Located in the southwest coast of the island, Arbus is known for several archeological and non-operational industrial sites, such as the mines of Montevecchio,[3] as well as for its coastline, the Costa Verde, whose main beach, Piscinas, includes one of the biggest sand dune systems in Europe.

[4][5] Arbus territory also includes several hamlets, among which Ingurtosu and Montevecchio are particularly important since they still show tangible signs of the intensive mineral extraction that took place during the 19th and the first half of the 20th century,[6] in nowadays non-operational extraction sites that are now part of the parco geominerario storico ed ambientale della Sardegna (i.e. Sardinian Environmental and Historical Geomineral Park, also known as Geological, Mining Park of Sardinia[7]).

Nonetheless, in 2009 in the Saint Luxorious' square situated in the city centre, more specifically while it was being refurbished, a multilayered archeological site, made up of remains of thermal baths and a Roman necropolis, was found, as well as a churchyard and a Spanish church, that date back at least to the 17th century.

[17] The first actual documentary evidence of the existence of the town is found only the Middle Ages, when Arbus, according to the first volume of the Geographical, Historical, Statistical and Commercial Dictionary of the States of His Majesty King of Sardinia (in Italian, Dizionario geografico - storico - statistico -commerciale degli Stati di S. M. il Re di Sardegna), was the capital, or rather part of the curatory or department, of the Kingdom of Colostrài that, as stated by the same source, was one of the departments of the ancient Kingdom of Arborea in Sardinia.

[17] Besides, the Arbus municipality is cited again in the allodiation act (concerning the cession of properties free from any feudal taxes or obligations), issued on 8 November 1504 and, subsequently, in the Documented History of Sardinian Population (i.e. Storia documentata della popolazione di Sardegna), in which Corridore reported all the Parliamentary Acts with the Statistics of municipalities with regard to the number of fires and their population in 1878.

[22] In those years, also thanks to the vastness of the town's territory, an impulse was given to sheep, goat, beef, pig and horse breeding that, despite the lack in streets available for good transportation, gave life to a significant commercial trade with the close cities of Cagliari and Oristano.

[27] After his election, like all the other directors of the mine did and would do, he lived, during his term and frequent visits in Sardinia,[28] in the Direction Palace of Ingurtosu, usually referred to by locals as "The Castle" for its peculiar characteristics.

Bornemann, German engineer and former president of the "Sociétè civile des mines d'Ingurtosu et Gennamari", who also oversaw its construction that had already ended before 1870, after Eng.

[29][30] Having been mainly engineered by Germans, the building has been artistically influenced by Northern European architectural traditions and, as a result, its peculiar characteristics strongly resemble the ones of Wartburg Castle in Germany, that had for sure inspired Eng.

As an example, between 1889 and 1918, the mine purchased, at a low price from the Kingdom of Italy, many doses of quinine (a medicine that was thought to be beneficial and useful against malaria) that were subsequently distributed to workpeople.

He was the best Man in our world and we shall always remember him with deep sadness"According to the Casati Law, that between 1859, when it was issued within the Kingdom of Sardinia, and 1923 regulated the education system in the whole Kingdom of Italy,[33] the first two classes of the elementary school, especially due to another decree, the Coppino Law of 1877, were to be compulsory and free for every Italian citizen, but who had to fund schools and education were the various Italian municipalities.

[28] After the close mines and mineral extraction sites in Montevecchio and Ingurtosu hamlets had been rather widened and many workers had moved from all over Sardinia for the purpose of working there, in 1901 Arbus was one of the biggest towns, in terms of inhabitants, within the Ales' diocese.

[42] While bathing and sunbathing are arguably the most widespread, common activities among tourists, there is also, across the town, a strong presence of bed and breakfasts as well as much agritourism in the territory, especially next to the coast.

(Head of State Decree): Cut-up, in the 1st [section] with a golden background, a pickaxe and a black spade, decussated, crossed by an hexagonal mining lamp colored accordingly, lit in red, linked with a black ten-ring chain, placed in the guise of a pole, coming out of the top; in the 2nd coloured in azure, a naturally rocky mountain, that resembles the Arcuentu mountain, that is sustained by the wavy-profiled green ground, that comes out of the right side and is extended to the separation line; and everything in an azure countryside, with silver-coloured coastal waves, along with a boat, with a natural wooden hull and two silver sails.

[12] The town in situated in the valley that originates from Genna 'e Frongia's pass and is surrounded by stunning mounts and woods, but important parts of the town's territory are also the Arcuentu mount massif and the surrounding mounts, that separate the Medio Campidano plain from the sea, as well as the hilly area, with the Ingurtosu, Gennamari and Montevecchio's no-longer-operational mines, that gradually lowers and leads to the coast, which is about 47 kilometres long, from Frasca Cape in the north, down to Sheep Cape (i.e. Capo Pecora) in the south, that clearly includes, in the middle, the famous Green Coast (i.e. Costa Verde), which is situated between Piscinas and Funtanazza's beaches.

This pluton emplaced at 304 ± 1 Ma (U-Pb dating on zircons), along a thrust surface separating a pile of allochthonous tectonic units from the Foreland.

Indeed, granodiorites contain orthopyroxene and clinopyroxene in addition to ubiquitous dark mica, while leucogranites show often sub-vertical centimetric cloths of Fe-cordierite with quartz intergrowths or greenish to bluish tourmaline.

[50] According to the figures and data provided by the Italian National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT) in 2017 (but relating to 2015), 45.8% of Sardinians could speak English and, more specifically, while only 6.4% of them stated to have achieved a native-like or in any case high proficiency, 38.9% of them declared to have a sufficient knowledge of the language.

Its main structure is rather modest and its current architectural lines cannot be associated with any specific style since the building was built, enlarged and renovated in different periods.

The erection, which originally dated back to the Roman period, was dismantled by the municipality administration in 1956[57] during the construction of the square: thus, presently only some ruins are visible.

The building was named after Saint Luxurious, a deserter of the army who, for this reason, was caught in the countryside of the town, imprisoned, tortured and eventually executed in Cagliari, his city of birth.

As a matter of fact, the festival was held exactly in the period in which it was generally time to sign or terminate contracts, pay debts and purchase most commodities.

[58] The former Montegranatico (literally 'Wheat Mount'), a communal granary located in Piazza Immacolata, in the town centre, still retains a significant degree of historic and moral importance for the Arbusian population.

Despite its not being used for its original purpose, at the turn of the century it was repurposed into a venue for fairs, religious and pagan celebrations and other events organised by the municipality.

Although there had been such institutions in Italy since the end of the 15th century, in Sardinia they were introduced during Spanish rule in 1624, when the Sardinian parliament asked vice-king Vives to establish them to tackle increasing usury that was particularly detrimental to the poorest farmers.

In 1927 Montegranatico was turned into a Municipal Agricultural Credit Bank (Cassa Comunale di Credito agrario), which effectively continued the lending of wheat to farmers until the end of the 1960s.

[62] When it comes to transportation facilities, although Arbus has got neither a train station, a port nor airport, it is well linked with the other adjacent towns through State and Provincial Roads (respectively SS and SP).

The closest airport is located in Cagliari, or rather in Elmas, i.e. Cagliari-Elmas International Airport, major air transportation gateway to national (such as Rome, Florence, Milan, Venice, Turin, etc...) and international destinations (such as Paris, Madrid, Berlin, London, Marseille, Brussels, Porto, Moscow, Athens, Malta, etc...)[67] which is around 60 kilometres far from Arbus, i.e. about 1 hour by car.

The following table shows both current and former mayors of Arbus, as well as their party (if it does apply), their term start and end date and further specificities about their role: Regional law no.