Algeciras
Algeciras is a port city in the south of
Spain, near the British
Overseas Territory of
Gibraltar. It is situated on the
Río de la Miel slightly to the north of
Tarifa, which is the southernmost town of peninsular Spain (). It is the largest urban area on the
Bay of Gibraltar (in
Spanish, the
Bahía de Algeciras), with a population in
1999 of 103,106 people.
The city was founded in
713 by the
Moors, probably on the site of an earlier Roman town known as
Portus Albus ("White Port"). It enjoyed a brief period of indepedance as a
taifa state from
1035-
1058. It was named
al-Jazirah al-Khadra' ("Green Island") after the offshore Isla Verde; the modern name is derived from this original
Arabic name (compare also
Algiers and
Al Jazeera). In
1344 the city was taken by Alfonso XI of Castile. It was retaken by the Moors in
1368, but was destroyed on the orders of
Muhammed V of Granada. The site was subsequently abandoned.
Algeciras was refounded in
1704 by refugees from Gibraltar following the territory's capture by Anglo-Dutch forces in the
War of the Spanish Succession. It was rebuilt on its present rectangular plan by
Charles III of Spain in
1760. In July
1801, the French and Spanish navies fought the British
Royal Navy offshore in the
Battle of Algeciras, which ended in a British victory.
The city hosted the
Algeciras Conference in
1906, an international forum to discuss the future of
Morocco which was held in the Casa Consistorial (town hall). During the
Franco era, Algeciras underwent substantial industrial development, creating many new jobs for the local workers made unemployed when the border between Gibraltar and Spain was sealed between
1969 and
1982.
As a curiosity, in
1982 Algeciras was the scene of
Operation Algeciras, a failed plan conceived by the
Argentinian military to sabotage the British military facilities in Gibraltar during the
Falklands War.
Source: INE (Spain)Algeciras is principally a transport hub and industrial city. Its principal activities are connected with the port, which serves as the main embarkation point between Spain and
Tangier and other ports in Morocco as well as the
Canary Islands and the Spanish-Moroccan enclaves of
Ceuta and
Melilla. It is ranked as the 16th busiest port in the world. The city also has a substantial fishing industry and exports a range of agricultural products from the surrounding area, including cereals, tobacco and farm animals.
In recent years it has become a significant tourist destination, with popular day trips to
Tarifa to see bird migrations; to Gibraltar, to see the territory's unusual sights and culture; and to the
Bay of Algeciras on
whale watching excursions.
* Algeciras.
Encyclopædia Britannica Online, 2006.
* Algeciras.
The Columbia Encyclopedia, 2004
*
Lonely Planet Andalucia, Lonely Planet, 2005
*
Algeciras City Council Official Website*
Photos of Algeciras
