Last modified: 2009-11-21 by eugene ipavec
Keywords: spain | andalusia | malaga | arriate | coat of arms |
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Basic data:
Size: 8,30 Km²
Population: Approx. 3.000
Residents known as: Arriateños
Monuments: Church of San Juan de Letrán
Geographic location: In the lower area of the Ronda mountains, 120 kilometres from Malaga at 595 metres above sea level.
Tourist information: Town Hall, Cordones, 4. 29350.
Phone: 952 165 096 Fax: 952 165 141
On the Internet: www.arriate.com
The town of Arriate is situated in an enclave deep in the Ronda Mountains, surrounded by a natural landscape that is beautiful all the year round, with an average annual temperature of 15 degrees and 2,700 hours of sunshine. We can see that the area was settled a very long time ago, from the existence of caves excavated out of the rocks near the river Guadalcobacín. With a kind climate and ample water supplies, the area was evidently ideal for hunting and fishing, and the very features of the landscape that encouraged people to settle in the area thousands of years ago are still attracting visitors to this spot.
The origin of the name of the town is Arabic, deriving from Arriadh, which means gardens or orchards. But it does not appear officially as an independent villa - a status it still keeps – until August 8th, 1630, to be incorporated in 1635 once more as part of the administrative area of Ronda. On February 14th, 1661, the town finally achieved its total independence as a municipality.
The most important historical event in the story of Arriate was the Battle of Arriate in 1407, in which the governor of Cañete la Real defeated the Moors. The population of the town reached it highest point ever in the year 1959. The urban centre is situated on a flat area of the municipality, easily seen from the Ronda to Setenil road that crosses the town by a bridge over the Ventilla stream. The houses are typical of mountain pueblo houses all over the Ronda Mountains: low, with back patios, and dominated by the high tower of the town¹s church.
Blas Delgado, Oct 18 2005
The municipality of Arriate (832 inhabitants, 800 ha) is located in the Ronda Basin (valley of the Guadalcobacín), 125 km noth-west of Málaga. The municipal territory is completely enclaved in the much bigger municipality of Ronda (48,100 ha).
The first written mention of Arriate is found in Philip II's Census, dated 1570; however, the town is of Moorish origin, as Arriadh (in Arab, the orchards). In 1407, Hernando Arias defeated the Moors near the Guadalcobacín; the event was later recalled as the Arriate Ambush ("Celada de Ariate"). Part of Ronda until 1630, reincorporated to Ronda in 1635, Arriate was eventually granted the rank of "villa" by Philip IV on 14 February 1661.
Source: Municipal website
Ivan Sache, 08 Aug 2009
The local flag (sic) of Arriate was approved by the Municipal Council on 30 January 2004 and submitted to the General Directorate of Local Administration, which confirmed it by Decree on 19 March 2004, published in the Andalusian official gazette (Boletín Oficial de la Junta de Andalucía, BOJA) No. 64 on 1 April 2004.
The relevant parts of the Decree are the following:
Rectangular panel, in proportions 2/3, horizontally divided in three equal stripes, the upper yellow, the central red and the lower green. Overall in the center the municipal coat of arms in its colours.
The flag should be registered on the Andalusian Register of Local Entities, with its official written description and graphics (as originally submitted, but unfortunately not appended to the Decree).
Source: BOJA No. 64, p. 8,034-8,035, 01 Apr 2004
Ivan Sache, 08 Aug 2009
The coat of arms of Arriate is presented on the municipal website, as designed by Vicente de Cadenas y Vincent (1915-2005, Chronicler King of Arms of the Kingdom of Spain), original kept at the Sigillography Section of the National Historic Museum of Madrid, Series Prints of Municipal Coat of Arms. The arms, used historically on the town seal, which was subsequently destroyed and replaced by a seal with the Royal Spanish arms, can be considered as canting. Originally, "Arriadh" means "a narrow strip of land grown with flowers, build again a wall or a hill," that is a kind of orchard. In the past, Arriate lived from the cultivation of pear trees, apple trees, plum trees etc., in orchards watered by the Guadalcobacín.
The coat of arms is yellow with a red (orange?) garden pot in which stands a vertical spear flanked by two green branches. The shied is surmounted by a Royal Spanish crown closed.
Source: Municipal website
The Decree does not clearly mention the size and location of the coat of arms, preventing the drawing of the flag until a good model is found. Representations of the flag which I consider as "bad models" are, moreover, mutually exclusive: one image has the coat of arms inside the central stripe, while on the second image it slightly stretches over the two outer stripes. The second pattern matches the "common" practice in Andalusia, but this is not enough to decide it is the real design. There are several examples of graphical representations of the flag, even on municipal websites, that do not match the real flag.
The website http://www.webmalaga.com was used as the source for most municipal flags in the Province of Málaga shown on the FOTW website. The images should be marked "unconfirmed, no original seen."
Ivan Sache, 08 and 09 Aug 2009