Andalucía

Waves of settlers each brought new ideas and customs with them to Andalucía. Starting as early as 206 BC, the Romans built cities in this southern province, which they called Baetica, including Córdoba, Itálica and Cástulo – once the greatest city on the peninsula. It was in Andalucía, too, that the Moors lingered longest and left their most impressive buildings, the Mezquita and Alhambra.

By 1251, Fernando III of Castille had wrestled all of southern Spain from Moorish control, apart from Granada, which remained a Muslim kingdom until its capture by Isabel I of Castile and Fernando II of Aragón in 1492. Andalucía prospered after the reconquista: Columbus set sail from Palos de la Frontera in 1492 and the region’s ports became gateways to the wealth of the Americas.

But this prosperity was not to last. In 1609, the Moriscos (Christianized Muslims) were expelled from Spain and Andalucía forfeited a substantial proportion of its agricultural workforce as a result. In the 18th century, Seville and Cádiz lost their trading monopolies over the Americas and, in 1713, Spain ceded Gibraltar to the British following the Spanish War of Succession.

During the Civil War, Andalucía was a Republican stronghold and suffered greatly at the hands of Franco’s victorious Nationalist forces. It is estimated that over 50,000 people were executed in the province, including 17,000 people in Malaga alone.

Nowadays, Andalucía is the most populated of Spain’s 17 autonomous communities, and its one of Spain’s most visited regions.