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Last modified: 2020-03-28 by ivan sache
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Flag of Calera y Chozas - Image by Ivan Sache, 8 September 2019
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The municipality of Calera y Chozas (4,640 inhabitants in 2018; 21,953 ha; municipal website) is located 110 km west of Toledo and 20 km south-west of Talavera de la Reina.
Calera, of probable Celtic origin, was colonized by the Romans; the
deserted village of Covisa has kept remains of a building erected in a
hill (acropolis) with typical Roman mortar, composed of lime and sand,
and of a villa located near river Covisa, which yielded a mosaic, shown
today in the Santa Cruz Museum in Toledo. The deserted village of
Tórtolas has yielded an ornamented sarcophagus and a funerary stele.
After the Chrsitian reconquest of the area by Alfonso VI in 1084, the
re-settled village was probably named Calera, for the lime quarry
(calera) extracted there and used to build the town of Talavera de la
Reina, especially the collegiate church. The mine was first documented
in 1148.
In the 15th century, Calera, Covisa and Las Chozas were different
municipalities depending in Talavera, whose Corregidor appointed their
respective Mayors. Las Chozas de Talavera, located 2 km of Calera, was deserted in the
aftermath of the War of Independence. Its inhabitants moved to Calera,
which was renamed to Calera y Chozas (Calera and Chozas).
On 27 June 1809, the villagers rang the church bells and attacked French
soldiers heading to Calera y Chozas. As a retaliation, the Duke of Belluno
ordered to burn down the town, which casued the death of 20 villagers.
Ivan Sache, 8 September 2019
The flag of Calera y Chozas (,
photo) is prescribed by an Order issued on 20
December 1994 by the Government of Castilla-La Mancha and published on
30 December 1994 in the official gazette of Castilla-La Mancha, No. 59,
p. 4,577 (text).
The flag is described as follows:
Flag: Rectangular, in proportions 2:3; horizontally divided in three stripes of equal width, the upper, red, the median, white, and the lower, green. In the center, the municipal coat of arms.
The coat of arms of Calera y Chozas is prescribed by an Order issued on 20
December 1994 by the Government of Castilla-La Mancha and published on
30 December 1994 in the official gazette of Castilla-La Mancha, No. 59,
p. 4,577 (text).
The coat of arms is described as follows:
Coat of arms: Quarterly, 1. Or a castle proper on lime stones exposed to fire, 2. Per bend sinister, a. Or huts on pastures, b. Or, arable land, holy oaks and olive trees, 3. Vert tierced per bend or and azure, 4. Gules towers with bells over fire. The shield surmounted by a Spanish Royal crown.
The Royal Academy of History rejected the proposed arms, since the
design "totally departs from good style and the usual array of charges".
Moreover, the description sometimes does not match the attached drawing.
The Academy postponed the review of the proposed flag until the issue of
the coat of arms is solved.
[Boletín de la Real Academia de la Historia 192:2, 338. 1995]
The upper quarters, undoubtedly, form a rebus of the town's name, showing a lime quarry (calera) and (y) huts (chozas). The fourth quarter recalls the episode of 27 June 1809.
Calera used in 1876 a seal featuring a castle. The origin of this charge
was not stated. There was never a castle in Calera but in Cobisa, this
fortress being declared ruined in the middle of the 16th century.
[José Luis Ruz Márquez & Ventura Leblic García. Heraldica municipal de la Provincia de Toledo. 1983]
Ivan Sache, 8 September 2019
![[Flag]](../images/e/es-to-ae.gif)
Flag of Alberche del Caudillo - Image by Ivan Sache, 8 September 2019
Alberche del Caudillo (1,711 inhabitants; 2,000 ha) is located 10 km north-east of Calera y Chozas. The village was established on 5 October 1956 by the National Institute of Colonization, as part of the Alberche Irrigable Zone.
On 14 December 2016, Ana Rivelles, Mayor of Alberche del Caudillo (PP), was awarded the title of "Dame of Honor" by the National Foundation
Francisco Franco, as a reward for "her outstanding contribution to the
defense of historical truth and memory of the Caudillo". During the same
event, Antonio Pozo, Mayor of Guadiana del Caudillo (PP) was awarded the
title of "Knight"; since then, he left the PP for VOX, in order "to better defend Franco's memory".
[La Voz de Talavera, 14 December 2016]
In January 2017, the lawyer Eduardo Ranz denounced the two mayors for
"sedition delict" since they refuse to amend the Francoist names of
their municipalities as requested by the Law of Historical Memory. Ranz
added that Ana Rivalles exalted Francoism during the aforementioned
ceremony, saying that "Franco was, undoubtedly, Spain's best head of
state in the 20th century and one of the best in the history of the
country".
[En Castilla-la Mancha, 2 January 2018]
The flag of Alberche del Caudillo is prescribed by an Order issued on 11
April 2008 by the Government of Castilla-La Mancha and published on 24
April 2008 in the official gazette of Castilla-La Mancha, No. 85, p. 12,940 (text).
The flag is described as follows:
Flag: Rectangular, in proportions 2:3, horizontally divided in three stripes: the central, white, covers 1/5 of the hoist; the two other stripes are eqaul, blue; a red right-angled triangle has its base placed along the hoist.
The flag in use (photo, photo, photo, photo, photo) is charged with the municipal coat of arms.
The coat of arms of Alberche del Caudillo is prescribed by an Order issued on 11
April 2008 by the Government of Castilla-La Mancha and published on 24
April 2008 in the official gazette of Castilla-La Mancha, No. 85, p. 12,940 (text).
The coat of arms is described as follows:
Coat of arms: Per pale, 1. Chequy argent and vert, 2. Or a tree eradicated vert fructed gules on waves. The shield surmounted by a Spanish Royal crown.
The Royal Academy of History approved the proposed symbols. The coat of
arms, designed from sratch, uses "classical elements of the heraldic
repertory, whose selection is supported by the local characteristics".
The chequy pattern represents the division of the land into plots
offerred to the colonists; the wave represents river Alberche, while the
tree represents the inhabitants' dedication to agriculture. The resulting
design is "balanced and perfectly compliant with the traditional style
of Spanish coats of arms." The Academy pointed out a mistake in the
representation of the second quarter: the bottom part of the quarter
should be argent instead of or since the waves should cover the whole
base of the quarter. The mistake does not appear to have been corrected.
The Academy approved the proposed flag "without any inconvenience".
[Boletín de la Real Academia de la Historia 205:1, 170-171. 2000]
