History of Alcalá la Real
Alcalá la Real is situated in a strategic area connecting the Guadalquivir Valley (through the Guadajoz River) with the Granada plains, through the Frailes and Velillos Rivers. Its position has made it fundamentally important to communication routes throughout history, particularly when the surrounding area became a border zone with the Kingdom of Granada during the Middle Ages. Human occupation within the municipal term as far back as the Paleolithic era has been attested by archaeological digs. Evidence from subsequent prehistoric phases has also been unearthed, including the Neolithic, Chalcolithic and Bronze Ages. From the Final Bronze Age, in the ancient Iberian phases, small-scale Iberian settlements can be seen, such as the nuclei of La Gineta and La Mesa de la Ribera Alta. From Roman times, the first evidence of occupation of the hill of La Mota is noted, which can be identified as the first remains of Alcalá itself, although it may be the case that these Roman buildings destroyed the previous Iberian strata.
According to A.U. Stylow, the Roman place name, Sucaelo, would correspond to Alcalá la Real. In 713 AD, with the Muslim conquest, the city was renamed Qal’at Astalīr, then, in the ninth century, Qal’at Yahsub and later, in the middle of the seventeenth century, it was known as Qal’at Banī Sa'īd, translating to ‘fortress of the Bani Sa’id or Sa’id family’, or Al-Qal’a. Also from the Muslim period, specifically the reign of Alhakén II (961-976), dates the important network of towers or watchtowers that were erected to defend the territory. Today, eleven of the fifteen original watchtowers still survive, five of them of Christian origin and the rest Muslim. These towers once established a defensive belt around the main watchtower, which was the fortress of La Mota. After the dissolution of the Caliphate and its split into the Taifa Kingdoms, Al-Qal’a became a stronghold of the Ziri Kingdom, from which numerous incursions were made against neighbouring territories. In 1075, a fortress exchange took place between the Taifa Kings of Seville and Granada. Alcalá passed back to the Granada Kingdom and Estepa to the Sevillian Kingdom, thanks to the agreement between the two Kings, Abd Allāh I of Córdoba and Al-Mu’tamid.
In 1125, King Alfonso I of Aragón, knowing the dissatisfaction of the numerous Christian-Mozarabic populations in Muslim territory, in the face of the increase in religious fanaticism of the new North African Almoravid religious current, entered Andalusia, travelled through Alcalá la Real, Luque, Baena, Écija, Cabra and Lucena where he defeated Abū Bakr, son of the Emir, Alī ibn Yūsuf in Arnisol, Arinzol or Aranzuel, current Anzul (today in the municipality of Puente Genil), on March 10, 1126. Accompanied by many liberated Christian-Mozarabic, perhaps including some Alcalaínos, he returned to the Kingdom of Aragon where they settled. The Mozarabs of al-Andalus who did not flee to Aragón, in retaliation, were severely punished and, for the most part, deported to Morocco.
Around 1140, the Castle of La Mota became a true fortress, one of the most important nuclei of al-Andalus under the aegis of the Banu Sa’id family. This family of literati and historians did not want to submit to the Almohad dynasty and had the courage to rebel, which cost them the imprisonment of their Governor, Abd al-Malik ben Said. He was later pardoned and returned freed from Morocco back to Alcalá. During the Almohad era, the Almohad Jews refused to convert to Islam and, for this, they were punished. The survivors headed north, finding in Toledo the necessary tolerance to build another community where Jewish culture was able to develop greatly.
Finally, Alcalá was conquered on August 15, 1341 by Alfonso XI of Castile, who gave it the Royal title (la Real). This particular conquest of the town led to the addition of a key on its shield, still visible today, a symbol of its strategic importance. In 1432, King Juan II of Castile granted it the status of a city.
After the conquest of the Kingdom of Granada, Alcalá la Real lost its strategic value. A gradual migration of the population took place from the Cerro de La Mota to the flat lands located at the foot of the hill, where the city could grow. It was at this point that the Municipal Council itself was transferred from La Mota to the current Town Hall in the seventeenth century. This abandonment of La Mota culminated after the War of Independence and the defeat of the Napoleonic forces, who occupied the fortress of La Mota from 1810 to 1812, abandoning it after a fire.
During the Spanish Civil War, within the framework of the so-called “Olive” Campaign, Alcalá la Real, Lopera and Porcuna were the only towns in the province taken by the rebellious side, stabilizing the front thus configured until the end of the War. Before falling into rebel hands, it was bombed on several occasions by Franco’s forces.