Last modified: 2016-05-31 by ivan sache
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![[Flag]](../images/e/es-co-pp.gif)
Flag of Peñarroya-Pueblonuevo - Image from the Símbolos de Córdoba website, 20 September 2015
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The municipality of Peñarroya-Pueblonuevo (11,600 inhabitants in 2013; 6,488 ha; municipal website) is located 80 km north-west of Córdoba.
Peñarroya was mentioned for the first time in 1272; however, the area was already settled by the Muslims (fortresses of Belmez and El Hoyo). King Alfonso XI enjoyed in 1333 a monteria (hunting party), which he recalled years later in his Libro de las Monteras as follows: "Penna Roya is a mount rich in bears in wintertime".
Peñarroya became a permanent settlement in 1476, following events that forced several villagers to leave Fuente Obejuna; the new settlement was incorporated to Belmez in 1518, solving a long dispute with Fuente Obejuna.
In 1777, José Simón de Lillo, supplier in meat of the Almadén mines, identified coal near brook Hontanilla. In the 1840s, a famous dog named "Terrible" was able to find underground coal; the biggest mine was named for him, as the new settlement of Pueblonuevo del Terrible. Industrial exploitation of coal started, mostly managed by French companies. The first industrial park was established in 1875 by the Belmezana colliery, which used the Belmez-Castillo de Almorchón railway, subsequently extended to Córdoba, to export coal. The Sociedad Minera y Metalúrgica de Peñarroya (SMMP) was established in 1881 in Paris. The French colony was soon joined by Portuguese and Italian miners.
Pueblonuevo de Terrible was granted the status of pueblo on 28 July 1894, so was Peñarroya on 19 November 1894. The combined population of the two towns reached 24,000 inhabitants in the beginning of the 20th century. In 1914, the industrial park was the biggest in the province and among the biggest in Andalusia, including a lead foundry, a power plant, chemical industries etc. The two towns were merged into a single municipality in 1927, in spite of the opposition of the workers, which was granted the next year the title of ciudad by Alfonso XIII.
The Stabilisation Plan initiated in the late 1950s involved the closure of several industries, in spite of the establishment of the Encasur group, which still exploits the mines.
Ivan Sache, 20 September 2015
The flag of Peñarroya-Pueblonuevo is vertically divided red-yellow-black with the municipal coat of arms in the center.
The flag was adopted on 8 June 2012 by the Municipal Council. Only the councillors from the majority group (PP) approved the proposal. The flag was designed for free by the heraldist and genealogist Rafael Agüera Espejo-Saavedra. The heraldist proposed on 14 March 2011 to the Municipal Council to design symbols for free.
The coat of arms placed in the central stripe symbolizes the union of Peñarroya and Pueblonuevo. The vertical stripes, taken from the French flag, recalls the French influence on the development of the town. The red stripe represents Peñarroya, originally Peña Roja (Red Rock). The yellow stripe represents richness due to the mines. The black stripe, of the colour of coal, represents Pueblonuevo.
[Guadiato Info, 13 January 2012]
The coat of arms of Peñarroya-Pueblonuevo is prescribed by Decree No. 1,203, adopted on 6 July 1961 by the Spanish Government and published on 20 July 1961 in the Spanish official gazette, No. 172, p. 10,813 (text). This was confirmed by a Resolution 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).
There is no description of the design in the Decree.
The coat of arms, designed by Vicente de Cadenas y Vicent, is "Per pale, 1. Sable a shovel and a pickaxe per saltire all argent, 2. Or a rock gules ensigned with a Latin cross. A bordure azure charged with three fleurs-de-lis or. The shield surmounted by a Royal crown."
The dexter part of the shield represents Pueblonuevo, through the miner's tools and the black colour, for coal. The sinister part is canting, the red rock (peña roja) representing Peñarroya. The fleurs-de-lis in the bordure recalls the French influence; they are also part of the coat of arms of the Spanish Borbonic dynasty.
[Símbolos de las Entidades Locales de Andalucía. Córdoba (PDF file)]
Ivan Sache, 20 September 2015