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 arab Muxacra, and finally the current name of Mojácar.

Murgis-Akra 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. On June 10, 1488, the town was annexed to the Kingdom of Castile.

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.[1]

Several severe droughts brought about this drop in the town's fortunes, with a consequent emigration to other parts of Spain, Europe or Hispanic America. The depopulation of the town was halted in the 1960s when tourism began to reverse the trend.[2]