San Javier () is a small town and

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

in the autonomous community and province of Murcia in southeastern

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. The municipality is situated at the northern end of Murcia's

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western Europe, Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa ...

coastline, the

Costa Cálida The Costa Cálida (, "Warm Coast") is the approximately 250 km stretch of Mediterranean coastline of the Spain, Spanish provinces of Spain, province of Region of Murcia, Murcia. This region has a micro-climate which features comparatively hot ...

History

There is little trace in the historical and archaeological record of early human habitation in the municipality itself. There is, however, evidence of prehistoric human presence at several nearby locations, including Cabezo Gordo hill in

Torre-Pacheco Torre-Pacheco () is a municipality in the autonomous community of Murcia in southeastern Spain. It covers an area of 189.4 km² and its population in 2019 was 35,676. The only high ground in the municipality is Cabezo Gordo hill, the locatio ...

and the salty coastal lagoon, the Mar Menor. San Javier was prized for its climate in

Roman Hispania Hispania ( la, Hispānia , ; nearly identically pronounced in Spanish, Portuguese, Catalan, and Italian) was the Roman name for the Iberian Peninsula and its provinces. Under the Roman Republic, Hispania was divided into two provinces: Hispania ...

, and for the Mar Menor, where a

salt industry Salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl), a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of salts; salt in the form of a natural crystalline mineral is known as rock salt or halite. Salt is present in vast quantiti ...

developed. Traces of

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

and

Carthaginian The term Carthaginian ( la, Carthaginiensis ) usually refers to a citizen of Ancient Carthage. It can also refer to: * Carthaginian (ship), a three-masted schooner built in 1921 * Insurgent privateers; nineteenth-century South American privateers, ...

presence remain. A major Roman road, the ''

Via Augusta The ''Via Augusta'' (also known as the ''Via Herculea'' or ''Via Exterior'') was the longest and busiest of the major roads built by the Romans in ancient Hispania (the Iberian Peninsula). According to historian Pierre Sillières, who has super ...

'', passes through the area and there are several underwater sites where, among other artefacts, pots and amphorae have been found. In

Al-Andalus Al-Andalus translit. ; an, al-Andalus; ast, al-Ándalus; eu, al-Andalus; ber, ⴰⵏⴷⴰⵍⵓⵙ, label= Berber, translit=Andalus; ca, al-Àndalus; gl, al-Andalus; oc, Al Andalús; pt, al-Ândalus; es, al-Ándalus () was the M ...

, during Islamic rule in the

Iberian Peninsula The Iberian Peninsula (), ** * Aragonese and Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica'' ** ** * french: Péninsule Ibérique * mwl, Península Eibérica * eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in southwestern Europe, def ...

, while there was little Arab or Berber presence in the territory of the current municipality there is evidence of use of their fishing technology, known in Spanish as ''encañizada''. Muslim presence is also attested in nearby

Los Alcázares Los Alcázares () is a municipality and a coastal spa town and former fishing village on the western side of the Mar Menor in the autonomous community and province of Murcia, southeastern Spain. The Mar Menor (little sea) belongs to three othe ...

, where walls and cisterns from this period remain. When King Alfonso X of Castile conquered the

taifa The ''taifas'' (singular ''taifa'', from ar, طائفة ''ṭā'ifa'', plural طوائف ''ṭawā'if'', a party, band or faction) were the independent Muslim principalities and kingdoms of the Iberian Peninsula (modern Portugal and Spain), re ...

of Murcia, the coastal area was only sparsely occupied, by shepherds and fishermen. The

Huerta de Murcia A huerta () or horta (, ), from Latin ''hortus'', "garden", is an irrigation, irrigated area, or a field within such an area, common in Spain and Portugal, where a variety of vegetables and fruit trees are cultivated for family consumption and sa ...

and Mar Menor regions were gradually repopulated between the 13th and 16th centuries. Some of the families obtaining property near the Mar Menor took their surnames from the local area: Lo de Tacón, Saavedra, Roda, Galtero y Aledo. New churches and chapels were built as new population centres developed. At the beginning of the 18th century, one of these small churches founded the hamlet of San Javier. By 1809, the population of the villages of San Javier, Roda and La Calavera was 428. During the three years of the '' Trienio Liberal'' (1820–1823), a number of town councils were established in the Huerta de Murcia and Mar Menor regions. One of these was in San Javier. When this period ended, the town council of San Javier was abolished and the area once again became a district of the municipality of Murcia. The San Javier town council was reinstated in 1836. Over the last 30 years of the 19th century, economic hardship and poverty in the municipality led inhabitants to migrate to find work as farmhands and miners, in La Unión in Murcia and Oran in Algeria. At the close of the 19th century the area had 3,770 inhabitants, of whom half were farmers and the remainder fishermen and artisans. Some families prospered despite local poverty, becoming wealthy through dealings in land. A new middle class of administrators of country estates, entrepreneurs, mine owners, moneylenders and farmers emerged. Settlement of the area known today as Santiago de la Ribera began in 1888. A Naval Flying School was founded in San Javier in 1932. In 1943, the San Javier General Air Force Academy (''Academia General del Aire'') was established, founding a new neighbourhood, Ciudad del Aire.

Administrative divisions

The administrative perimeter of the municipality includes the town and ten smaller villages. Of these, the last two in the list are located on the coast: *El Mirador *La Grajuela *Roda *Los Sáez de Tarquinales *Pozo Aledo *Los Pinos *Lo Llerena *La Calavera *

Santiago de la Ribera San Javier () is a small town and municipality in the autonomous community and province of Murcia in southeastern Spain. The municipality is situated at the northern end of Murcia's Mediterranean coastline, the Costa Cálida. History There i ...

* La Manga del Mar Menor

Climate

Aerodrome

military aerodrome An air base (sometimes referred to as a military air base, military airfield, military airport, air station, naval air station, air force station, or air force base) is an aerodrome used as a military base by a military force for the operation ...

was built in Santiago de la Ribera before the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, link ...

. Its Bomber School (''Escuela de Vuelo de Alta Velocidad'') and Multi-Engine Aircraft School ''(Escuela de polimotores)'' were used by the Spanish Republican Air Force to train military pilots.Memoria republicana — SBHAC. Estructura orgánica de las FARE
/ref> After the Civil War, the airfield was used by the Spanish Air Force as an occasional landing facility. Currently it is the location of

Murcia–San Javier Airport Murcia–San Javier Airport is a military air base and former civilian passenger airport located in San Javier, southeast of Murcia, Spain. It is owned by the Spanish Air and Space Force. It was replaced (after several delays) by the new Regi� ...

, which was to August 2018 the largest in the Region of Murcia.Ejército del Aire - Academia General del Aire (AGA)

Notable people

* Antonio Cañadas, footballer

References

External links

Ayuntamiento de San Javier
(In Spanish)
San Javier - Región de Murcia Digital
(In Spanish)

{{authority control Municipalities in the Region of Murcia Populated coastal places in Spain