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 (). Both cities are situated on the Strait of Gibraltar; Algeciras also faces the Mediterranean. Its population in 1999 was 103,106 people.

History

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.

Economy

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.

References

• Algeciras. Encyclopædia Britannica Online, 2006.
• Algeciras. The Columbia Encyclopedia, 2004
• Lonely Planet Andalucia, Lonely Planet, 2005

External links

• Algeciras City Council Official Website

• Photos of Algeciras

Municipalities in Cádiz | Ports and harbours of Spain

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