History of Aldeaquemada
Although the town was formally founded in 1768, its early occupation dates back to prehistory, attested by the discovery of some quartzite tools in terraces of the Guarrizas River and by the abundant samples of rock art found throughout the area. Similarly, handmade ceramics from the Copper and Bronze Ages have been unearthed, although no settlements from these eras have been identified due to the rough terrain and abundant vegetation.
The imprint of the Roman era is present through the existing roads of communication, which in more recent times linked the mineral exploitation industries with the cities. These roads are appreciable in certain parts of the municipal term; in the same way, there are vestiges in the vicinity of the Puente de La Venta of what is believed to have been a Roman hostel. From the Visigoth and Muslim eras, there are few references and it is possible that there were no towns in the term of Aldeaquemada until the time of the Illustrated Colonization.
The founding of the town is the result of the enlightened policy of repopulation of Carlos III carried out between 1768 and 1793. The first inhabitants of the Dehesa de Aldeaquemada, belonging to the Casa Ducal de los Benavides, of Santiesteban del Puerto, were Central European settlers after the sanction of the contract made by Gaspar de Thürriegel in the Royal Palace of El Pardo in 1767. The project intended to colonise the desert area of Sierra Morena with agricultural operations in small population centres for the generation of wealth and to ensure passage through Despeñaperros.
The new membership, which included the villages of Buenos Aires, Santa Cruz and Tamujosa, depended on the Intendancy of New Towns of Andalusia and Sierra Morena. The initiative sought to implement a new social organisation, somehow freed from the jurisdictional restrictions of the Old Regime. Until the creation of the provincial division in 1833, the towns were governed by special jurisdictions; specifically, the Law of New Populations regulated aspects of the economic and social life of the colonists, until it was repealed in 1835.