Seven Villages, which encompassed Villaluenga, Benaocaz, Ubrique, Archite, Cardela, Grazalema, and, subsequently, El Bosque.
[Símbolos de las Entidades Locales de Andalucía. Cádiz]

The former arms of Grazalema, as described by Luis de Igartuburu (1847) and Antonio Poley y Poley (1901), displaying a crowned rampant lion in a blue field, are considered to be erroneous, due to non-compliance with the basic heraldic rules. On 10 October 1876 the municipality adopted a seal displaying a rampant lion in the first quarter and two pallets in the second quarter. The current arms have been mistaken for the arms of the Dukes of Arcos , because there existed no historical documents and the proper arms were unknown in the village.
[José Antonio Delgado y Orellana. Heráldica Municipal de la Provincia de Cádiz].

Klaus-Michael Schneider & Ivan Sache, 4 May 2014


Flag without arms

[Flag]

Flag of Grazalema, as seen on 12 November 2009 at Restaurant Mirador - Image by Klaus-Michael Schneider, 1 December 2009

The flag appears to be (unofficially) used without the municipal coat of arms.

Klaus-Michael Schneider, 1 December 2009