History
Lanjarón first appears in history under the Alhamar dynasty around 1231. Historians such as Ginés Pérez de Hita and Diego Hurtado de Mendoza believe that two Moorish tribes, led by Joraidan and Gil "El Barbari", arrived in Lanjarón in the tenth century. This caused demographic growth and improvements to existing structures, including the promotion of agriculture and livestock, the creation of a new irrigation system, flour mills, bakery ovens, lime and plaster mills, and industries producing esparto and silk. This initiated an economic boom in the area.
Lanjarón remained in Muslim hands until the fall of the Kingdom of Granada in 1492, when it passed into Christian hands; however, its original inhabitants were permitted to remain in the town. This would be the origin of the most turbulent events in Lanjarón's history due to the Morisco rebellion. These were former Muslims who had been forcibly converted to Christianity. They rebelled at the end of 1568 in a failed attempt to regain their old customs and religion.
On 26 December 1568, the rebels arrived in Lanjarón and found the old Christians, who had been brought to repopulate the kingdom, taking refuge in the church, fearful for their lives. The rebels surrounded the church and set it on fire, resulting in the deaths of sixteen people and the complete destruction of the building. Troops sent by Felipe II under the command of his illegitimate brother, Don Juan de Austria, finally put an end to the rebellion.
Such tragic events were not repeated in Lanjarón, and life in the town has continued peacefully ever since. However, at the end of the nineteenth century, there were some upheavals due to natural causes: earthquakes and cholera epidemics devastated the area for a time.
The twentieth century finally arrived, but industrialisation did not reach Lanjarón. It was only in the last third of the century that tourism provided this town with some respite.