Context of Andalusia

Andalusia (UK: , US: ; Spanish: Andalucía [andaluˈθi.a]) is the southernmost autonomous community in Peninsular Spain. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomous community in the country. It is officially recognised as a "historical nationality". The territory is divided into eight provinces: Almería, Cádiz, Córdoba, Granada, Huelva, Jaén, Málaga, and Seville. Its capital city is Seville. The seat of the High Court of Justice of Andalusia is located in the city of Granada.

Andalusia is located in the south of the Iberian Peninsula, in southwestern Europe, immediately south of the autonomous communities of Extremadura and Castilla-La Mancha; west of the autonomous community of Murcia and the Mediterranean Sea; east of Portugal and the Atl...Read more

Andalusia (UK: , US: ; Spanish: Andalucía [andaluˈθi.a]) is the southernmost autonomous community in Peninsular Spain. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomous community in the country. It is officially recognised as a "historical nationality". The territory is divided into eight provinces: Almería, Cádiz, Córdoba, Granada, Huelva, Jaén, Málaga, and Seville. Its capital city is Seville. The seat of the High Court of Justice of Andalusia is located in the city of Granada.

Andalusia is located in the south of the Iberian Peninsula, in southwestern Europe, immediately south of the autonomous communities of Extremadura and Castilla-La Mancha; west of the autonomous community of Murcia and the Mediterranean Sea; east of Portugal and the Atlantic Ocean; and north of the Mediterranean Sea and the Strait of Gibraltar. Gibraltar shares a 1.2 kilometres (34 mi) land border with the Andalusian portion of the province of Cádiz at the eastern end of the Strait of Gibraltar.

The main mountain ranges of Andalusia are the Sierra Morena and the Baetic System, consisting of the Subbaetic and Penibaetic Mountains, separated by the Intrabaetic Basin. In the north, the Sierra Morena separates Andalusia from the plains of Extremadura and Castile–La Mancha on Spain's Meseta Central. To the south, the geographic subregion of Upper Andalusia lies mostly within the Baetic System, while Lower Andalusia is in the Baetic Depression of the valley of the Guadalquivir.

The name "Andalusia" is derived from the Arabic word Al-Andalus (الأندلس), which in turn may be derived from the Vandals, the Goths or pre-Roman Iberian tribes. The toponym al-Andalus is first attested by inscriptions on coins minted in 716 by the new Muslim government of Iberia. These coins, called dinars, were inscribed in both Latin and Arabic. The region's history and culture have been influenced by the Tartessians, Iberians, Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Greeks, Romans, Vandals, Visigoths, Byzantines, Berbers, Arabs, Jews, Romanis and Castilians. During the Islamic Golden Age, Córdoba surpassed Constantinople to be Europe's biggest city, and became the capital of Al-Andalus and a prominent center of education and learning in the world, producing numerous philosophers and scientists. The Castilian and other Christian North Iberian nationalities reconquered and settled the area in the latter phases of the Reconquista.

Andalusia has historically been an agricultural region, compared to the rest of Spain and the rest of Europe. Still, the growth of the community in the sectors of industry and services was above average in Spain and higher than many communities in the Eurozone. The region has a rich culture and a strong identity. Many cultural phenomena that are seen internationally as distinctively Spanish are largely or entirely Andalusian in origin. These include flamenco and, to a lesser extent, bullfighting and Hispano-Moorish architectural styles, both of which are also prevalent in some other regions of Spain.

Andalusia's hinterland is the hottest area of Europe, with cities like Córdoba and Seville averaging above 36 °C (97 °F) in summer high temperatures. These high temperatures, typical of the Guadalquivir valley (and other valleys in southern Iberia) are usually reached between 5 p.m. and 9 p.m. (local time), tempered by sea and mountain breezes afterwards. However, during heat waves late evening temperatures can locally stay around 35 °C (95 °F) until close to midnight, and daytime highs of over 40 °C (104 °F) are common. Seville also has the highest average annual temperature in mainland Spain and mainland Europe (19.2 °C, 66.6 °F), closely followed by Almería (19.1 °C, 66.4 °F).

More about Andalusia

Basic information
  • Native name Andalucía
Population, Area & Driving side
  • Population 8472407
  • Area 87268
History
  •  
    In the Caves of Nerja there are paintings of seals, possibly made by Neanderthals, that are dated to 42,000 years ago; they are the oldest known works of art by humans.[1]

    The geostrategic position of Andalusia in the extreme south of Europe, providing (along with Morocco) a gateway between Europe and Africa, added to its position between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, as well as its rich deposits of minerals and its agricultural wealth, have made Andalusia a tempting prize for civilizations since prehistoric times....Read more

     
    In the Caves of Nerja there are paintings of seals, possibly made by Neanderthals, that are dated to 42,000 years ago; they are the oldest known works of art by humans.[1]

    The geostrategic position of Andalusia in the extreme south of Europe, providing (along with Morocco) a gateway between Europe and Africa, added to its position between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, as well as its rich deposits of minerals and its agricultural wealth, have made Andalusia a tempting prize for civilizations since prehistoric times. Add to this its area of 87,268 square kilometres (33,694 sq mi) (larger than many European countries), and it can be no surprise that Andalusia has figured prominently in the history of Europe and the Mediterranean.

    Several theories postulate that the first hominids in Europe were in Andalusia, having passed across the Strait of Gibraltar; the earliest known paintings of humanity have been found in the Caves of Nerja, Málaga. The first settlers, based on artifacts from the archaeological sites at Los Millares, El Argar, and Tartessos, were clearly influenced by cultures of the Eastern Mediterranean who arrived on the Andalusian coast. Andalusia then went through a period of protohistory, when the region did not have a written language of its own, but its existence was known to and documented by literate cultures, principally the Phoenicians and Ancient Greeks, wide historical moment in which Cádiz was founded, regarded by many as the oldest city still standing in Western Europe;[2] another city among the oldest is Málaga. During the second millennium BCE, the kingdom of Tartessos developed in Andalusia.[3]

    Carthaginians and Romans
     
    Italica, Santiponce

    With the fall of the original Phoenician cities in the East, Carthage – itself the most significant Phoenician colony – became the dominant sea power of the western Mediterranean and the most important trading partner for the Phoenician towns along the Andalusian coast. Between the First and Second Punic Wars, Carthage extended its control beyond Andalucia to include all of Iberia except the Basque Country. Some of the more prominent Andalusian cities during Carthaginian rule include Gadir (Cadiz), Qart Juba (Córdoba), Ilipa (near modern Seville), Malaka (Málaga) and Sexi or Seksi (near modern Almuñécar). Andalusia was the major staging ground for the war with Rome led by the Carthaginian general Hannibal. The Romans defeated the Carthaginians and conquered Andalusia, the region being renamed Baetica.[3] It was fully incorporated into the Roman Empire, and from this region came many Roman magistrates and senators, as well as the emperors Trajan and (most likely) Hadrian.

    Vandals, Visigoths and the Byzantine Empire

    The Vandals moved briefly through the region during the 5th century AD before settling in North Africa, after which the region fell into the hands of the Visigothic Kingdom. The Visigoths in this region were practically independent of the Visigothic Catholic Kingdom of Toledo. This is the era of Saints Isidore of Seville and Hermenegild. During this period, around 555 AD, the Eastern Roman Empire conquered Andalusia under Justinian I, the Eastern Roman emperor. They established Spania, a province of the Byzantine Empire from 552 until 624. Though their holdings were quickly reduced, they continued to have interests in the region until it was lost altogether in 624.

    Al-Andalus states
     
    The Caliphate of Córdoba in the early 10th century

    The Visigothic era came to an abrupt end in 711 with the Umayyad conquest of Hispania by the Muslim Umayyad general Tariq ibn Ziyad.[3] Tariq is known in Umayyad history and legend as a formidable conqueror who dared and bore the nerve to burn his fleet of ships, when he landed with his troops on the coast of Gibraltar – an acronym of "Jabel alTariq" meaning "the mountain of Tariq". When the Muslim invaders seized control and consolidated their dominion of the region, they remained tolerant of the local faiths, but they also needed a place for their own faith. In the 750s, they forcibly rented half of Córdoba 's Cathedral of San Vicente (Visigothic) to use as a mosque.[4]

     
    Great Mosque of Córdoba

    The mosque's hypostyle plan, consisting of a rectangular prayer hall and an enclosed courtyard, followed a tradition established in the Umayyad and Abbasid mosques of Syria and Iraq while the dramatic articulation of the interior of the prayer hall was unprecedented. The system of columns supporting double arcades of piers and arches with alternating red and white voussoirs is an unusual treatment that, structurally, combined striking visual effect with the practical advantage of providing greater height within the hall. Alternating red and white voussoirs are associated with Umayyad monuments such as the Great Mosque of Damascus and the Dome of the Rock. Their use in the Great Mosque of Córdoba manages to create a stunningly original visual composition even as it emphasises 'Abd al-Rahman's connection to the established Umayyad tradition.[5]

    In this period, the name "Al-Andalus" was applied to the Iberian Peninsula, and later it referred to the parts not controlled by the Gothic states in the North. The Muslim rulers in Al-Andalus were economic invaders and interested in collecting taxes; social changes imposed on the native populace were mainly confined to geographical, political and legal conveniences.[citation needed] Al-Andalus remained connected to other states under Muslim rule; also trade routes between it and Constantinople and Alexandria remained open, while many cultural features of the Roman Empire were transmitted throughout Europe and the Near East by its successor state, the Byzantine Empire. Byzantine architecture is an example of such cultural diffusion continuing even after the collapse of the empire.[6]

    Nevertheless, the Guadalquivir River valley became the point of power projection in the peninsula with the Caliphate of Córdoba making Córdoba its capital. The Umayyad Caliphate produced such leaders as Caliph Abd-ar-Rahman III (ruled 912–961) and his son, Caliph Al-Hakam II (ruled 961–976) and built the magnificent Great Mosque of Córdoba . Under these rulers, Córdoba was the center of economic and cultural significance.[7]

    By the 10th century, the northern Kingdoms of Spain and other European Crowns had begun what would eventually become the Reconquista: the reconquest of the Iberian Peninsula for Christendom. Caliph Abd-ar-Rahman suffered some minor military defeats, but often managed to manipulate the Gothic northern kingdoms to act against each other's interests. Al-Hakam achieved military successes, but at the expense of uniting the north against him. In the 10th century the Saracen rulers of Andalusia had a Slavic army of 13,750 men.[8]

     
    Largest Moorish baths in Spain, in Jaén. The Emirate of Granada was the last to survive, lasting from 1228 until 1492.

    After the conquest of Toledo in 1086 by Alfonso VI, the Crown of Castille and the Crown of Aragon dominated large parts of the peninsula. The main Taifas therefore had to resort to assistance from various other powers across the Mediterranean. A number of different Muslim dynasties of North African origin—notably Almoravid dynasty and Almohad dynasty—dominated a slowly diminishing Al-Andalus over the next several centuries.[9]

    After the victory at the Battle of Sagrajas (1086) put a temporary stop to Castilian expansion, the Almoravid dynasty reunified Al-Andalus with its capital in Córdoba , ruling until the mid-12th century. The various Taifa kingdoms were assimilated. the Almohad dynasty expansion in North Africa weakened Al-Andalus, and in 1170 the Almohads transferred their capital from Marrakesh to Seville. The victory at the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa (1212) marked the beginning of the end of the Almohad dynasty.

    Crown of Castile

    The weakness caused by the collapse of Almohad power and the subsequent creation of new Taifas, each with its own ruler, led to the rapid Castile reconquest of the valley of the Guadalquivir. Córdoba was regained in 1236 and Seville in 1248. The fall of Granada on 2 January 1492 put an end to the Nasrid rule;[10] an event that marks the beginning of Andalusia, the southern four territories of the Crown of Castile in the Iberian Peninsula.

     
    View of Seville and its port in the 16th century, by Alonso Sánchez Coello.

    Seven months later, on 3 August 1492 Christopher Columbus left the town of Palos de la Frontera, Huelva, with the first expedition that resulted in the Discovery of the Americas,[11] that would end the Middle Ages and signal the beginning of modernity. Many Castilians participated in this and other expeditions that followed, some of them known as the Minor or Andalusian Journeys.

    Contacts between Spain and the Americas, including royal administration and the shipping trade from Asia and America for over three hundred years, came almost exclusively through the south of Spain, specially Seville and Cadiz ports.[12]

    As a result, it became the wealthiest, most influential region in Spain and amongst the most influential in Europe. For example, the Habsburg diverted much of this trade wealth to control its European territories.[13]

    Habsburg Spain

    In the first half of the 16th century plague was still prevalent in Spain. According to George C. Kohn, "One of the worst epidemics of the century, whose miseries were accompanied by severe drought and food shortage, started in 1505; by 1507, about 100,000 people had died in Andalusia alone. Andalusia was struck once again in 1646. For three years, plague haunted the entire region, causing perhaps as many as 200,000 deaths, especially in Málaga and Seville."[14]

     
    The Surrender of Bailén, by José Casado del Alisal, shows the moment of the interview between General Castaños and General Dupont to agree on the conditions of the surrender of the French army after the Battle of Bailén.

    A second insurrection, the Morisco Revolt (1568–1571), ensued in the Kingdom of Granada. It was crushed and the demographics of the kingdom of Granada was hammered, with the Morisco population decreasing in number by more than 100,000 including deaths, flights and deportations, contrasting with the less than 40,000 number of incoming settlers.[15]

    In 1810–12 Spanish troops strongly resisted the French occupation during the Peninsular War (part of the Napoleonic Wars).[16]

    Andalusia profited from the Spanish overseas empire, although much trade and finance eventually came to be controlled by other parts of Europe to where it was ultimately destined. In the 18th century, commerce from other parts of Spain began to displace Andalusian commerce when the Spanish government ended Andalusia's trading monopoly with the colonies in the Americas. The loss of the empire in the 1820s hurt the economy of the region, particularly the cities that had benefited from the trade and ship building. The construction of railways in the latter part of the 19th century enabled Andalusia to better develop its agricultural potential and it became an exporter of food. While industrialisation was taking off in the northern Spanish regions of Catalonia and the Basque country, Andalusia remained traditional and displayed a deep social division between a small class of wealthy landowners and a population made up largely of poor agricultural labourers and tradesmen.[citation needed]

    Francoist oppressions
     
    Province of Seville, Spanish Civil War

    Andalusia was one of the worst affected regions of Spain by Francisco Franco's brutal campaign of mass-murder and political suppression called the White Terror during and after the Spanish Civil War. The Nationalist rebels bombed and seized the working-class districts of the main Andalusian cities in the first days of the war,[17] and afterwards went on to execute thousands of workers and militants of the leftist parties: in the city of Córdoba 4,000;[18] in the city of Granada 5,000;[19] in the city of Seville 3,028;[20] and in the city of Huelva 2,000 killed and 2,500 disappeared.[21] The city of Málaga, occupied by the Nationalists in February 1937 following the Battle of Málaga, experienced one of the harshest repressions following Francoist victory with an estimated total of 17,000 people summarily executed.[22][23][24][25] Carlos Arias Navarro, then a young lawyer who as public prosecutor signed thousands of execution warrants in the trials set up by the triumphant rightists, became known as "The Butcher of Málaga" (Carnicero de Málaga).[26]

    Paul Preston estimates the total number of victims of deliberately killed by the Nationalists in Andalusia at 55,000.[27]

    ^ "La Primera Obra de Arte de la humanidad, ¿hecha por Neandertals?", abc.es, 7 February 2012 ^ Pedro Espinosa (2006). "Hallado en Cádiz un muro de 3.000 años" [Found in Cádiz a wall of 3,000 years]. EL PAÍS. Cádiz. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference Gill was invoked but never defined (see the help page). ^ Lapunzina, Alejandro (2005). Architecture of Spain. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 81. ^ "Mezquita de Córdoba". archnet.org. Archived from the original on 4 March 2015. Retrieved 20 July 2021. ^ Lapunzina, Alejandro (2005). Architecture of Spain. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 82. ^ Robinson, Francis (1999). The Cambridge illustrated history of the Islamic world. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 26. ISBN 0-521-66993-6. ^ Malcolm, Noel (1995). Povijest Bosne : kratki pregled. Erasmus Gilda : Novi Liber. p. 71. ISBN 953-6045-03-6. ^ Robinson, Francis (1999). The Cambridge illustrated history of the Islamic world. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 37. ISBN 0-521-66993-6. ^ Peter Linehan (1999). "Castile, Portugal and Navarre". In Abulafia, David (ed.). The New Cambridge Medieval History, Volume 5, c.1198–c.1300. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 674. ISBN 978-1-13905573-4. ^ Morison, Samuel Eliot (2007) [1942]. Admiral of the Ocean Sea – A Life of Christopher Columbus. Read Books. ISBN 978-1-4067-5027-0. ^ Stein, Stanley J.; Barbara H. Stein (2000). Silver, trade, and war: Spain and America in the making of early modern Europe. JHU Press. ISBN 0-8018-6135-7. ^ It is even said that in 1641, the local nobility staged an alleged conspiracy in 1641 against the policies of Count-Duke of Olivares ^ Kohn, George C. (2008). Encyclopedia of plague and pestilence: from ancient times to the present. Infobase Publishing. pp. 373–374. ISBN 978-0-8160-6935-4. ^ Villegas Molina, Francisco (1978). "Algunas consideraciones sobre la expulsión de los moriscos del Reino de Granada en el siglo XVI" (PDF). Cuadernos Geográficos de la Universidad de Granada (8): 271. ISSN 0210-5462. Archived (PDF) from the original on 9 October 2022. ^ Charles J. Esdaile, Outpost of Empire: The Napoleonic Occupation of Andalucia, 1810–1812 (University of Oklahoma Press; 2013) ^ Preston, Paul. The Spanish Civil War. Reaction, revolution & revenge. Harper Perennial. 2006. London. pp. 105–107 ^ Moreno Gómez, Francisco. 1936: el genocidio franquista en Córdoba. Editorial Crítica. Barcelona. 2008. p.12 ^ Preston, Paul. The Spanish Civil War. Reaction, revolution & revenge. Harper Perennial. 2006. London. p.107 ^ Santos Juliá, Julián Casanova, Josep Maria Solé I Sabaté, Joan Villarroya and Francisco Moreno. Victimas de la guerra civil. Ediciones Temas de Hoy. 1999. Madrid. p.410 ^ Antony Beevor, The Battle for Spain; The Spanish Civil War 1936–1939. Penguin Books. 2006. London. p.91 ^ "El "holocausto de Málaga"". 18 August 2008. Retrieved 8 May 2015. ^ La Opinión de Málaga. "San Rafael: la mayor fosa del país". Archived from the original on 8 December 2012. Retrieved 8 May 2015. ^ "Málaga, 1937". Retrieved 8 May 2015. ^ "Málaga, historia de un siglo". Retrieved 8 May 2015. ^ Hugh Thomas: Historia de la Guerra Civil Española; 1976; p. 636 ^ Preston, Paul. The Spanish Civil War. Reaction, revolution & revenge. Harper Perennial. 2006. London. p.203
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Stay safe
  • Stay safe

    When in Granada, it is advisable to avoid women who are offering plants (usually heather). They will offer you a plant for free, and then when you accept it will read your palm and then demand money. If you refuse to give it to them, they may start screaming at you and it is a situation that you will generally want to avoid having to occur. Aside from this, the area is generally very safe, but one should still take the usual precautions, especially in Malaga, Seville, etc.

Phrasebook

Internet
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Jalar
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Lo siento
Women
Mujeres
Excuse me
Perdóneme
Please
Por favor
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