Carbajosa de la Sagrada

Carbajosa de la Sagrada is a Spanish municipality and town in the province of Salamanca, in the autonomous community of Castilla y León. It is integrated within the region of Campo de Salamanca (Campo Charro). It belongs to the judicial district of Salamanca.

Its municipal area is made up of the towns of Carbajosa, Carpihuelo, El Montalvo, Pelagarcía and Navahonda, it occupies a total area of 13.71 km² and according to the demographic data collected in the municipal register prepared by the INE in 2017, it has with 6848 inhabitants.

The patron saint of this municipality is San Roque, whose festival is celebrated on August 16.

This municipality has a House of Culture located in the town hall square, we also find a Youth Center for young people over 14 years of age and a Cibercarba.

Toponymy

The name of Carbajosa de la Sagrada derives from the name Carvayosa la Sagrada, with which the town appears in a document from December 1248, preserved in the National Historical Archive, through which a sale was set at 200 maravedíes for an estate in the locality.

This is a relatively common place name in the provinces of Leon. The oaks have locally received the name of carbajos and carbizos. The patrimonial form in western Leon is carvayo < carvalio, with a generic value 'roble', whose Spanish translation leads to carbajo, never to carballo; In Zamora, only in areas close to Galician-Portuguese is the palatal form regularly recorded: carvalho, carvallo. The toponymic progeny of this base in Galicia is very abundant. In the Salamanca context, the species melojo (Quercus pyrenaica). Near La Mata de Armuña is Carbajosa de Armuña, alluding to a wooded formation of oaks, which probably clung to the small treasury and lagoon at the foot of which the town sits.

Symbols

Shield

The heraldic shield that represents the municipality was approved on July 28, 1998 with the following coat of arms:

«Shut cut. First three oaks, as well placed, two and one, siple, on gold, significant parlating weapons of the name Carbajosa. In the second quarter or lower, of silver, a canonial cap of saber, with their respective hanging cords of the hat, rematizing respectively with three tassels, also of the same, one and two, on silver. To the bell, Royal Crown closed»

Official State Gazette No. 211 of 3 September 1998

History

Church of Na Sra. de la Asunción.

Carbajosa was founded by King Alfonso IX of León at the beginning of the XIII century, placing the town in the fourth de Peña del Rey of the jurisdiction of Salamanca, within the Kingdom of León.

Already in the Contemporary Age, in the context of the Spanish War of Independence, the battlefield of Arapiles was very representative in the battles of 1812, Carbajosa de la Sagrada having great importance in the run-up to this battle, since that the allied army camped in Carbajosa and its surroundings, so we can find the name of the town in a multitude of books published in England and France showing in them its important role in the battle that took place on July 22, 1812.

Finally, with the creation of the current provinces in 1833, Carbajosa de la Sagrada was included in the province of Salamanca, within the Leonese Region.

Demographics

Carbajosa is the municipality of Salamanca in which the population increased the most between January 1, 2000 and January 1, 2011. According to the officially approved figures with reference to January 1, 2011 (RD 1782/ 2011 of December 16) the population of the town increased between these years by 271.15%, thus being much higher than that of other municipalities such as Villamayor de Armuña (in which this increase has been 127.13%), Villares de la Reina (103.86%), Cabrerizos (98.16%) and Santa Marta de Tormes (40.84%). In addition, Carbajosa de la Sagrada has experienced in the same period the largest increase in the population of the province of Salamanca in absolute terms, with an increase of 4,539 inhabitants. They are followed by Santa Marta de Tormes, with 4,307, Villamayor de Armuña, with 3,688, and Villares de la Reina, with 3,013.

Graphic of demographic evolution of Carbajosa de la Sagrada between 1900 and 2021

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

As a consequence of these data, Carbajosa de la Sagrada has gone from occupying the 15th position among the municipalities with the largest population in the province in the year 2000 to the 7th position and with a minimal difference in terms of the number of inhabitants with the two municipalities that occupy positions 5 and 6, Peñaranda de Bracamonte and Villamayor de Armuña. Although the greatest growth in the municipality corresponds to the time of the urban boom, it is noteworthy that since its virtual disappearance in 2008 the population of Carbajosa has continued to increase at significant rates (more than 1000 inhabitants) due to the dynamism of the rental housing market and the number of births per year due to the composition of a mostly young population.

In this sense, it is noteworthy that in the last year (from January 1, 2010 to January 1, 2011), Carbajosa de la Sagrada has also been the town in the province where the population has increased the most (226 inhabitants), compared to the loss of inhabitants in some of the largest municipalities in Salamanca (the capital, Béjar and Ciudad Rodrigo).

As of December 1, 2011, Carbajosa de la Sagrada has 6,509 registered inhabitants. Although, and by an exhaustive study that was carried out a few years ago, it is estimated that there are currently around 300 more inhabitants who are not registered. In this municipality, and unlike what happens in the majority, the number of registered residents is less than the real one. A fact that is considered logical since the new inhabitants do not usually worry about registering until they do not need to (either by using some municipal services or to benefit from the discounts set for registered people in carrying out different activities). The largest sectors of the population are made up of the inhabitants who are between 30 and 45 years old, which add up to about 40% of the total; and by children from 0 to 12 years old (25%). On the contrary, the population over 60 years does not reach 7%. Therefore, it can be concluded that it is a predominantly young population, in unusual terms in Spain and much less in Castilla y León.

Population centers

Consistorial house.

The municipality is divided into several population centers, which had the following population in 2017 according to the INE.

Administration and politics

Municipal elections

Transportation

The municipality is integrated within the metropolitan area of Salamanca, less than 10km from the center of the capital, so it is very well connected by road and has direct access to the Culture highway that connects Salamanca in the immediate vicinity with Ávila, to the Ruta de la Plata highway that connects Gijón with Seville and to the SA-20, which acts as a southern ring road for the city, all of which allow fast communications between Carbajosa and the rest of the country. The CL-510 road that starts in the municipality and reaches Piedrahita also stands out.

As far as public transport is concerned, after the closure of the Vía de la Plata railway route, there are no train services in the municipality or in the neighbourhoods, with the Salamanca station being the closest. It has a regular service of several bus lines that connect with the provincial capital and other towns in the metropolitan area and that have several frequencies per hour on weekdays that decrease on Saturdays and Sundays. On the other hand, Salamanca Airport is the closest, being about 18km away.