The Emirate of Granada was established in the 1236. Since then the Serranîa de Ronda has been the most western bastion of the Nasrid Kingdom and one of the most strategic areas due to its position with regard to the Strait of Gibraltar and the Kingdom of Castile. This characteristic would be accentuated when the bereber Marinid dynasty – dynasty that controlled the Maghreb since the 13th century – occupied the city of Ronda when coming from the North. The area of Ronda exercised considerably autonomy within the Kingdom of Granada, even if it had the peculiarity of having one food on each side of the Strait, risky issue for the interests of Castile. 

The particular topography of the region enhanced this autonomy even further. The Serranîa and specially the plateau of Ronda have been considered for a long time as a natural border area with the Guadalquivir valley, and especially permeable to the constant human contacts. Set the borders by this geographic element, the limits were practically the same for much of the 15th century. From the Castilian side, the borders were defended by Gibraltar, Jimena, Castellar, Zahara, Olvera, Pruna, Cañete, and Teba. On the other side, the Nasrid borders were defended by Gaucîn, Cardela, Grazalema, Setenil, Ardales, Audita, and Montecorto, where we are now. In the middle, there was a no one’s land that in periods of peace became an everybody’s land.

Each side of this wide strip had its own system of fortifications: watchtowers and fortresses. You can see good examples at all the places mentioned above and here in Montecorto you can visit the Audita tower and El Moral castle. Further, you can see different constructions that worked as visual link among the towers.   

The reconstruction of the Zahara fortress done by the Ronda Nasrid troops in 1481 unleashed the final offensive of the Castile Crown against the Nasrid Kingdom of Granada. The first step was the conquest of Grazalema, Setenil, Audita and Montecorto to isolate the Zahara fortress that was finally conquered on 28th October 1483. Lately, on 22nd May 1485, Ronda fell into the Christian hands.

Seven years after that, in 1492, the Catholic Monarchs entered into the Alhambra of Granada, putting an end to eight centuries of Islamic control in a great part of Andalusia.