Ledrada

Ledrada is a Spanish municipality and town in the province of Salamanca, in the autonomous community of Castilla y León. It is integrated into the Sierra de Béjar region. It belongs to the Béjar judicial district and to the Embalse de Béjar and Ruta de la Plata communities.

Its municipal area is made up of a single population center, it occupies a total area of 16.95 km² and according to the demographic data collected in the municipal register prepared by the INE in 2017, it has a population of 489 inhabitants.

Etymology

The name of the place is part of an abundant family of place names that allude to elements of the landscape covered with ivy, that is, hedrados. Compare with the frequent Adrados (trees or buildings covered with ivy), or with La Adrada, repeated place name, which in some cases appears attested as Peña Hedrada. In Zamora there is a Las Hedradas, a town bordering on Orense. Ledrada is documented as El Hedrada in 1470. The evolution from a Latin *ILLA HĔDĔRĀTA > Ledrada is explained by a phenomenon of medieval syntactic phonetics, the frequent sinalefa, which allows in this case to reduce the hiatus a-e.

Symbols

Heraldic representation of the approved blazon.

Shield

The heraldic shield that represents the municipality was approved with the following coat of arms:

«Shut Party: First of gold with two stone chairs, of its colour, placed one on another, and engulfed both a row of its color. Second, silver with a sable band and a gold chain set in orla and bronchant. To the bell the Spanish Royal Crown»

Flag

The municipal flag was approved with the following textual description:

«Town with the shield enamels covering each one half of the fabric, considering carrying the siple next to the asta, to remain on the shore the silver, both divided by a perpendicular, increasing notoriously the size of the Shield that appears in its center»

Geography

From the municipality you can see the Sierra de Francia and the famous little brothers near Fresnedoso, La Nava and Sorihuela.

Demographics

Graphic of demographic evolution of Ledrada between 1900 and 2022

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

According to the National Statistics Institute, as of December 31, 2019, Ledrada had a total population of 481 inhabitants, of whom 241 were men and 240 women. Regarding the year 2000, the census reflects 606 inhabitants, of which 308 were men and 298 women. Therefore, the loss of population in the municipality for the period 2000-2019 has been 125 inhabitants, a 20% decrease.

History

City Council

Hermitage of Our Lady of the Yedra

Watch tower

For several centuries the territory in which Ledrada is currently located remained practically uninhabited, being a no man's land. Alfonso I of Asturias had emptied the entire Duero basin of its population around the year 750, killing all the Moors and taking all the Christians to his kingdom. With this, what he was trying to achieve is that the powerful Muslim armies that wanted to reach his domains would not have any type of logistical support once they had crossed the Central System.

The disappearance of a single Muslim power in 1030 and the formation of a multitude of Taifa kingdoms led to the occupation and subsequent Christian repopulation of the area between the Duero River and the Central System by people from the north of the peninsula. In the case of Ledrada and its geographical environment, it was done around the end of the 12th century and the beginning of the 13th. Its settlers came mostly from Castilla, especially Ávila and Burgos.^{[citation required]}

Already in 1157, on the death of King Alfonso VII of León, he had divided his kingdom between his two sons, giving Fernando II León and Sancho IV Castilla, leaving the Via or Ruta de la Plata as the border between both kingdoms. And Ledrada, incorporated into Castilla within the district of Ávila, will maintain its condition as a crossroads and border together with the nearby towns of Sanchotello, San Medel, La Puebla, Peromingo, etc. forming part of the Community of Villa y Tierra de Béjar since its creation in 1209.

Its religious importance must have been great, since the beneficiary of Ledrada appears in the year 1234 as one of the founders of the “Cabildo de Clérigos del cuarto de arriba de la tierra de Bexar”. And for many years, Valdelcasa and Peromingo were annexed to the church of Ledrada.

At the end of the XIV century, year 1396, Béjar and its alfoz belong to Diego López de Stúñiga, that ends up leading to the passage of the territory of Bejarano to the Kingdom of León, when it became dependent on the vote in Cortes de Salamanca, a fact that materialized in the following Cortes, those of 1425. This incorporation will be notified to the residents by means of a weir. From that date, Ledrada and the rest of the Land of Béjar remained linked to the Stúñiga family, first Lords and, later, Dukes of Béjar, until the disappearance of the feudal regime in 1833.

Precisely, in the division of 1833 in which the current provinces were created, Ledrada was integrated into the province of Salamanca, within the Leonese Region.

Economy

Its main economic activity is the pork industry. Its chorizos and hams are famous (some of them with the Denomination of Origin of Guijuelo).

Culture

Parties

San Antonio (June 13), San Roque (August 16), the Fairs (August 31), and the Virgin's wedding (first Sunday in October). Tuning "el ham", which is usually held in August, is also very popular.

Gastronomy

Scrambled potatoes, pork products, roscón...

Monuments and places of interest

Catholic parish church dedicated to San Miguel Arcángel, in the Archdiocese of Mérida-Badajoz, Diocese of Plasencia, Archpriestship of Fuentes de Béjar. Romanesque-style building, which stands out together with the hermitage of the Virgen de la Yedra and the tower

Administration and politics

Municipal elections

Transportation

The municipality is well connected by road, being crossed in a north-south direction by the DSA-250 highway that arises in La Cabeza de Béjar and allows communication with Fuentes de Béjar, reaching Navalmoral de Béjar in the south. In addition, in the neighboring terms of Fuentes and Nava de Béjar run both the national N-630 that connects Gijón with Seville and the Ruta de la Plata highway that has the same route as the previous one and has exits in both locations, allowing more communications fast with the municipality.

As far as public transport is concerned, after the closure of the Vía de la Plata railway route, which passed through both the municipalities of Guijuelo and Béjar and had stations there, there are no train services in the municipality or in the neighbours, the nearest station being Salamanca. There is also no regular bus service, the closest station being Guijuelo. On the other hand, Salamanca airport is the closest, being about 68km away.

Illustrious Ledradanses

• Vicente Cervantes (1755-1829), doctor and botanist.