Last modified: 2018-03-18 by ivan sache
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![[Flag]](../images/e/es-pm-ec.gif)
Flag of Es Castell - Image by Klaus-Michael Schneider, 27 October 2017
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The municipality of Es Castell (Spanish, Villacarlos; 7,343 inhabitants in 2017, 11,660 ha) is located in the south-east of Minorca.
The name of the municipality (lit., The Castle) recalls it was established as the El Castillo de San Felipe fortress, erected after the devastating raid of the Ottoman pirate Kapudan Pascha Barbarossa in 1535. The building of the fortress was finished in 1558 under the rule of King Philip II. The of settlement s'Arrabal de Sant Felip developed beneath the fortress. Due to problems of defence the inhabitants were expelled by the British and they settled down in nearby La Rabal Nova.
In 1771 the town, already called Sant Jordi (St. George) by its inhabitants, was renamed to Georgetown, in order to honour King George III. The fortress was conquered and destroyed by joined French and Spanish forces in 1782; the town was renamed Real Villa San Carlos, in order to honour the Spanish King Charles III. The name was later simplified to Villacarlos, which had been its official name until 1985, when it was finally renamed to Es Castell.
The flag of Es Castell, as seen on 7 October 2017, is yellow with the municipal coat of arms shifted to the canton.
The arms are made of a French shield, "Azure, St. George in full armour, covered by a shirt argent with a cross gules, riding a horse argent facing sinister and killing a dragon brunâtre in base with a lance sable. In chief an inescutcheon or charged with four pallets gules and topped by a Royal coronet.
St. George makes the arms canting, recalling the former (Catalan) name of the town. The inescutcheon and coronet allude to the Kingdom of Aragón, to which Menorca historically belonged.
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 27 October 2017