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Andalusia (, ; or ) is the most populous and the second largest in area of the autonomous communities in Spain. The Andalusian autonomous community is officially recognised as a nationality of Spain.[1] The territory is divided into eight provinces: Almer a, C diz, C rdoba, Granada, Huelva, Ja n, M laga and Seville. Its capital is the city of Seville (Spanish: Sevilla).

Andalusia is in the south of the Iberian peninsula, immediately south of the autonomous communities of Extremadura and Castile La Mancha; west of the autonomous community of Murcia and the Mediterranean Sea; east of Portugal and the Atlantic Ocean; and north of the Mediterranean Sea and the Strait of Gibraltar, which separates Spain from Morocco, and the Atlantic Ocean. The small British overseas territory of Gibraltar shares a three-quarter-mile land border with the Andalusian province of C diz at the eastern end of the Strait of Gibraltar.

Andalusia has three major geographic subregions. In the north, the mountainous Sierra Morena separates Andalusia from the plains of Extremadura and Castile La Mancha on Spain's Meseta Central. South of that, one can distinguish Upper Andalusia, generally the Baetic System, from Lower Andalusia with its Baetic Depression of the valley of the Guadalquivir.




The name Andaluc a

Kingdom of Granada]] appears under its individual name.

The Spanish toponym (place name) Andaluc a (immediate source of the English Andalusia) was introduced into the Spanish languages in the 13th century under the form el Andaluc a.[2] Adopted to refer those territories still under the Moorish rule until then, and generally south of Castilla Nueva and Valencia, and corresponding with the former Roman Province hitherto called in Latin sources as Baetica. This was a Castilianization of Al-Andalusiya, the adjectival form of the Arabic language al-Andalus, the name given by the Arabs to all of the Iberian territories under the Muslim rule from 711 to 1492. The etymology of al-Andalus is itself somewhat debated (see al-Andalus), but it entered the Arabic language even before such time as this area came under Muslim rule. The name is an Arabized version of Vandalusia meaning land of the Vandals, referring to the Germanic tribe that invaded Spain after the fall of the Roman Empire and set up various kingdoms in southern Spain and northern Africa in the pre-Muslim period. Andalusia was the centre of power in mediaeval Muslim-dominated Iberia.

Like the Arabic term al-Andalus, in historical contexts the Spanish term Andaluc a or the English term Andalusia do not necessarily refer to the exact territory designated by these terms today. Initially, the term referred exclusively to territories under Muslim control; later, it was applied to some of the last Iberian territories to be regained from the Muslims, though not always to exactly the same ones.[3] In the Estoria de Espa a (also known as the Primera Cr nica General) of Alfonso X of Castile, written in the second half of the 13th century, the term Andaluc a is used with three different meanings:

  1. As a literal translation of the Arabic al- ndalus when Arabic texts are quoted.
  2. To designate the territories the Christians had regained by that time in the Guadalquivir valley and in the Kingdoms of Granada and Murcia. In a document from 1253, Alfonso X styled himself Rey de Castilla, Le n y de toda Andaluc a ("King of Castile, Le n and all of Andalusia").
  3. To designate the territories the Christians had regained by that time in the Guadalquivir valley (the Kingdoms of Ja n, C rdoba and Seville) but not the Kingdom of Granada. This was the most common significance in the Late Middle Ages and Early modern period.[4]

From an administrative point of view, Granada remained separate for many years even after the completion of the Reconquista[4] due, above all, to its emblematic character as the last territory regained, and as the seat of the important Real Chanciller a de Granada, a court of last resort. Still, the reconquest and repopulation of Granada was accomplished largely by people from the four existing Christian kingdoms of Andalusia, and Granada came to be considered a fourth kingdom of Andalusia.[5] The often-used expression "Four Kingdoms of Andalusia" dates back in Spanish at least to the mid-18th century.[6][7]



The Andalusian coat of arms shows the figure of Hercules and two lions between the two pillars of Hercules that tradition situates on either side of the Strait of Gibraltar. An inscription below, superimposed on an image of the flag of Andalusia reads Andaluc a por s , para Espa a y la Humanidad ("Andalusia by herself, for Spain and Humanity"). Over the two columns is a semicircular arch in the colors of the flag of Andalusia, with the Latin words Dominator Hercules Fundator superimposed.[8]


Click to hear an instrumental version of the Andalusian anthem. The anthem of Andalusia was composed by Jos del Castillo D az (director of the Municipal Band of Seville, commonly known as Maestro Castillo) with lyrics by Blas Infante.[10] The music was inspired by Santo Dios, a popular religious song sung at harvest time by peasants and day laborers in the provinces of M laga, Seville, and Huelva. Blas Infante brought the song to Maestro Castillo's attention; Maestro Castillo adapted and harmonized the traditional melody. The lyrics appeal to the Andalusians to mobilize and demand tierra y libertad ("land and liberty") by way of agrarian reform and a statute of autonomy within Spain.

The Parliament of Andalusia voted unanimously in 1983 that the preamble to the Statute of Autonomy recognize Blas Infante as the Father of the Andalusian Nation (Padre de la Patria Andaluza),[11] which was reaffirmed in the reformed Statute of Autonomy submitted to popular referendum 18 February 2007. The preamble of the present 2007 Statute of Autonomy says that Article 2 of the present Spanish Constitution of 1978 recognizes Andalusia as a nationality. Later, in its articulation, it speaks of Andalusia as a "historic nationality" (Spanish: nacionalidad hist rica). It also cites the 1919 Andalusianist Manifesto of C rdoba describing Andalusia as a "national reality" (realidad nacional), but does not endorse that formulation. Article 1 of the earlier 1981 Statute of Autonomy defined it simply as a "nationality" (nacionalidad).[12]

The national holiday, the D a de Andaluc a, is celebrated on 28 February,[13] and commemorates the 1980 autonomy referendum.



The Sevillian historian Antonio Dom nguez Ortiz wrote that:


Andalusia has a surface area of , 17.3 percent of the territory of Spain. Andalusia alone is comparable in extent and in the variety of its terrain to any of several of the smaller European countries. To the east is the Mediterranean Sea; to the west the Atlantic Ocean; to the north the Sierra Morena constitutes the border with the Meseta Central; to the south, the self-governing[14] British overseas territory of Gibraltar and the Strait of Gibraltar separate it from Africa.


Locations of the principal Andalusian climate types.[15] Andalusian firs, Sierra de las Nieves

Andalusia sits at a latitude between 36 and 38 44' N, in the warm-temperate region. In general, it experiences a Mediterranean climate, with dry summers influenced by the Azores High, but subject to occasional torrential rains and extremely hot temperatures.[15][16] In the winter, the tropical anticyclones move south, allowing cold polar fronts to penetrate the region. Still, within Andalusia there is considerable climatic variety. From the extensive coastal plains one may pass to the valley of the Guadalquivir, barely above sea level, then to the highest altitudes in the Iberian peninsula in the peaks of the Sierra Nevada. In a mere one can pass from the subtropical coast of the province of Granada to the snowy peaks of Mulhac n. Andalusia also includes both the dry Tabernas Desert in the province of Almer a and the Sierra de Grazalema Natural Park in the province of C diz, which experiences Spain's greatest rainfall.[17][18][19][20]

Annual rainfall in the Sierra de Grazalema has been measured as high as in 1963, the highest ever recorded for any location in Iberia.[21] Andalusia is also home to the driest place in continental Europe, the Cabo de Gata, with only of rain per year.

In general, as one goes from west to east, away from the Atlantic, there is less precipitation.[21] "Wet Andalusia" includes most of the highest points in the region, above all the Sierra de Grazalema but also the Serran a de Ronda in western M laga. The valley of the Guadalquivir has moderate rainfall. The Tabernas Desert in Almer a, Europe's only true desert, has less than 75 days with any measurable precipitation, and some particular places in the desert have as few as 50 such days. Much of "dry Andalusia" has more than 300 "sunny" days a year.

The average temperature in Andalusia throughout the year is over . Averages in the cities range from in Baeza to in M laga.[22] Much of the Guadalquivir valley and the Mediterranean coast has an average of about . The coldest month is January when Granada at the foot of the Sierra Nevada experiences an average temperature of . The hottest are July and August, with an average temperature of for Andalusia as a whole. C rdoba is the hottest provincial capital, followed by Seville.[23]

The Guadalquivir valley has experienced the highest temperatures recorded in Europe, with a maximum of recorded at C rdoba and Seville.[24] The mountains of Granada and Ja n have the coldest temperatures in southern Iberia, but do not reach continental extremes (and, indeed are surpassed by some mountains in northern Spain). In the cold snap of January 2005, Santiago de la Espada (Ja n) experienced a temperature of and the ski resort at Sierra Nevada National Park the southernmost ski resort in Europe dropped to . Sierra Nevada Natural Park has Iberia's lowest average annual temperature, ( at Pradollano) and its peaks remain snowy practically year-round.


Locations of the principal features of the Andalusian terrain. Mulhacen peak, north face

Mountain ranges affect climate, the network of rivers, soils and their erosion, bioregions, and even human economies insofar as they rely on natural resources.[25] The Andalusian terrain offers a range of altitudes and slopes. Andalusia has the Iberian peninsula's highest mountains and nearly 15 percent of its terrain over . The picture is similar for areas under (with the Baetic Depression), and for the variety of slopes.

The Atlantic coast is overwhelmingly beach and gradually sloping coasts; the Mediterranean coast has many cliffs, above all in the Malagan Axarqu a and in Granada and Almer a.[26] This asymmetry divides the region naturally into Upper Andalusia (two mountainous areas) and Lower Andalusia (the broad basin of the Guadalquivir).[27]

The Sierra Morena separates Andalusia from the plains of Extremadura and Castile La Mancha on Spain's Meseta Central. Although sparsely populated, this is not a particularly high range, and its highest point, the peak of La Ba uela in the Sierra Madrona, lies outside of Andalusia. Within the Sierra Morana, the gorge of the Despe aperros forms a natural frontier between Castile and Andalusia.

The Baetic Cordillera consists of the parallel mountain ranges of the Cordillera Penib tica near the Mediterranean coast and the Cordillera Subb tica inland, separated by the Surco Intrab tico. The Cordillera Subb tica is quite discontinuous, offering many passes that facilitate transportation, but the Penib tico forms a strong barrier between the Mediterranean coast and the interior.[28] The Sierra Nevada, part of the Cordillera Penib tica in the Province of Granada, has the highest peaks in Iberia: El Mulhac n at and El Veleta at .

Lower Andalusia, the Baetic Depression, the basin of the Guadalquivir, lies between these two mountainous areas. It is a nearly flat territory, open to the Gulf of C diz in the southeast. Throughout history, this has been the most populous part of Andalusia.


Rivers and basins of Andalusia. Andalusia has rivers that flow into both the Atlantic and the Mediterranean. Flowing to the Atlantic are the Guadiana, Odiel-Tinto, Guadalquivir, Guadalete, and Barbate. Flowing to the Mediterranean are the Guadiaro, Guadalhorce, Guadalmedina, Guadalfeo, Andarax (also known as the Almer a) and Almanzora. Of these, the Guadalquivir is the longest in Andalusia and fifth longest on the Iberian peninsula, at .[29]

The Guadalquivir as it passes through C rdoba. The rivers of the Atlantic basin are characteristically long, run through mostly flat terrain, and have broad river valleys. As a result, at their mouths are estuaries and wetlands, such as the marshes of Do ana in the delta of the Guadalquivir, and wetlands of the Odiel. In contrast, the rivers of the Mediterranean Basin are shorter, more seasonal, and make a precipitous descent from the mountains of the Baetic Cordillera. Their estuaries are small, and their valleys are less suitable for agriculture. Also, being in the rain shadow of the Baetic Cordillera means that they receive a lesser volume of water.[27]



The soils of Andalusia can be divided into three large areas: the Sierra Morena, Cordillera Subb tica, and the Baetic Depression and the Surco Intrab tico.[31]


Finally, the Baetic Depression and the Surco Intrab tico have deep, rich soils, with great agricultural capacity. In particular, the alluvial soils of the Guadalquivir valley and plain of Granada have a loamy texture and are particularly suitable for intensive irrigated crops.[33] In the hilly areas of the countryside, there is a double dynamic: the depressions have filled with older lime-rich material, developing the deep, rich, dark clay soils the Spanish call bujeo, or tierras negras andaluzas, excellent for dryland farming. In other zones, the whiter albariza provides an excellent soil for vineyards.[34]

Despite their marginal quality, the poorly consolidated soils of the sandy coastline of Huelva and Almer a have been successfully used in recent decades for hothouse cultivation under clear plastic of strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, and other fruits.






The Iberian Lynx (Lynx pardinus)

The biodiversity of Andalusia extends to its fauna as well. More than 400 of the 630 vertebrate species extant in Spain can be found in Andalusia. Spanning the Mediterrnean and Atlantic basins, and adjacent to the Strait of Gibraltar, Andalusia is on the migratory route of many of the numerous flocks of birds that travel annually from Europe to Africa and back.[36]



The large carnivores such as the Iberian Wolf (Canis lupus signatus) and the Iberian Lynx (Lynx pardinus) are quite threatened, and are limited to the Sierra de And jar, inside of Sierra Morena, Do ana and Despe aperros. Stocks of the Wild boar (Sus scrofa), on the other hand, have been well preserved because they are a popular with hunters. More abundant and in varied situations of conservation, are such smaller carnivores as Otters, extremely abundant dogs, very abundant Foxes, the European Badger (Meles meles), the European Polecat (Mustela putorius), the Least Weasel (Mustela nivalis), the Wildcat (Felis silvestris), the Common Genet (Genetta genetta), and the Egyptian Mongoose (Herpestes ichneumon).[37]


Protected areas

natural parks]] in Andalusia. Andalusia has many unique ecosystems. In order to preserve these areas in a manner compatible with both conservation and economic exploitation, many of the most representative ecosystems have been given protected status.[38][39]


In total, nearly 20 percent of the territory of Andalusia lies in one of these protected areas, which constitute roughly 30 percent of the protected territory of Spain.[40] Among these many spaces, some of the most notable are the Sierras de Cazorla, Segura y Las Villas Natural Park, Spain's largest natural park and the second largest in Europe, the Sierra Nevada National Park, Do ana National Park and Natural Park, the Tabernas Desert, and the Cabo de Gata-N jar Natural Park, the largest terrestrial-maritime reserve in the European Western Mediterranean Sea.


Baza]]. In the National Archaeological Museum of Spain, Madrid. The geostrategic position of Andalusia in the extreme south of Europe, providing (along with Morocco) a gateway between Europe and Africa, added to its position between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, as well as its rich deposits of minerals and its agricultural wealth, have made Andalusia a tempting prize for civilizations since prehistoric times. Add to this its area of (larger than many European countries), and it can be no surprise that Andalusia has figured prominently in the history of Europe and the Mediterranean.

Given that the origin of humanity was almost certainly in Africa, several theories postulate that the first hominids in Europe were in Andalusia, having passed across the Strait of Gibraltar; the earliest known paintings of humanity have been found in the Caves of Nerja, M laga. The first settlers, based on artifacts from the archaeological sites at Los Millares, El Argar, and Tartessos, were clearly influenced by cultures of the Eastern Mediterranean who arrived on the Andalusian coast. Andalusia then went through a period of protohistory, when the region did not have a written language of its own, but its existence was known to and documented by literate cultures, principally the Phoenicians (Gadir, Malaka) and Ancient Greeks. During the second millennium BCE, the kingdom of Tartessos developed in Andalusia.[10] According to John Koch,[41] Cunliffe, Karl, Wodtko and other scholars, Celtic culture may have developed first in far Southern Portugal and Southwestern Spain, approximately 500 years prior to anything recorded in Central Europe.[42][43][44] The Tartessian language from the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula, which John T. Koch has claimed to be able to readily translate, has been accepted by a number of philologists and other linguists as the first attested Celtic language,[41][45][46] but the linguistic mainstream continues to treat Tartessian as an unclassified (Pre-Indo-European?) language,[47][48] and Koch's view of the evolution of Celtic is not generally accepted.

Carthaginians and Romans


Vandals - Visigoths - Byzantine Empires


Islamic Empire - Al-Andalus

The Caliphate of C rdoba c. 1000, at the apogee of Almanzor's rule The Visigothic era came to an abrupt end in 711 with the Umayyad conquest of Hispania by the Umayyad general Tariq ibn Ziyad, an Islamic Berber.[10] Tariq is known in Spanish history and legend as Tariq el Tuerto ("Tariq the One-eyed"). The Muslim conquest by the Umayyad Caliphate of the Iberian Peninsula in 711 718 marked the collapse of Visigothic rule and the establishment of the Islamic Empire era. Andalusian culture was fundamentally influenced by over half a millennium of rule by many Muslim caliphates and emirates. In this period, the name "Al-Andalus" was applied to a much larger area than the present Andalusia, and in some periods it referred to nearly the entire Iberian peninsula.

Nevertheless, the Guadalquivir River valley in present-day Andalusia was the hub of Muslim power in the peninsula, with the Caliphate of C rdoba making C rdoba its capital. The Umayyad Caliphate produced such leaders as Caliph Abd-ar-Rahman III (ruled 912 961) and his son, Caliph Al-Hakam II (ruled 961 976); and built the magnificent Great Mosque of C rdoba. Under these rulers, Moorish Islam in Spain reached its zenith, and C rdoba was a centre of global economic and cultural significance.[49]

Great Mosque of C rdoba Already in the 10th century, the Christians of northern Spain had begun what would eventually become the Reconquista: the reconquest of Spain for Christendom. Caliph Abd-ar-Rahman suffered some military defeats, but often managed to play off the Christian kingdoms Al-Hakam's death) achieved military successes, but at the expense of uniting the Christian kings of the north against him. Biggest and best conserved Arabic baths in Europe located in Ja n Internal divisions after the death of Almanzor (1002) led to the first of several decompositions of the Caliphate (1031). New centers of power arose, each ruling a taifa (and often with multiple levels of nominal fealty and relative independence, according to the patterns of feudalism). The taifa of Seville was especially influential, but the Emirate of Granada was the last to survive, lasting from 1228 until 1492.

After the conquest of Toledo in 1086 by Alfonso VI, Christian rule dominated the peninsula. The main Taifas therefore had to resort to assistance from various Muslim powers across the Mediterranean. A number of different Muslim dynasties of North African origin notably Almoravid dynasty and Almohad dynasty dominated a slowly diminishing Al-Andalus over the next several centuries.[50]


Andalusia - Kingdom of Castile

The weakness caused by the collapse of Almohad power and the subsequent creation of new Taifas, each with its own ruler, and led to the rapid Christian reconquest of the valley of the Guadalquivir. C rdoba was regained in 1236 and Seville in 1248. The fall of Granada in 1492 put an end to Muslim rule in the Iberian peninsula.[51]

View of Seville and its port in the 16th century, by Alonso S nchez Coello. On 3 August 1492 Christopher Columbus left the town of Palos de la Frontera, with the first expedition that resulted in the discovery of America.[52] Many Andalusians participated in the expedition that would end the Middle Ages and signal the beginning of modernity. Contacts between Spain and the Americas, including royal administration and the shipping trade of Spanish colonies for over three hundred years, came almost exclusively through Andalusia.[53] As a result, the region became the wealthiest and most influential in Spain and one of the most influential in Europe. However, Habsburg ambitions elsewhere in Europe diverted much of the colonial wealth to war. Discontent with this situation culminated in 1641, when the Andalusian nobility staged an unsuccessful conspiracy to gain independence in 1641 from the provincial government of the Gaspar de Guzm n, Count-Duke of Olivares.

In the first half of the 16th century plague was still prevalent in Spain. According to George C. Kohn, "One of the worst epidemics of the century, whose miseries were accompanied by severe drought and food shortage, started in 1505; by 1507, about 100,000 people had died in Andalusia alone... Andalusia was struck once again in 1646. For three years, plague haunted the entire region, causing perhaps as many as 200,000 deaths, especially in M laga and Seville."[54]

Following the Second Rebellion of the Alpujarras in 1568-1571, the Moorish population that is, unconverted Moriscos were expelled from Kingdom of Castile (and Aragon). However, by order of the Spanish crown, two Moorish families were required to remain in each village in order to demonstrate to the new inhabitants, introduced from northern Spain, the workings of the terracing and irrigation systems on which the district's agriculture depends.

Andalusia profited from the Spanish overseas empire, although much trade and finance eventually came to be controlled by other parts of Europe to where it was ultimately destined. In the 18th century, commerce from other parts of Spain began to displace Andalusian commerce when the Spanish government ended Andalusia's trading monopoly with the American colonies. The loss of the empire in the 19th century hurt the economy of the region, partcularly the cities that had benefited from the trade and ship building. The construction of railways in the latter part of the 19th century enabled Andalusia to better develop its agricultural potential and it became an exporter of food. While industrialisation was taking off in the northern Spanish regions of Catalonia and the Basque counntry, Andalusia suffered from its deep traditional social divisions between a small class of immensely wealthy landowners and a population made up largely of poor agricultural labourers and tradesmen.

Government and politics

Andalusia is one of the 17 autonomous communities of Spain. The Andalusian Autonomous Government (Spanish: Junta de Andaluc a) includes the Parliament of Andalusia, its chosen president, a Consultative Council, and other bodies.





The Statute of Autonomy spells out Andalusia's distinct institutions of government and administration. Chief among these is the Andalusian Autonomous Government (Junta de Andaluc a). Other institutions specified in the Statute are the Defensor del Pueblo Andaluz (literally "Defender of the Andalusian People", basically an ombudsperson), the Consultative Council, the Chamber of Accounts, the Audiovisual Council of Andalusia, and the Economic and Social Council.

The Andalusian Statute of Autonomy recognizes Seville as the region's capital. The Andalusian Autonomous Government is located there. However, the region's highest court, the High Court of Andalusia (Tribunal Superior de Justicia de Andaluc a) is not part of the Autonomous Government, and has its seat in Granada.

Andalusian Autonomous Government

Legal districts of Andalusia. The Andalusian Autonomous Government (Junta de Andaluc a) is the institution of self-government of the Autonomous Community of Andalusia. Within the government, the President is the supreme representative of the autonomous community, and the ordinary representative of the Spanish state in the autonomous community. The president is formally named to the position by the Monarch of Spain and then confirmed by a majority vote of the Parliament of Andalusia. In practice, the monarch always names a person acceptable to the ruling party or coalition of parties in the autonomous region. In theory, were the candidate to fail to gain the needed majority, the monarch could propose a succession of candidates. After two months, if no proposed candidate could gain the parliament's approval, the parliament would automatically be dissolved and the acting president would call new elections.[57] As of 2009, Jos Antonio Gri n Mart nez is president.

The Council of Government, the highest political and administrative organ of the Community, exercises regulatory and executive power.[58] The President presides over the council, which also includes the heads of various departments (Consejer as). In the current legislature (2008 2012), there are 15 of these departments. In order of precedence, they are Presidency, Governance, Economy and Treasury, Education, Justice and Public Administration, Innovation, Science and Business, Public Works and Transportation, Employment, Health, Agriculture and Fishing, Housing and Territorial Planning, Tourism, Commerce and Sports, Equality and Social Welfare, Culture, and Environment.



Judicial power

The High Court of Andalusia (Tribunal Superior de Justicia de Andaluc a) in Granada is subject only to the higher jurisdiction of Supreme Court of Spain. The High Court is not an organ of the Autonomous Community, but rather of the Judiciary of Spain, which is unitary throughout the kingdom and whose powers are not transferred to the autonomous communities. The Andalusian territory is divided into 88 legal/judicial districts (partidos judiciales).[61]

Administrative divisions


Upper Andalusia or Eastern Andalusia. Lower Andalusia or Western Andalusia. Andalusia consists of eight provinces. The latter were established by Javier de Burgos in the 1833 territorial division of Spain. Each of the Andalusian provinces bears the same name as its capital:[62]

Province Capital Population Density Municipalities Legal districts
25px Almer a Almer a 702,819 102 municipalities 8
25px C diz C diz 1,243,519 44 municipalities 14
25px C rdoba C rdoba 805,857 75 municipalities 12
25px Granada Granada 924,550 168 municipalities 9
25px Huelva Huelva 521,968 79 municipalities 6
25px Ja n Ja n 670,600 97 municipalities 10
25px M laga M laga 1,625,827 101 municipalities 11
25px Seville Seville 1,928,962 105 municipalities 15

Andalusia is traditionally divided into two historical subregions: Upper Andalusia or Eastern Andalusia, consisting of the provinces of Almer a, Granada, Ja n, and M laga, and Lower Andalusia or Western Andalusia, consisting of the provinces of C diz, C rdoba, Huelva and Seville.

Municipalities and local entities

Municipalities of Andalusia Beyond the level of provinces, Andalusia is further divided into 771 municipalities (municipios).[62] The municipalities of Andalusia are regulated by Title III of the Statute of Autonomy, Articles 91 95, which establishes the municipality as the basic territorial entity of Andalusia, each of which has legal personhood and autonomy in many aspects of its internal affairs. At the municipal level, representation, government and administration is performed by the ayuntamiento (municipal government), which has competency for urban planning, community social services, supply and treatment of water, collection and treatment of waste, and promotion of tourism, culture, and sports, among other matters established by law.[63]

Among the more important Andalusian cities besides the provincial capitals are:

  • El Ejido, N jar and Roquetas de Mar (Almer a)
  • La L nea de la Concepci n, Algeciras, Sanl car de Barrameda, San Fernando, Chiclana de la Frontera, Puerto Real, Arcos de la Frontera, Jerez and El Puerto de Santa Mar a (C diz)
  • Almu car, Guadix, Loja and Motril (Granada)
  • Linares, And jar, beda and Baeza (Ja n)
  • Marbella, Mijas, V lez-M laga, Fuengirola, Torremolinos, Estepona, Benalm dena, Antequera, Rinc n de la Victoria and Ronda (M laga)
  • Utrera, Dos Hermanas, Alcal de Guada ra, Osuna, Mairena del Aljarafe, Ecija and Lebrija (Seville)

In conformity with the intent to devolve control as locally as possible, in many cases, separate nuclei of population within municipal borders each administer their own interests. These are variously known as pedan as ("hamlets"), villas ("villages"), aldeas (also usually rendered as "villages"), or other similar names.[62][64]

Comarcas and mancomunidades


The current statutory entity that most closely resembles a comarca is the mancomunidad, a freely chosen, bottom-up association of municipalities intended as an instrument of socioeconomic development and coordination between municipal governments.[62][66] It is possible that present-day mancomunidades could, in the future, become comarcas. Alternatively, groups of municipalities formed under LEADER or PRODER to solicit European aid for rural development could also evolve into comarcas. Almost every Andalusian municipality outside of the capitals and major cities is a member of some such group. These groups consist of municipalities freely united by their economic interests and are often endowed with funds used for external dissemination of their identity.




Evolution of the population of Andalusia[69]
1787 1842 1860 1887 1900 1910 1920 1930
1,850,157 2,300,020 2,965,508 3,380,846 3,544,769 3,800,299 4,221,686 4,627,148
1940 1950 1960 1970 1981 1991 2001 2011
5,255,120 5,647,244 5,940,047 5,991,076 6,440,985 6,940,522 7,357,558 8,424,102

At the end of the 20th century, Andalusia was in the last phase of demographic transition. The death rate stagnated at around 8 9 per thousand, and the population came to be influenced mainly by birth and migration.[70] INE]]. Accessed 2008-08-05. Link does not have relevant data 10 December 2009.


At the beginning of the 21st century, statistics show a slight increase in the birth rate, due in large part to the higher birth rate among immigrants.[73][74] The result is that as of 2009, the trend toward rejuvenation of the population is among the strongest of any autonomous community of Spain, or of any comparable region in Europe.[72]


Evolution of the birth and death rates of Andalusia 1975 2007 Structure of the population of Andalusia by sex and age. 2008 data 2008; 1986 data in red for comparison.

At the beginning of the 21st century, the population structure of Andalusia shows a clear inversion of the population pyramid, with the largest cohorts falling between ages 25 and 50.[75] Comparison of the population pyramid in 2008 to that in 1986 shows:




5.35 percent of the population of Andalusia were born outside of Spain. This is actually a relatively low number in Spanish national terms, the national average being three percentage points higher. The immigrants are by no means evenly distributed among the Andalusian provinces: Almer a, with a 15.20 percent immigrant population, is third among all provinces in Spain, while at the other extreme Ja n has only 2.07 percent immigrants and C rdoba 1.77 percent. The predominant nationalities among the immigrant populations are Moroccan (92,500, constituting 17.79 percent of the foreigners living in Andalusia), British (15.25 percent across the region, but constituting a majority of immigrants to M laga). Still, if one looks at regions rather than individual countries, the single largest immigrant block is from Latin America, outnumbering either North Africans or non-Spanish Western Europeans.[76] Demographically, this group has provided an important addition to the Andalusian labor force.[73][74]



Between 2000 2006 economic growth per annum was 3.72%, one of the highest in the country. Still, according to the Spanish Instituto Nacional de Estad stica (INE), the GDP per capita of Andalusia ( 17,401; 2006) remains the second lowest in Spain, with only Extremadura lagging behind.[77]

Andalusia Almer a C diz C rdoba Granada Huelva Ja n M laga Sevilla
GDP (thousands of ) 115,273,571 10,695,222 17,476,650 10,287,555 11,656,391 7,562,345 8,555,194 21,605,838 27,432,372
GDP per capita 10,171 12,036 9,805 9,821 9,794 10,151 9,676 10,279 10,232
Thousands of workers 2,825.3 274.7 408.1 262.0 285.7 158.8 220.0 538.2 677.8

Primary sector



Agriculture, husbandry, hunting, and forestry

Denominations of origin]] of olive oil in Andalusia

For many centuries, Andalusian society was mainly agricultural. Even today, 45.74 percent of the Andalusian territory is cultivated.[80] The primary cultivation is dryland farming of cereals and sunflowers without artificial irrigation, especially in the vast countryside of the Guadalquivir valley and the high plains of Granada and Almer a-with a considerably lesser and more geographically focused cultivation of barley and oats. Using irrigation, maize, cotton and rice are also grown on the banks of the Guadalquivir and Genil.[81] Olive orchards in Ba os de la Encina province of Ja n. The most important tree crops are olives, especially in the Subbetic regions of the provinces of C rdoba and J en, where irrigated olive orchards constitute a large component of agricultural output.[82] There are extensive vineyards in various zones such as Jerez de la Frontera (sherry), Condado de Huelva, Montilla-Moriles and M laga. Fruits mainly citrus fruits are grown near the banks of the Guadalquivir; almonds, which require far less water, are grown on the high plains of Granada and Alemer a.[83]




Andalusia has a long tradition of animal husbandry and livestock farming, but it is now restricted mainly to mountain meadows, where there is less pressure from other potential uses. The raising of livestock now plays a semi-marginal role in the Andalusian economy, constituting only 15 percent of the primary sector, half the number for Spain taken as a whole.[86]



The Andalusian forests are important for their extent 50 percent of the territory of Andalusia and for other less quantifiable environmental reasons, such as their value in preventing erosion, regulating the flow of water necessary for other flora and fauna. For these reasons, there is legislation in place to protect the Andalusian forests.[88] The value of forest products as such constitutes only 2 percent of agricultural production. This comes mostly from cultivated species eucalyptus in Huelva and poplar in Granada as well as naturally occurring cork oak in the Sierra Morena.[89]


Fishing port of Algeciras.

Fishing is a longstanding tradition on the Andalusian coasts. Fish and other seafood have long figured prominently in the local diet and in the local gastronomic culture: fried fish (pescaito frito in local dialect), white prawns, almadraba tuna, among others. The Andalusian fishing fleet is Spain's second largest, after Galicia, and Andalusia's 38 fishing ports are the most of any Spanish autonomous community.[90] Commercial fishing produces only 0.5 percent of the product of the regional primary sector by value, but there are areas where it has far greater importance. In the province of Huelva it constitutes 20 percent of the primary sector, and locally in Punta Umbr a 70 percent of the work force is involved in commercial fishing.[91]




Secondary sector: industry



Tertiary sector: services

Castle of Sancti Petri, located in San Fernando, C diz. One of the largest components of the service sector is "sun and sand" tourism.

In recent decades the Andalusian tertiary (service) sector has grown greatly, and has come to constitute the majority of the regional economy, as is typical of contemporary economies in developed nations.[96] In 1975 the service sector produced 51.1 percent of local GDP and employed 40.8 percent of the work force. In 2007, this had risen to 67.9 percent of GDP and 66.42 percent of jobs. This process of "tertiarization" of the economy has followed a somewhat unusual course in Andalusia.[97] This growth occurred somewhat earlier than in most developed economies and occurred independently of the local industrial sector. There were two principal reasons that "tertiarization" followed a different course in Andalusia than elsewhere:



Tourism in Andalusia

La R bida Monastery, Palos de la Frontera, province of Huelva. View of Ronda. Due in part to the relatively mild winter and spring climate, the south of Spain is attractive to overseas visitors especially tourists from Northern Europe. While inland areas such as Ja n, C rdoba and the hill villages and towns remain relatively untouched by tourism, the coastal areas of Andalusia have heavy visitor traffic for much of the year.

Among the autonomous communities, Andalusia is second only to Catalonia in tourism, with nearly 30 million visitors every year. The principal tourist destinations in Andalusia are the Costa del Sol and (secondarily) the Sierra Nevada. As discussed above, Andalusia is one of the sunniest and warmest places in Europe, making it a center of "sun and sand" tourism.[99] 70 percent of the lodging capacity and 75 percent of the nights booked in Andalusian hotels are in coastal municipalities. The largest number of tourists come in August 13.26 percent of the nights booked throughout the year and the smallest number in December 5.36 percent. Puerto Ban s, Marbella. On the west (Atlantic) coast are the Costa de la Luz (provinces of Huelva and C diz), and on the east (Mediterranean) coast, the Costa del Sol (provinces of C diz y M laga), Costa Tropical (Granada and part of Almer a) and the Costa de Almer a. In 2004, the Blue Flag beach program of the non-profit Foundation for Environmental Education recognized 66 Andalusian beaches and 18 pleasure craft ports as being in a good state of conservation in terms of sustainability, accessibility, and quality. Nonetheless, the level of tourism on the Andalusian coasts has been high enough to have a significant environmental impact, and other organizations such as the Spanish Ecologists in Action (Ecologistas en Acci n) with their description of "Black Flag beaches"[100] or Greenpeace[101] have expressed the opposite sentiment.


As for cultural tourism, Andalusia has some notable monuments dating back to the Muslim era: the Great Mosque of C rdoba, the Alhambra in Granada, the Giralda and Alcazar in Seville, and the Alcazaba in M laga. There are hundreds of cultural tourist destinations: cathedrals, castles, forts, monasteries, and historic city centers; the city centers of beda and Baeza in the province of Ja n are UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

Each of the provinces shows a great variety of architectural styles: Islamic architecture, Renaissance architecture, Baroque architecture and more modern styles. Further, there are the Lugares colombinos, significant places in the life of Christopher Columbus:[102] Palos de la Frontera, La R bida Monastery, and Moguer) in the province of Huelva. There are also archeological sites of great interest: the Roman city of Italica, birthplace of Emperor Trajan and (most likely) Hadrian; Baelo Claudia near the Straits of Gibraltar; Medina Azahara, the city-palace of the Cordoban caliph Abd-ar-Rahman III, where major excavations still continue. Nerja. Andalusia was the birthplace of such great painters as Vel zquez and Murillo (Seville) and, more recently, Picasso (M laga); Picasso is memorialized by his native city at the Museo Picasso M laga and Natal House Foundation; the Casa de Murillo was a house museum 1982 1998, but is now mostly offices for the Andalusian Council of Culture. The CAC M laga (Museum of Modern Art) is the most visited museum of Andalusia and has offered exhibitions of artists such as Louise Bourgeois, Jake and Dinos Chapman, Gerhard Richter, Anish Kapoor, Ron Mueck or Rodney Graham. Malaga is also located part of the private Carmen Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection at Carmen Thyssen Museum.


The Council of Government has designated the following "Municipios Tur sticos": in Almer a, Roquetas de Mar; in C diz, Chiclana de la Frontera, Chipiona, Conil de la Frontera, Grazalema, Rota, and Tarifa; in Granada, Almu car; in Huelva, Aracena; in Ja n, Cazorla; in M laga, Benalm dena, Fuengirola, Nerja, Rinc n de la Victoria, Ronda, and Torremolinos; in Seville, Santiponce.

Monuments and features
  • Alcazaba, Almer a
  • Cueva de Menga, Antequera (M laga)
  • El Torcal, Antequera (M laga)
  • Medina Azahara, C rdoba
  • Mosque, C rdoba
  • Mudejar Quarter, Frigiliana (M laga)
  • Alhambra, Granada
  • Palace of Charles V, Granada
  • Charterhouse, Granada
  • Albayz n, Granada
  • La Rabida Monastery, Palos de la Frontera (Huelva)
  • Castle of Santa Catalina, Ja n
  • Ja n Cathedral, Ja n
  • beda and Baeza, Ja n
  • Alcazaba, M laga
  • Buenavista Palace, M laga
  • M laga Cathedral, M laga
  • Puente Nuevo, Ronda (M laga)
  • Caves of Nerja, Nerja (M laga)
  • Ronda Bullring, Ronda (M laga)
  • Giralda, Seville
  • Torre del Oro, Seville
  • Plaza de Espa a, Seville
  • Seville Cathedral, Seville
  • Alc zar of Seville, Seville



First order roads of Andalusia As in any modern society, transport systems are an essential structural element of the functioning of Andalusia. The transportation network facilitates territorial coordination, economic development and distribution, and intercity transportation.[103]

In urban transport, underdeveloped public transport systems put pedestrian traffic and other non-motorized traffic are at a disadvantage compared to the use of private vehicles. Several Andalusian capitals C rdoba, Granada and Seville have recently been trying to remedy this by strengthening their public transport systems and providing a better infrastructure for the use of bicycles.[104] Estaci n de Santa Justa, Sevilla For over a century, the conventional rail network has been centralized on the regional capital, Seville, and the national capital, Madrid; in general, there are no direct connections between provincial capitals. High-speed AVE trains run from Madrid via C rdoba to Seville and M laga. Further AVE routes are under construction.[105] The Madrid-C rdoba-Seville route was the first high-velocity route in Spain (operating since 1992). Other principal routes are the one from Algeciras to Seville and from Almer a via Granada to Madrid.

Most of the principal roads have been converted into limited access highways known as autov as. The Autov a del Este (Autov a A-4) runs from Madrid through the Despe aperros Natural Park, then via Bail n, C rdoba, and Seville to C diz, and is part of European route E05 in the International E-road network. The other main road in the region is the portion of European route E15, which runs as the Autovia del Mediterr neo along the Spanish Mediterranean coast. Parts of this constitute the superhighway Autopista AP-7, while in other areas it is Autov a A-7. Both of these roads run generally east-west, although the Autov a A-4 turns to the south in western Andalusia.

Other first-order roads include the Autov a A-48 roughly along the Atlantic coast from C diz to Algeciras, continuing European route E05 to meet up with European route E15; the Autov a del Quinto Centenario (Autov a A-49), which continues west from Seville (where the Autov a A-4 turns toward the south) and goes on to Huelva and into Portugal as European route E01; the Autov a Ruta de la Plata (Autov a A-66), European route E803, which roughly corresponds to the ancient Roman 'Silver Route' from the mines of northern Spain, and runs north from Seville; the Autov a de M laga (Autov a A-45), which runs south from C rdoba to M laga; and the Autov a de Sierra Nevada (Autov a A-44), part of European route E902, which runs south from Ja n to the Mediterranean coast at Motril. M laga Airport. As of 2008 Andalusia has six public airports, all of which can legally handle international flights; however the M laga Airport is dominant, handling 60.67 percent of passengers[106] and 85 percent of its international traffic. The Seville Airport handles another 20.12 percent of traffic, and the Jerez Airport 7.17 percent, so that these three airports account for 87.96 percent of traffic.[106]

M laga Airport is the international airport that offers a wide variety of international destinations. It has a daily link with twenty cities in Spain and over a hundred cities in Europe (mainly in Great Britain, Central Europe and the Nordic countries but also the main cities of Eastern Europe: Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Sofia, Riga or Bucharest), North Africa, Middle East (Riyadh, Jeddah and Kuwait) and North America (New York, Toronto and Montreal). Port of Algeciras. The main ports are Algeciras (for freight and container traffic) and M laga for cruise ships. Algeciras is Spain's leading commercial port, with of cargo in 2004.[107] Seville has Spain's only commercial river port. Other significant commercial ports in Andalusia are the ports of the Bay of C diz, Almer a and Huelva.

The Council of Government has approved a Plan of Infrastructures for the Sustainability of Transport in Andalusia (PISTA) 2007 2013, which plans an investment of 30 billion euros during that period.[108]

Energy infrastructure


The infrastructure for production of electricity consists of eight large thermal power stations, more than 70 hydroelectric power plants, two wind farms, and 14 major cogeneration facilities. Historically, the largest Andalusian business in this sector was the Compa a Sevillana de Electricidad, founded in 1894, absorbed into Endesa in 1996. PS10]] in Sanl car la Mayor. The Solar power tower PS10 was built by the Andalusian firm Abengoa in Sanl car la Mayor in the province of Seville, and began operating in March 2007. It is the largest existing solar power facility in Europe.[109] Smaller solar power stations, also recent, exist at C llar and Galera, Granada, inaugurated by Geosol and Caja Granada. Two more large thermosolar facilities, Andasol I y II, planned at Hoya de Guadix in the province of Granada are expected to supply electricity to half a million households.[110] The Plataforma Solar de Almer a (PSA) in the Tabernas Desert is an important center for the exploration of the solar energy.[111]

The largest wind power firm in the region is the Sociedad E lica de Andaluc a, formed by the merger of Planta E lica del Sur S.A. and Energ a E lica del Estrecho S.A.


Law School of the University of Granada.






Science and technology

According to the Outreach Program for Science in Andalusia, Andalusia contributes 14 percent of Spain's scientific production behind only Madrid and Catalonia among the autonomous communities,[112] even though regional investment in research and development (R&D) as a proportion of GDP is below the national average.[113] The lack of research capacity in business and the low participation of the private sector in research has resulted in R&D taking place largely in the public sector.

The Council of Innovation, Science and Business is the organ of the autonomous government responsible for universities, research, technological development, industry, and energy. The council coordinates and initiates scientific and technical innovation through specialized centers an initiatives such as the Andalusian Center for Marine Science and Technology (Centro Andaluz de Ciencia y Tecnolog a Marina) and Technological Corporation of Andalusia (Corporaci n Tecnol gica de Andaluc a).

Within the private sphere, although also promoted by public administration, technology parks have been established throughout the Community, such as the Technological Park of Andalucia (Parque Tecnol gico de Andaluc a) in Campanillas on the outskirts of M laga, and Cartuja 93 in Seville. Some of these parks specialize in specific sector, such as Aer polis in aerospace or Geolit in food technology. The Andalusian government deployed 600,000 Ubuntu desktop computers in their schools.



The most notable is the public Radio y Televisi n de Andaluc a (RTVA), broadcasting on two regional television channels, Canal Sur and Canal Sur 2, four regional radio stations, Canal Sur Radio, Canal Fiesta Radio, Radio Andaluc a Informaci n and Canal Flamenco Radio, as well as various digital signals, most notably Andaluc a Televisi n available on cable TV throughout Spain.[114]



No single Andalusian newspaper is distributed throughout the region, not even with local editions. In eastern Andalusia the Diario Ideal has edition in the provinces if Almer a, Granada, and Ja n. Grupo Joly is based in Andalucia, backed by Andalusian capital, and publishes eight daily newspapers there. Efforts to create a newspaper for the entire autonomous region have not succeeded (the most recent as of 2009 was the Diario de Andaluc a). The national press (El Pa s, El Mundo, ABC, etc.) include sections or editions specific to Andalusia.

Public television

RTVA]]'s headquarters, a former train station in C rdoba.

Andalusia has two public television stations, both operated by Radio y Televisi n de Andaluc a (RTVA):

  • Canal Sur first broadcast on 28 February 1989 (D a de Andaluc a).

In addition, RTVA also operates the national and international cable channel Andaluc a Televisi n, which first broadcast in 1996.



  • Canal Sur Radio first broadcast October 1988.
  • Canal Fiesta Radio first broadcast January 2001.
  • Radio Andaluc a Informaci n first broadcast September 1998.
  • Canal Flamenco Radio, first broadcast 29 September 2008.

Art and culture

Flamenco culture is native to Andalusia.

The culture of Andalusia has been shaped by its particular history and geography, as well as its complex flows of population. Andalusia has been home to a succession of peoples and civilizations, many very different from one another, each impacting the settled inhabitants. The ancient Iberians were followed by Celts, Phoenicians and other Eastern Mediterranean traders, Romans, Visigoths, North African Muslims, and the Castilians and other Spanish of the Reconquista, not to mention the Jews, Romani people, and others who have lived in Andalusia in large numbers at one or another time, without ever being the holders of power. All have affected Andalusian identity and culture, which was already delineated in the 19th century and diffused widely in the literary and pictorial genre of the costumbrismo andaluz.[115] [116]



Andalusia has been the birthplace of many great artists: the classic painters Vel zquez, Murillo, and Juan de Vald s Leal; the sculptors Juan Mart nez Monta s, Alonso Cano and Pedro de Mena; and such modern painters as Daniel V zquez D az and Pablo Picasso.

The composer Manuel de Falla was from C diz and incorporated typical Andalusian melodies in his works, as did Joaqu n Turina, from Seville. The great singer Camar n de la Isla was born in San Fernando, C diz, and Andr s Segovia who helped shape the romantic-modernist approach to classical guitar, was born in Linares, Ja n.


The Alhambra, seen from the gardens of the Generalife in the Albaic n. Since the Neolithic era, Andalusia has preserved important megaliths, such as the dolmens at the Cueva de Menga and the Dolmen de Viera, both at Antequera. Archeologists have found Bronze Age cities at Los Millares and El Argar. Archeological digs at Do a Blanca in El Puerto de Santa Mar a have revealed the oldest Phoenicians city in the Iberian peninsula; major ruins have also been revealed at Roman Italica near Seville.[117]

Some of the greatest architecture in Andalusia dates from the Muslim era: the Alhambra and the Great Mosque of C rdoba. A patio andaluz in C rdoba. The traditional architecture of Andalusia retains its Roman and Arab roots, with a marked Mediterranean character strongly conditioned by the climate. Traditional urban houses are constructed with shared walls to minimize exposure to high exterior temperatures. Solid exterior walls are painted with lime to minimize the heating effects of the sun. In accord with the climate and tradition of each area, the roofs may be terraces or tiled in the Roman imbrex and tegula style. One of the most characteristic elements (and one of the most obviously influenced by Roman and North African architecture) is the interior patio or courtyard; the patios of C rdoba are particularly famous. Other characteristic elements are decorative (and functional) wrought iron gratings, and the tiles known as azulejos. Landscaping both for common private homes and on a more lavish scale also carries on older traditions, with plants, flowers, and fountains, pools, and streams of water. Beyond these general elements, there are also specific local architectural styles, such as the flat roofs, roofed chimneys, and radically extended balconies of the Alpujarra, the cave dwellings of Guadix and of Granada's Sacromonte, or the traditional architecture of the Marquisate of Zenete.[118]

Gran Teatro Falla in C diz.The monumental architecture of the centuries immediately after the Reconquista often displayed an assertion of Christian hegemony through architecture that referenced non-Arab influences. Some of the greatest Renaissance buildings in Andalusia are from the then-kingdom of Ja n: the Ja n Cathedral, designed in part by Andr s de Vandelvira, served as a model for the Cathedral of Malaga and Guadix; the centers of beda and Baeza, dating largely from this era, are UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Seville and its kingdom also figured prominently in this era, as is shown by the Casa consistorial de Sevilla, the Hospital de las Cinco Llagas or the Charterhouse of Jerez de la Frontera. The Palace of Charles V in Granada is uniquely important for its Italianate purism.[119] Andalusia also has such Baroque-era buildings as the Palace of San Telmo in Seville (seat of the current autonomic presidency), the Church of Our Lady of Reposo in Campillos, and the Granada Charterhouse.[120] Academicism gave the region the Royal Tobacco Factory in Seville and Neoclassicism the nucleus of C diz, such as its city hall, Royal Prison and the Oratorio de la Santa Cueva.

Revivalist architecture in the 19th and 20th centuries contributed the buildings of the Ibero-American Exposition of 1929 in Seville, including the Neo-Mud jar Plaza de Espa a. Andalusia also preserves an important industrial patrimony related to various economic activities.

Besides the architecture of the cities, there is also much outstanding rural architecture: houses, as well as ranch and farm buildings.[121]


Crying Over the Dead Christ, Pedro Mill n, Museum of Fine Arts of Seville.

The Iberian reliefs of Osuna, Lady of Baza, and Le n de Bujalance, the Phoenecian sarcophagi of C diz, and the Roman sculptures of the Baetic cities such as Italica give evidence of traditions of sculpture in Andalusia dating back to antiquity.[122] There are few significant surviving sculptures from the time of al-Andalus; two notable exceptions are the lions of the Alhambra and of the Marist n of Granada (the Muslim-era hospital in the Albaic n).

The Sevillian school of sculpture dating from the 13th century onward and the Granadan school beginning toward the end of the 16th century both focused primarily on Christian religious subject matter, including many wooden altarpieces. Notable sculptors in these traditions include Lorenzo Mercadante de Breta a, Pedro Mill n, Juan Mart nez Monta s, Pedro Rold n, Jos de Arce, Jer nimo Balb s, Alonso Cano, and Pedro de Mena.[123]



Pablo Picasso. As in sculpture, there were Sevillian and the Granadan schools of painting. The latter has figured prominently in the history of Spanish art since the 15th century and includes such important artists as Zurbar n, Vel zquez and Murillo, as well as theoreticians of art such as Francisco Pacheco. The Museum of Fine Arts of Seville and the The Prado[124] contain numerous representative works of the Sevillian school of painting.

A specific romantic genre known as costumbrismo andaluz depicts traditional and folkloric Andalusian subjects. Important artists in this genre include Manuel Barr n, Jos Garc a Ramos, Gonzalo Bilbao Mart nez and Julio Romero de Torres. The genre is well represented in the private Carmen Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection, part of which is on display at Madrid's Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum and Carmen Thyssen Museum in M laga.[125]


Literature and philosophy

The 1492 Gram tica by Antonio de Nebrija.

Andalusia plays a significant role in the history of Spanish language literature, however not all of the important literature associated with Andalusia was written in Spanish. Before 1492, there was the literature written in Andalusian Arabic. Hispano-Arabic authors native to the region include Ibn Hazm, Ibn Zaydun, Ibn Tufail, Al-Mu'tamid, Ibn al-Jatib, Ibn al-Yayyab, and Ibn Zamrak[126] or Andalusian Hebrew poets as Solomon Ibn Gabirol. Twelfth century writer Ibn Quzman crafted poems in the colloquial Andalusian language.[127]

In 1492 Antonio de Nebrija published his celebrated Gram tica de la lengua castellana ("Grammar of the Castilian language"), the first such work for a modern European language. In 1528 Francisco Delicado wrote La lozana andaluza, a novel in the orbit of La Celestina, and in 1599 the Sevillian Mateo Alem n wrote the first part of Guzm n de Alfarache, the first picaresque novel with a known author.

The prominent humanist literary school of Seville included such writers as Juan de Mal Lara, Fernando de Herrera, Gutierre de Cetina, Luis Barahona de Soto, Juan de la Cueva, Gonzalo Argote de Molina, and Rodrigo Caro. The Cordoban Luis de G ngora was the greatest exponent of the culteranismo of Baroque poetry in the Siglo de Oro;[128] indeed, the style is often referred to as G ngorismo.

Literary Romanticism in Spain had one of its great centers in Andalusia, with such authors as ngel de Saavedra, Duke of Rivas, Jos Cadalso and Gustavo Adolfo B cquer. Costumbrismo andaluz existed in literature as much as in visual art, with notable examples being the Escenas andaluzas of Seraf n Est banez Calder n and the works of Pedro Antonio de Alarc n.

Andalusian authors ngel Ganivet, Manuel G mez-Moreno, Manuel and Antonio Machado, and Francisco Villaespesa are all generally counted in the Generation of '98. Also of this generation were the Hermanos lvarez Quintero, dramatists who faithfully captured Andalusian dialects and idiosyncrasies. Also of note, 1956 Nobel Prize-winning poet Juan Ram n Jim nez was a native of Moguer, near Huelva.

A large portion of the avant garde Generation of '27 who gathered at the Ateneo de Sevilla on the 300th anniversary of G ngora's death were Andalusians: Federico Garc a Lorca, Luis Cernuda, Rafael Alberti, Manuel Altolaguirre, Emilio Prados, and 1977 Nobel laureate Vicente Aleixandre.[129]

Certain Andalusian fictional characters have become universal archetypes: Prosper Merim e's gypsy Carmen, Pierre Beaumarchais's F garo, and Tirso de Molina's Don Juan.

As in most regions of Spain, the principal form of popular verse is the romance, although there are also strophes specific to Andalusia, such as the sole or the soleariya. Ballads, lullabies, street vendor's cries, nursery rhymes, and work songs are plentiful.

Among the philosophers native to the region can be counted Seneca, Avicebron, Maimonides, Averroes, Fern n P rez de Oliva, Sebasti n Fox Morcillo, ngel Ganivet, Francisco Giner de los R os and Mar a Zambrano.

Music of Andalusia

Baile por buler as, by Jos Garc a Ramos.




Fundamental in the history of Andalusian music are the composers Crist bal de Morales, Francisco Guerrero, Francisco Correa de Arauxo, Manuel Garc a, Manuel de Falla, Joaqu n Turina, and Manuel Castillo, as well as the father of modern classical guitar, the guitarist Andr s Segovia. Mention should also be made of the great folk artists of the copla (music) and the cante hondo, such as Roc o Jurado, Lola Flores (La Faraona, "the pharaoh"), Juanito Valderrama and the revolutionary Camar n de la Isla.[131]

Prominent Andalusian rock groups include Triana and Medina Azahara. The duo Los del R o from Dos Hermanas had international success with their "Macarena", including playing at a Super Bowl half-time show in the United States, where their song has also been used as campaign music by the Democratic Party.[132] Other notables include the singer, songwriter, and poet Joaqu n Sabina, Isabel Pantoja, Rosa L pez, who represented Spain at Eurovision in 2002, and David Bisbal.[133][134]


M laga Film Festival]].

The portrayal of Andalusia in film is often reduced to archetypes: flamenco, bullfighting, Catholic pageantry, dogs, brigands, the property-rich and cash-poor se orito andaluz and emigrants. These images particularly predominated from the 1920s through the 1960s, and helped to consolidate a cliched image of the region. In a very different vein, the province of Almer a was the filming location for many Westerns, especially (but by no means exclusively) the Italian-directed Spaghetti Westerns. During the dictatorship of Francisco Franco, this was the extent of the film industry in Andalusia.

Nonetheless, Andalusian film has roots as far back as Jos Val del Omar in the pre-Franco years, and since the Spanish transition to democracy has brought forth numerous nationally and internationally respected directors: Antonio Cuadri (Heart of the Earth), Chus Guti rrez (Poniente), Chiqui Carabante (Carlos Against the World), Alberto Rodr guez (7 Virgins), Benito Zambrano (Solas), and Antonio Banderas (Summer Rain).

Counting together feature films, documentaries, television programs, music videos etc., Andalusia has boomed from 37 projects shooting in 1999 to 1,054 in 2007, with the figure for 2007 including 19 feature films.[135] Although feature films are the most prestigious, commercials and television are currently more economically important to the region.

The Filmoteca de Andaluc a, headquartered in C rdoba, is a government-run entity in charge of the investigation, collection and diffusion of Andalusian cinematic heritage. Other important contributors to this last activity are such annual film festivals as the M laga Film Festival (Festival de M laga Cine Espa ol (FMCE)), the most important festival dedicated exclusively to cinema made in Spain, the Seville Festival of European Film (SFCE), the International Festival of Short Films - Almer a in Short, the Huelva Festival of Latin American Film, the Atlantic Film Show in C diz, the Islantilla Festival of Film and Television and the African Film Festival of Tarifa.


Customs and society

Andalusia has a wide array of social customs, many of which have their roots in the Islamic traditions integrated into the area under Muslim rule. Each sub region in Andalusia has its own unique customs that are closely tied to a combination Catholicism and local folklore. Traditional dress in all areas of Andalusia tends to be colorful and involve various head coverings reminiscent of a Muslim past. Cities like Almeria are influenced by both Granada and Murcia, with the use of traditional head coverings. The sombrero de Labrador, meaning worker s hats made of black velvet are a signature style of this area. In Cadiz costumes in society often show rural roots with bullfights and massive parties occurring on many of the large estates. The tablado flamenco and the cante jondo originate from Granada. They are believed to have their roots in oriental, Gregorian, Moorish, and Jewish music. Presently this music tends to be performed by gypsies. Gypsies are more common in Granada than anywhere else in Spain. In Huelva, one of the most distinct events is the gypsy Romeria del Rocio in May. It consists of a pilgrimage to a statue of the Virgin Mary, which was supposedly hidden from the Muslims. Legend has it that when it was rediscovered and moved the Virgin asked to be returned to the woods. After it was moved back a hermitage was build and many believers join this pilgrimage around Easter time every year. In Jaen, the saeta is a type of expression popular in the region. It is a form of chanting to the Virgin Mary, which is supposed to show ones religious devotion. Malaga, is the birthplace of Spanish bull-fighting. The region also has a rich musical tradition that is mostly derived from Arab songs called cartageneras. Seville the largest province in Andalusia holds the Semana Santa the largest festival in Spain. During the festival religious fraternities dress as penitents (pilgrim worshipers) carrying huge altars. Songs and dances known as sevilanas, which demonstrate Middle-Eastern origins are performed at such festivals. Overall, all the regions of Andalusia have developed distinct customs, but all share a connectedness to Catholicism and the region s Arabic cultural past.[136]

Andalusian Spanish

Most Spanish dialects in Spain differentiate between the sound of "z" and "c" (before e and i), pronounced , and that of "s", pronounced . This distinction is lost in many Andalusian-speaking areas. In some mostly southerly areas, shown here in red, all three letters are pronounced , which is known as Ceceo. In other areas, all three letters are pronounced (), which is known as Seseo. Still other areas retain the distinction found elsewhere in Spain.


Mythology and religion

Procession with statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary of the Love of Saint Ferdinand ( Maria sant sima del amor de San Fernando), C diz. The territory now known as Andalusia fell within the sphere of influence of ancient Mediterranean mythological beliefs. Phoenician colonization brought the cults of Baal and Melqart; the latter lasted into Roman times as Hercules, mythical founder of both C diz and Seville. The Islote de Sancti Petri held the supposed tomb of Hercules, with representations of his Twelve labors; the region was the traditional site of the tenth labor, obtaining the cattle of the monster Geryon. Traditionally, the Pillars of Hercules flank the Strait of Gibraltar. Clearly, the European pillar is the Rock of Gibraltar; the African pillar was presumably either Monte Hacho in Ceuta or Jebel Musa in Morocco. The Roman road that led from C diz to Rome was known by several names, one of them being Via Herculea, Hercules route returning from his tenth labor. The present coat of arms of Andalusia shows Hercules between two lions, with two pillars behind these figures.

The principal characteristic of the local popular form of Catholicism is devotion to the Virgin Mary; Andalusia is sometimes known as la tierra de Mar a Sant sima ("the land of Most Holy Mary").[140] Also characteristic are the processions during Holy Week, in which thousands of penitents (known as nazarenos) sing saetas. Andalusia is the site of such pilgrim destinations as the Santuario de Nuestra Se ora de la Cabeza in And jar and the Hermitage of El Roc o in Almonte.


Jos G mez Ortega: Joselito "El Gallo". While some trace the lineage of the Spanish Fighting Bull back to Roman times, today's fighting bulls in the Iberian peninsula and in the former Spanish Empire trace back to Andalusia in the 15th and 16th centuries.[141] Andalusia remains a center of bull-rearing and bullfighting: its 227 fincas de ganado where fighting bulls are raised cover .[141] In the year 2000, Andalusia's roughly 100 bullrings hosted 1,139 corridas.[141]

The oldest bullring still in use in Spain is the neoclassical Plaza de toros in Ronda, built in 1784. The Andalusian Autonomous Government sponsors the Rutas de Andaluc a taurina, a touristic route through the region centered on bullfighting.


Cruz de mayo of the confraternity Hermandad de la Paz y Esperanza ("Brotherhood of Peace and Hope"), Cuesta del Bail o, C rdoba. The Andalusian festivals provide a showcase for popular arts and traditional costume. Among the most famous of these are the Seville Fair or Feria de Abril in Seville, now echoed by smaller fairs in Madrid and Barcelona, both of which have many Andalusian immigrants; the Feria de Agosto in M laga; the Feria de Jerez or Feria del Caballo in Jerez; the Festival of Corpus Christi in Granada; the Feria de Nuestra Se ora de la Salud in C rdoba; the Columbian Festivals (Fiestas Colombinas) in Huelva; the Feria de la Virgen del Mar in Almer a; and the Feria de San Lucas in Ja n, among many others.

Festivals of a religious nature are a deep Andalusian tradition and are met with great popular fervor. There are numerous major festivals during Holy Week. An annual pilgrimage brings a million visitors to the Hermitage of El Roc o in Almonte (population 16,914 in 2008); similarly large crowds visit the Santuario de Nuestra Se ora de la Cabeza in And jar every April.

Other important festivals are the Carnival of C diz and the Fiesta de las Cruces or Cruz de mayo in Granada and C rdoba; in C rdoba this is combined with a competition for among the patios (courtyards) of the city.



Gazpacho served with tropezones (chopped vegetables). The Andalusian diet varies, especially between the coast and the interior, but in general is a Mediterranean diet based on olive oil, cereals, legumes, vegetables, fish, dried fruits and nuts, and meat; there is also a great tradition of drinking wine.[142]

Fried fish pesca to frito and seafood are common on the coast and also eaten well into the interior under coastal influence. Atlantic bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus) from the Almadraba areas of the Gulf of C diz, prawns from Sanl car de Barrameda (known as langostino de Sanl car), and Deepwater Rose Shrimp (Parapenaeus longirostris) from Huelva are all highly prized. Fishing for the Transparent Goby or Chanquete (Aphia minuta), a once-popular small fish from M laga, is now banned because the techniques used to catch them trap too many immature fish of other species.[143]

Jam n de Huelva]] is protected as a Denominaci n de Origen. The mountainous regions of the Sierra Morena and Sierra Nevada produce cured hams, notably including jam n serrano and jam n ib rico. These come from two different types of pig, (jam n serrano from white pigs, the more expensive jam n ib rico from the Black Iberian pig. There are several Denominaciones de Origen, each with its own specifications including in just which microclimate region ham of a particular denomination must be cured. Plato alpujarre o is another mountain specialty, a dish combining ham, sausage, sometimes other pork, egg, potatoes, and olive oil.

Confectionery is popular in Andalusia. Almonds and honey are common ingredients. Many enclosed convents of nuns make and sell pastries, especially Christmas pastries: mantecados, polvorones, pesti os, alfajores, yemas de San Leandro, as well as churros or tejeringos, meringue cookies (merengadas), and amarguillos.

Cereal-based dishes include migas de harina in eastern Andalusia (a bit closer to a porridge than what migas means elsewhere in Spain) and a sweeter, more aromatic porridge called pole in western Andalusia. Vegetables form the basis of such dishes as alboron a (similar to ratatouille) and the chopped salad known as pipirrana or piri aca. Hot and cold soups based in olive oil, garlic, bread, tomato and peppers include gazpacho, salmorejo, porra antequerana, ajo caliente, sopa campera, or using almonds instead of tomato ajoblanco.[144]

Wine has a privileged place at the Andalusian table. Andalusian wines are known worldwide, especially fortified wines such as sherry (jerez), aged in soleras. These are enormously varied; for example, dry sherry may be the very distinct fino, manzanilla, amontillado, oloroso, or Palo Cortado and each of these varieties can each be sweetened with Pedro Xim nez or Moscatel to produce a different variety of sweet sherry.[145][146] Besides sherry, Andaluc a has five other Denominaciones de Origen for wine: D.O. Condado de Huelva, D.O. Manzanilla-Sanl car de Barrameda, D.O. M laga, D.O. Montilla-Moriles, and D.O. Sierras de M laga.[147] Most Andalusian wine comes from one of these regions, but there are other historic wines without a Protected Geographical Status, for example Tintilla de Rota, Pajarete, Moscatel de Chipiona and Mosto de Umbrete.


Other traditions


The Museum of Arts and Traditions of Sevilla has collected representative samples of a great deal of the history of Andalusian dress, including examples of such notable types of hat as the sombrero cordob s, sombrero cala s, sombrero de catite and the pavero, as well as the traje corto and traje de flamenca.

Andalusia has a great artisan tradition in tile, leather (see Shell cordovan), weaving (especially of the heavy jarapa cloth), marquetry, and ceramics (especially in Ja n, Granada, and Almer a), lace (especially Granada and Huelva), embroidery (in And valo), ironwork, woodworking, and basketry in wicker, many of these traditions a heritage of the long period of Muslim rule.[148]




Team sports


As of 2011, four Andalusian teams compete in Spains' First Division La Liga: Real Betis, Granada CF, M laga CF and Sevilla FC. Betis won La Liga in 1934 35 and Sevilla in the 1945 46 season.[151][152] Four more are in Spain's Second Division Liga Adelante: UD Almer a, C rdoba CF, Recreativo de Huelva and Xerez CD.


In recent decades, basketball has become increasingly popular, with CB M laga, also known as Unicaja M laga who have won the Liga ACB in 2007 and the Kora Cup in 2001 and usually play the Euroleague, CB Sevilla (Banca C vica) and CB Granada competing at the top level in the Liga ACB.[153]

Unlike basketball, handball has never really taken off in Andalusia. There are two Andalusian teams in the Liga Asobal, Spain's premier handball league: BM Antequera and BM Ciudad de Almer a (Keymare Almer a). Neither has a following or media coverage comparable to football or basketball, and neither is a national contender.

Andalusia's strongest showing in sports has been in table tennis. There are two professional teams: Cajasur Priego TM and Caja Granada TM, the latter being Spain's leading table tennis team, with more than 20 league championships in nearly consecutive years and 14 consecutive Copas del Rey, dominating the Liga ENEB . Cajasur is also one of the league's leading teams.[154]


220 Andalusian athletes have competed in a total of 16 summer or winter Olympic Games. The first was Leopoldo S inz de la Maza, part of the silver-medal-winning polo team at the 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp, Belgium.

In all, Andalusians have won 6 gold medals, 11 silver, and 2 bronze. Winners of multiple medals include the Cordoban boxer Rafael Lozano (bronze in the 1996 Summer Olympics at Atlanta, Georgia, USA and silver in the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia); sailor Theresa Zabell, Malague a by adoption (gold medals at Barcelona in 1992 and Atlanta in 1996). Other notable winners have been Granadan tennis player Manuel Orantes (silver in the men's singles of the demonstration tournament in Mexico City in 1968), Jerezano riders Ignacio Rambla and Rafael Soto (silver in dressage in Athens in 2004) and the racewalker Paquillo Fern ndez from Guadix (silver in Athens in 2004).

The largest number of Olympic appearances were by the Malague a swimmer Mar a Pel ez (five appearances), the Granadan skier Mar a Jos Rienda (four), the Sevillian rider Luis Astolfi (four), and the Sevillian rower Fernando Climent Huerta (four, including a silver at Los Angeles, California, USA in 1984.[155]


Other sports

Other sporting events in Andalusia include surfing, kitesurfing and windsurfing competitions at Tarifa, various golf tournaments at courses along the coast, and horse racing and polo at several locations in the interior. Andalusia hosted the 1999 World Championships in Athletics (Seville), the 2005 Mediterranean Games (Almer a) and the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 1996 (Granada), among other major events. There is also the annual Vuelta a Andaluc a bicycle road race and the Linares chess tournament.

Sister region

Andalusia has a sister region relationship with Buenos Aires, Argentina since 2001.[156]

See also

  • Andalusian people
  • List of Andalusians
  • Andalusian Spanish
  • Andalusian nationalism
  • Andalusian Dog
  • Music of Andalusia
  • Andalusian cuisine
  • Flamenco
  • White Towns of Andalusia
  • The Roman B tica Route



Maps & Information of Southern Spain

Interesting facts on Southern Spain

External links

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