Last modified: 2020-11-14 by ivan sache
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Flag of Torrejoncillo - Image by Ivan Sache, 22 March 2020
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The municipality of Torrejoncillo (2,935 inhabitants in 2019; 9,454 ha; municipal website) is located 60 km north of Cáceres and 50 km south-west of Plasencia.
Torrejoncillo was already settled in the 3rd century BC, as evidenced by seven bronze figures (five kids, a kid's head and a rider), and Vetton ex-votos probably dedicated to Ataecina, goddess of night, which were excavated in the Encinejo farm.
Located clsoe to th Via Dalmatia, the area yielded several Roman artefacts (coins, columns, capitals, tiles, mosaic pieces etc.).
Permanent settlements were established during the Moorish period, probably as shepherd's huts groupes around a small watch tower (torreón, diminutive form, -cillo). This was "confirmed" by Friar Francisco de Torejoncillo in the book Centinela contro judios (A sentinel against Jews), published in 1674 and highly estimated by the scholars of the time - more recently considered as an anti-Semitic work of very limited merit.
There is no mention of Torrejoncillo as a settlement until the emergence of parish archives in the middle 16th century; this indicates that the place was of little significance after the Christian reconquest. The tradition, says that the army of Joan la Beltraneja was forced to swiftly abandon a camp established in the village, leaving a huge quantity of sheep; this would be the origin of the once famous local wool industry.
Whatever its origin, cloth industry boosted the development of the town, which counted more than 3,000 inhabitants at the end of the 17th century. Wool was processed in small family workshops; the quality of the product was highlighted in the dictum "Torejoncillo's cloth lasts a human life span". Torejoncillo cloth was sold in big fairs; in Medina del Campo, they competed with Catalan products, while in Zafra they competed with Sevillean products.
Destroyed on 4 September 1809 by the French, the town was rebuilt in 1812 after the establishment of a municipality separated from Coria. In 1839, Torrejoncillo had recovered and developed leather industry. Lack of technical innovation, investment, and ways of communication, as well as social struggles and unrest caused the disappearance of cloth industry in the beginning of the 20th century, resulting in massive emigration to Argentina.
Ivan Sache, 22 March 2020
The flag of Torrejoncillo (photo,
photo), adopted on 30 January 1987 by the Municipal Council and validated on 19 June 1987 by the Royal Academy of History, is prescribed by an Order issued on 8 July 1987 by the Government of Extremadura and published on 14 July 1987 in the official gazette of Extremadura, No. 55, p. 910 (text).
The flag is described as follows:
Flag: Two trapezoids placed symmetrically along the flag's longitudinal axis an a triangle, whose vertices are located in the flag's exact center and in the hoist's upper and lower ends. The upper trapezoid, white, the lower trapezoid, green. The triangle, celestial blue. Charged in the center the municipal coat of arms.
The coat of arms of Torrejoncillo, adopted on 27 June 1986 by the Municipal Council and validated on 28 July 1986 by the Royal Academy of History, is prescribed by an Order issued on 9 October 1986 by the Government of Extremadura and published on 23 October 1986 in the official gazette of Extremadura, No. 87, p. 1,199-1,200 (text).
The coat of arms is described as follows:
Coat of arms: Per pale, 1. Argent a lion rampant purpure (which could be represented gules) langued and armed gules crowned or, 2. Vert a ruined tower or. Grafted in base, Azure a torch or flaming or and gules. The shield surmounted by a Royal crown closed.
Ivan Sache, 22 March 2020