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Palomares del Río (Municipality, Andalusia, Spain)

Flag of Palomares del Río - Image from the Símbolos de Sevilla website, 1 June 2014

Presentation of Palomares del Río
Symbols of Palomares del Río

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Presentation of Palomares del Río

The municipality of Palomares del Río (7,839 inhabitants in 2013; 1,300 ha; municipal website) is located 10 km south of Seville.

Palomares del Río was already settled at the Roman times, as evidenced by the remains of the villae of Los Carramolos, La Reguela and El Capitan. A Roman town, still to be excavated and named, might have predated the modern town. During the Muslim period, the town was known as Al-Rauz (The Garden), part of the district of Aznalfarache; remains of a public bath (hammam) have been discovered in Huerta de Santa Rita.
After the reconquest of the area by King Ferdinand III the Saint in the 13th century, the town was resettled by colonists, mostly coming from Cantabria, Galicia and Basque Country. The origin of the first settlers is still printed in the family names of the modern inhabitants (for instance, Casado, of Galician origin, and Vela, of Basque origin) and in the toponymy (for instance, Hacienda Ulloa, of Galician Jewish origin). The revolt and expelling of the Mudéjar in 1264 caused a second wave of colonization: several Jews from Seville re-settled the town, which was first documented in the 15th century as Criada or Paterna de los Judios.
The origin of the name of Palomares might be connected with the nobility title of Palomares, which got extinct in the 19th century. Another explanation is connected with the Basque re-settlers: several of them bore arms featuring a dove (paloma).

Ivan Sache, 1 June 2014

Symbols of Palomares del Río

The flag (photo, photo, photo) and arms of Palomares del Río, proposed on 22 September 1994 by Juan José Antequera Luengo, are described as follows:

Flag: Rectangular, in proportions 11 x 18. Quartered, 1. and 4. Green, 2. and 3. White with a double cross, yellow and blue. Centered the municipal coat of arms.
Coat of arms: Vert a dove argent beaked and armed or membered gules. The shield surmounted by a Royal crown closed.

The oldest known official documents, dated 1890, are stamped with an ink seal featuring a dove. The subsequent coat of arms is made of a Carlist-shaped shield , vert - sometimes azure - with a dove argent fimbriated or, the shield surmounted by a Royal crown closed. The dove is not represented in the relevant heraldic manner, which would be volant. In 1982, Daniel Pineda Novo proposed "Vert a dove argent displayed. The shield surmounted by a Royal crown open", but the old design was kept in use.
[Juan José Antequera Luengo. Heráldica oficial de la provincia de Sevilla]

The process of adoption of the coat of arms was declared null and void by a Decree adopted on 21 July 1997 by the Directorate General of the Local Administration and published on 21 August 1997 in the official gazette of Andalusia, No. 97, p. 10,186 (text), since the municipality had failed to propose a corrected design in due time.

Ivan Sache & Klaus-Michael Schneider, 1 June 2014