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Alicún (Municipality, Andalusia, Spain)

Flag of Alicún - Image by "Miguillen" (Wikimedia Commons), 14 July 2009

Presentation of Alicún
Symbols of Alicún

See also:

Presentation of Alicún

The municipality of Alicún ((261 inhabitants in 2008; 600 ha; municipal website) is located in the Alpujarra mountains, 30 km north-west of Almería.

Alicún was listed as a hamlet of Huécija on the chart granting the taha of Marchena (a former Moorish administrative division) to Gutierre de Cárdenas. In the 16th century, Alicún was listed, as a village, among the ten places forming the Duchy of Maqueda. Totally uninhabited after the expelling of the Moriscos in 1570, Alicún was re-settled in 1574 but did not significantly re-emerge until the 18th century. The abolition of the Duchy of Maqueda, decided in 1835, made of Alicún an independent municipality, eventually separated from Huécija. In the middle of the 19th century, the cultivation of the local grape variety known as uva de Johanes (Johanes grape, after the town of Ohanes) boosted the development of the village.
The fountain of Alicún was used by the Romans to build thermae, subsequently transformed in a hammam described by the geographer Al-Idrisi (12th century) as "al-Hammam Vexitan", that is the Huécija Baths.

Ivan Sache, 14 July 2009

Symbols of Alicún

The flag of Alicún, approved on 18 October 2006 by the Municipal Council and submitted on 8 November 2006 to the Directorate General of Local Administration, is prescribed by a Decree adopted on 16 November 2006 by the Directorate General of Local Administration and published on 12 December 2006 in the official gazette of Andalusia, No. 238, p. 46 (text).
The flag is described as follows:

Flag: Panel in proportions 3:2 (length to hoist), green, with a saltire divided per fess white and red, overall a blue cross, both 1/12 of the hoist.

The colours of the flag, taken from the municipal arms, have the following meaning (Almeriapedia):
- green represents the fields;
- white represents the houses;
- blue represents water and the sky;
- red represents the villagers.
There is no hint that the flag of Alicún was inspired by the Basque flag; the similarity in design must be a mere coincidence.

The coat of arms of Alicún, adopted on 10 October 2000 by the Municipal Council and validated on 17 May 2001 by the Royal Academy of Cordóba, is prescribed by Decree No. 256, adopted on 20 November 2001 by the Government of Andalusia, and published on 18 December 2001 in the official gazette of Andalusia, No. 145, p. 20,240 (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 coat of arms is described as follows:

Coat of arms: Vert a fountain or ensigned by a crown open of the same and surrounded by a crescent argent and a Gothic letter 'S' of the same, in base wavy azure and argent. The shield surmounted by a Royal crown closed.

The fountain represents the Main Fountain of Alicún, which supplies abundant water and is the origin of the settlement. The waves represent river Andarax watering the plain. The crescent recalls the Arabic settlers while the "S" recalls the feudal domain (señorio) granted by the Catholic Monarchs to Gutierre de Cárdenasas a reward for his contribution to the conquest of Granada and to the seizure of Huelma, Baza and Almería.
[Símbolos de las Entidades Locales de Andalucía. Almería (PDF file)]

Ivan Sache, 14 July 2009