HISTORY
The first inhabitants of Vegas del Genil were likely the Turduli (ancient pre-Roman people of the southwestern Iberian Peninsula), close relatives of the Turdetani who lived north of the province of Granada. Later, the Phoenicians, Carthaginians, and Romans arrived; the latter established a permanent settlement, as evidenced by a Roman villa known as Bellicium, the present-day site of Belicena.
After the Visigoths, and following the Muslim conquest of the Iberian Peninsula in the 8th century, Syrian settlers repopulated this district of Granada. In the 11th century, following the dissolution of the Caliphate of Córdoba, political upheaval and conflict between Arab and Berber groups led to increased Berber settlement in the area. This process was later strengthened by the expansion of the Almoravid and Almohad dynasties into the Taifa kingdoms of southern Iberia. The Moorish population was of Berber origin, and the specific toponymy of the three villages, then hamlets, emerged, becoming farmsteads from the 13th century onward.
After the expulsion of the Moors, the fertile lands of the Vega were divided into plots and distributed among Christian settlers. Each plot included a share of different land types or crops. When these plots were distributed to the settlers in Belicena, Purchil, and Ambroz, they were subject to perpetual censuses (tributes or taxes) payable in two annual instalments.
At this time, Belicena was the most populated settlement, although its population stagnated. Greatest growth occurred in Purchil and Ambroz, especially during the 18th century, driven by the introduction of hemp cultivation in the Granada plain. By the end of the 19th century, Purchil had over 1,000 inhabitants, Belicena around 800, and Ambroz close to 300. Epidemics subsequently caused significant population decline. However, by the end of the 19th century, the abolition of the hemp monopoly and the rise of the sugar beet industry brought an influx of new settlers across the province.
Subsequently, in the 20th century, tobacco, a new crop introduced from the Americas, became an important part of the local economy. This crop remains a defining feature of the valley’s landscape, both in terms of the tobacco plantations and the traditional drying sheds that give these valley towns their distinctive character.
Ambroz, Belicena, and Purchil merged into the single municipality of Vegas del Genil on 30 April 1976. The municipal capital was established in Purchil, as it lies midway between the other two.