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Municipality of Biota (Saragossa Province, Aragon, Spain)

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image by Ivan Sache, 05 Sep 2006

Description

See also:

Saragossa / Zaragoza Province (Aragon, Spain)
Aragon (Aragón, Spain)
Spain

Description

The Aragonese municipality of Biota (1,261 biotanos in 1998; 118.4 sq.km; 485 m a.s.l.) is located 15 from Ejea de los Caballeros, in the direction of Sádaba. It is part of the Comarca de Las Cinco Villas, located in north-western Aragon, on the border with Navarra. Eight kilometers further is the village of Malpica de Arba (40 inhabitants), incorporated into the municipality of Biota in 1971. The main activity of Biota is agriculture, traditionnaly grain, but also sunflower, peppers and tomatoes. One third of the arable land is irrigated by the water from the canal of las Bardenas. In 1091, King of Aragon Sancho Ramírez granted the domain of Biota to Fortún Aznárez. The domain was later transferred to the Urrea and, around 1610, to the Counts of Aranda, Viscounts of Biota. The domain and the title were transferred to D. Matías Landáburu in 1771. The Esteruelas family, the last private owner of the domain, sold its estate to the municipality in 1995.[1]

The President of the Diputación Provincial de Zaragoza (DPZ), Javier Lambán, and the Mayor of Biota, Victor Orduna, unveiled the symbols of Biota during the main festival of the town (25-30 August 2006). The flag and arms of Biota were designed by the section of emblematics "Barón de Valdeolivos" of the Institución Fernando el Católico (IFC) of the DPZ [2]. The shield is square with a circular base, bendy of six pieces azur and argent, overall in the center an escutcheon vert a crenellated tower or opened gules and masoned sable. The shield is surmonted by a viscount's crown made of a frame or inlaid with jewels - rubies, emeralds and pearls, surmonted by four thicker pearls (only three are visible). The flag of Biota is in proportion 2:3, white with two blue transversal stripes and in the middle a crenellated yellow tower masoned in black and with red windows. (my translation of the Spanish description of the arms and flags in [2]). The former (unofficial?) arms of Biota were similar to the new ones, but without the escutcheon with the tower [1,3]. This were the arms of the Urrea family. The tower must recall the one built by King Sanche Ramírez in 1063-1094 [3].

The attached image was made after the diaporama shown on [2]. The first slide shows the hoisting ceremony of the flag, the second one a graphic representation of the flag and the third one a graphic representation of the coat of arms. The shade of blue is clearer on the real flag than on its graphic representation.

Sources:

www.educa.aragob.es
Ejea Noticias, 24 August 2006
http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Museum/7000/

Ivan Sache, 05 Sep 2006