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Arenas de San Pedro
Flag Coat of arms
Nickname:  "Andalusia of Ávila"
Motto(s):  «Siempre incendiada y siempre fiel» "Always burned and always faithful"

Arenas de San Pedro is a town and municipality of Spain, in the south of the province of Ávila, autonomous community of Castile and Leon. It's the capital of the region (comarca) of Arenas de San Pedro, also known as comarca del Valle del Tiétar, belonging in the past to the ancient Lands of Talavera. The altitude of the municipality reaches 2343 m at the peak of La Mira, in the Sierra de Gredos. The municipality has a population of 6841 inhabitants (INE 2012), being the third most populated municipality in the province, after Ávila and Arévalo. The villages of Ramacastañas, La Parra and Hontanares belong to the municipality in the form of districts. Much of the municipality belongs to the protected area of the Regional Park of Sierra de Gredos, being the largest city in park's environment. The festivities of the town are celebrated in honor of the Virgen del Pilar (September 8) and San Pedro de Alcántara (October 19).

The origins of the town date back to the Middle Ages, when a group of settlers founded a previous core population in the present location. Arenas de San Pedro received the title of town (villa) in 1393, under the reign of Henry III of Castile. During the rest of the Middle Ages and the Modern Age was head of a lordship that grouped Arenas de San Pedro and the villages of El Arenal, Guisando, Hontanares, El Hornillo, La Parra, Poyales del Hoyo and Ramacastañas. In the eighteenth century the villa witnessed the family the presence of Infante Luis Antonio de Borbón y Farnese and his little court of artists (Francisco de Goya, Luigi Boccherini and Ventura Rodríguez among others) who accompanied him for a while in the neoclassical palace that infant had built in the town.

Toponym and symbols

The origin of the name "Arenas" dates back to the time of town's foundation, the Middle Ages. Initially the town was called Arenas de las Ferrerías de Ávila, due to the proximity to the old iron mine of La Tablada, who gave his name in time to the region of the Las Ferrerías de Ávila. The patronage of Peter of Alcantara in the nomenclature was an addition of the seventeenth century, following the canonization of the saint, who lived in the town. There are some similar place names in the area: the Arenal River, which runs through the town, and the municipality of El Arenal.

Throughout history the town has been pillaged on numerous occasions —during the Peninsular War and the First Carlist War—. That is the reason why municipality's shield incorporates the burning castle and the slogan "Siempre incendiada y siempre fiel" ("Always burned and always faithful").

According to the BOE, the descriptions of the shield and the flag are, respectively:

Spanish coat of way. On silver field, castle in color, donjonado with two donjones, the highest duty, battlements, Mazon saber, rinse gules, gules and burning in gold and terrazado in vert. Embroidery logo in gold with saber (cross) always burning and always faithful, the timbre . Royal Crown of Spain.

— Government of Spain, BOE, 1984, number 282

Square flag 1x1 ratio, crimson, and in its center the municipal coat.

— Government of Spain, BOE, 1984, number 282

Geography

Location

The town of Arenas de San Pedro is located in the south of the province of Ávila, 86 km from the provincial capital, in the autonomous community of Castile and Leon. The municipality is bordered on the south by the province of Toledo (Castile-La Mancha) and is 47 km from Talavera de la Reina. The coordinates of the town are 40 ° 12'31 "N 5 ° 5'28" W. The highest point of the town, which is located trig 2343 m, is the peak of La Mira, which forms the municipal boundary between Arenas de San Pedro, Guisando, El Hornillo and Hoyos del Espino. Within the municipal area are the villages of Hontanares, La Parra and Ramacastañas.

Geology

The Central System, to which the Sierra de Gredos belongs, is composed of plutonic rocks and it was formed as it is now in the Alpine folding. Arenas de San Pedro is located in an area of metamorphism of sedimentary materials that date back to the lower Cambrian (quartzites, micacites and schists) and granitical outcrops from Hercynian. There are some limestone soils in the southern part of the municipality. Tertiary sedimentary materials are concentrated in the valley of Tiétar, in form of compacted arkose), while the Quaternary deposits (mainly periglacial and torrential-type) appear mostly in the mountains and Tiétar's terraces. Due to the orientation of Gredos' southern slope and its steepness glacial phenomena are not geologically significant, although the periglacial. The relief of the southern slope has characteristics of strong torrential-type erosion influenced by the high rainfall.

References

Cited sources

• Serrano Cabo, José (1989). Historia y geografía de Arenas de San Pedro y las villas y pueblos de su partido (in Spanish). Salamanca: Caja Salamanca. ISBN 84-87132-06-5. {{cite book}}: templatestyles stripmarker in |last1= at position 1 (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
• Troitiño Vinuesa, Miguel (1995). Gredos: territorio, sociedad y cultura (in Spanish). Ávila: Diputación Provincial de Ávila, Institución Gran Duque de Alba. ISBN 9788486930158. {{cite book}}: templatestyles stripmarker in |last1= at position 1 (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)