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Last modified: 2016-04-25 by ivan sache
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Flag of Los Alcázares - Image by Ivan Sache, 7 May 2015
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The municipality of Los Alcázares (15,735 inhabitants in 2014; 1,982 ha; municipal website) is located in the south-east of the Region of Murcia, 20 km of Cartagena and 50 km of Murcia. Los Alcázares is located on the western bank of the salty lagoon (170 sq. km in area; 70 km in coastal length) known as Mar Menor (lit., Minor Sea).
Los Alcázares is named for a fortress, in Arab "al-Qasr", built by Ibn
Mardania on the ruins of a Roman villa dated to the 3rd century. After
the Christian reconquest, Alfonso X the Wise allocated Los Alcázares
to the Crown of Castile and to the Council of Murcia, re-settling the
area with colonists from Catalonia, Aragón and Castile. However, the
area remained sparsely populated because of the threat represented by
pirates and soldiers from the neighbouring Kingdom of Granada, except
Los Alcázares, which was used as a resupplying place for Murcia and a
grazing area for cattle.
From the 16th to the 18th century, the settlement was reduced to a
sheltering tower, erected around 1500 by the Council of Murcia,
defended by a small garrison, and to a citadel built close to the
ruins of the Roman villa; the citadel included a dozen of water tanks
used to water the numerous cattle that overwintered in the local
pastures. The short-lived (1613-1630) domain of Villa Morena, ruled by
the Cartagena-based Bienvengud family, was established in the
hinterland, encompassing the villages of Hoya Morena and El Ramí.
Los Alcázares boomed in the 20th century after the set up in 1915 of
the first maritime airfield in Spain, with an hydroplane base
(employing more than 100 workers), a School of Air Fighting and
Bombing, and a civil yacht-club (El Aeropopular). Juan Ortiz,
commander of the airfield, required the establishment of an autonomous
municipality, which was achieved on 30 September 1936. The
municipality was suppressed at the end of the Civil War, the status of
Los Alcázares being downgraded to Submunicipal Entity.
The municipality of Los Alcázares was eventually re-established by
Regional Decree No. 77 of 13 October 1983, separating from Torre-Pacheco and San Javier, being therefore the youngest municipality in
the Region of Murcia.
Ivan Sache, 7 May 2015
The flag of Los Alcázares (photo, photo, photo, photo, photo), approved on 8 July 1993 by the Municipal
Council, is prescribed by Decree No. 121, adopted on 1 October 1993 by
the Government of the Region of Murcia and published on 7 October 1993
in the official gazette of the Region of Murcia, No. 233, p. 8,123 (text).
The flag is described as follows:
Flag: Panel in proportions 2:3, horizontally divided in the middle, the upper stripe white and the lower stripe celestial blue. In the middle is placed the proper coat of arms of the town, as adopted by Decree No. 3 of 16 January 1986.
The coat of arms of Los Alcázares, approved on 20 December 1984 by the
Municipal Council, is prescribed by Decree No. 3, adopted on 16
January 1986 by the Government of the Region of Murcia and published
on 27 January 1986 in the official gazette of the Region of Murcia,
No. 21, p. 291 (text).
The coat of arms is described as follows:
Coat of arms: Oblong shield, rounded-off in base and surmounted by a Royal crown closed. Per fess, 1. Gules three castles argent masoned sable placed 1 and 2, 2. Argent three waves azure. A bordure azure 11 water tanks or.
Ivan Sache, 7 May 2015
![[Flag]](../images/e/es-mu^la.gif)
Los Alcázares Air Base Centenary flag - Image by Ivan Sache, 7 May 2015
Pedro Vives y Vich, Director of the Military Aviation, was
commissioned in 1914 by the Minister of War to find the best suitable
place to establish an hydroplane base. After having surveyed the whole
Mediterranean coast, from Algeciras to Portbou, Vives proposed to set
up the base in Los Alcázares, on the western bank of the the Mar
Menor; the site had little natural obstacles, the sea was calm and
shallow and the number of sunny days per year was high.
The building of the base started in May 1915, while the six Curtiss
JN-2 hydroplanes were purchased in the USA in September; Albert J.
Engel, pilot of the Curtiss company, completed the first probing
flight in Los Alcázares in November. The first flight ever with a
Spanish military hydroplane was performed in 12 December 1915 by
Lieutenant Roberto White Santiago.
[Region of Murcia website]
The centenary of the Los Alcázares Air Base was celebrated in 2015.
The flag of the event is white with the centenary's logo.
The logo is a blue disk charged with a white hydroplane outlined in
red, surmounted by the yellow years "1915" (smaller) and
"2015" (larger) and a yellow eight-pointed star. The border of the
disk is inscribed with "CENTENARIO DE LA HIDROAVIACIÓN MILITAR
ESPAÑOLA" (top) and "LOS ALCÁZARES" (bottom), in white letters.
[Gaceta Cartagonova, 13 March 2015]
Ivan Sache, 7 May 2015
