Chercos facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Chercos, Spain
Chercos
Flag Coat of arms
Country	Spain
Community	Andalusia
Municipality	Almería
Area
• Total	14 km2 (5 sq mi)
Elevation	805 m (2,641 ft)
Population  (2018)
• Total	283
• Density	20.2/km2 (52.4/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)

Chercos is a small town, or municipality, in the Almería province of Spain. It is located in the sunny region of Andalusia.

There are actually two parts to Chercos: Chercos Viejo (Old Chercos) and Chercos Nuevo (New Chercos). Old Chercos is about three kilometers south, built on the side of the Sierra de los Filabres mountains.

History of Chercos

Moving the Village

In the 1940s, Antonio Sáez Sáez became the mayor of Chercos. He had a big plan to move the old town of Chercos. Old Chercos was on an isolated mountainside. Mayor Antonio wanted to move it a few kilometers away to a flatter spot in the Sierra de los Filabres.

By the 1940s, Chercos was much smaller than it used to be. It was a village with fewer and fewer people, mostly small landowners.

Life in Old Chercos

In the past, people in old Chercos worked the land. They had built terraces on the steep hills to make farming possible. Saving water was very important because the land was dry.

The rules for sharing water were very old, set up by the Arabs centuries before. Each landowner had a specific day and time to get water from the shared canals for their land. Everyone followed these rules strictly. Water was so precious that no one dared to break the rules.

The Marble Boom

Chercos had its best times when people started mining high-quality marble nearby. This marble was almost as good as the famous marble from Carrera, Italy.

Many people who didn't farm walked several kilometers each day to work in the marble mines around Macael. This brought a lot of money to the village. Even though there was no electricity or running water, money was plentiful.

The Village Move Conflict

Some residents strongly opposed Mayor Antonio's plan to move the village. They especially didn't want the church bells, a symbol of their village, to be moved to the new town.

Two men would stay behind in old Chercos each day to guard the church bells. They stood guard while others went to work in the mountains.

Mayor Antonio also asked landowners to pay a tax to help cover the costs of moving the village. The landowners refused to pay this tax. They saw it as unfair and didn't agree with the move.

Mayor Antonio's Determination

Mayor Antonio was determined to move the village. He believed life would be easier on the plain. The new town of Chercos would be much easier to reach than the old one, which was at the end of a rough dirt road.

The landowners strongly refused the tax. They felt it was forced on them for a plan they didn't like. To show his authority, Mayor Antonio called in the Guardia Civil (civil guard police) from the nearby town of Cóbdar.

The landowners were called to a meeting in old Chercos. Even with the civil guard present, the landowners warned Mayor Antonio. They told him they would resist if he continued with the tax and tried to move the church bells.

However, the mayor eventually succeeded. He managed to move the village to the plain, about 3 kilometers down the mountain. The church bells, however, stayed in old Chercos.

Chercos Today

In the early 2000s, the cobblestone streets in old Chercos were fixed up. Today, many homes in old Chercos are used by people on weekends or for summer vacations. Most of these people have family ties to the village.

As of 2020, only two brothers were still living permanently in old Chercos. New Chercos, the main town, had a population of about 300 people.

Demographics

See also

In Spanish: Chercos para niños