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Los Palacios y Villafranca (Municipality, Andalusia, Spain)

Flag of Los Palacios y Villafranca - Images by Klaus-Michael Schneider, 27 November 2009

Presentation of Los Palacios y Villafranca
Symbols of Los Palacios y Villafranca

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Presentation of Los Palacios y Villafranca

The municipality of Los Palacios y Villafranca (36,350 inhabitants in 2008; 10,947 ha; municipal website), is located 25 km south of Seville.

The municipality was established in 1836 as the merger of the two villages of Los Palacios and Villafranca de la Marisma.
Los Palacios (The Manors) emerged in the 9th century around the small Moorish fortress of Al-Mudeyne, one of the watch posts built by Abderraman II to secure the roads to the coast of Andalusia. After the reconquest, the place was renamed La Atalayuela (The Watch Post); King Peter I built a manor near the post, the two buildings being known as Los Palacios de la Atalyuela, eventually shortened to Los Palacios.
Villafranca emerged as a small farmers and shepherds' village, known in the Moorish period as Anevel. After the reconquest, the village was renamed Las Chozas (The Huts) , aka La Marisma (The Marsh), and resettled by colonists and discharged soldiers from Castile and León, who lived from agriculture and horse breeding. In 1501, the Town Council of Seville granted privileges to the colonists, founding the new settlement of Villafranca de la Marisma.

Ivan Sache, 4 July 2009

Symbols of Los Palacios y Villafranca

The flag and arms of Los Palacios y Villafranca, submitted on 20 April 2006 by the Municipal Council to the Directorate General of the Local Administration, are prescribed by a Decree adopted on 11 December 2008 by the Directorate General of the Local Administration and published on 29 December 2008 in the official gazette of Andalusia, No. 257, pp. 48-49 (text).
The symbols are described as follows:

Flag: Rectangular, horizontally divided in three equal stripes, red on top, blue in the middle and yellow on bottom with the municipal coat of arms in the middle of the flag.
Coat of arms: Tierced per fess fimbriated argent, 1. Gules a horned animal [a bull], 2. Azure the mayors of Villafranca de la Marisma and Los Palacios shaking hands surrounded by an olive tree and a grapevine vert, 3. Or the writing "LA UNIÓN". A bordure argent inscribed with "LOS PALACIOS Y VILLAFRANCA" in letters sable. The shield surmounted by a Royal crown open.

The flag hoisted on the Town Hall (photo) has no coat of arms. The silk flag used indoors bears the coat of arms in its centre.

Coat of arms of Los Palacios y Villafranca - Image by Klaus-Michael Schneider, 27 November 2009

The bull alludes to the boom of cattle-breeding in the marsh. The two mayors and the motto "Union" recalls the merging of the two villages to form the today's municipality.
[Símbolos de las Entidades Locales de Andalucía. Sevilla (PDF file)]

Ivan Sache & Klaus-Michael Schneider, 27 November 2009