Algeciras (Spanish: [alxeˈθiɾas] ) is a city and a municipality of Spain belonging to the province of Cádiz, Andalusia. With a registered population as of 2020 of 123,078, it is the most populated municipality of the Campo de Gibraltar. The city is located in the western shore of the Bay of Gibraltar (Bahía de Algeciras) opposite the Rock of Gibraltar, around the mouth of the Río de la Miel, now mostly culverted in its lower course, near the southernmost end of the Iberian Peninsula and continental Europe and the Strait of Gibraltar.
The area was inhabited in Antiquity, including archaeological strata generally identified with the Roman city of Iulia Traducta. Founded soon after the Islamic conquest of the Iberian Peninsula on the mouth of the Río de la Miel, al-Jazira al-Khadrā became the head of a rump taifa kingdom after Umayyad state collapse in the 11th century. In 1275, the Emirate of Granada ceded the place to the Marinids, who founded the new walled precinct of al-Bunayya after 1282 on the opposite bank of the Río de la Miel. The twin medinas were conquered in 1344 by the Crown of Castile. Medieval urban continuity came to an abrupt end when the town was torn down by the Nasrids circa 1369–1385. The ruins were repopulated and the town eventually refounded upon the arrival of refugees from the 1704 Anglo-Dutch capture of Gibraltar.
The Port of Algeciras is one of the largest ports in Europe and the world in three categories: container, cargo and transshipment. The surrounding metropolitan area also includes the municipalities of Los Barrios, La Línea de la Concepción, Castellar de la Frontera, Jimena de la Frontera, San Roque and Tarifa, with a population of 263,739.
Contents
Name
The Arabic name for the settlement founded by Muslims after the conquest of the Iberian Peninsula was al-Jazīrah al-Khaḍrāʾ (الجزيرة الخضراء) which means 'green island' or 'green peninsula'. The traditional explanation derives the placename from the tiny island of Isla Verde in front of the city (and currently covered by the port), but this has been questioned as the island was not known as green island in Arab sources but Umm Ḥakīm (as al-Jazīrah al-Khaḍrā was reserved for the city) nor in medieval Christian sources. Likewise, the Spanish-language placename of Isla Verde is not recorded until the late 18th century, co-existing with previous placenames such as Isla de las Palomas. Tentative alternative possibilities about where the Arabic placename comes from rely on identificating the green 'island' or 'peninsula' elsewhere (including the Iberian Peninsula, the green Campo de Gibraltar, paleo-coves in the bay of Gibraltar, or the very same rock of Gibraltar).
Whatever the case, Al-Jazīra(t) gave the modern Spanish Algeciras. Algeciras' site was also that of Roman cities called Portus Albus ("White Harbor"), Caetaria (current Getares) and Iulia Traducta. In the later "Byzantine" period, the site would come to be known in Greek as Mesopotámenoi (Μεσοποτάμενοι), meaning "between rivers/canals".
History
The area of the city has been populated since prehistory, and the earliest remains belong to Neanderthal populations from the Paleolithic era. Due to its strategic position it was an important port under the Phoenicians, and was the site of the relevant Roman port of Portus Albus ("White Port"), with two nearby cities called Caetaria (possibly founded by the Iberians) and Iulia Traducta, founded by the Romans. Recently it has been proposed that the site of Iulia Traducta was the Villa Vieja of Algeciras. Al-Jazira al-Khadrā was founded few years after the Islamic conquest of the Iberian Peninsula.
In the year 859 AD Viking troops on board 62 drekars and commanded by the leaders Hastein and Björn Ironside besieged the city for three days and subsequently laid waste to much of it. After looting the houses of the rich, they burnt the Aljama mosque and the Banderas mosque. Reorganized near the medina, the inhabitants managed to recover the city and make the invaders run away, capturing two boats. In 914, during a period of civil war (fitna) prior to the proclamation of the Caliphate of Córdoba, Cordobese emir Abd al-Rahman III conquered Algeciras, which had provided rebel elements with key logistic support. Shipbuilding docks for the Umayyad navy were then built in Algeciras, presumably in the form of a fortified port.
It enjoyed a brief period of independence as a taifa state from 1035 to 1058. It was named al-Jazirah al-Khadra' ("Green Island") after the offshore Isla Verde; the modern name is derived from this original Arabic name (compare also Algiers and Al Jazeera). In 1055 Emir Al-Mutadid of Seville drove the Berbers from Algeciras, claiming it for Arabs. Vowing to counter the Castilian expansion initiated by 1265, Nasrid Granada required assistance from Fez in late 1274 and ceded the place of Algeciras (together with Tarifa) to the Marinids. In 1278, Algeciras was besieged by the forces of the Kingdom of Castile under the command of Alfonso X of Castile and his son, Sancho. This siege was the first of a series of attempts to take the city and ended in failure for the Castilian forces. An armada sent by Castile was also annihilated whilst trying to blockade the city's harbor.
Marinid ruler Abu Yusuf built a new walled precinct on the opposing bank of the Río de la Miel circa 1282, al-Bunayya, originally as a military camp site in the context of the Battle of the Strait. A substantial share of the workforce dedicated to the former end were Christian slaves. The Marinid grip over the place further increased in the ensuing years, and the place turned into a Marinid stronghold from which razzias were launched into the still incipient Christian settlements in the Lower Guadalquivir and the Guadalete area. Having lost interest in Iberian affairs, Abu Yaqub Yusuf an-Nasr returned Algeciras to the Emirate of Granada in 1295. In July 1309, Ferdinand IV of Castile laid the first Siege of Algeciras as well as Gibraltar. The latter fell into Christian hands, but Muslim Algeciras held on for the following three decades, until Alfonso XI of Castile began a second Siege of Algeciras in 1342. In March 1344, after several years of siege, Algeciras surrendered.
Geography
Location
Algeciras is located in the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula, in the comarca of Campo de Gibraltar. Its strategic location near the Strait of Gibraltar—the choke point connecting the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea also entailing the nearest distance between Europe and the African continent—has historically powered the importance of the port. The city proper lies on the western bank of the Bay of Gibraltar, fronting the Rock of Gibraltar, which dominates the eastern bank.
The municipality spans across a total area of 87.96 km2 (33.96 sq mi), bordering with the municipalities of Los Barrios and Tarifa. The lower course of the river Palmones forms part of the boundary of Algeciras with the municipality of Los Barrios.
The urban agglomeration formed by Algeciras and the surrounding settlements is the sixth largest in Andalusia and the third largest off the region's coast.
Climate
Algeciras has a Mediterranean subtropical climate (Köppen: Csa) with very mild, rainy winters and warm, dry summers with occasional heat waves, and temperature fluctuations are small because of the strong Oceanic influence. There are no snow registers in the city since the 19th century.
Economy
Algeciras is principally a transport hub and industrial city. Its main activities are connected with the Port of Algeciras, which serves as the main embarkation point between Spain and Tangier and other ports in Morocco as well as the Canary Islands and the Spanish enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla. It is ranked as the 16th busiest port in the world. The city also has a substantial fishing industry and exports a range of agricultural products from the surrounding area, including cereals, tobacco and farm animals.
In recent years it has become a significant tourist destination, with popular day trips to Tarifa to see bird migrations; to Gibraltar to see the territory's sights and culture; and to the Bay of Gibraltar on whale watching excursions.
Algeciras is the southern terminus of two principal north–south Euroroutes, the E05 and E15. Both routes, moreover, run to Scotland (the E05 terminates at Greenock and the E15 at Inverness) via France and England.
Tourism
Places of interest include:
Parque Natural del Estrecho
Parque Natural Los Alcornocales
Bahía Park
Centro Comercial Puerta Europa
Transport
Public transport
The bus urban transport in managed by C.T.M. (Cooperativa de transporte de Marruecos).
Bus lines:
Line 1: Bajadilla-Pajarete
Line 2: Colinas-San Bernabé-Reconquista
Line 3: Rinconcillo
Line 4: La Granja
Line 5: Bahía de Algeciras
Line 6: Juliana
Line 7: Saladillo
Line 8: San García-Saladillo
Line 9: San García Directo
Line 10: El Cobre
Line 11: La Piñera
Line 12: San García playa
Line 16: Cementerio-Centro Penitenciario
Line 18: Cortijo Vides-Piñera
Line 19: Puerto-S.J.Artesano-Rinconcillo
Line 21: San García – Residencia – Puerto – Parque
Rail
The Algeciras Gibraltar Railway Company built the Algeciras-Bobadilla railway line, which connects Algeciras railway station to Bobadilla, Antequera and continues to the rest of Spain, the train line terminates near the port of Algeciras.
Road
The main routes serving Algeciras include:
European route E15
European route E05
Autopista AP-7
Autovía A-48
N-340
GR 7
Intercity buses
The main bus station is located next to the train station. Several bus companies operate intercity bus services from and to Algeciras.
Airport
The nearest airports are:
Gibraltar Airport – to 20 km (12 mi)
Jerez Airport – to 100 km (62 mi)
Málaga Airport – to 120 km (75 mi)
In addition, Algeciras has the Algeciras Heliport for transport to Ceuta and other areas in the region.
Monuments
Hornos Romanos del Rinconcillo (first century B.C.). (furnaces)
Factoría de salazones de la calle San Nicolás (first century). (salt meat factory)
La Villa Vieja, torres de la Huerta del Carmen (tenth century). (Towers)
Parque Arqueológico de las Murallas Meriníes (thirteenth century). (Archeological Park)
Capilla de Nuestra Señora de Europa (1690). (Chapel)
Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de la Palma (1736). (Church)
Hospital de La Caridad, (1748).
Capilla de la Caridad (1752). (Chapel)
Casa Consistorial (1756). (City Council)
Capilla de San Servando (1774). (Chapel)
Capilla del Santo Cristo de la Alameda (1776). (Chapel)
Plaza Alta (1807). (Town Square)
Mercado de Abastos de Algeciras of engineer Eduardo Torroja Miret (1935). (Supplies Market)
Art School Building. (1971) architect: Fernando Garrido Gutiérrez.
Faro de Isla Verde. Project of Jaime Font, constructed in 1864. (Light)
Hotel Reina Cristina (1901). (Hotel)
District de San Isidro, (typical district designed in the twentieth century)
Celebrations
Arrastre de latas (5th, January).
Feria Real de Algeciras (June).
Fiestas patronales en honor de Ntra. Sra. la Virgen de la Palma (August).
Fiesta de los Tosantos (1st, November).
Carnival of Algeciras.
Sports
Algeciras CF, the association football club, founded in 1912, most commonly play in the third (Primera Federación) and fourth-tiers of the Spanish football league system, with some past spells in Segunda División. They play home games at the Estadio Nuevo Mirador.
Algeciras BM, the professional handball club, played in the Liga ASOBAL between 2005 and 2008. The team was dissolved due to enormous debts after relegation to second level in 2008.
Education
Universidad de Cádiz – Campus Bahia de Algeciras
The following education centres are property of the University of Cádiz:
Escuela Politécnica Superior de Algeciras
Escuela Universitaria de Enfermería de Algeciras
Escuela Universitaria de Estudios Jurídicos y Económicos del Campo de Gibraltar "Francisco Tomás y Valiente"
Escuela Universitaria de Magisterio "Virgen de Europa"
Centro Universitario de Derecho de Algeciras (CUDA)
Campus Bahia de Algeciras (in Spanish and English)
Noted Natives of Algeciras
Yahya Ibn Yahya
Paco de Lucía
Ramón de Algeciras
Al-Mansur Ibn Abi Aamir
Ana Belén Palomo
Cristóbal Delgado Gómez
José María Sánchez-Verdú
Álvaro Morte
Canelita
Sister cities
Ceuta, Spain
Neda, Spain
Dakhla, Western Sahara