History of Costa Blanca, Spain
The earliest evidence of human history on the Costa Blanca dates back over 7000 years. The earliest remains of human settlement were found in 1980 near the mountain village of Castell de Castells. The site contains cave paintings and prehistoric dwellings dating to the Neolithic period. The paintings elude to a group of people who believed deeply in family, fertility, productivity, hunting and the natural agricultural cycle.
Although human history around the city of Alicante dates back to almost the same time as the site at Castell de Castells, it's the last 4000 years that have been particularly rich. During the Bronze Age settlers built mud and adobe (sun dried bricks) huts, which they covered with branches. Later, it was the Iberians who roamed the area, leaving remains of temples, houses and artwork. It's thought they maintained a coastal settlement here and used it as an early Mediterranean trading centre. The Iberian's area of control was vast and encompassed all the lands which today comprise the Costa Blanca.
Sometime around the 6th century BC, armies from Carthage began to invade and general Hamilcar managed to get a foothold near present day Alicante. However, this was also the time that Romans starting to exert forced on the Iberian Peninsula and they eventually pushed out the Carthaginians out. The Romans ruled the area for over 700 years. Evidence of their city, Lucentum, is still visible today, just north of Alicante.
During the 8th century, it was the Moors who pushed out the weakened Romans. They would dominate the region until the 13th century. Some of the Moorish watchtowers still dot the coast and many of their castles still dot the mountains inland.
The Muslim reign lasted until the 13th century when the Christian kings Ferdinand III of Castile, James I of Aragon, Alfonso X of Castile, James II of Aragon and Alfonso IV of Aragon eventually managed to wrestle control of the region's cities away from the Moors.
The 15th and 16th centuries saw the region, especially Alicante grow to its maximum strength, thanks to a booming economy based on trade and agriculture. The Costa Blanca (Alicante Province) was a strategic region in the War of Spanish Succession, but due to its leaders backing Carlos (the eventual loser) it faired very poorly at the conclusion in 1714.
The region managed to survive the 18th and 19th centuries on agriculture, particularly oranges, and of all things making shoes. Elda and Elche continue to church out a nation's worth of shoes. The arrival of the railway in 1858 truly signalled the city of Alicante’s rebirth as strong coastal port.
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