Last modified: 2020-02-09 by ivan sache
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![[Flag]](../images/e/es-gu-fe.gif)
Flag of Fuentelencina - Image by Ivan Sache, 6 September 2019
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The municipality of Fuentelencina (284 inhabitants in 2018; 4,430 ha) is located 40 km south-east of Guadalajara.
Fuentelencina was the place where the famous bullfighter Manolete
(1917-1947) spent part of its "sabbatic year" in 1946. An iconic emblem
of Francoist Spain, Manolete fell in love with Lupe Sino (born Antonia
Bronchalo; 1917-1959), a "woman of ill-repute" who had married a
Republican officer and became an actress; Lupe introduced Manolete to
Madrid's nighty life, and, propaganda said, alcohol and drugs.
In 1946, Manolete accepted only one commitment in Spain and went on
vacation in Fuentelencina with Lupe, her sister and the latter's
husband. The visitors first impressed the villagers when arriving in
Manoleto's blue Buick, but appear to have been warmly welcomed. Manolete
was taught partridge hunting by the pharmacist. Manolete's "shameful"
behavior, "a bad example for the youth", was a cause of wrath for the
regime. A photo showing Manolete drawing a donkey carrying Lupe was
censored because it showed the bullfighter's skinny chest and, most
sacandalous, Lupe's nude legs - they came back from swimming into the
Valdefuentes pond.
The illegitimate couple spent part of the summer in America, where
Manolete's juicy contracts allowed them to spend a kind of "honeymoon"
in expensive palaces. To stop the spreading rumor, the Francoist regime
insinuated that the couple had religiously married in Mexico.
Manoleto died the next year in Linares from the injuries received by a bull named Iserlo, now the hero of the anti-bullfighting groups.
Manoleto's image was thorougly "revamped" by the regime. Lupe went back
to Mexico, and then to Spain, where she died in complete oblivion.
The journalist Carmen Esteban revived in 2007 the forgotten love story
in the book Lupe, el sino de Manolete (sino means in Spanish
"destiny", "fatum"), providing several details on the Fuentelencina period.
[El Mundo, 25 June 2012]
Ivan Sache, 6 September 2019
The flag of Fuentelencina (photo,
photo) is prescribed by an Order issued on 20 April
2005 by the Government of Castilla-La Mancha and published on 2 May 2005
in the official gazette of Castilla-La Mancha, No. 87, p. 8,857 (text).
The flag is described as follows:
Flag: In proportions 2:3, composed ot two equal vertical stripes, at hoist, red with a blue wave fimbriated in white, at hoist, white with a green holly oak.
The coat of arms of Fuentelencina is prescribed by an Order issued on 5
March 2001 by the Government of Castilla-La Mancha and published on 20
March 2001 in the official gazette of Castilla-La Mancha, No. 35, pp.
3,326-3,327 (text).
The coat of arms is described as follows:
Coat of arms: Per fess, 1a. Gules a single-piped fountain argent, 1b. Argent a holly oak proper, 2. Gules a lion or. The shield surmounted by a Royal Spanish crown.
The Royal Academy of History validated the proposed arms, provided some
corrections are made. The proposal is supported by different sources
from the 16th to the 19th century. Some designs include only the
fountain (fuente) and the holly oak (encina), the canting emblems of
the town, while other include a lion in different arrangements.
The proposed version of the arms appears to be the more suitable,
provided the field of the scond quarter is changed from gules to argent,
as represented on the sources provided in the supporting memoir. The
representation of the fountain argent improves the legikility of the
arms. Finally, the design of the lion should be amended in compliance
with the traditional Spanish models.
[Boletín de la Real Academia de la Historia 198:1,186. 2001]
Ivan Sache, 6 September 2019