History of Andalusia

The existence of human populations in the region goes back to the Upper Paleolithic era and from those dates are many found archeological sites, such as paintings preserved in many caves. In the beginning of the historic era, Andalusia maintained the population of Tartesus, the first organized state on the Peninsula from what we now see with the Treasures of Carambolo.

Afterwards, the Greeks and the Phoenicians established their costal colonies and cities creating great trade centers such as Cadiz. After a century of Carthage's stay, Rome conquered Andalusia.

In 711, we find the key date of Andalusian history. The entering of the first Arab contingents constituted the beginning of eight centuries of Islamic domination. The period of the Caliph of Cordoba was a flourishing period making the entire region the center of gravity of Western Islam. The disintegration of the Caliphate constituted a grand opportunity for the Northern Christian kings. After Castile and Leon's unification by Ferdinand III, there was a great movement for the recuperation of Christian Andalusia. The Catholic Kingdom ended the splendid past of Al-Andalus with the fall of Granada in 1492, the same year Andalusia contributed to the decisive discovery and later conquest and colonizing of America.

Andalusia came into the 19th century with an active participation in the War of Independence, but there will be two facts not only in this century but rather a great part of Spanish history: the convocation of the Courts of Cadiz and the proclamation of the 1812 Constitution.