Last modified: 2015-09-06 by ivan sache
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![[Flag]](../images/e/es-ca-sb.gif)
Flag of Setenil de las Bodegas- Image from the Símbolos de Cadíz website, 28 November 2009
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The municipality of Setenil de las Bodegas (2,894 inhabitants in 2013; 8,215 ha; municipal website) is located 160 km north-east of Cádiz, on the border with the Province of Málaga. The attribute "las Bodegas" (lit., the Wine Cellars) recalls that wine-growing has been the main source of income in the region for ages.
Setenil was once believed to be the successor of the Roman town of Laccipo, but it was subsequently proved that Laccipo was indeed the origin of Casares. The modern settlement emerged as a small Moorish village protected by a fortress. According to Bérnaldez' chronicle, Setenil was a main stronghold preventing the reconquest of the Kingdom of Granada by the Catholic Monarchs; besieged in 1407, to no avail, the fortress was seized only after seven sieges, said to be the origin of the name of the village, from Latin septum nihil (seven times nothing). The seventh, successful siege lasted 15 days and required the use of the most modern weapons of that time; due to the strategic location of Setenil, the victory caused a great fuss in Castile and was the source of several legends. Queen Isobel is said to have aborted during the siege, the St. Sebastian chapel being therefore built as a tribute to this child named Sebastian; there is, of course, not the least historic evidence of such an event except in the local folklore. After the reconquest, Setenil was declared a Royal town (villa) and granted a charter in 1501. The privileges granted to the town were equivalent to those granted to Seville.
Ivan Sache, 26 July 2009
The flag of Setenil de las Bodegas, adopted on 25 October 2005 by the Municipal Council and submitted the next day to the Directorate General of the Local Administration, is prescribed by a Decree adopted on 9 November 2005 by the Directorate General of the Local Administration and published on 24 November 2005 in the official gazette of Andalusia, No. 230, p. 36 (text).
The flag is described as follows:
Flag: Rectangular panel in proportions 1:1.5, tierced at hoist [1:2]. The first area, at hoist, with proportions 1:3, white; the second area, the remaining 2:3, indigo blue. On the dividing line is placed the crowned coat of arms.
The coat of arms of Setenil de las Bodegas is prescribed by Decree No. 1,591, adopted on 29 May 1970 by the Spanish Government and published on 15 June 1970 in the Spanish official gazette, No. 142, pp. 9,394-9,395 (text). This was confirmed by a Decree adopted on 30 November 2004 by the Government of Andalusia and published on 20 December 2004 in the official gazette of Andalusia, No. 246, pp. 28,986-29,002 (text).
The "rehabilitated" coat of arms, validated by the Royal Academy of History, is described as follows:
Coat of arms: Gules a yoke argent per bend and a coyunda or. The shield surmounted with a Royal crown open.
The arms with the yoke and the coyunda (a strap specifically intended to tie animals to a yoke) were granted on 25 July 1485 by the Catholic Monarchs to the town of Ronda; Setenil, then dependent of Ronda, used the same arms, and kept using them after its secession from Ronda in 1630. The arms of Ronda differ from those of Setenil by several details and include the Pillars of Hercules.
[Setenil Rural, 7 October 2009]
Ivan Sache, 26 July 2009