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Municipality of Jayena (Granada Province, Andalusia, Spain)

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image by Wikipedia Users Nethunter and SanchoPanzaXXI, 23 Jul 2009

Introduction
Description

See also:

Introduction

The municipality of Jayena (1,213 inhabitants in 2008; 8,000 ha) is located 50 km south of Granada.

Known as Chayyana in the Moorish period, Jayena was reconquerred by the Catholic Kings in 1492; the village was subsequently transferred to Infante Pedro de Granada, the ancestor of the Marquesses of Campotéjar. Still a part of Alhama in the 18th century, Jayena was granted municipal independence in the late 18th - early 19 th century. Damaged by an earthquake that suppressed 60% of the houses and claimed 15 lives in 1884, the village was completely rebuilt with funds offerred from all over Spain upon King Alfonso XII's call. Jayena is famous for its goat cheese, produced in the Rota estate and sold under the "Cueva de la Magaha" brand.

Source: Granada Tourism website

Ivan Sache, 23 Jul 2009

Is there any Galician connection, or is the basic design a coincidence?

James Dignan, 24 Jul 2009

Not I am aware of, but...

My reports of the Andalusian municipal flags are primarly based on the Decrees, which usually do not describe the symbolism of the flag. In some cases I have been able to increase them with information available on the municipal website or other sources. The ultimate primary source should be the memoir required for official registration, which is very rarely available on the Internet.

Jayena, like many other places in the region, was resettled by Christian colonists after the expelling of the Moriscos in the 16th century. A Galician recolonization cannot be excluded, but I believe that the "Galician" design of the flag of Jayena is a mere coincidence.

Ivan Sache, 24 Jul 2009

Description

The flag and arms of Jayena were approved by the Municipal Council on 31 March 2005 and submitted on 5 April 2005 to the General Directorate of Local Administration, which confirmed them by Decree on 27 April 2005, published in the Andalusian official gazette (Boletín Oficial de la Junta de Andalucía, BOJA) No. 91 on 12 May 2005.

The relevant parts of the Decree are the following:

Coat of arms: Azure five pomegranates or faceted gules and leaved [or] placed per saltire; a border argent five escutcheons argent fimbriated sable a bend sinister of the same. The shield surmounted with a Marquis' coronet [lengthy description of the coronet omitted].

Flag: Rectangular panel in proportions 2/3, white with a blue diagonal stripe from the hoist upper angle to the fly lower angle, and with the municipal coat of arms in the center over the blue stripe.

The symbols should be registered on the Andalusian Register of Local Entities, with their official written description and graphics (as originally submitted, but unfortunately not appended to the Decree).

Source: BOJA No. 91, p. 30, 12 May 2005

The flag and arms of Jayena were designed by Andrés García Maldonado, an historian and chronicler from the neighbouring town of Alhama, who presented them to the public on 23 July 2004 in the Sociocultural Center of Jayena. García also designed proposals for the symbols of Alhama, Arenas del Rey, Santa Cruz del Comercio and Zafarraya. In his "Anales de Granada" (1603-1644), Francisco Henríquez de Jorquera wrote that Jayena "has for arms those of its lords, the Marquesses of Campotéjar, a crowned shield with five pomegranates in the field." In February 1994, the Director of the Public School "Virgen del Rosario" quoted the "“Diccionario Heráldido y Nobiliario de los Reinos de España” (Heraldry and Nobility Dictionary of the Kingdoms of Sapin), which says that Prince Cidi Haya, converted to the Christian religion under the name of Pedro de Granada, the first lord of Campotéjar and knight of the Order of Santiago, bore "Azure five pomegranates or faceted gules and leaved [or] placed per saltire; a border argent five escutcheons argent fimbriated sable a bend sinister of the same. This arms can be seen on the house owned by the descendants of Pedro, locally known as the "big house." While reproduced in different places of the village, the coat of arms was not recognized by the Government of Andalusia, who required either to maintain the Marquis' coronet or to replace it with the Royal crown, as it was done on all coats of arms adopted after 1980. On the flag, blue represents solidarity and white represents purity.

Source: Alhama Comunicación website

Ivan Sache, 23 Jul 2009