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Last modified: 2020-11-06 by ivan sache
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Flag of Alía - Image by Ivan Sache, 19 March 2020
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The municipality of Alía (891 inhabitants in 2015, 59,940 ha; municipal website), located 120 km west of Cáceres, forms the south-eastern corner of the Province of Cáceres, in the border with the Provinces of Badajoz, Ciudad Real (Castilla-La Mancha) and Toledo (Castilla-La Mancha).
The municipality is composed of the villages of Alía, La Calera (69 inh.), Pantano de Cijara (66 inh.), Puerto del Rey (12 inh.) and Guadisa (depopulated).
Alía was identified by some historians as the Carthaginian town of Helice / Elite, built in 200 BC and the place of death of Hamilcar Barca. Church items were hidden in the area after the conquest of Seville by the Muslims, which reappeared later in Guadalupe and Berzocana.
Alía is of Arab origin, as evidenced by the structure of the village and its old houses, and by local toponyms (Guadarranque, Guadalupejo, Guadarranquejo), as well. The village's name is also of Arab origin. Some say that Alía's namesake was the Moorish general Ali Hamar, who ruled the castle, today ruined, erected on the St. Catherine's Hill, north of the village. Other believe that the original name of the village was Halia, meaning "on the other side". Yet another possible etymology is related to the topographical location of the village on a hill surrounded by high mountains, therefore its name, meaning in Arab "a height".
Reconquered around 1200 by Alfonso IX, Alía was transferred to the Order of Alcántara. The village was chartered by the Council of Talavera in the 12th-14th century and granted the title of villa on 1756 by Charles III.
Ivan Sache, 19 March 2020
The flag of Alía (photo), adopted on 30 October 2002 by the Municipal Council and validated on 6 February 2003 by the Assessing Council of Honors and Distinctions of the Government of Extremadura, is prescribed by an Order issued on 10 February 2003 by the Government of Extremadura and published on 22 February 2003 in the official gazette of Extremadura, No. 23, pp. 2,387-2,388 (text).
The flag is described as follows:
Flag: Rectangular, in proportions 2:3, diagonally divided from the upper hoist to the lower fly by a blue and white wavy stripe. At fly, white, at hoist, red, charged in the center with the municipal coat of arms in full colors.
The coat of arms of Alía, adopted on 25 March 1987 the Municipal Council and validated on 10 June 1988 by the Royal Academy of History, is prescribed by an Order issued on 23 June 1988 by the Government of Extremadura and published on 5 July 1988 in the official gazette of Extremadura, No. 53, p. 743 (text).
The coat of arms is described as follows:
Coat of arms: Gules a St. Catherine's wheel or ensigned by a sword in fess argent hilted or. The shield surmounted by a Royal crown closed.
The arms recalls the martyr of the village's patron saint, St. Catherine of Alexandria. The St. Catherine parish church was erected in the beginning of the 15th century in mudéjar style. Due to its period of building, the church features elements of both Romanesque and Gothic styles.
[Municipal website]
Ivan Sache, 19 March 2020
