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Bustarviejo (Municipality, Community of Madrid, Spain)

Flag of Bustarviejo - Image by Ivan Sache, 2 July 2015

Presentation of Bustarviejo
Symbols of Bustarviejo

See also:

Presentation of Bustarviejo

The municipality of Bustarviejo (2,348 inhabitants in 2014; 5,629 ha) is located in the north of the Community of Madrid, 75 km of Madrid.

Bustarviejo appears to have been named for bustar, a word derived from Latin bos stare, "a place where bovines graze", and viejo, in Spanish, "old", referring to the early settlement of the place. Archeological remains, such as the Mina tower, suggest a Muslim settlement.
Alfonso XI's Libro de la Montería (14th century) mentions a lawsuit opposing Bustarviejo to Canencia for the ownership of pastures. In 1482, the Catholic Monarchs settled another dispute opposing Bustarviejo to Miraflores (then known as Las Porquerizas), Bustarviejo being eventually granted the valley of Los Abedules.
Bustarviejo was granted the status of villa in 1626, separating from Segovia. A silver and arsenic mine was discovered in 1666 in Peña de las Grajas, which would be exploited, more or less continuously, until the end of the 19th century.
The writer Benito Pérez Galdós mentions Bustarviejo, as "the shelter of the two lovers", in La Revolución de Julio, Chapter XVI, part of Episodios Nacionales.

Adolfo Schlosser (1939-2004; biography), a Spanish sculptor of Austrian origin, lived in Bustarviejo from 1980 to his death. Recognized as one of the most significant Spanish artists of the late 20th century, Schlosser was awarded in 1991 the National Prize for the Plastic Arts. A posthumous exhibition of his works was held in 2006 in the Queen Sofia Arts Museum in Madrid (presentation).
In October 2011, Soledad Schlosser, the artist's widow, offered 130 documents (books and exhibition catalogues) to the public library of Bustarviejo.

Ivan Sache, 2 July 2015

Symbols of Bustarviejo

The flag (photos, photo, photo) and arms of Bustarviejo are prescribed by a Decree adopted on 29 April 1993 by the Government of the Community of Madrid and published on 27 May 1993 in the official gazette of the Community of Madrid, No. 124, p. 5 (text) and on 15 June 1993 in the Spanish official gazette, No. 142, pp. 18,314-18,315 (text).
The symbols are described as follows:

Flag: In proportions 2:3. Horizontally divided by a ten-pointed serration, the upper half, white, and the lower half, red. In the center is placed the crowned coat of arms of the municipality.
Coat of arms: Per pale, 1. Per fess serrated argent and gules two oxen countercoloured, 2. Gules a two-storeyed aqueduct on rocks all argent. The shield surmounted by a Royal Spanish crown.

The symbols are modifications of the flag and arms originally prescribed by a Decree adopted on 12 September 1991 by the Government of the Community of Madrid and published on 28 October 1991 in the official gazette of the Community of Madrid, No. 256, pp. 10-11 (text) and on 14 November 1991 in the Spanish official gazette, No. 273, pp. 37,035 (text).
The symbols are described as follows:

Flag: In proportions 2/3. Horizontally divided by a ten-pointed serration, the upper half, white, and the lower half, red. In the middle is placed the crowned coat of arms of the municipality.
Coat of arms: Per pale, 1. Per fess serrated argent and gules two cows countercoloured, 2. Gules a two-storeyed aqueduct on rocks all argent. The shield surmounted by a Royal Spanish crown.

The Royal Academy slightly amended the original proposed coat of arms. The Academy mentioned the comments made by the cultural association "El Bustar", which were appended to the supporting memoir, congratulating Bustarviejo "for the interest and collaboration in the design of its symbols". The brand new arms allude to the etymology of the place, connected to cattle-breeding, and to the Community of the Town and Land of Segovia, represented by its traditional arms [the Roman aqueduct of Segovia]. The Academy recommended to change the colours proposed for the first quarter.
The proposed flag was also validated, provided the coat of arms is modified as recommended.
[Boletín de la Real Academia de la Historia, 1992, 189, 1: 154]

The Academy validated the proposed changes in the symbols, adopted on 27 September 1991 by the Municipal Council, recognizing that the only change was the substitution,in the description, of "cows" by "oxen".
[Boletín de la Real Academia de la Historia, 1993, 190, 1:154]

Ivan Sache, 2 July 2015