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History

ADRA is located in the western area of the province of Almeria, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. The western part of the municipality is the border with the province of Granada and comprises from south to north the municipalities of Albuñol and Turón. The eastern side is bordered by the municipality of Berja (Almeria). The abderitano municipality is nestled in the foothills of the south-east of the Sierra Nevada.

The geography of Adra is characterized by the existence of a set of hills and ravines that are initiated at sea level at the south-east apex of the township, which will increase its height the more we move towards the north and west, reaching maximum levels close to 1000 meters.



For some historians, Abdera (Adra) is a Phoenician foundation, turned off by the Tartessians and revived by the Greeks, the Carthaginians and the Romans.


The archaeological remains which were found during the excavations carried out in the Cerro de Montecristo, the enclave where Abdera settled, reveal a past Punic from the 4th century BC, although it could be previously Greek colony as its name suggests.


At the end of the 2nd century BC Rome dominates the Spanish coast as well as Abdera to be included in the province of Hispania Ulterior.


2nd century coin. Obverse: Temple tetrastilo. Reverse: Two tuna on the left.


Byzantines and Visigoths will exert their influence in Adra, in the 6th and 7th centuries. In the spring of the year 711, Tariq ben Ziyad crosses to the Spanish coast through the Strait of Gibraltar, from the Maghreb, with seven thousand men, most of them Berbers, some freedmen and very few Arabs, to begin the occupation of the Peninsula.


The process of Islamization of the region in which Adra is placed will not be completed until the end of the 9th century.


The year 1489 marks the end of the Muslim rule in the Peninsula with the capitulations of Baza, in which the handing over of the cities of Almería and Guadix to the Catholic monarchs is agreed; before the end of the year the Alto Almanzora and Fiñana city were given and shortly after La Alpujarra and Adra did.


Since the second half of the 16th century, Adra played an important role in the economy of the region as a means of export and import of goods through its port; but it will be the sugarcane, its cultivation (since 1577) and the subsequent transformation into other products which would imply the main engine of the economy until the middle of the 20th century.


In 1833, the Queen Regent Maria Cristina set the current Andalusian provinces, finally ending with the previous separation of kingdoms. Since then, Adra ceased to belong to Granada to join the province of Almería.



Nowadays, the agricultural sector, with intensive agriculture or under plastic, is the economic base of the municipality.


From the touristic point of view, Adra has 13 miles of beaches and coves in virgin state. Its tourist development is closely linked to the development of thematic and high-quality tourism from the valuation of the Historical and Natural Heritage.


The recent construction of the Mediterranean Motorway allows a quick communication with the Mediterranean fringe, contributing to the economic and tourism development of the area.