Malaga

Of Phoenician foundation, Malaga is one of the oldest cities in Spain. After eight centuries of Arab rule, it was reconquered by Ferdinand II of Aragon (1452-1516) and Isabella of Castile (1451-1504) in 1487, after one of the longest sieges of the whole process of Reconquista. Malaga, as already happened in the past to other cities, saw its face change dramatically: the symbols of its “Christianization” were the Plaza Mayor and the cathedral, built on the spot where the great Arab mosque once stood. In Early Modern times, the city was repeatedly struck by earthquakes and flooding of the Guadalmedina river. The expulsion of the Moriscos, produced in various stages and finally confirmed in 1609, was very bad for the local economy, based mainly on the production and export of wine, raisins and silk. Malaga also played a key defensive role in the western Mediterranean, especially after the fall of Gibraltar into the hands of the British (1704).