History of Competa
Writen evidence about Competa points to its origins in the period of Moorish rule. However the town's name may have a Roman etymology: specifically, the Latin phrase 'Compita-Orum', meaning 'crossing of roads'. This was where the Romans held their feasts and offerings. It was also a place to buy and sell goods. It is believed that this is where the town originated, as there are no written documents to support any other theory.
During the Moorish period, Competa was probably little more than a farmstead. The first written record of Cómpeta is from 1487, when the Moorish villages in Sierra de Bentomiz surrendered to the Catholic Monarchs. From that time onwards, the village came under the authority of the magistrate of Vélez.
A significant event in the village's history occurred when the prominent Morisco (a Moorish convert to Christianity) Martîn Alcacîn participated in the Moorish rebellion. Having sworn allegiance to the king and the magistrate of Vélez, and enjoying a reputation as a fair man, he was made responsible for defending the village and collecting the farda, the 'tax' paid by Morisco converts to the crown.
Towards the end of the rebellion, following the deaths of its leaders, including Aben Humeya and his cousin Aben Aboo, Alcacín proclaimed himself King of Mount Bentomiz. He occupied the castle with many local inhabitants. They were finally defeated in June 1569; most of the Moriscos perished, while others fled, leaving Cómpeta abandoned.
A manuscript in the local church records that the first marriage between Christians took place in February 1573. It is also known that the redistribution of land to settlers from Granada, Córdoba and Seville began in 1570.
Construction of the Church of Nuestra Señora de la Asunción began after the Great Lisbon Earthquake. This church was badly damaged by the Andalusia Earthquake on Christmas Day in 1884.
The local economy was based on agriculture. Terraces were created and used almost exclusively for growing vines. The phylloxera plague of the late 19th century affected all the towns in Axarquía, including Cómpeta. More resistant vines were introduced here in the 1920s. Raisins, avocados and other tropical fruits are also produced here today.
However, since the turn of the millennium, Cómpeta has grown significantly, primarily due to an influx of foreigners, particularly Germans, Danes and British.