Climate

The climate of Morón de la Frontera is similar to the rest of the province of Seville, which is similar to other subtropical Mediterranean regions. Rain occurs fairly irregularly for most of the year, with the typical driest part of the year being during the summer and the wettest near the end of autumn. According to data from the meteorological station at the air force base from 1981 to 2010, the average annual precipitation was 543.6 mm (21.40 in) and the average relative humidity was 61%. In a typical year, there were 61.1 days with precipitation, and 52.5 days with precipitation more than 1 mm (0.039 in).^[4]

There are significant temperature differences between the day and night, and the average annual temperature is 17.9°C. Winters are cool and the summers are generally hot and dry, with the average high temperature being 35 °C and the average low temperature being 18 °C in July. During January and February, the prevailing winds were northeastern while during the rest of the year, especially during May and August, the prevailing winds were southeastern.^[4]

Flora and fauna

The vegetation in the area mainly consists of cultivated olives and, to a lesser extent, oaks and almonds. In the surrounding mountains common flora include rosemary, mastic, thyme, and cane apple. Fauna includes several species of rabbits and hares as well as a large variety of birds.^[6]

Overview

The origins of the city go all the way back to prehistory, with the first human settlement being near the hill where the castle is today. For this reason and the rugged topography of this region, the historical district has steep and narrow roads, but newer sections of the city to the west and northwest have more standard sized roads. Much of the architecture in the city is listed under the categories of Bien de Interés Cultural and conjunto histórico, categories that are part of Spain's national system of heritage listing.^[7]

Etymology

After the Roman conquest of the Iberian peninsula, this placed was called Maurorum, which was a reference to the large population from North Africa. During the Moorish rule of the Iberian Peninsula the Latin term evolved into Mawror, and finally Moron.^[8] Though generally less accepted, there is another theory that the name Moron, comes from the preromanesque word morr, translated as "rocky hill" or "rock." This has been justified by the rocky terrain around Moron.^[9]

The phrase "de la Frontera" or "Of the Border" refers to the border with Granada, because it was a border town between Fernando III's 1240 Christian conquest of Iberia until the fall of the kingdom of Granada in the late fifteenth century.^[8]

There are other cities with the same name in Spain, France, Argentina, Cuba, Venezuela, Peru and Mongolia.^[10]

Flag

The flag of Morón de la Frontera is a blue rectangle that contains the municipal coat of arms in the center. It is unknown why the flag is blue or when the flag was adopted by the city.^[14]

Coat of arms

Morón de la Frontera's coat of arms consists of a white horse in reins in front of a red background. the outline of the shield is gold and is topped by a royal crown. The figure of the horse was adopted in the fifteenth century. Though there are several legends about the origin of the figure, most historians agree it is a reference to a type of Berber horse. Nearby cities like Los Corrales, Coripe and Utrera also carry a horse on their shields. The coat of arms is completed with the crown of Henry II of Castile.^[14]

The current design was adopted in the year 1970, and is attributed to the painter Joaquín Pascual Alemán. The horse's reins represent the desire for freedom. The figure is based on the equine figures present in the baroque paintings of Diego Velázquez.^[15]

Representation in the coat of arms of Seville

In the coat of arms of the province of shield, the cities with judicial courts are represented by simplified versions of their coat of arms. This arrangement began when the province of Seville was created in 192.^[16]