History
The village of Maracena dates back to the Roman era, when it was an agricultural village known as Maratius. In 1964, the remains of a Roman villa were discovered at Casería Titos. Among these remains were tiles, the remains of a hand mill and a pedestal bearing an epigraphic inscription in which a certain Publius Cornelius Callico dedicates a votive offering to the goddess Stata Matrem
The earliest documented references to Maracena recount the exploits of an Arab leader named Sauwar ibn Hamdun. Born in Maracena in the ninth century, he commanded troops against the Muladí rebellion led by Omar ben Hafsún. Centuries later, on 26th January 1126 the Aragonese King Alfonso I 'El Batallador', passed through Maracena, on the reconquest and destroyed the town.
The Battle of La Higueruela also took place near Maracena in Sierra Elvira (in todays municipal district of Atarafe (37.237514 N and 3.707944 W) on 1 July 1431. The royal camp of the Castilian king, Juan II, was based in Maracena, and, according to the monarch's chronicler, part of the battle took place in Andaraxemel, a Maracena farmland bordering the area of the same name in Peligros
The final reconquest of the Granada Taifa (Nasrid Kingdom) by the Catholic Monarchs began on May 1491 in the Acequia Gorda area (between Maracena and Atarfe) when the knight Don Martín Vázquez de Arce, better known as the Doncel de Sigüenza, was killed.
Following the capture of Granada by the Castilians, the pressure exerted by the Christian victors on the defeated Muslims throughout the Kingdom of Granada changed. In Maracena, however, these changes were not particularly noticeable, as the population remained predominantly Moorish and Arabic-speaking. Everything changed after the Moorish Rebellion of the Alpujarras in 1568, which resulted in the expulsion of the Moors from the entire Kingdom of Granada. The subsequent repopulation was primarily with people from northern Castile, La Rioja and Navarre.
In modern times, Maracena had to adapt to the new ways of life and economy that were introduced, and the cultivation of flax and hemp began, in addition to the traditional cultivation of fruit, vegetables and vines in the Vega Alta del Genil area, which has been practised since Roman times. It was at this time that a privileged upper class emerged, originating from noble settlers who arrived in the last decade of the sixteenth century. The Loaysa family eventually became the Counts of Arco and Guaro, and they owned a farmhouse in Maracena with gardens in the style of Versailles, popularly known as the Casería del Conde.
In the 20th century, several leading families — the Rojas, the Zuritas, the Martínez-Cañavates and the Ballesteros — monopolised the meat industry in Granada province and much of the southern peninsula through their respective businesses. The most notable of these was the Nuestra Señora del Rosario factory owned by the Martínez-Cañavate brothers, which remained standing until 1980 although production ceased in the 1960s.
Since the end of the 20th century, Maracena has been a thriving municipality and a prominent residential area due to its active economic, cultural and sporting scene, making it a key location on the outskirts of the capital.