History - Arroyo del Ojanco
The word “ojanco” refers to a person with only one eye, resembling something similar to the description of a Cyclops (the most famous of them was Polyphemus) and jáncano or ojáncano, of which these mythological beings are known in northern Spain, specifically in the Cantabrian mountains. Also in embryology, a science dedicated to studying human embryos and foetuses, it is known as a foetal monster with atrophy of the nasal septum and one eye. Professor Reverté Coma, a world authority in forensic medicine, had one in his laboratory, born in a town in Castilla in the 1930s of the last century, it died a few hours after being born.
There is no written record that this character lived in this town in historical times, although this name has been linked to this area since ancient times. In the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, a river, various towers, a mill and the name of its owner were already known to have the name of Ojanco. Some say that it was not Ojanco but “l’oçanco”.
In the “Magical History of Spain”, Fernando Sánchez Dragó refers to the “ojancanus”. He says in it that they existed in the mountains of northern Spain, the Cantabrian and Pyrenees mountains, which is where more legends and traditions exist. He also mentions the eastern mountains of Andalusia, which would include the area of Arroyo del Ojanco. In his book he also refers to another writer, essayist, historian, and lawyer, Joaquín Costa, deputy for the Cazorla district of the Federalist Republican party, as well as a notary of Jaén (1888). Costa also refers to the “ojancanus” in the Sierra de Cazorla and Segura, possibly referring to this municipality.
It is suggested the first human settlement came at the beginning of the Roman invasion. At that time, people from the mountains of northern Spain arrived in this area of Andalusia, more specifically Cantabrians, attracted by the mines of the Montes Argentiferos next to the Tagus Parnasus (Guadalimar River) and dedicated themselves to herding sheep. It is suggested that human settlers lived in caves, specifically the Sietegibas cave. It had an admirable position for having running water less than 20m from its entrance, however in those days it could be that the water from the stream passed through the same entrance of the cave.
With the arrival of the Arabs, the settlement disappeared, leaving some towers on both sides of the Ojanco stream. During the nineteenth century, it had various names, including the nickname of Las Ventas, as well as Arroyo de los Ancos. Still at the beginning of the twentieth century it was sometimes referred to as Las Ventas de la Camposanta, at the same time as Arroyo del Ojanco. Starting in 1950, the segregationist movement of Beas de Segura began.
Arroyo del Ojanco achieved the segregation of Beas de Segura and its constitution as an independent municipality on January 24, 2001, after a long judicial process. It began with a file processed by the Council of Ministers on June 4, 1953, which denied segregation by decree. On November 3, 1958, another request was made to the Minister of the Interior, which was also denied by decree on September 10, 1959, with a subsequent appeal before the Supreme Court resolved on November 25, 1961. In September 1983, the Pro-Segregation Commission was formed which presented a file in June 1984 in the Beas de Segura City Council, forwarded to the Junta de Andalucía. The autonomous government maintained administrative silence until in 1991 a dispute was filed before the High Court of Justice in Granada, which on April 5, 1993 ruled in favour of segregation. However, it was suspended when it was appealed until the judgment of the Supreme Court of January 18, 2001.