Since the period of the Arab domination there were small hamlets that existed within this municipality such as Mondrón and places like y Los Baños de Vilo, which were used for their medicinal waters. At then time, Periana must have been just a country house or estate that, with time, was turned into two separate defensive positions; one on the Santana hillside and the other further south, which was called Pereiro and which gave rise to the current name of the village, Periana.

However, the real origin of the urban town centre dates back to the 18th century when it won its independent status in 1761. Up until then it had been part of the nearby own of Vêlez Malaga and then, later on, of Riogordo. In the aforementioned year, the municipality was officially recognised and the first thing to happen was that the hermitage was transformed into a local parish church.

in 1884 an enormous earthquake hit the whole area and destroyed a large part of the village. With the help of the Spanish authorities and other countries as well, the village was slowly rebuilt. The church had to be completely rebuilt, and this time the style was to be more neo-Mujedar that before. The Patron Saint of the village is San Isidro and there is a vaulted niche dedicated to him in the square known as “La Lomilleja”.

The building of a “Villa Turistica” by the Junta De Andalucia in the surrounding area was an important boost for the local economy and tourism. On the other hand, the collecting of water from the Genal river has also meant a lot to the village as there are many quite complex underground galleries that need to be controlled by computer.

What is obvious is that the local inhabitants of Periana are very closely related to the small plots of land the village is divided up into that they live and work on. Their love for their land can sometimes give rise to quite conservative ideas when it comes to opening their horizons as to their kinds of activities or uses that could be good for the development of the area in general, especially regarding tourism and the arrival of residents from other countries. The main crops that are grown are the olive, the peach and different kinds of vegetables. As for the peaches from Periana, they are well known for their excellent quality and are much demanded on the open market. The same can be said about the oil manufactured at Mondrón. Regarding tourism, apart from the “Villa Turistica”, there are some Arab Baths, which have been restored at a place called Vilo, and an important amount of activities that are organised for tourists around the Viñuela lake.