Castellar de la Frontera

The town of Castellar de la Frontera is a Spanish municipality located in the province of Cádiz, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. It is part of the Campo de Gibraltar region. It borders the municipalities of San Roque, San Martín del Tesorillo, Jimena de la Frontera, Los Barrios and Alcalá de los Gazules, in the Los Alcornocales Natural Park, on the so-called Ruta del Toro. The municipality has three population centers, which are Castellar Viejo (colloquially known as El Castillo), Castellar Nuevo and La Almoraima. The old town was declared a Historic-Artistic Monument in 1963. Castellar is economically fruitful due to the uncorking of the area's chaparros. The temperature is warm, due to the Mediterranean breeze.

Castellar is popular for its medieval castle, a prominent tourist attraction.

Symbols

Castellar has a shield divided into two fields. The first silver with three checkered girdles of gold and gules, each loaded with a gold burela, belonging to the Saavedra lineage, counts of Castellar. The second gules with a castle of gold clarified in blue. It is stamped with the closed Spanish royal crown.

Geography

The geographic coordinates of Castellar are 36º 19' N, 5° 27' Or, 137 kilometers from the provincial capital, Cádiz. It is located at an altitude of 47 m s. no. m.. The superficial extension of its municipal term is 180.28 km². According to the INE, in 2018 it had 3,013 inhabitants, with a population density of 16.71 inhab/km².

Municipal Term of Castellar de la Frontera

Graphic of demographic evolution of Castellar de la Frontera between 1900 and 2016

Source: Spanish National Statistical Institute - Graphical development by Wikipedia

History

View of old Castellar.

Palacio de los Condes de Castellar.

Prehistory

Due to its strategic location on a rock, the old town of Castellar de la Frontera has been a place of human settlement since very early dates (Cueva de las Estrellas). During the Paleolithic and Neolithic periods, the presence of man was documented through the findings of an important lithic industry and by numerous cave paintings, framed in the so-called cave art of the extreme south of the Iberian Peninsula and located in the Cueva de los Maquis, de la Abejera, del Arquillo, de los Barrancones, de la Buitrera, del Cambulló, del Cancho, Cantarazo or de los Churretales, de las Cotillas, de los Números, del Rayo, de los Tajos, de las Tumbas and de la Ventana.

Old Age

It is believed that the Iberians built the Torre Lascutana in Alcalá de los Gazules, near Castellar. During the Roman colonization, next to said tower, which defended the Roman road that went from Carteia to Corduba, a small settlement was created of which remains of houses are preserved.

Middle Ages

There are finds from the Visigothic kingdom. With the Islamization of the Iberian Peninsula in 711, the citadel was built and the town of the old town was founded which, given its location on the Granada border, played an important role in the Wars of Granada in the XV. Likewise, in the Andalusian period, there was also a small human settlement in La Almoraima, where the garrison of the beacon tower located there lived.

Castellar de la Frontera was one of the links in the chain of fortresses of the Nasrid kingdom, connecting to the south with the tower of Palmones and the bay of Algeciras and to the north with Jimena de la Frontera. On occasions it was ceded along with other castles by the kings of Granada to the Benimerines as payment for their help against the Christians.

Juan de Saavedra, mayor of Jimena de la Frontera, took the castle in 1434 for the crown of Castile. Juan II granted Juan de Saavedra the mayoralty of the town, giving it to him later as lordship. Conquered again for the kingdom of Granada, it was conquered again, a second time, by Juan de Saavedra who recovered his dominion, being inherited for many generations by the Arias de Saavedra, to whom Carlos I granted the title of counts in 1539. de Castellar, a title later held by his descendants. Since then the local economy has been based on agriculture, livestock and other activities related to the forest.

Modern Age

In the XVI century the Molino del Conde de Castellar was built on the Guadarranque river. In 1603 it was built the Convent of San Miguel de La Almoraima, of the barefoot friars of La Merced.

Contemporary Age

Castellar new

The trunk of the house passed to the dukedom of Santistevan in 1654 and later to that of Medinaceli. At the beginning of the XIX century and by means of a lawsuit, the Marquises of Moscoso obtained possession of the town, which returned to the Dukes of Medinaceli in 1852, together with the term of Almoraima, until a few years ago.

In 1868 the convent of La Merced became the property of the Duke of Medinaceli.

In 1916 the National Government added to "Castellar" the appellation "de la Frontera" by the toponymy decree. Although there is evidence in some writings that it was called de la Frontera before.

In 1945 the Almoraima Cork Company was created, which became the engine of the local economy. Around it, numerous shacks were built where the workers of said company lived. In 1962, the owners built housing for the employees, although most of it remained shanty towns. At that time, La Almoraima had more than 1,500 inhabitants.

In 1960 work began on the Guadarranque reservoir. In 1968 the Campo de Gibraltar Agrarian Reform and Development Institute, within the Campo de Gibraltar Development Plan, expropriated 700 hectares of land from the company La Almoraima S.A., belonging to Casa de Medinaceli, for the creation of a colonization town 9 kilometers from Castellar Viejo, being the last planned town by the Instituto Nacional de Colonización in Cádiz. The land was divided into parcels that were given to settlers who requested them. In 1971 the new settlement was finished and most of the people of Castellar moved to Castellar Nuevo from Castellar Viejo and from La Almoraima, the latter just 1 kilometer away.

In 1980, thanks to the intervention of Felipe González Márquez, later President of the Government of Spain, the city council was definitively granted the power to manage and economically exploit the lands of La Boyal, a 526-hectare estate that had been subject to litigation between the Counts of Castellar and the residents of the municipality for centuries. In 1981 Felipe González was named adoptive son of Castellar for the role he played in the recovery of La Boyal.

In 1948, a halt was built next to the Bobadilla-Algeciras railway line, for the exclusive use of Casa de Medinaceli. Today this halt is the Almoraima station.

Despite the current economic crisis, Castellar de la Frontera is one of the only three municipalities in the province of Cádiz that have no debts.

Urban core

The construction of the primitive fortification dates from theXIII and XIV, with structure and details of towers and gates characteristic of the kingdom of Granada. Although some elements were added later. In Christian times (XV centuries to XVII), already had the wall, towers and the fortress-palace. The enclosure is partly crenellated and protected with quadrangular towers at the angles formed by the canvases, protected to the north and southwest by barbicans. The access door to the north barbican opens in a watchtower, there being another tower in which the door opens with a pointed brick arch. Entering through the arch of the Villa, is the Alcázar or palace of the counts of Castellar, forming part of the fortress and highly transformed. The materials used in this set of fortifications are masonry with more or less carved and regular stones, and bricks in the arches. Starting from the fortified enclosure, the population develops inside, incorporating some elements into the wall, with the intention of connecting the houses attached to it, which are the first to develop. The accumulation of intramural houses over time corresponds to their late medieval origins.

The roofs of the houses are made of Arabic tiles with one or two waters. The facades do not have projections or setbacks and are whitewashed, with dust covers or moldings on some of them. The windows and doors are made of wood, with portholes instead of glass. Most are single-family, made up of a living room with kitchen included, an adjoining bedroom and one or two bedrooms on the top floor. Some have a stable. The windows on the ground floor are protected by simple iron bars. In general, the typology corresponds to a popular architecture of a rural nature. Among the unique buildings, it is worth highlighting the Parochial Church of El Salvador and the Town Hall, with entrances from the main square. The church, with a single nave, is very possibly located on the site of the old mosque. It is known that its main chapel was executed by Juan Arias de Saavedra at the beginning of the XVII century. In the 18th century it was enlarged, disappearing the primitive structure under heavy plasterwork and barrel vaults. On the road to Castellar and next to the wall, at the foot of the castle, the convent of Mercedarios de la Almoraima was built in 1603, of which the large cloister with stone arches and Tuscan order remains, next to the Hermitage of Our Lady de los Reyes of 1562. The development of history in this population center is a decisive element that contributes to value it, since part of history has been immortalized in its unique image and conformation.

Monuments

• Castellar Castle, Nasrid fortress built between the centuries XII and XV.
• Palacio de los Condes de Castellar, residence of the Counts of Castellar.
• Church of the Divine Savior, centuryXVII.
• Convent of San Miguel de La Almoraima, built in the centuryXVII Baroque style.
• Count's Mill.

Education and culture

The municipality has a primary school (CEIP Tierno Galván), a secondary school (IES Almoraima), an adult education center (located at IES Almoraima), as well as a public library and a theater-cinema.

Tourism

In addition to the Castle of Castellar, the creation of an interpretation center for the "Cueva de las Estrellas", declared an Asset of Cultural Interest, is planned.

Economy

The main economic activity is agriculture, in which cotton, wheat and orange crops predominate. A large part of the population works in the service sector, due to the proximity of the municipality to other population centers in Campo de Gibraltar, such as San Roque, La Línea de la Concepción, Los Barrios and Algeciras. Tourist activity also has a positive impact on the economy of this municipality and in Campo de Gibraltar.

Evolution of outstanding municipal debt

Graphic of evolution of living debt of the City of Castellar de la Frontera between 2008 and 2019

Living debt of the City of Castellar de la Frontera in thousands of Euros according to data from the Ministry of Finance and Ad. Public.

Festivities

• La Boyal Day. Every 15th of February the recovery for municipal use of the lands of Dehesa Boyal, belonging until 1980 to the owners the farm La Almoraima.

• Via Crucis in the Castle. It is celebrated on Friday of Dolores, by Castellar Viejo.

• Holy Week. The processions of the Christ of La Amoraima, the Virgin of Angustia and Our Father Jesus of Nazareth are celebrated and traditional dishes are made.

• Castellar Fair. It is celebrated days before the Romery of the Christ of the Almoraima and ends with it. It is the earliest fair in the Campo de Gibraltar.

• Romería del Santísimo Cristo de La Almoraima. The first Sunday of May is celebrated the pilgrimage and procession of the Christ of La Almoraima.

Romeria of the Most Holy Christ of the Almoraima

• Romería de San Isidro Labrador. It is celebrated on 18 May in honor of the farmers' employer.

• Veil of the Divine Saviour. It is held in August.

• Velada de La Almoraima. It is held at the end of August in La Almoraima.

Communications

Estación de Almoraima, terminal ferroviaria del municipio.

Road

The main communication route of Castellar de la Frontera is the A-405. This road leads north to the Serranía de Ronda passing through Jimena de la Frontera and San Pablo de Buceite; and towards the south, to the Station, Taraguilla and Miraflores, in San Roque, connecting with the A-7 towards Algeciras and La Línea.

Other roads in Castellar are the A-2100 to Sotogrande, the A-2101 to San Martín del Tesorillo and the CA-9201 from Castellar Nuevo to Castellar Castle.

Railway

The railway station of Castellar de la Frontera is the Estación de Almoraima, located in the neighborhood of the same name, one kilometer south of Castellar Nuevo. Media Distancia trains (Line 70) to Algeciras and Granada stop at this station.