Velez-Malaga informationA lot of legends prevail
regarding the origins of the town, some of which confuse
fact with fiction. Some identify Velez with Sexi, capital
of the ancient region of Sexitania, while others attribute
its founding to Beluz, the Lybian Hercules, insisting that
he gave the town his name. One of the Christian tradition
claims the presence of St. Peter in the town. Details obtained
from archaeological excavations confirm that Velez was inhabited
in prehistoric times. The walls of a Phoenician town've
been discovered near the mouth of the River Velez on Los
Toscanos Estate, and necropolises've been located on El
Jardin and La Noria country estates. Velez must have been
an important urban centre while the Roman era, giving refuge
to settlers who had abandoned the coast following the fall
of the Empire; however, it's during the Moslem occupation
of Spain that the town really acquired renown and importance.
In the 13th century, the fortress of Velez, along with Comares
and Bentomiz, figured as one of the most important towns
in the area corresponding to the present-day province of
Malaga; proof of this is the alliance between the Christian
King Ferdinand III, known as the Holy, and the Nazari ruler
Al-Hamar. An account by the traveller Ibn Batuta (1304-1368)
describes Velez as a prosperous town enjoying an active
trading relationship with the kingdom of Granada and the
cities of the Mediterranean via its commercial port at Mariyya
Balis -Atalaya de Velez- (Torre del Mar). In April 1487,
it was captured by troops of the Catholic Monarchs .The
fall of Velez Malaga was crucial to the subsequent surrender
of Malaga. Torre del Mar's port developed in the wake of
the Christian conquest under the protection of the castle
-part of whose walls still stand today- of Rui Lopez of
Toledo, a distinguished Castilian soldier who was awarded
this military enclave in return for his role in the capture
of Velez. The 18th century,1704, saw one of the most important
naval battles of the War of Succession. A Franco-Spanish
fleet and the combined forces of the English and Dutch navies
locked horns in a fierce battle involving 146 ships and
almost 50,000 men. The confrontation failed to produce a
clear victor and the Anglo-Dutch contingent withdrew to
the port of Gibraltar, the French and Spanish heading for
Malaga. Another important episode in Velez’s history
occurred during the War of Independence, when retreating
Napoleonic troops blew up the town’s walls, which
were left practically in ruins. The village and its municipal
area were affected by the major tremor known as the Andalusian
Earthquake on Christmas Day 1884, suffering 6 mortalities
and extensive material damage. A new stimulus, which was
to change forever the whole face of Velez-Malaga, the neighbouring
dependency of Torre del Mar and the rest of the municipal
area, as well as its inhabitants’ economic activities
and way of life, came in the second half of the 20th century,
when the progressive development of tourism, which had begun
in 1960s, transformed the town into one of the Mediterranean’s
leading holiday resorts. Malaga province |