History of Alhaurin el Grande
In the forested areas south-east of the village of Alhaurín el Grande there are traces of Neolithic occupation.
By the time that the Romans arrived, the tiny Iberian settlement in the Sierra de Mijas was already well established, but if it had a name the Romans chose not to record it. Instead they gave it one of their own. The village became Lauro Nova. It was a spot apparently blessed by the gods: fertile, temperate, and surrounded by hills riddled with valuable mineral deposits. Roman villas popped up around the centre of the village and the hills are still dotted with their remains.
It was a golden age which became a little tarnished during the time of the Visigoths. The town was in no danger of disappearing, but its development was exceedingly slow. It was not until the Moors took it on and built it a fortress on a hilltop called Torres de Fahala that it began to move again. The Moors also gave it a new name: Alhaurín (Garden of Allah). Like the Romans before them, they linked the township to a second to which they gave the same name, the two now being known as Alhaurín el Grande and Alhaurín de la Torre. To the Romans they had been Lauro Nova and Lauro Vetus.
The fort was destroyed in the destructive zeal of the Reconquista, but at least the village survived. Others close by, such as Benamaquis and Fahala were not so fortunate.
Alhaurín el Grande has endured a great deal. Waves of invaders, epidemics of plague, even an earthquake in 1680. During the Peninsular War of 1808-14 it was occupied for four years by French troops and suffered considerable bombardment. Recently, there have been large-scale building projects, which are being investigated for corrupt practices. Some traces of the village's ancient past have survived. |
