Sorihuela

Sorihuela 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 judicial district of Béjar and to the Ruta de la Plata Commonwealth.

Its municipal area is made up of a single population center, it occupies a total area of 20.50 km² and according to the demographic data collected in the municipal register prepared by the INE in 2017, it has a population of 273 inhabitants.

History

The entire area of the Sierra de Béjar, to the east of the old Ruta de la Plata was assigned to the kingdom of Castilla in the division carried out by Alfonso VII of León in the year 1157, and may have been repopulated by Castilians, since there is a theory that its name, Sori-huela, could be interpreted as "Soria-pequeña", therefore, following this thesis, the place name would be directly related to the place of origin of the settlers who founded the town in the second half of the XII century. However, in Andalusia we find the same place name, in the town of Sorihuela del Guadalimar. Shortly after there is already reference to deeds carried out by people from Sorihuela together with Béjar, Candelario and Sanchotello in the battle of Las Navas de Tolosa as part of the retinues that the Bishop of Plasencia don Domingo formed to fight together with the Castilian monarch Alfonso VIII.

Until 1211 Sorihuela was part of the Community of Villa y Tierra de Ávila. That year, Alfonso VIII of Castilla decided to segregate this part of the Avila territory, in which Sorihuela was located, to form a new community of town and land: that of Béjar.

As part of the Bejarana community, after the loss of the vote in Cortes de Béjar and its becoming dependent on Salamanca in that regard from 1425, a fact favored by the passage of Béjar and its territory into the hands of the Zúñiga in 1396, Sorihuela became part of the Kingdom of León, in which it will remain in the territorial divisions of Floridablanca in 1785 and finally in that of 1833 in which the current provinces are created, Sorihuela being integrated into it in the province of Salamanca, within the Leonese Region.

Demographics

Sorihuela demographic evolution figure between 1900 and 2022

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

According to the National Institute of Statistics, Sorihuela had, as of December 31, 2018, a total population of 273 inhabitants, of whom 142 were men and 131 women. Regarding the year 2000, the census reflects 366 inhabitants, of which 178 were men and 188 women. Therefore, the loss of population in the municipality for the period 2000-2018 has been 93 inhabitants, a 25% decrease.

Symbols

Shield

Heraldic representation of the approved blazon

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

« Match Shield: 1 of Gules, a pot and a silver pointer passed on aspa; 2 of azur, a golden blossoming cross. It is sown with the Spanish royal crown. The provision of the tools in aspa was a recommendation of the Royal Academy of History, however the city council has them on a stick"

Administration and politics

Municipal elections

Transportation

The municipality is very well connected by road, through which runs 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 two exits in the town allowing faster communications with the municipality. The SA-102 highway that arises at the junction with the national highway and in a northeasterly direction communicates with Santibáñez de Béjar and Puente del Congosto also stands out.

As far as public transport is concerned, after the closure of the Vía de la Plata railway route, which passed through the municipality of Béjar and had a station there, there are no train services in the municipality or in the neighbors, nor regular line with bus service, the closest station being Béjar. On the other hand, Salamanca airport is the closest, being about 64km away.