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![[Flag]](../images/e/es-se-ap.gif)
Flag of Almadén de la Plata - Image from the Símbolos de Sevilla website, 17 October 2015
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The municipality of Almadén de la Plata (1,503 inhabitants in 2014; 25,578 ha; municipal website) is located 70 km north of Seville.
Almadén de la Plata originates in the Roman Pagus Marmorarius, a small village established near marble quarries. Remains of iron, copper and silver mining have also been found in archeological sites. The Moors renamed the village Al Medin Balat (The Causeway Mines), indicating that the main source of income was the mines located near the Silver Way. The structure of the village is typical of a mining estate, with identical houses arranged on a regular lattice. After the reconquest of the town by the Order of St. James, King Ferdinand III the Saint chartered it, allowing Almadén de la Plata to use arms showing the castle and lion from the Royal arms. The Catholic Monarchs granted the title of "Muy Leal" (Very Loyal) to the town, as a reward to the inhabitants for their contribution to the Granada War.
Francisco Franco was named on 10 August 1946 Honorary Mayor of Almadén de la Plata. On 3 August 2015, Armando Cáceres required from the three political groups representd at the Municipal Council the organization of an extraordinary session to cancel this title. The Council met on 11 August 2015 - except the two Councillors from the PP - and definitively "expelled" Franco from the Municipal Council of Almadén de la Plata.
[El Correo de Andalucía, 12 August 2015]
The astronomic observatory of Almadén de la Plata (website), managed by the Asociación Astronómica de España, is the main center of popularization of astronomy in Spain.
Ivan Sache, 17 October 2015
The flag of Almadén de la Plata (photo, photo) is white with the municipal coat of arms in the middle - surmounted with a Duke's coronet instead of the prescribed Royal crown closed. The flag does not appear to have been officially approved.
The coat of arms of Almadén de la Plata, designed by Juan José Antequera Luengo, is prescribed by a Decree adopted on 4 February 1986 by the Government of Andalusia and published on 25 February 1986 in the official gazette of Andalusia, No. 16, pp. 504-505 (text). This was confirmed by a Decree adopted on 30 November 2004 by the Directorate General of the Local Administration and published on 20 December 2004 in the official gazette of Andalusia, No. 246, pp. 28,986-29,002 (text).
The coat of arms, validated by the Royal Academy of History, is described as follows:
Coat of arms: [Quarterly] 1. Gules a castle or masoned sable port and windows azure, 2. Argent a lion gules, 3. Argent a Cross of St. James, 4. Vert an elm argent. The shield surmounted by a Royal crown closed.
The Mayor of Almadén de la Plata answered on 14 September 1876 to the request of the Ministry of Government, forwarding three copies of the ink seal used by the municipality. The seal features a tree standing on a base surrounded dexter by a castle and sinister by a lion rampant leaning against the tree. The models used in the beginning of the 20th century shows a shield of whimsical shape, argent, with the tree, the castle and the lion proper, surmounted by a Duke's coronet. The shield is placed on lambrequins, subsequently appended with a Cross of St. James. The design used until 1986 is credited to Manuel S. Lao, who painted it in 1906 on a parchment, part of his Armas e historial de la Muy Leal Alamdén de la Plata. The lion and castle, from the Royal arms, are represented in their usual tinctures, the tower of the castle being truncated. The Municipal Council decided to revamp the arms on 1 December 1984, which was officially proclaimed on 29 December 1984.
[Juan José Antequera Luengo. Heráldica oficial de la provincia de Sevilla]
The Royal Academy of History approved the proposed design on 2 December 1985, stating that the claims by the municipality that the castle and lion are a Royal grant, that the town belonged to the Order of St. James, and that the elm is a symbol of the place, are correct if not specific.
[Boletín de la Real Academia de la Historia 1985, 182, 3: 576-577]
![[Flag]](../images/e/es-se!ap.gif)
Proposed flag of Almadén de la Plata - Image by Ivan Sache, 17 October 2015
On 12 January 1995, Juan José Antequera Luengo proposed a flag designed from scratch, quartered red-white-white-green with the municipal coat of arms in the center.
[Juan José Antequera Luengo. Heráldica oficial de la provincia de Sevilla]
Ivan Sache, 17 October 2015