History of Alicante
[7] It was situated on the right bank of the River Segura estuary on the coast, a strategic position that permitted it to control trade and access to the region's mineral resources through connections it maintained with native Iberian communities.
[13] According to Aranegui and Sánchez, there is no scholarly consensus on how to interpret the impact of foreign groups on local societies, although the cultural interactions between Phoenicians, Greeks, Punics, and indigenous people have been a major focus of archaeological research in the Iberian Peninsula.
[8] It had harbour infrastructure and a fortified wall punctuated by towers, dating to the fifth century BC, which suggest that this part of the Spanish coast was becoming increasingly important politically, economically, and socially.
[15] The settlement was abandoned during the Punic conquest of south-eastern Iberia, in which the Carthaginian Barcids established a large fortification in the Tossal de Manises around 230 BC, which years later developed an urban structure.
The Carthaginians called it by the Greek name Leuce,[10] according to Diodorus, who described it as a military camp set up by Hamilcar Barca during the Barcid conquest of part of Iberia around 230 BC.
[19] The name Lucentum appearing in ancient sources has in the past been placed by later historians at different points in Alicante, but historiography has accepted its location at the Tossal de Manises since the 1990s.
[22] Despite this early vitality, the city began to decline in the time of Vespasian, during whose reign the tasks of maintaining the sewer system of the forum, as well as the public baths, were abandoned.
Remains of comestibles from the Late Roman period found by archaeologist Paul Reynolds in the present-day Benalúa urban area include hulled barley, wheat, lentils and peas, pine nuts, peaches, and grapes.
[30] It seems likely that the Andalusi Laqant was already developed on the other side of the Serra Grossa hill, at the current historic centre of the city, on the foundations of an earlier Hispano-Roman settlement that would have been moved at some point in late antiquity (4th–8th centuries).
In terms of the political situation, the Andalusi authorities respected the agreements of the Pact of Theodomir regarding the freedom of the Hispano-Roman population, more pagan than Christian, to adhere to the traditional animist religious beliefs of their ancestors.
[43] The influx of new settlers led to the repopulation and revitalisation of the ancient Roman towns, while the vast majority of the population, consisting of Hispano-Roman converts to Islam, the muwalladīn, continued to occupy the higher elevation settlements of the late Roman period near Alicante, or they dispersed into the interior seeking defensible locations to settle, such as Fontcalent, La Murta, or La Ereta (a small plain on the sunny side of Benacantil).
This circumstance marked the beginning of a stable town at the foot of the Benacantil, where lived sailors who were engaged in fishing, piracy and the white slave trade with Ifrīqiya.
[46] Following the suppression of the revolts of the Banu Sayj lords (924–928) in the Tudmīr and Valencia region,[48] the emirate commenced pacification of the populace with innovations in the tax system that caused state revenue to grow exponentially.
[49] A new social policy banned the intermingling of Muslims with Hispano-Romans, and led to the abandonment of the latter's enclaves and of the long-established oppida, as well as the castles held by the Berber dynasty, who had fled the country.
The countryside was reorganised, the inland mountain defensive system being replaced by a network of forts and watchtowers, concentrating the rural population in fortified communities formed of castral units that linked castles with attached villages.
Having consolidated his power on the peninsula, the Slavic (ṣaqāliba) (صقلبي) warlord Mujāhid al-ʿĀmirī proclaimed the Taifa of Dénia and conquered the militarily and commercially strategic Balearic Islands in 1014, apparently defeating Khayrān al -Amiri's fleet.
[52] Control of the Balearics gave Mujāhid a supply centre on the commercial routes of the western Mediterranean, a defensive outpost for his territories on the mainland, and a base from which to launch maritime attacks as part of his policy of 'jihad at sea'.
Social well-being increased, and cultural and scientific advances were made in a context of peaceful political relations with the neighboring emirates of Mursiya and Dāniya, and even with the Christian County of Barcelona.
During this century, the madīnah Sagira Laqant became an important exit port to North Africa, where it would connect the Xarq al-Andalus with the rest of the Islamic world and.
On the other hand, it would also become an important node for the Via Augusta that connected it to Valencia, Murcia and Andalucia, at the same time that following the river Vinalopó facilitated access to the peninsular interior.
Between 1609 and 1614 King Philip III expelled thousands of moriscos who had remained in Valencia after the reconquista, due to their allegiance with Berber pirates who continually attacked coastal cities and caused much harm to trade.
During the early 20th century, Alicante was a minor capital which enjoyed the benefit of Spain's neutrality during the First World War, which provided new opportunities for industry and agriculture.
The political unrest of the late 1920s led to the victory of republican candidates in the local council elections throughout the country, and the abdication of King Alfonso XIII.
Large buildings and complexes rose in nearby Albufereta (e.g. El Barco) and Playa de San Juan, with the benign climate being the aspect of the city most attractive to prospective buyers and the tourists who kept local hotels reasonably busy.
The old airfield at Rabasa was closed and air traffic moved to the new El Altet Airport, which made a convenient facility for the use of chartered flights bringing tourists from northern European countries.
Later notable landmarks have been the opening of the European Union Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market and the construction of the Ciudad de la Luz, a series of facilities meant to sponsor film industries in setting up operations at Alicante.
