History of Algarinejo
The area has likely been inhabited since the Lower Paleolithic, approximately 400,000 years ago, according to archaeological remains found in the Iznájar Reservoir. The early, primitive populations were replaced, around 3000 BC, by more evolved ones who lived in huts made with stone bases and covered with mud. They were sedentary communities dedicated to agriculture and livestock, who located their villages in the low-lying plains of the area, at the intersections of cattle trails, next to springs, pastures, and meadows in the area, and always close to mining sites.
This peasant farming system, which remained stable for about 1,500 years, transformed with the migration of the population to more sheltered areas in the mountains. They settled on the slopes of steep, spurred hills, also at the intersections of cattle trails. Livestock raising was an activity that gained greater importance at this time, although it did not completely abandon agriculture, as the exploitation of small plains near springs continued. Metallurgy also gained great interest, due to the existence of copper-bearing veins.
The origin of the urban centre of Algarinejo dates back to Roman times, according to archaeological excavations carried out in 1990 in Huerto Megías, where the remains of a villa (Roman rural house) dating from the first and fourth centuries, dedicated to agricultural production, were discovered. However, since Algarinejo shares territory and history with the western Granada region, it is highly likely that this same site was previously occupied by Iberians, specifically Bastetanos. In addition to the farms, Algarinejo still contains numerous vestiges inherited from the Romans: mills, water wheels, ovens, wells, irrigation ditches, ponds, and mines. These Roman societies complemented their agricultural and livestock farming with artisanal industries, most notably iron mining.
However, livestock farming was the activity that flourished most under Roman rule, due to the exceptional terrain conditions for its development, with the existence of large holm oak pastures and fertile meadows. The Romans established an important network of cattle trails that connected the small vicus, groups of rural dwellings, with each other, located at crossroads and on paths near the plains. Algarinejo’s position within this network of roads was strategic, as it lay at the centre of the Loja–Priego–Iznájar–Montefrío axis. The Royal Loja–Priego path is undoubtedly the heir to this Roman layout. Today, there are numerous vestiges of this ancient network of cattle trails that cross the municipality, such as sections of road, important settlements, ponds, and fountains that are still in use today.
With the Germanic, or Visigothic, invasion, a process of ruralisation began, and the population abandoned the cities. The population sought refuge in the nearby hills, with the consequent abandonment of agriculture in favour of activities such as livestock farming and mining.
Algarinejo is one of the municipalities where the imprint of Arab domination has endured the longest, not only in the configuration of its urban centre, but also in its agricultural and artisanal practices. Following the military conquest of the southern Iberian Peninsula by the Arabs in the eighth century, indigenous communities formed by Christian Mozarabs remained in the territory of Algarinejo. The town belonged to this Mozarabic state, which resisted the pressure of the Cordoban armies and served as a strategic gateway to the city of Priego, one of the main strongholds of the State of Hafsun.
With the end of the Spanish Civil War, Hafsun’s Mozarabic adventure ended, and the victorious Emir of Córdoba, Abd al-Rahman III, assumed power. During this period, Algarinejo experienced an economic revival and the reuse of ancient Roman roads. Its inhabitants were primarily ranchers and farmers who cultivated their orchards on terraces, defended by a network of small fortresses and watchtowers that remained operational until the reign of the Nasrids. It is in this context that Turrush Tower (or Cesna Castle) was erected. The fort was occupied by soldiers of Syrian origin, mercenaries who were granted this territory as a reward for their participation in the Civil War against the Mozarabs. From this enclave, the Syrian soldiers controlled the Córdoba-Granada communication axis, vital for ensuring the transit of goods between the two most important cities of Al-Andalus. Under the rule of the Córdoba Caliphate, small farmsteads also emerged, forming the basis of many of today's villages, such as La Viña, Fuentes de Cesna, El Raso, El Chite, and Algarinejo itself.
The Western Granada region, as a territorial entity, was integrated as a geographical, political, and administrative unit of the Nasrid Kingdom in the eleventh century. It was during this period, between the tenth and eleventh centuries, that the Andalusian settlement of Algarinejo was formed.
Under the Nasrid reign, Algarinejo became one of their most important defensive bastions, located on the border with the Castilian dominions. The border between the two states remained in place for 300 years, between the early thirteenth and late fifteenth centuries. It was an unstable border, but at the same time, open to the exchange of products and commercial traffic through the already established Roman road network and the construction of bridges and other new communication routes, where goods were subject to inspections and taxes on the movement of livestock, the main economic basis of the area at that time. This frenetic border market led to a fairly dense population, a population that increased with the immigration to Algarinejo of Andalusians from the northern lands conquered by the Castilians.
The Arab period was very important for the rural environment, where the hydraulic works of the Roman era were exploited and improved: dams, mills and canals, and complex irrigation networks were created.
Algarinejo was reconquered by the Crown of Castile in 1483, without facing much resistance. On this same date, the Battle of Lucena took place, in which the last of the Nasrid Kings of Granada, Boabdil, was captured in Cenes by supporters of Isabel la Católica (Diego Fernández de Córdoba y Carrillo, 2nd Viscount of Iznájar and Count of Cabra, accompanied by his nephew, Diego Fernández de Córdoba de Espejo, warden of the Donceles), and later taken to the prison of Porcuna.
The final years of the fifteenth century were marked by instability and constant clashes between councils, which disputed the boundaries and the possession of the new lands seized from the Nasrids. Thus, in 1487, the cities of Loja and Iznájar entered into a dispute over the possession of some territories in Algarinejo, such as Fuentes de Cesna, a conflict that was ultimately resolved in favour of Loja. From this moment on, Algarinejo became part of the Loja jurisdiction.
In 1570, the decree expelling the Moriscos was issued. Although depopulation affected the economy, the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries were generally relatively prosperous, both economically and demographically. With the arrival of new settlers, a new urban layout was established, predominantly a grid-like layout around a central square, although the Moorish layout of its old quarters persisted. Furthermore, its domains were converted into a manorial territory, under the tutelage of the Marquisate of Algarinejo.
After the Reconquista and until 1578, Algarinejo belonged to Pedro de Montalbán. Their lands were later confiscated by the Inquisition and sold as a manor to Francisco de Lisón y Saorín, born in Montefrío. In 1614, Algarinejo was sold again by Felipe III to Francisco de Lisón’s son, Mateo de Lisón y Viedma. In 1669, Algarinejo changed hands again and was sold to the grandson of Mateo de Lisón y Viedma: Juan Fernández de Córdova, the first Marquis of Algarinejo.
In the nineteenth century, according to Pascual Madoz in his Geographical, Statistical, and Historical Dictionary of Spain and its Overseas Possessions (1845), Algarinejo was a town with a provincial council, diocese, former territory and Captaincy General of Granada, judicial district of Montefrío, and revenue administration of Loja. At the end of the nineteenth century, the bucket mills for grinding grain, powered by water, were replaced by flour mills powered by electricity. Other industries such as soap factories, numerous olive oil mills, and soda factories were established due to the quality of their water.
At the beginning of the twentieth century, Algarinejo reached over 10,000 inhabitants. However, it was also during this period that the town’s decline began. This was further compounded by the Spanish Civil War, during which the town once again became a frontier between the Nationalist troops from Granada, who had captured the town, and the Republican troops quartered in Priego de Córdoba. This tragic event in Spanish history was followed by the terrible episode of emigration in the 1960s, from which Algarinejo, even today, has not recovered. From 1955 to 1981, the municipality’s inhabitants emigrated mainly to Palma de Mallorca, Catalonia, and, to a lesser extent, abroad.