Prehistoric Age.
The first settlers in the Algeciras Bay area dated back to the Early Palaeolithic Era, 200,000 years ago. Groups of hunter-gatherers settled around the banks of the Guadarranque and Palmones Rivers and along the coast of Algeciras. Their economy was based on the hunting of large herbivores, catching of seafood and the collection of wild fruit.
50,000 years ago Gibraltar was inhabited by members of the Neanderthal race who occupied the natural caves found on the Rock. In 10,000 BC, new races dedicated to hunting and gathering established themselves in the region of Algeciras. These men used well perfected silex tools, hunted in river fords and fished in the waters of the Bay.
In the transition between the Prehistoric Age and Ancient Times, the coasts of Algeciras were visited by explorers who came from the west in search of metals and fish-based products. Between 3000 and 1000 BC megalithic tombs (dolmens) were constructed and paintings added in the rocky shelters throughout the area, examples of the cultural fusion between the western settlements in the region and the people who inhabited the Bay area.
Ancient Times.
Phoenician and Greek explorers reached the coast of the Straits around 800 BC. Colonies and towns now occupy these ancient settlements. The settlements of El Cerro del Prado and Carteya were founded in the Algeciras Bay area, the latter established by the Carthaginians.
The first town existent in the zone now occupied by Algeciras was Iulia Traducta, founded at the beginning of the 1st Century AD on the right side of the Miel River. During the Roman era, this town and its surrounding areas would acquire large economic importance. A fish salting factory has been found on the Getares beach, others in the Villa Vieja de Algeciras, in addition to various furnaces dedicated to the manufacturing of amphoras for the transportation of fish salt found on the El Rinconcillo Beach and the Vega del Palmones.
Middle Ages.
In 711 the Muslims crossed the Strait of Gibraltar and disembarked in Algeciras, founding a new town on the ruins of Iulia Traducta, a new town they called Al-Yazirat-al-Hadra which translates as Green Island. This town came to be one of the most important ports in Al-Andalus. In the 9th Century a perimeter wall was erected and in the 10th Century Abderraman III, Califa of Cordoba established arsenals for the construction of war vessels. Between the 9th and 10th Centuries Algeciras was the capital of a province, on the site of the present day Region of Gibraltar and part of Alcalá de los Gazules and Estepona, extending northwards to Gaucín. In the 9th Century an isolated kingdom was established which remained in control until 1055.
Islamic Algeciras had two walled-in sites during the 14th Century, which enclosed palaces, mosques, public baths and a hospital erected by the Almohades in the 12th Century. In the middle of the 14th Century the Castilians besieged the town of Algeciras both by sea and over land, conquering it in 1344. Nevertheless, at the end of the 14th Century, the town was destroyed by the king of Granada, Mohamed V. To ensure it would not fall into Christian hands once again the kingdom demolished its walls, burned the main buildings and cut off its port. Algeciras remained a mountain of ruins for three centuries only to be re-established as a town at the beginning of the 18th Century.
Modern Age.
In the year 1704, English forces took control of Gibraltar during the course of what was to be known as the Spanish War of Succession. The city’s inhabitants fled, settling in the area surrounding the Bay. As a result the settlements of San Roque and Los Barrios were founded and Algeciras was repopulated. For various decades this settlement was nothing more than a modest fishing village. However, as a result of its location and excellent port it quickly acquired town status, with a level of inhabitants reaching 8,500 at the end of the 18th Century. Algeciras depended on the district of San Roque, until 1755, when it was recognised as an independent town. Between 1727 and 1783 it was the operations base for the Spanish-French forces stationed in the Bay to block Gibraltar.
At the beginning of the 19th Century General Castaños, Military Governor of the Region of Gibraltar established his military barracks in Algeciras prompting considerable development in the town. He ordered new buildings, the paving of the streets and the construction of the Plaza Alta.
Contemporary Age..
The development of the Algeciras portal area dates back to the middle of the 19th Century. Its main exports were fish, cork and charcoal. Nevertheless, the city suffered a stagnant period throughout the majority of this century. From 1880, Algeciras began to enjoy large scale development which has continued up to the present day.
During the last decade of the century, electrical lighting was installed, the wooden dock was constructed along the Miel River and railway reached the area. In addition, the new Town Council and a number of hotels were erected in the area. In 1906 The International Conference on Morocco was held there, attended by the greatest global powers of the period. Some years later work began on the Alfonso XIII dock, the seed for the magnificent modern facilities.
Nowadays, Algeciras is an extremely dynamic town of some 115,000 inhabitants, which is at the peak of its commercial success and has become an important communications nucleus, particularly for Northern Africa.
Its port is first on the Mediterranean in terms of container transport and first in Spain with regard to passenger and vehicle traffic.