Motril

Sister cities

• Melilla
• Marple
• Villa General San Martín
• Agounit
• Smolyan

History

Although its exact origins remain unclear, Motril started as a Phoenician enclave, and continued to exist in Roman times. Sugarcane was brought to the area by Arabs as a result of the Muslim conquest of the Iberian Peninsula. The area yielded to the Catholic Monarchs in 1489. The settlements of Pataura (an alquería featuring irrigated land) and Jolúcar (featuring mainly cattle pasture) belonged to Motril. At the turn of the 16th century, its population was still overwhelmingly Muslim, and so King Ferdinand prohibited Christians from living in Motril and ruled that those Christians who owned possessions there were to relocate to Salobreña. After the mass conversion of the population in 1500, the town subsequently featured a majority of New Christians, or Moriscos. After the Rebellion of the Alpujarras (1568–1571), most moriscos were expelled from the Kingdom of Granada as had been decreed in 1570. This exodus halved the population of Motril. Due to this, in 1573 the Crown encouraged 60 Old Christian settlers to move to the area with their families. By 1574 there were however only 56 registered settlers, accounting for 254 people (a high ratio presumably justified by the number of servants accompanying the settlers' families). The Church of the Incarnation was built in the 16th century on the site of a mosque. The building formed part of the defences which protected the town centre, and incorporated defensive features which are still visible today. Sugarcane was the staple crop in Motril, and after its harvest it was processed into sugar in local refineries. The most important of these was "La Casa de la Palma", the remains of which are on display at the Museo Preindustrial de la Caña de Azúcar (English: The Pre-Industrial Sugar Cane Museum). By the end of the…

Most-observed species

• House Sparrow

  Passer domesticus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  2,702
• Eurasian Blackbird

  Turdus merula Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  2,469
• Yellow-legged Gull

  Larus michahellis J.F.Naumann, 1840 · Aves
  2,434
• Eurasian Collared-Dove

  Streptopelia decaocto (Frivaldszky, 1838) · Aves
  2,247
• European Serin

  Serinus serinus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  2,136
• Mallard

  Anas platyrhynchos Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  2,055
• European Goldfinch

  Carduelis carduelis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  1,950
• White Wagtail

  Motacilla alba Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  1,825