Bogajo

Bogajo is a Spanish municipality and town in the province of Salamanca, in the autonomous community of Castilla y León. It is integrated within the Vitigudino region and the sub-region of El Abadengo. It belongs to the judicial district of Vitigudino.

Its municipal area is made up of a single population center, it occupies a total area of 32.91 km² and according to the demographic data collected in the municipal register prepared by the INE in 2017, it has a population of 141 inhabitants.

Etymology

The name of Bogajo comes from the Leonese word "bogayu" which would come to refer to an excrescence of the oaks in the area and is that during the Middle Ages in the Leon area the use of names of trees or plants to name the towns that were founded, such as those of Cerezal de Peñahorcada, Saucelle, El Manzano, Moral de Sayago, Carbajales de Alba, etc.

Symbols

Shield

The heraldic shield that represents the municipality was approved on January 25, 1990 with the following coat of arms:

«Scudo: Part and half cut. Right Quartet: Left as seen, in a field of gold a pearl on an eminence, devoid of fruit and without roots, surmounted by the Virgin offering the Child a pear. Upper left corner: Right as you look, in the field of gules, cross of siple, assorted by the meeting of four pears and a half moon. Lower left quarter: Right as you look, a sulfur field, a Napoleonic dragon helmet in its color. It is sown with the Spanish Royal Crown»

Official Gazette of Castilla y León No. 193 of 8 October 1991

Flag

The city council has not yet adopted a flag for the municipality.

Window with labra in stone.

History

Detail of the Salmantine West on a map of the centuryXVIIIin which you can observe Bogajo (written as Bogaxo).

The foundation of Bogajo responds to the repopulation process carried out by the kings of Leon in the 12th century. The first time that reference is made to Bogajo in a written document is in the Bull of erection of the Diocese of Ciudad Rodrigo de Alejandro III, carried out in 1175. According to this, the Monasterium of Peraria must have been located in the municipality, in an area known as "the one with the turrets". After the transfer of a series of towns located in the Ciudad Rodrigo area to the Order of the Temple by King Ferdinand II of León in the XII, Bogajo became a member of that order.

The town is also mentioned in the Ensenada Cadastre, through which we know aspects of the life of the place in 1752, such as the neighborhood, wealth, property and assets of each family, as well as the landowners, foreigners, ancestors and common properties; or ways, chores and existing trades: farmers, servants, millers, cowboys and shepherd. During the War of Independence, French troops looted the town and executed several residents in retaliation for a Spanish attack on a camp of French troops. With the territorial division of Spain in 1833, in which the current provinces are created, Bogajo It is framed within the Leonese Region, formed by the provinces of León, Zamora and Salamanca, of a merely classificatory nature, without administrative operation, which roughly would come to collect the old demarcation of the Kingdom of León (without Galicia, Asturias or Extremadura)., becoming part of the Vitigudino judicial district in 1844. In 1887 the La Fuente de San Esteban-Barca de Alba Line was opened, which would link Salamanca with Porto, thanks to which Bogajo began to have rail services for almost a century until its closure in 1985.

Geography

Bogajo is located in the northwest of Salamanca. It is 84 km from Salamanca capital.

It is located in the region of El Abadengo. It belongs to the associations of Vitigudino and Yeltes and to the judicial district of Vitigudino.

Northwest: Cerralbo	North: Yeltes Yecla	Northeast: Yeltes Yecla
West: Olmedo de Camaces		This: Villavieja de Yeltes
Southwest: Fuenteliante	South: Fuenteliante	Sureste: Villavieja de Yeltes

Demographics

Graphic of demographic evolution of Bogajo between 1900 and 2021

Source: Spanish National Statistical Institute - Graphical development by Wikipedia.

Bogajo is a small town of just over 200 inhabitants and about 33 square kilometers in size located near Vitigudino. It belongs to the region of El Abadengo, which is on the border with Portugal. It is 84 km west of the capital of the province, located at a crossroads at 711 meters above sea level and with coordinates at 40º 55' North latitude and 6º 32' West longitude, on the banks of the Huebra River. The Portuguese border is about 30 to 40 km to the west.

Monuments and places of interest

Facade of the parish church of Our Lady of the Peral.

The municipality has some old buildings, such as religious ones, among which the Hermitage of Santo Cristo stands out, located on the outskirts in a southerly direction; and the parish church, located at the eastern end, and which is dedicated to Nuestra Señora del Peral (patron saint of the town).

The patron saint is San Juan Bautista, and the festivities are held in his honor on June 24. The Plaza stands out, with a town hall with a stonework façade and a poplar. In addition, on the floor of the same there is a green cement, in which some stones have been embedded forming a mosaic in the shape of the charro button, the main symbol of Salamanca.

Economy

Currently, most of its inhabitants are dedicated to agriculture and livestock, but in the town there are also some other businesses, such as several masons, a cheese shop, a metal carpentry, a bar and a supermarket. Approximately a dozen children attend the school.

Administration and politics

Municipal elections

The mayor of Bogajo does not report information about his salary (2017).

Autonomous elections