Calpe History

During the Roman conquest, it became a more important location for the new coastal settlements. The proximity to the sea allowed maritime trade and the exploitation of factory garum, salted and nurseries, taking the easy excavation of the rough stone; it is the economic base on which the village of Banos de la Reina was founded.

Other settlements with an agricultural base would be dispersed through the area for agricultural use.

The Arabs rose up in defense of the territory, building the Castle of Calpe on a hill overlooking the passage of Mascarat.

Christian tradition places the Christian conquest of Calpe in 1240, after taking Denia, but other historians believe it was in 1254. In any case, the Crown of Aragon remained after the conquest the administrative organization Muslim.

This was based on a series of scattered inhabited areas located under the protection of a castle or fortified area. The inhabitants were included in the administrative unit of the Castle of Calpe. After the uprising led by the Muslim warlord Al-Azraq, the entire population was expelled, and Mudejar began to repopulate with Christians.

The oldest human settlements that are located in the town of Calpe have dated back to the Bronze Age. The first settlements were located on the first Iberian settlements. They are located mostly at the elevations and hills that dominate the territory.

Cemeteries are located in the villages of the Rock of Ifach, Cosentari, Corralets, The Comet, The Empedrola, and the Castle of Pioco Mascarat. The village is located in Las Salinas Tosal and was protected by marshland in that time, with the isthmus separating the Rock by the surrounding land.

In 1290 the place passed into the hands of the Aragonese admiral Roger de Lauria, who promoted the construction of a village called Ifach, the slope of the Rock. During the reign of Peter II of Aragon, the walls were fortified in order for them to defend their people from attacks by Muslims.

In 1359 the struggle of this monarch against Pedro I of Castile in the war known as the Two Pedros caused the destruction of the town of Ifach. The inhabitants took refuge in the nearby village of Calpe, situated on a hill near the coast that dominated the bay. This allowed the population and economic takeoff of this village, making a foundation for future consolidation of the capital.

The administrative unit of the Castle of Calpe last until 1386, when they proceeded to divide the existing municipalities of Benisa, Teulada, Calpe, and Senija. Until the dissolution of the manorial system in 1837, a number of noble families exercised jurisdiction over Calpe, the last of the Palafox.

The original town of Calpe was walled. In 1637 the town was sacked by Berber pirates, providing one of the most tragic events in its history—290 people were taken captive and taken to Algiers, where they stayed for five years until they were freed in exchange for gold and pirate prisoners. The town then had 18 houses and about 350 people inside.

In the mid-18th century several projects were drawn up in order to give the town a new fortress. The population growth in the village during the 17th century had forced the population to stay outside. The town had been consolidated two suburbs, one west of the citadel and another and larger one according to the heights of level.

During the 19th century, the town developed to the west. The key to its growth was the trace of the road to Altea and Alicante.

In the second half of the 19th century fishing industry began to take off. Buildings such as Fisherman’s Cooperative were constructed alongside existing customs warehouses from the late 18th century. These buildings were not dedicated to fishing.

The axle of the coastal town did not happen until the ’30s. A number of factories merged. In 1918 the El Saladar salt flats were cleaned up, and the arrival of machines allowed for bigger fishing boats.

Above all, the areas of Banos de la Reina and Raco Beach developed the first hotels on the beach and catered to middle-class vacationing families. The summer tourism on the coast received a major boost in 1935, following the opening of the Parador de Ifach.

In the period from 1945 to the late 1950s, the phenomenon reinforced the construction of villas and hotels for the summer on the coast. The hotel business concentrated on this area.

The town’s fishing port developed after the late ’50s. It appears that the first housing started construction of the hotel (since demolished) at the foot of the Rock.

During the second half of the 1960s as happened along the rest of the Costa Blanca, there was a tremendous boom in construction in Calpe. This was due to political change and the emergence of tourism as a phenomenon of the masses. It was this transformation that made Calpe what it is today.