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Guareña (Municipality, Extremadura, Spain)

Flag of Guareña - Image by Ivan Sache, 15 March 2020

Presentation of Guareña
Flag of Guareña
Torrefresneda

See also:

Presentation of Guareña

The municipality of Guareña (7,006 inhabitants in 2018; 28,330 ha) is located 100 km east of Badajoz and 25 km south-east of Mérida. The municipality is composed of the town of Guareña and of the submunicipal entity of Torrefresneda.

Ivan Sache, 15 March 2020

Flag of Guareña

The flag and arms of Guareña, adopted on 23 September 1992 by the Municipal Council and validated on 15 February 1993 by the Assessing Council of Honors and Distinctions of the Government of Extremadura, are prescribed by an Order issued on 1 March 1993 by the Government of Extremadura and published on 13 March 1993 in the official gazette of Extremadura, No. 31, pp. 748-750 (text).
The symbols are described as follows:

Flag: Square, composed of two equal vertical stripes, red at hoist and blue at fly, charged with the municipal coat of arms in full colors.
Coat of arms: Per pale, 1. Azure a lion rampant or superimposed to a column of the same, 2. Gules a cross flory in chief and in base two crescents reverted or. The shield surmounted by a Royal crown closed.

The flag in use (photo, photo, photo, photo, photo) is rectangular.
The first quarter recalls the heraldic "Plus Ultra" tradition, recalling the increase and territorial expansion of the kingdom. The book La epopeya de la raza Extreme&ntidel;a en Indias, by Vicente Navarro del Castillo, lists 24 natives from Guareña among the early conolists of America. The most famous of them, Domingo de Medina, conquered Guazacualco and Honduras; he was subsequently appointed Governor of Michoacán and Governor of La Puebla.
The second quarter recalls the contribution of the militia of Guareña to the battle of Salado (aka battle of Tarifa), won on 30 October 1340 by Alfonso XI and Alfonso IV of Portugal against the Marinid invaders. The quarter features the arms that were ganted by Alfonso XI to the town; the two reverted crescents symbolize the Muslim defeat.
[Municipal website]

The municipality appears to use also another flag, blue with a different version of the coat of arms (photo).

Ivan Sache, 15 March 2020

Torrefresneda

Flag of Torrefresneda - Image by Ivan Sache, 15 March 2020

The submunicipal entity of Torrefresneda, located 30 km north of Guareña, was established in 1995. Torrefresneda was created from scratch in 1970, as part of Badajoz Plan.

In July 2016, the Supreme Court of Justice of Extremadura recognized a "zone of influence" of 5,437 ha to Torrefresnada, which represents 20% of the total area of the municipality. This would cause "economic destabilization" of the municipaity, according to the Mayor, and "spoliation for the rest of the population", according to the collective Guareña, dignidad y futuro. On 20 July 2018, the Municipal Council of Guareña unanimously voted the suppression of the status of submunicipal entity granted to Torrefresnedo.
[El Periódico, 22 July 2018]

On 28 December 2018, the two entities established a commission to settle the dispute via discussion rather than legal case. The task of the commission was to secure a "collaboration agreement" between Guareña and Torrefresneda.
[ El Periódico, 29 December 2018]

The flag (photo, photo, photo, photo, photo, photo) and arms of Torrefresneda, adopted on 4 May 1999 by the Village Council and validated on 16 November 1999 by the Assessing Council of Honors and Distinctions of the Government of Extremadura, are prescribed by an Order issued on 22 December 1999 by the Government of Extremadura and published on 18 January 2000 in the official gazette of Extremadura, No. 6, pp. 506-507 (text).
The symbols are described as follows:

Flag: Rectangular, in proportions 2:3. Composed of three equal vertical stripes, blue at hoist, white in the center and green at fly. Charged in the center with the coat of arms in full colors.
Coat of arms: Per pale, 1. Vert a tower [torre] or port and windows azure over four waves argent and azure, 2. Azure a sunflower or and two crossed corn cobs of the same. The shield surmounted by a Royal crown closed.

Ivan Sache, 15 March 2020