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Last modified: 2016-04-25 by ivan sache
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Flag of Ojós - Image by Ivan Sache, 8 May 2015
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The municipality of Ojós (518 inhabitants in 2014; 4,528 ha; municipal website) is located in the center of the Region of Murcia, 30 km of Murcia.
Ojós was probably named or the Arab word oxoxo, meaning "gardens" or "hamlets". Ojós has been identified as one of the seven towns listed on the Treaty of Orihuela. Signed in 713, that is two years after the invasion of Spain by the Moors, by ‘Abd al-‘Aziz - the son of Musa ibn Nusair, governor of North Africa, and the Visigoth Count Theodemir (d. 743; in Arab, Tudmir); the treaty, aka Theodemir's Pact - placed the region under Muslim domination but the population was allowed to maintain the Christian religion, provided it paid a fee and did not support the enemies of the new rulers. Accordingly, the Visigoth province of Aurariola (Orihuela) was renamed Tudmir. Theodemir's Pact lists the towns of Ūriūla (Orihuela), Laqant (Alicante), Lūrqa (Lorca), Mūla (Mula), Bqsra (Begastro, today Cehegín), Bilāna (Villena), and Oyyoh / Iyyih. The latter town was firmly identified as Ojós in 1905 by Mariano Gaspar Remiro, based on the geographical details given in an anonymous Arab treaty of geography.
Ojós was the cradle of the revolt led in the 13th century by Abu Allah Muhammad ibn Yusuf ibn Hud al Yudamí, better known as Aben / Ibn Hud, against the Almohad rule. Headquartered in the castle of Ricote, Ibn Hud defeated the son of the Almohad governor of Murcia and seized the town. He soon conquered Almería, Granada, Málaga, Córdoba and Seville, and proclaimed himself Emir on 4 August 1228, recognizing the spiritual leadership of Abucháfar Almostansir, the Abbassid Caliph of Baghdad. Ibn Hud could, however, not maintain for long his rule over such a large territory: uprisings broke out in western Andalusia, Granada, Málaga and Almería, so that he kept control only on the Kingdom of Murcia. Moreover, the Christians exerted more and more pressure on the Muslim states. Ibn Hud was eventually murdered in 1237 in Almería by governor Al-Ramini: the chronicles do not agree on the reasons and exact circumstances of his death.
After the Christian reconquest, the Valley of Ricote was granted in
1285 by King of Castile Sancho IV to the Order of St. James. The rule
of the Order was maintained after the invasion of the Kingdom of
Murcia by King of Aragón Jaime II in 1296.
The Mudéjar population converted to the Christian religion in 1501;
accordingly, a Bull signed in August 1505 by Pope Julius II
established parishes in the valley, Ojós included. Ojós was granted
the status of villa on 5 April 1567 by Philip II, separating from
Caravaca.
In the 19th century, Ojós was scoured by social unrest, which
culminated on 25 December 1838: a public dance degenerated into a
brawl, causing the proclamation of the State of emergency by the
Military Commander of the Region of Murcia, who sent troops to pacify
the town.
Ivan Sache, 8 May 2015
The flag and arms of Ojós (municipal website), approved on 3 April 1987 by the Municipal
Council, are prescribed by Decree No. 19, adopted on 2 February 1989
by the Government of the Region of Murcia and published on 10 February
1989 in the official gazette of the Region of Murcia, No. 34, pp.
619-620 (text).
The symbols are described as follows:
Flag: Panel in proportions 2:3, divided by four horizontal lines defining a flag horizontally divided, double in the middle, with the upper stripe flag green, the next stripe orange, the central double stripe white, beneath a yellow stripe and, finally, a blue stripe. In the middle of the flag is placed the shield with the arms of the town.
Coat of arms: Per fess, 1. Argent a Cross of St. James gules (red) in chief the word "OXOX" in letters sable (black), 2. Gules (red) a lion rampant argent. The shield surmounted by a Royal Spanish crown [detailed description skipped].
The symbols were designed by Luis Lisón Hernández.
Ivan Sache, 8 May 2015
