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Cuento y leyenda de Cómpeta

Diputación de Málaga
Portada Guía de cuentos y leyendas de la Axarquía.ESP

Cuento y leyenda de Cómpeta

Zip Code 29754
Chronicles and Legends (si se trata de historia)

It is assumed that the origin of the name comes from the Hispanization of the Latin word “compita” which means crossroads..

  • Name of its inhabitants:

Competenos.

  • Famous Personalities:

Plácido Ávila Reina. He was born in Cómpeta on the 24 November 1.872. He was a follower and later a friend of Mariano Belliure. He made a number of statues of the Crucified Christ and became Head of Art in Ávila’s secondary y school.

Aurelio Cabra Fernández. He was born in Cómpeta on the 16 January 1.915. He was a Lecturer of Chemistry at the Complutense University in Madrid. In 1.942 hi joined CAMPSA as a chemist and later worked in the Forestry Department of the Ministry of Agriculture.

Pantaleón Romero Ruîz. He was born in Cómpeta on the 28 February 1.855. He was appointed a Captain in the Army Chaplaincy be the Queen Regent, Maria Cristina. He was army chaplain of the Tarifa Rifles Battalion in Cuba. He reached the rank of Chaplain Lieutenant General and died in Madrid in 1934 and was buried in the Church of San Isodro.

  • Legend:

According to legend, in April 1.569, a Moor arrived on the way to Canillas de Aceituno to rescue his wife who was being held as a slave by an old Christian. In Cómpeta he informed people of the success of the uprising in the Alpujarra region and of the help expected from abroad. The people rose, lead by Martîn Alguacil and they were joined by Moors from the Bentomiz Mountains. Apparently, Martîn Alguacil claimed to be loyal to the crown and an excellent convert, so he enjoyed a good reputation with the Vêlez authorities.

As a result, Sheriff Arêvalo de Zuaro called him so he might placate the towns up in Bentoimiz. Alguacil, thinking he was about to be arrested and executed, refused to go. He brought together all the rebels from the Bentomiz Mountains in the square in Cómpeta and urged them to fight for freedom and for the love of their land. As a result, he was appointed sovereign of Bentomiz.

There were at the time in Cómpeta, among the 572 inhabitants, 143 Moors and 3 old Christians. The latter hid in the Curch tower when they saw the arrival of armed foreigners in the town. Martîn Alguacil made his people go round the tower time and again, dressed and armed differently each time, to make the refugees think that the number of rebels was greater than it really was.

 

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