The cabaco

El Cabaco 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 Francia region. It belongs to the judicial district of Ciudad Rodrigo and to the Las Dehesas Commonwealth.

Its municipal area is made up of the towns of El Cabaco, Peña de Francia, Zarzosillo and Zarzoso, it occupies a total area of 47.35 km² and according to the demographic data collected in the municipal register prepared by the INE in 2017, has 245 inhabitants.

Etymology

Although the name of the municipality is currently El Cabaco, until relatively recently it was said and systematically written EL CAVACO, which some authors associate with a prosodic corruption of CAVADO (Romance form of Latin CAVATUS) which links to the meaning of "place where excavations have been made". The rest of the nomenclature associated with the town would come from here: Las Cavenes, large existing ditches in the area linked to open-air Roman excavations; Arroyo Cavaquillo and Río Cavín or Gabín, name given to the stream adjacent to the main nucleus, and which also responds to the name of Arroyo de la Barranca, in the official cartography.

Symbols

Shield

The heraldic shield that represents the municipality was approved on July 23, 1993 with the following coat of arms:

«I hear a match. First, azur with a golden spike put on a stick, gold shoes. Second, of gold with five sable teas, fiery and set in aspa. Tied of the Spanish Royal Crown»

Official Gazette of Castile and Leon No. 6 of 11 January 1994

Flag

« Square flag, 1:1 ratio, cut white and red, and loaded in its center of the Municipal Shield in its colors and with its bell, occupying 3/5 height of cloth»

Geography

View of the Peña de France at the southern end of the municipality.

Arroyo de la Barranca.

The municipality of El Cabaco extends mainly in a north-south direction and contains varied geomorphology, extending along the northern slope of the Sierra de Francia. In the southern area is the Peña de Francia, which with its 1727 meters above sea level, corresponds to the highest elevation in the municipality; On the slopes of it there is a hilly relief area with an average elevation of 1000 meters. These foothills are conditioned by the courses of the Arroyo de la Barranca to the east and the Arroyo de Zarzosillo to the west. In the central zone of the term, between these fluvial courses, a plain known as "Campo el Potro" It is devoid of tree vegetation. To the north are the final hills of the Sierra de la Quilama and the beginning of the North Subplateau, which extends to an elevation of about 800 meters above sea level.

Its municipal area borders to the north with those of Tamames and Puebla de Yeltes, to the east with Aldeanueva de la Sierra and Cereceda de la Sierra, to the west with El Maíllo and to the south with Monsagro, La Alberca and Nava de Francia.

Northwest: Puebla de Yeltes	North: Tamames	Northeast: Aldeanueva de la Sierra
West: The Mael		This: Cereceda de la Sierra
Southwest Monsagro	South: The Pool	Sureste: Nava de France

The main population center is located in the mid-west area of the municipality and develops along the main communication routes: the highways from Salamanca to Las Hurdes and the highway from Béjar to Ciudad Rodrigo and Portugal.

Near the municipality of Tamames, is the Puerta Coeli Convent, belonging to the Zarzoso farm, approximately 7 kilometers from the urban area.

Following the road to La Alberca, 15 km from the town, is the Sanctuary of Nuestra Señora de la Peña de Francia and a convent run by Dominican friars. It is located at the top of the Peña de Francia, next to a recent hostelry.

The Zarzosillo farm has difficult access and is located in the southeastern part of the municipality.

Hydrography

Running through the municipal term is the Arroyo de la Barranca or Gabín that rises on the northern slope of the Peña de Francia; Said fluvial course passes through the urban area and continues in a northerly direction until it discharges its waters into the Yeltes River, coming from the nearby town of Cereceda de la Sierra.

Nature

The vegetation of El Cabaco is largely related to the climate and geological morphology of the area. Oaks are of great importance; that give shape to large extensions of oak groves throughout the municipal area. There are also other large trees such as chestnuts, walnuts and, to a lesser extent, gall oaks and holm oaks (more abundant in the northern area near the charro field).

On the other hand, it is important to note that the severe climate of the region has allowed the locals to grow garden products, fruit trees, strawberries and, until recently, large areas were used for cereal production, mainly wheat and barley.

Demographics

Graphic of demographic evolution of El Cabaco (municipal) between 1900 and 2021

Population in fact (1900-1981) according to population censuses of the INE. Population of Law (1990-2021), population according to the municipal register, data from the INE.

According to the National Statistics Institute, as of December 31, 2018, El Cabaco had a total population of 232 inhabitants, of whom 117 were men and 115 women. Regarding the year 2000, the census reflects 285 inhabitants, of which 144 were men and 142 women. Therefore, the loss of population in the municipality for the period 2000-2018 has been 62 inhabitants, a 32% decrease.

The municipality is divided into three population centers. Of the 232 inhabitants registered in the census in 2018, 219 correspond to El Cabaco and 13 to Zarzoso. La Peña de Francia is listed as depopulated and Zarzosillo is not listed.

History

El Cabaco, as an organized town, already existed in 1215, the year it was annexed by Alfonso IX of León to the jurisdiction of the nearby town of Miranda del Castañar; Its formal independence began in 1811, when the national government abolished the domains and jurisdiction of Miranda over El Cabaco.

The primitive population settlement extended through the area bordering the Gabín River, on one side and the other of the course, communicating both areas with the construction of a bridge that still exists. These constructions, which currently constitute the bridge neighborhood, were the seed nucleus of what is currently El Cabaco (S XIII and S XIV). It was in the following centuries, when the annexed neighborhoods of Altozano, Calle Estrecha and Las Huertas began to be built following the west direction. It was from this moment that the construction of the Church of El Cabaco and the town hall began, around the main axes of Calle Mayor and Calle Larga (16th century and following).

With the creation of the current provinces in 1833, El Cabaco was included in the province of Salamanca, within the Leonese Region.

Currently, in El Cabaco its urban center reached its maximum extension in the 1960s, although construction began on the Ciudad Rodrigo y Béjar highway and in the south-western area (close to the hotel establishments of the Salamanca - La Alberca / Béjar - Ciudad Rodrigo road junction.

Administration and politics

Municipal elections

Mayors

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

Culture

In El Cabaco, festivals have always had great importance, always associated with outstanding agricultural events such as planting and harvesting. The main festival of the town, and to which its Saint and Patron refers, is celebrated in the last week of August, specifically the big day is the 25th, in honor of the Decapitation of San Juan Bautista (the Martyrdom of San Juan Bautista is commemorated on August 29, but it is brought forward a few days to facilitate the influx of people).

Charcoal button (on the cloth).

I brought typical serrano.

Other festivities are also important, such as Emperrá (Whit Sunday), the Fiesta de los Mozos (December 26), Santa Cruz (May 3) and Holy Week with the ascent in procession (emulating Calvary). to the cross located on a hill near the population center called " the cost".

During these festive periods, it is common for the developed charro costume jewelery to be displayed, the result of a craft typical of the place, generally based on silver, and whose greatest exponent, especially in men's clothing, is found in the charro button (which evokes a hand rosary with its 10 beads in the form of small bumps).

It is also common to use large rosaries, diadems, rings and an overloaded ornamentation (typical of this southern area of Salamanca) that is displayed in the characteristic regional dances (bailes serranos), similar to the Castilian jota, but with a dance slower.

Monuments and places of interest

• Sanctuary of Our Lady of the Peña of France (B.I.C. 16/03/1956);
• Convent of El Zarzoso and Porta Coeli Church (El Cabaco) (Incoated file as B.I.C. 10/08/1995);
• Las Cavenes (B.I.C. 23/03/2006), archaeological zone;
• Rollo del Convento de Nuestra Señora de la Peña de Francia (B.I.C. 14/03/1963).