Municipality of Marchal (Granada Province, Andalusia, Spain)

Last modified: 2009-11-21 by eugene ipavec
Keywords: marchal | stripes: horizontal (unequal) | cave house | cárcavas | grapes | pomegranate | olive tree | spire | crown: royal (closed) |
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image by Ivan Sache and Wikipedia User: Vgvilch, 06 Jul 2009

• Introduction
• Description

See also:

• Granada Province (Andalusia, Spain)
• Andalusia (Spain)
• Spain

The municipality of Marchal (413 inhabitants in 2008; 784 ha) is located 60 km east of Granada.

The "cárcavas" of Marchal have been proclaimed a Natural Monument by the Andalusian Government. Resulting from action of the erosion of argilous rocks, these bare structures have a great diversity of shapes and colours. Unsuited for agriculture (Bad Lands), they proved very useful to dig caves used as houses by the villagers since Moorish times. It seems that some Moriscos hid in these caves and thus avoided being expelled from Spain after the Alpujarra Revolt.

Source: Municipal website

Ivan Sache, 06 Jul 2009

The flag and arms of Marchal were approved by the Municipal Council on 26 September 2007 and submitted on 1 October 2007 to the General Directorate of Local Administration, which confirmed them by Decree on 10 October 2007, published in the Andalusian official gazette (Boletín Oficial de la Junta de Andalucía, BOJA) No. 209 on 23 October 2007.

The relevant parts of the Decree are the following:

Coat of arms: Spanish shield quartered per cross. Quarterly per cross. 1. Azure, the upper part and spire of a palace tower proper. 2. Or an olive tree vert with the trunk proper fructed sable on a terrasse proper. 3. Gules a bunch of grapes vert fimbriated or. 4. Azure, "cárcavas" proper a cave argent port and windows sable. Grafted in base or a pomegranate proper slipped and leaved vert faceted gules. The shield surmounted with a Royal Spanish crown closed.

Flag: Rectangular flag in proportions 3 in length on 2 in hoist, horizontally divided in three equal stripes: the upper blue, the central green and the lower clay. In the middle of the flag, the municipal coat of arms.

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 apprended to the Decree).

Source: BOJA No. 209, pp. 43-44, 23 Oct 2007

Ivan Sache, 06 Jul 2009