HISTORY OF THE CITY
The first inhabited areas can be located on the slopes of the Benacantil Mountain, nowadays occupied by the castle of Santa Barbara, which enjoyed privileged conditions because of its proximity to the sea and was considered a safe settlement due to its altitude. Although no traces have been found, it is highly probable than an Iberian settlement existed there.
Another important area is Benalúa, where a Roman city called Lucentum had supposedly been raised, which is the immediate predecesor of the city we know today. Settlements belonging to the same time frame were also located in Albufereta and Serra Grossa.
With the arrival of the Muslims, the present city began to contour at the feet of the castle. That who would later become Alfonso X the Wise conquered the settlement in 1246 for the crown, although it was not until 1308 that James I incorporated it into the Kingdom of Valencia. In 1490 King Ferdinand the Catholic granted it the title of City.
One hundred years later it became the natural harbor of Castile, prompting an active maritime trade, which saw unprecedented economic and population boom that led to significant growth, turning Alicante into the third commercial city of Spain. Due to its strategic position on the coast, it was hit by assaults from the sea in numerous occasions.
In 1691, during the reign of Carlos II, the French army bombarded the city for seven consecutive days. With almost no time to recover, the city found itself in the midst of the War of Succession. Taking the side of the Bourbons, it suffered from blasting of its defenses of the Santa Barbara castle by the British. During the War of Independence, the city was considered the temporary capital of the Kingdom, as Valencia was occupied by Marshal Suchet.
In the eighteenth century Alicante began to recover after the ravage of war, but it was in the nineteenth century when it really started to come back to life. With the arrival of the railroad (1858) the connection to the center of the peninsula ensured its port importance making Alicante a cosmopolitan city situated on the very edge of the sea and, conveniently, on the docks.
Today Alicante is the second most populated area of Valencia, with 261,255 inhabitants (1991). The capital of the province of the same name is considered a most relevant place on the Costa Blanca whose tourism is currently one of the strongest pillars of its economy.
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