Mojácar

Municipality

Seal

Mojácar

Location in Spain.

Coordinates: 37°08′25″N 1°51′05″W / 37.14028°N 1.85139°W

Country

Spain

Government

• Mayor

Rosa Maria Cano Montoya (PP)

Area

• Total

72 km² (28 sq mi)

Elevation

152 m (499 ft)

Population (2014)

• Total

6,838

• Density

95/km² (250/sq mi)

Demonym(s)

Mojaqueros

Time zone

CET (UTC+1)

• Summer (DST)

CEST (UTC+2)

Mojácar (Spanish pronunciation: [moˈxakaɾ]) is a municipality situated in the south east of the Province of Almería (Andalucia) in southern Spain, bordering the Mediterranean Sea. It is 90 km from the capital of the province, Almería. It is an elevated mountain village displaying the traditional white colour from its earlier days. There is also a tourist resort to the south of the town, on the coast, called Mojacar Playa.

Mojácar has been inhabited by many different groups since antiquity. Populated since the Bronze Age around 2000 BC, traders such as the Phoenicians and Carthaginians arrived to serve the growing communities. Under Greek dominion, the settlement was called Murgis-Akra, whence came the Latinized Moxacar, the Moorish Muxacra and finally the current name of Mojácar. The North African Islamic Moors established themselves in Spain in the early 8th century and the province of Almería came under the authority of the Caliphate of Damascus, and was later ruled by the Umayyads of Córdoba.

Under this second enlightened rule, Mojácar quickly grew in size and importance. With the coronation of Muhammad I of Córdoba in Granada, Mojácar and its lands became incorporated into the Nasrid sultanate, and the town found itself on the frontier with the Christian forces to the east. Watchtowers and fortresses were built, or reinforced, during the 14th century, which nevertheless did little to discourage Christian incursions and fierce battles such as the bloody event of 1435 when much of the population of Mojácar was put to the sword.

On June 10, 1488, the leaders of the region agreed to submit to the Christian forces, although Mojácar's alcaide refused to attend, considering his town to be already Spanish. At that time there was a meeting at Mojácar's Moorish fountain, where a pact of free association between the local Moors, Jews and Christians was agreed. Mojácar, once again, began to expand until the early 18th century, when the census of the time recorded 10,000 people. Around the middle of the 19th century, Mojácar began another period of decline.

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Wikipedia