The Bramble of Pumareda

La Zarza de Pumareda is a Spanish municipality and town in the province of Salamanca, in the autonomous community of Castilla y León. It is integrated into the Vitigudino region and the sub-region of La Ramajería. 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 28.30 km² and according to the demographic data collected in the municipal register prepared by the INE in 2017, it has a population of 152 inhabitants. Part of its territory is located within the Arribes del Duero Natural Park, a protected natural space of great environmental and tourist value.

Etymology

Formerly known as "Sarça de Conosapo", the place name of the town comes from the vegetable noun "zarza" and it is that during the Middle Ages in the area of Leon it was quite common to use the names of trees or plants to name the towns that were founded, such as Cerezal de Peñahorcada, Saucelle, El Manzano, Moral de Sayago, Carbajales de Alba, La Alameda, etc.

The nickname "Pumareda" could be due to the distribution in the 15th century of the land of La Zarza between García de Ledesma and Licenciado Pumareda, bequeathing this character to the locality the surname of "Pumareda", which would indicate an Asturian or Leonese origin of said person, since "pumareda" is a word in Leonese that translates as field of apple trees.

Symbols

Shield

The heraldic shield that represents the municipality was approved on September 24, 2007 with the following coat of arms:

«Shield cut. First, from Azur a three-eyed bridge in sable-painted gold. Second, silver with a leafed bush and fruity to the natural. Stunning of the Spanish Royal Crown»

Official Gazette of Castile and Leon No. 202 of 17 October 2007

Flag

The municipal flag was also approved on September 24, 2007 with the following textual description:

«Square flag of proportions 1/1 Departure to a room and nestled in purple, first and second bench. Figuring on the centered blue strip and overlaying a centered and overlapping silver tower, a natural bush»

Official Gazette of Castile and Leon No. 202 of 17 October 2007

Geography

Dance of the thread.

La Zarza de Pumareda is located in the northwest of Salamanca. It is 97 km from Salamanca capital.

It is integrated into the region of La Ramajería. It belongs to the Centro Duero Mancomunidad and to the judicial district of Vitigudino.

Its municipal area is located within the Arribes del Duero Natural Park, a protected natural area of great tourist attraction.

Northwest: Salt of Aldeadávila	North: Aldeadávila de la Ribera	Northeast: Masueco
West: Mieza		This: Sources of Masueco
Southwest: Cerezal de Peñahorcada	South: El Milano	Sureste: Head of the Horse

Demographics

Graphic of demographic evolution of La Zarza de Pumareda between 1900 and 2022

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

According to the National Statistics Institute, as of January 1, 2021, La Zarza had a total population of 138 inhabitants, of whom 84 were men and 54 women. Regarding the year 2000, the census reflected 198 inhabitants, of which 110 were men and 88 women. Therefore, the loss of population in the municipality for the period 2000-2021 has been 60 inhabitants, a 30% decrease.

History

The Reconquest of the area, until then under Muslim rule, was carried out by the Kingdom of León, which arose from the Kingdom of Asturias of Don Pelayo and from which the County of Castilla, the Kingdom of Castilla, would later be subdivided and/or broken off. of Galicia and the Kingdom of Portugal. The repopulation of the conquered lands carried out by the kings of León proposed a layout very different from the current one, basing its development on the Galician repopulation model, which consisted of having many small villages very close to each other, a scheme that at the long made many of them financially unsustainable. In documents from 1265, "Simirera", "Aveto" or "Robredo de las Casas" (later "Robredo de Santo Domingo") are registered. In the XIV and small-caps">XV centuries, there were those of «Quadrilleros» with their own parish » (in Corporario), that of «Alcornocal» (near the Teso Alcornoque de Aldeadávila) and that of «La Revilla de Aldeadávila», which were abandoned around the XVII centuries. and XVIII. Finally, those of «La Verde» (or «Santa Marina») and that of «Robredo de Santo Domingo» lasted until the XIX century. Thanks to the efforts of residents of Aldeadávila de la Ribera and La Zarza, they are beginning to rescue medieval remains of tombs and hermitages.

The foundation of La Zarza dates back to the Middle Ages, obeying the repopulations carried out by the kings of Leon and originally called "Zarza Conosapo". During that time it was framed in the Roda de Mieza, within the council of Ledesma and between the 16th century and 18th century it became an annex of Aldeadávila de La Ribera, a town from which it later broke off again to depend, until the abolition of the manors in the XIX century, of the Count of Ledesma.

With the territorial division of Spain in 1833, in which the current provinces are created, La Zarza 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 or Asturias).

Monuments and places of interest

• Church of San Lorenzo.
• Bridge Robledo, Grande, or Santo Domingo (s. XVII-XVIII).
• Tower or Tower of the Clock (1921).
• Pozo Airón or Pozairón.

Administration and politics

Municipal elections

The mayor of La Zarza does not receive any type of financial benefit for his work as head of the town hall (2017).

Autonomous elections