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Huécija (Municipality, Andalusia, Spain)

Flag of Huécija - Image from the Símbolos de Almería website, 9 May 2014

Presentation of Huécija
Symbols of Huécija

See also:

Presentation of Huécija

The municipality of Huécija (530 inhabitants in 2008; 1,900 ha; municipal website) is located in the Alpujarra mountains, 30 km north-west of Almería.

The origin of the name of the village, known in the Moorish times as Guacimora, Güecixa or Güécija, is obscure. The village was first mentioned in 891 as an alquería (estate) part of the newly settled territory of Urs al-Yaman. In the Nasrid Kingdom of Granada, Huécija was one of the ten villages forming the taha of Marchena. After the "Almería Surrendings" (1489), the taha of Marchena was granted by the Catholic Monarchs to Gutiérre de Cárdenas y Chacón, as a reward for his contribution to the reconquest. Transferred in 1494 to the lord of Cárdenas, the new domain included the ten villages of Zodun (Alsodux), Alhabiati (Alhabia), Terque, Bentarico (Bentarique), Ylar (Íllar), Alhama, Estancihun (Instinción), Rágol, Alicún (probably a borough of Huécija) and Huécija, as its capital. Only Terque and Huécija had the rank of villa. Diego de Cárdenas y Enríquez was made Duke of Maqueda in 1529; his mother, Teresa Enríquez, was nicknamed by Pope Julius II "The Sacrement's Fool" because of her promotion of the Corpus Christi procession and her support to the building of convents and churchs in the recently reconquered territories. Among them, the fortified Augustine convent of Huécija, founded in 1511, was sacked by the Moriscos on 1568.
Like the neighbouring villages, Huécija was ruined by the expelling of the Moriscos and recovered mostly with the suppression of the Duchy of Maqueda in 1835 and the cultivation of Ohanes grapes.

Ivan Sache, 21 July 2009

Symbols of Huécija

The flag and arms of Huécija, approved on 17 March 2005 by the Municipal Council and submitted on 13 April 2005 to the Directorate General of Local Administration, are prescribed by a Decree adopted on 25 April 2005 by the Directorate General of Local Administration and published on 11 May 2005 in the official gazette of Andalusia, No. 90, p. 51 (text).
The symbols, designed by Miguel Navarro Gámez, are described as follows:

Flag: Rectangular panel, in proportions 1:1.5, horizontally divided in three stripes, the upper purple, the central golden yellow and the lower green, the yellow stripe being twice higher than the others. In the center with adequate proportions, the municipal coat of arms with white and yellow colours instead of argent and or on the coat of arms.
Coat of arms: Per pale, 1. The arms of Cárdenas, or two wolves passant purple [cárdeno], a bordure gules charged with in turn eight capital letters "S" and eight scallops, all argent, 2. Vert a tower or with a bell of the same masoned sable port and windows azure placed on a foundation issuant from the base or masoned sable. The shield surmounted by a Royal crown closed.

The colours used in the flag are the main colours of the arms.
The first quarter of the shield shows the arms of Cárdenas. The "S" on the bordure recalls that Gutiérre de Cárdenas, coming with Princess Isobel of Castile when she was introduced to Ferdinand of Aragón, always called them ese ("those" - "them"), and was rewarded for his respect with a Royal grant allowing him to add the "S" to the border of his arms. The tower on the second quarter is the tower of the Augustine convent, the most representative building of Huécija.
[Municipal website].

Ivan Sache, 21 July 2009