Cáñar
History of Cáñar
At the beginning of the Muslim occupation, Cáñar was known as Gebel, and with the administrative division of La Alpujarra it was included within the Taha de Órgiva. After the conquest of Granada and falling into Christian hands, the population was gradually subjected to a pressure that became intolerable. This was followed by the insurrection, led by Abén Humeya.
The uprising ended in a general revolt among the Moriscos of the entire Kingdom of Granada against Felipe II. In the hamlet of El Fex, in the settlement of Pueblo Alto, Abén Farax, one of Abén Humeya’s lieutenants, was taken prisoner and, in revenge, he completely destroyed the village. The internal discrepancies among the Moriscos, who killed Abén Humeya, allowed Juan de Austria to quickly put an end to the rebellion.
After the expulsion of the population, Cáñar was repopulated by Christian settlers from other parts of the Kingdom. The Moriscos were finally expelled in 1609. Cáñar was then populated by peasants from Galicia, León, Asturias, the Basque Country and Castile.
Felipe II granted Cañar the title of Villa for having captured Abén Farax, assigning it an annual debt of 180 gold fleeces. The Bargas Desert was destroyed by floods in the nineteenth century.
Between Cáñar and Órgiva was the oldest hippie commune in Spain, known as Beneficio, which was founded by two Englishmen from Ibiza in the late 1970s and closed in December 2023. Up to 250 people lived there.