Andalusia History

The geostrategic position of Andalusia in the extreme south of Europe, providing (along with Morocco) a gateway between Europe and Africa, added to its position between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, as well as its rich deposits of minerals and its agricultural wealth, have made Andalusia a tempting prize for civilizations since prehistoric times. Add to this its area of 87,268 square kilometres (33,694 sq mi) (larger than many European countries), and it can be no surprise that Andalusia has figured prominently in the history of Europe and the Mediterranean.

Several theories postulate that the first hominids in Europe were in Andalusia, having passed across the Strait of Gibraltar; the earliest known paintings of humanity have been found in the Caves of Nerja, Málaga. The first settlers, based on artifacts from the archaeological sites at Los Millares, El Argar, and Tartessos, were clearly influenced by cultures of the Eastern Mediterranean who arrived on the Andalusian coast. Andalusia then went through a period of protohistory, when the region did not have a written language of its own, but its existence was known to and documented by literate cultures, principally the Phoenicians and Ancient Greeks, wide historical moment in which Cádiz was founded, regarded by many as the oldest city still standing in Western Europe; another city among the oldest is Málaga. During the second millennium BCE, the kingdom of Tartessos developed in Andalusia.

Andalusia Carthaginians and Romans

With the fall of the original Phoenician cities in the East, Carthage – itself the most significant Phoenician colony – became the dominant sea power of the western Mediterranean and the most important trading partner for the Phoenician towns along the Andalusian coast. Between the First and Second Punic Wars, Carthage extended its control beyond...

Andalusia Vandals, Visigoths and the Byzantine Empire

The Vandals moved briefly through the region during the 5th century AD before settling in North Africa, after which the region fell into the hands of the Visigothic Kingdom. The Visigoths in this region were practically independent of the Visigothic Catholic Kingdom of Toledo. This is the era of Saints Isidore of Seville and Hermenegild....

Andalucia Al-Andalus states

The Visigothic era came to an abrupt end in 711 with the Umayyad conquest of Hispania by the Muslim Umayyad general Tariq ibn Ziyad. Tariq is known in Umayyad history and legend as a formidable conqueror who dared and bore the nerve to burn his fleet of ships, when he landed with his troops on...

Andalucia Crown of Castile

The weakness caused by the collapse of Almohad power and the subsequent creation of new Taifas, each with its own ruler, led to the rapid Castile reconquest of the valley of the Guadalquivir. Córdoba was regained in 1236 and Seville in 1248. The fall of Granada on 2 January 1492 put an end to the...

Andalucia Habsburg Spain

In the first half of the 16th century plague was still prevalent in Spain. According to George C. Kohn, "One of the worst epidemics of the century, whose miseries were accompanied by severe drought and food shortage, started in 1505; by 1507, about 100,000 people had died in Andalusia alone. Andalusia was struck once again...

Andalucia Francoist oppressions

Andalusia was one of the worst affected regions of Spain by Francisco Franco's brutal campaign of mass-murder and political suppression called the White Terror during and after the Spanish Civil War. The Nationalist rebels bombed and seized the working-class districts of the main Andalusian cities in the first days of the war, and afterwards went...