Alcalá de Guadaíra () is a town located approximately 17 km southeast of

Seville Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spain, Spanish autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the Guadalquivir, River Guadalquivir, ...

, Spain; in recent years the expansion of Seville has meant that Alcalá has become a suburb of that city. Alcalá used to be known as ''Alcalá de los Panaderos'' (Alcalá of the Bakers) because it provided most of Seville's bread. The town is located on the banks of the

Guadaíra The Guadaíra is a river that runs through the province of Seville, in Andalusia, southern Spain. Its name contains the same ''guad'' root as the much larger Río Guadalquivir, coming from the Arabic word ''wadi'' (), meaning "river valley". The ...

River, and

watermill A watermill or water mill is a mill that uses hydropower. It is a structure that uses a water wheel or water turbine to drive a mechanical process such as mill (grinding), milling (grinding), rolling, or hammering. Such processes are needed in ...

s built during the

Moorish The term Moor is an exonym used in European languages to designate the Muslim populations of North Africa (the Maghreb) and the Iberian Peninsula (particularly al-Andalus) during the Middle Ages. Moors are not a single, distinct or self-defi ...

period of Spain can still be found in the area.

History

''Irippo'', the main Turdetan city in the Guadaíra basin, was located in Mesa de Gandul (Alcalá de Guadaíra), and minted its own coin in Roman times. The site of Alcalá was taken by Muslim forces in the 8th century and their name has held to modern times. The toponym Alcalá, from the

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

القلعة ''al-qalʿa'' for fortification or citadel, is shared by many places throughout Spain. Alcalá de Guadaíra was under the domination of multiple

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

kingdoms from the

Umayyad Caliphate The Umayyad Caliphate or Umayyad Empire (, ; ) was the second caliphate established after the death of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and was ruled by the Umayyad dynasty. Uthman ibn Affan, the third of the Rashidun caliphs, was also a member o ...

in 756 to the fall of the

Almohads The Almohad Caliphate (; or or from ) or Almohad Empire was a North African Berber Muslim empire founded in the 12th century. At its height, it controlled much of the Iberian Peninsula (Al-Andalus) and North Africa (the Maghreb). The Almohad ...

in 1244. It was the Almohads who built extensive fortifications on a promontory overlooking the river. These fortifications continue to dominate the south-west side of the town. In 1244, Alcalá de Guadaíra was captured by

Ferdinand III of Castile Ferdinand III (; 1199/120130 May 1252), called the Saint (''el Santo''), was King of Castile from 1217 and King of León from 1230 as well as King of Galicia from 1231. He was the son of Alfonso IX of León and Berengaria of Castile. Through his ...

who was responsible for the refurbishing of the castle and town fortifications, which were subsequently used as a royal prison with a military presence. Following Ferdinand's death it fell into disrepair and ceased to be a prison or military barracks. Alcalá was home to a small but important Jewish community. In December 1390, Archdeacon Ferrant Martinez led a mob that razed the

synagogue A synagogue, also called a shul or a temple, is a place of worship for Jews and Samaritans. It is a place for prayer (the main sanctuary and sometimes smaller chapels) where Jews attend religious services or special ceremonies such as wed ...

to the ground. The members of the Jewish community were soon after put to the sword. This town was the birthplace of Leandro José de Flores (1776–1839), priest and historian.

Main sights

The current walls date to the 13th and 14th century. In the castle precincts is The Hermitage of Our Lady of the Eagle ( Nuestra Señora del Águila), this building dates from the mid-13th century when it was the principal church of the town. Over subsequent centuries, as the town expanded, more churches were constructed and the church of Santiago became the principal parish. Many of the valuable artifacts were taken from the hermitage to Santiago but the image of "La Virgin del Águila" remains there. The image of the virgin is a replica of the original that was destroyed in 1936. The nearby Marchenilla Castle (14th century) was built on the ruins of a

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 Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

estate.

Economy

Without doubt Alcalá de Guadaíra is an industrial town. Its industrial heritage started in the watermills constructed by the Moors on the banks of the River Guadaíra. These mills were used to grind grain to make flour which supplied bakers in the area. This led over the centuries to Alcalá's reputation as the "bread basket" of Seville. The other industry of historical times was the processing of

olives The olive, botanical name ''Olea europaea'' ("European olive"), is a species of Subtropics, subtropical evergreen tree in the Family (biology), family Oleaceae. Originating in Anatolia, Asia Minor, it is abundant throughout the Mediterranean ...

. There were up to 12 olive processing factories in Alcalá in the early 20th century employing many thousands of workers, predominantly women, to prepare the olives for sale after they had been cured. Both of these industries have fallen into decline but have been replaced by a wide range of modern light and heavy industries on the numerous industrial estates in the north and west of the municipality. The town provides employment not only for local inhabitants but for residents of local towns.

Geography

Situated in southern Spain, Alcalá enjoys a

Mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate ( ), also called a dry summer climate, described by Köppen and Trewartha as ''Cs'', is a temperate climate type that occurs in the lower mid-latitudes (normally 30 to 44 north and south latitude). Such climates typic ...

characterised by mild wet winters and hot dry summers. The town is on elevated terrain in relation to Seville. This area is known as Los Alcores, and Alcalá is the largest urban development in this area. The River

runs through town and has in places formed a steep-sided valley with low cliffs. The upper river watershed runs from the east and south-east of town. It proceeds through town and joins the

Guadalquivir The Guadalquivir (, also , , ) is the fifth-longest river in the Iberian Peninsula and the second-longest river with its entire length in Spain. The Guadalquivir is the only major navigable river in Spain. Currently it is navigable from Seville ...

to the south of Seville. The river has for many years been heavily contaminated with the by-products of olive processing and other waste being dumped directly into the river. Large amounts of foam and an unpleasant smell are not uncommon features of the river in winter. Despite this, the river provides a haven for much wildlife as its banks are well covered with trees and vegetation. Until the beginning of the 20th century, in 1930 the dam was built in the Guadalquivir river as it passes Alcalá del Río, the Guadaira River was a major spawning river basin for the European Sturgeon (''Acipenser sturio'') sustaining a successful fishery and caviar industry in the area. On 28 March 2007 the only figurative bridge in Europe, the Dragon Bridge, was inaugurated as part of the town's beltway. On the southern side of the river is a large area of

stone pine The Italian stone pine, botanical name ''Pinus pinea'', also known as the Mediterranean stone pine is a tree from the pine family (''Pinaceae''). The tree is native to the Mediterranean region, occurring in Southern Europe and the Levant. The ...

woodland, Oromana.

Transportation

The A-92 motorway runs east–west through the north part of the town and the A-392 road runs from NE to SW through the town. The Tranvía Metropolitano de Alcalá de Guadaíra has been under construction since 2007, but has not opened as of 2020.

References