[4] It is the southernmost town in Catalonia, located just north of the border with the municipality of Vinaròs which is in the province of Castellón and part of the region of Valencia.

In 1380, the village already contained thirty families, and they were subjected to various attacks by Saracen pirates, which led to the construction of a lookout tower in the fourteenth century.

During the reign of Philip II, various defence towers were built to cope with attacks by Turkish pirates, and Alcanar was again fortified.

[7] On July 11, 1978, a tanker truck carrying flammable liquid exploded in front of the Camping de los Alfaques located at the coast, outside the town, killing 217 people, injuring more than 300 and completely devastating the campsite.

Later it would be known that those killed and wounded were terrorists and the explosion was produced by bombs that created the jihadist cell responsible for the 2017 Barcelona attacks.

The Alcanar parish church dedicated to Saint Michael (Sant Miquel in Catalan or San Miguel in Spanish) is a major feature of the municipality.

The church is built in the Renaissance style, with a single nave and side chapels; it originally consisted of four bays with a semicircular apse, which disappeared in some nineteenth century rebuilding.

On the outskirts of the village is a shrine devoted to the Mare de Déu del Remei (Our Lady of Good Remedy).

[9] Agricultural activity continues to develop in the northern town, the furthest from the coast, mainly growing crops of oranges and clementines.