Last modified: 2013-09-28 by ivan sache
Keywords: guijelo | salamanca |
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The municipality of Guijelo (5,971 inhabitants in 2009; 6,323 ha) is located in the southeast of the Salamanca Province, 50 km from Salamanca.
Guijuelo is the Spanish capital of ham and other pork meats (website), which
explains the growth of the population of the town (1,457 inhabitants
in 1900, 3,283 in 1950 and 5,082 in 2000). Guijuelo is among the
richest towns in Spain when considering the per capita income.
Located 1,010 m asl, the town enjoys cold and dry winters favoring the
maturation of ham (usually 30-36 months), for which the town has been
famous since the Middle Ages. The Guijuelo ham is one of the tasty
Iberian hams (Jamón Iberico) / mountain hams (Jamón serrano)
protected by a Designation of Origin. To be eligible, ham should be
produced from Iberic pigs (that is, pure-bred Iberic pigs or crossed
pigs with no more than 25% of Durco-Jersey bred), following strict
terms of reference in all the steps of pig breeding and ham
manufacturing.
The speciality of Guijuelo, the highly prized acorn Iberic ham (Jamón
Ibérico de Bellota), considered as the top Spanish ham, is produced
from pigs fed exclusively with mountain grass and acorns; to prevent
fraud, the pieces of ham are tagged with a red lead seal and a silver
mark showing the year of production; controls are very tough,
including a chromatographic analysis of ham. In 2005, 342,808 pieces
of certified ham were sold.
Ivan Sache, 15 February 2011
The flag of Guijuelo is prescribed by a Decree adopted on 31 January
2001 by the Municipal Council, signed on 22 February 2001 by the Mayor,
and published on 9 March 2001 in the official gazette of Castile and León, No. 49, p. 4,009 (text).
The flag is described
as follows:
Flag: Quadrangular panel, with proportions 1:1, divided per saltire in four parts, the upper and lower parts red, the hoist and fly parts blue. In the middle of the flag is placed the crowned municipal coat of arms of Guijuelo.
The coat of arms of Guijuelo (unofficial website) is prescribed by a Decree signed by the
Minister of Government on 28 March 1958 and published in the Spanish
official gazette on 14 April 1958.
The coat of arms is described
as follows:
Gules a ruined church or masoned sable, a bordure azure charged in chief with a cross trefoiled or enriched with gems, the rest of the bordure charged with three bees or fessed sable winged argent and four trefoiled branches of holly oak made in the middle of an acorn or cupuled argent and two leaves vert fimbriated argent, the bees in the flanks and base the branches in the four corners. The shield surmounted with a Duke's coronet or adorned with gems.
The first coat of arms of Guijuelo did not include the acorns, which
symbolize the ham industry; only bees were shown in the flanks and
base of the bordure, interlaced with iron tools used to slaughter
pigs, a hook, a knife and an awl. Since heraldry does not accept iron
tools, a new design was proposed by a Salamanca-based student in design.
The ruined church represents El Torreón (photo), the emblematic monument of
the town; the ruins are made of an arch and a part of a vault of a
church probably built in 1425 for Infante Catherine, the sister of
King John II and lord of Salvatierra. Guijuelo was originally a hamlet
(Hijuelo) of Salvatierra.
The today's coat of arms has updated, the Royal crown closed replacing the Duke's coronet.
Ivan Sache, 15 February 2011