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History of Genalguacil

Diputación de Málaga
Fuente de las Acémilas, Genalguacil, Pueblo Museo

History of Genalguacil

The origin of the name and the mines that were discovered within the municipal boundaries are enough evidence to suggest that at this period there was some kind of governor in power. It is known that there were once gold, silver and copper mines in the Cueva de Baque, and that these were mined by both Phoenicians and Greeks. There are some cultural remains in a place called Los Morteretes, not far from the hill known as, Los Reales.

According to the writings of Don Diego Hurtado de Mendoza (a reporter of the wars of Granada) the uprising that occurred in this area during the period of expulsion of the Moors from their lands was quite impressive. The noble D. Alonso de Aguilar did at the hands of the Moorish leader Feri de Benestepar.

After the expulsion of the Moors the area was repopulated with Christians that came from other regions and according to the church’s census in 1586 the village of Genalguacil was the ancestral home of the Duque de Arcos. It is known that this village was granted the title of town, but it is not known which royal person conceded it or at what period.

Genalguacil is a village surrounded by an uncommon natural beauty and almost 90 percent of the land belonging to the municipal is covered with forest. One of the largest Spanish fir forests in the whole of the Serranîa de Ronda. The lay of the land creates a very relaxing kind of place with a lot of old, single floor houses made of masonry stone and with Moorish roof tiles. The most outstanding building in the urban centre is the Iglesia de San Pedro de Verona. Overall the urban layout can be seen to be quite basic and very much as it was originally with only a couple of streets the same. The majority of the streets are steep and irregular, quite narrow with a lot of corners and staggers and widened parts. All this is true to the Arabic urban layout.

The privileged position that Genalguacil occupies is dominated by a number of prominent mountain ranges such as los Posteruelos, Benastepar y Quejigal, as well as the Los Reales which is a huge mass of volcanic rock covered with Spanish fir forests only 8 kilometres from the Mediterranean.