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City of Altea (Alicante/Alacant Province, Valencian Community, Spain)

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Flag of Altea - Image by Antonio López Ruiz, 7 October 2022

Presentation of Altea
Description
- Coat of arms
- Previously reported variant

See also:

Alicante / Alacant Province (Valencian Community, Spain)
Valencian Community (Spain)
Spain

Presentation of Altea

Altea is a city and municipality located in the Valencian Community, (province of Alicante), on the section of Mediterranean coast called the Costa Blanca. At present, the economy of Altea is based on tourism, which started to grow in the 1950s because of its good weather, beaches and the labyrinthine streets with whitewashed house-fronts that characterize the town. Altea is protected on the north by the bluffs of the Serra de Bèrnia, creating an especially mild microclimate. Population: 22.657 (2021) in 34.43 km2.

During the last phase of Muslim rule, Altea belonged to the Taifa of Denia. It was conquered in 1244 by Jaime I of Aragón, obtaining a town charter in 1279, granted by King Pedro III of Aragón. A medieval repopulation project called Bellaguarda was developed without much success, after several depopulations throughout the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, the new town of Altea, already in its current settlement, would obtain a new town charter in 1617. In 1705, the Anglo-Dutch squadron that supported Archduke Charles of Austria, led by the Valencian general Juan Bautista Basset, landed in the Bay of Altea in the framework of the War of Succession, which favored the subsequent capture by the Austracists of Denia and Valencia. This fact made the archduke grant the crowning of the double-headed eagle of the coat of arms of the town, as a sign of gratitude.

Jose Antonio Jiménez Ruiz, 7 October 2022

Description

I have not found data on the official adoption of local symbols.
In the year 2020 I visited Altea and I could see the flag that flies in the Town Hall. Clearly (and confirmed by municipal employees) the flag is yellow with four red stripes, and in the center it only has the figure of the eagle without the shield.

Jose Antonio Jiménez Ruiz, 7 October 2022

Coat of arms

Coat of arms and logo of Altea - left, by Mutxamel on Wikipedia, right logo from the municipal website.
Images located by Jose Antonio Jiménez Ruiz, 7 October 2022

On the Altea Town Hall page [website] you can see the shield in the municipal logo. Description on Wikipedia: "En campo de oro, cuatro palos de gules; y brochante sobre el todo, un águila exployada de sable, coronada de oro y gules, y picada, linguada y armada de gules".

Jose Antonio Jiménez Ruiz, 7 October 2022

Previously reported variant

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Flag of Altea - Image by Mutxamel on Wikipedia, 18 June 2010

On Wikipedia, user Mutxamel reports a flag with four red bars on a yellow field and the local coat of arms in the center.

Jose Antonio Jiménez Ruiz, 7 October 2022