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Since early man crossed from Africa into Europe, southern Spain has been a melting pot of history. Palaeolithic, Neolithic and Bronze Age man made his home in the surrounding hills, but it was not until about 3,000 years ago that the modern history of the town began with Phoenician settlers, Imperialist Romans, Visgoths, Moorish invaders and Christians alike.
Always searching for new trading posts, the Phoenicians discovered Almuñécar as a virtual paradise. With friendly local people, superb fishing conditions, an abundant water supply and hills rich with copper and silver. But what made Almuñecar so special historicly was its natural harbour. In those times Almuñécar was a small peninsula between the mouths of two rivers, the Río Verde and Río Seco, which protected the fishermen and seafarers' boats of in bad weather.
It is not clear where the Phoenician settlement of Sexi is located, although the discovery of two important Phoenician burial sites in the hills behind San Cristóbal castle give us a good idea as to the possible area. Archaeological finds at the Cueva de Siete Palacios, Municipal Archaeological Museum, provides further evidence of a Phoenician settlement in this area.
What is certain is that the fishing and salting industry was vital to the Phoenicians, and then in turn the Romans and the Moors, who over the years maintained hundreds of salting settlements all over the Mediterranean.
Salt became a hugely important commodity in those times, more important even than gold. Not only could they preserve food almost indefinitely with salt, but they could export it for huge profit. So much profit that the economies of countries became driven by salt and salted products.
Another great Roman condiment produced in Almuñécar was garum, or liquamen. This was a fermented fish sauce, highly prized for its flavour and medicinal properties and was sometimes mixed with wine, oil, honey or vinegar. Not dissimilar to Worcestershire sauce.
You can still see the remains of the salazones, or salting pits, in the Majuelo Park, just below San Cristóbal castle.
In order to supply the town and the fish salting industry with water, the Romans built a magnificent aqueduct 7 kms in length, much of which still stands. The aqueduct and water system is so elaborate that it has lead archaeologists to the conclusion that Almuñécar was an extreamly important coastal trading colony.
Not much is known of Almuñécar role during the next three to four hundred years. Over that time the south of Spain was overun by the Vandals in the fifth century. It's not until the invasion by the Moors in the eighth century that Almuñécar history becomes again documented.
Under Moors the town once more became a regional centre with a flourishing population and economy. The Moors named the town Al-Munakkab, or Hins-al-Monacar, which means Fortified Town, or Flanked by Hills, it is from where the modern name Almuñécar came.
Agriculture became more extensive during this time and a number of exotic species of crop where introduced, such as sugar cane, pomegranate, fig and citrus trees. The Moors also established what was to become a famous silk industry, not just here in Almuñécar but all along the coast where the Moors settled. Today only an occasional silkworm mulberry tree is visible, where now mostly exist olive and pines.
During the Christian reconquest, the sultans of Granada considered Almuñécar as their strategic stepping stone to North Africa. Indeed Almuñécar was the last town to fall to the Christian forces before the city of Granada. On 30th December 1489, after 25 days of fighting, the castle of Almuñécar surrendered.
After the expulsion of the Moors from Spain, Almuñécar's role became subdued. For the next four centuries the town suffered from war, attacks by coastal pirates and disease. Almuñécar quietly slipped from history and took its unassuming place as a small agricultural and fishing community.
In 1810 during the French War of Independence, Spain was occupied by the French. In Almuñécar the French forces used the castle as their garrison which caused British warships to shell the castle, heavily damaging it. In April 1937, during the Spanish Civil War (1936-9), republican forces attempted to destroy the sugar factories located on Playa San Cristóbal. They barely hit the factories but did destroy a number of fishing boats on the beach, and made large holes in La Najarra, which is today's tourist office.
Almuñécar's history is evolving once again, it is becoming again a 'natural' centre of commerce. Where people visit and come to settle in what they find as an ideal location. |
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