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Tahal (Municipality, Andalusia, Spain)

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

Presentation of Tahal
Symbols of Tahal

See also:

Presentation of Tahal

The municipality of Tahal (439 inhabitants in 2008; 9,500 ha; municipal website) is located in the heart of the Sierra de los Filabres, 70 km north of Almería.

According to Father Tapia, Tahal appears under different names (Atahaluc, Atahelid, Atahalbe, Atahalid, Tajal) in the chronicles of the conquest of Almería by the Catholic Monarchs. The region was later known as "Estado de Tahal". Enrique Enríquez, the grand grandson of Alfonso Enríquez, Admiral of Castile, was granted 11 villages in the Filabres, including Tahal and its borough of Benitorafe. In the beginning of the 16th century, Tahal and the neighbouring villages were inhabited by 6,000 Moriscos and a dozen of Christians grouped in Tahal; after the Alpujarra revolt and the expelling of the Moriscos, the resettlement of Tahal officially started on 1576 with the input of 45 households. In 1593, Jorge de Baeza Oro reported that 77 villagers inhabited 55 houses in Tahal. In the 18th century, the village was transferred to the Marquis of Aguilafuente. Benitorafe was separated in 1843, to be shortly after reincorporated to Tahal.

Ivan Sache, 2 August 2009

Symbols of Tahal

The flag and arms of Tahal, approved on 24 January 2005 by the Municipal Council and submitted on 31 January 2005 to the Directorate General of Local Administration, are prescribed by a Decree adopted on 8 February 2005 by the Directorate General of Local Administration and published on 22 February 2005 in the official gazette of Andalusia, No. 37, p. 58 (text).
The symbols are described as follows:

Flag: Panel in proportions 2:3, divided in three equal vertical stripes: at hoist white with a black cross, in the middle green with a yellow castle and at fly white with a green crescent.
Coat of arms: Shield in Spanish shpae. Or, three mounts vert issuant from the base surmounted by a castle of the same. A bordure argent charged, in turn, with four crescents vert and four crosses sable. The shield surmounted by a Royal Spanish crown closed.

The mounts represent the three mounts located in the municipality, the most important in the Sierra de los Filabres. The castle, erected by the Enríquez, has been partially preserved until now. The cross and the crescent represent the Christian and Arab cultures, respectively.
[Símbolos de las Entidades Locales de Andalucía. Almería (PDF file)]

Ivan Sache, 16 July 2009