Sanlucar de Barrameda History

These historical points negatively affected Sanlucar as a port and the city eventually converted the economy viticulture and tourism in summer, against a backdrop of insecurity and great social inequalities. In the twentieth century the political shocks reverberated here as in the rest of Spain, not to mention the destruction during the Civil War.

The restoration of multi-party democracy inherited large debts and then included was Sanlucar a City of Spain with the lowest per capita income.

Sanlucar today is known mainly for its cuisine, prawns and chamomile, music especially the Flemish and summer tourism, and horse racing on the beach now declared of International Tourist Interest.

Less known but of great importance to historians is the Archivo de la Casa de Medina-Sidonia, located in the palace of the same name.
Prehistoric and Ancient

The city is located on what was thought to be the core of the ancient civilization of Tartessos, yet there are findings of prehistoric and ancient history including the Dolmen de Hidalgo El Agostao, the cylindrical Idol Cortijo de la Fuente, Treasury Ebora, found randomly in Cortijo for Ebora, the Bronze Bonanza, Tesorillo shrine to Astarte and the Well of Cavero, the latter two of Pinar Algaida.

The Pomponio Mela and Strabo are mentioned as two important sites that were within the present township of Sanlucar the Luciferi Fanum and the city of Ebura or Ebora. The first, "the temple of Lucero," could be identified with the El Santuario de Tesorillo and the second seems to have been present in the Cortijo de Ebora.

Middle Ages

The Islamic domination over the term of the current Sanlucar belonged to Cora of Sidonia, in the years 807, 812, 844 and 859 with the Viking raids occurring on the river Guadalquivir.

There may well have been a Rabida Ribat to defend the estuary of the Guadalquivir, upon which the ruins were built the current Palace of the Dukes of Medina-Sidonia. Perhaps the "Towers Solucar" history mentions a number of watchtowers and beacon towers, spread along the coast of Sanlucar, similar to those later built by Philip II litorial andaluz.

According to Rodrigo Caro in his Additions to Corografía of Seville, Sanlucar de Barrameda called for Islamic domination in Masagued or Massaguer, based on the anonymous Latin translation of the original Arabic version translated by Gabriel or Sionita of Zion 1577-1648 and published in Paris in 1629.

The Nubiense, in fact, is none other than the geography of al-Idrisi and according to the translator Masagued means "temple", keeping the memory of Luciferi Fanum. Seville under the instruction of Ferdinand III in 1248, took the entire area of Jerez, Sanlucar including, Castilla and put it up as part of a negotiated surrender that respected the life and religion of its inhabitants, from then on it was known as Mudejar.

However, the living conditions of deteriorating Mudejar were so revolting that in 1264 made worse by the influx of North benimerines and crime in the areas of the garrisons of the castles of the region committed by gaditana throat cutting.

The Spanish response was immediate and in the months following King Alfonso X finally regained the City and expelled the entire Muslim population. Sanlucar's name is mentioned in the Cantigas de Santa Maria written by the king, in the Cantigas de Santa Maria No. 371, within the cycle or Cancionero de Santa Maria del Puerto.

The town of Sanlucar has been inhabited since ancient times, suggesting that it was part of the sphere of civilization called Tartessos. Various texts mentioned in the Roman and medieval town of Sanlucar was granted lordship to Guzman el Bueno in 1297 that resulted in growth and the establishment of the Port de Barrameda.

Considering the towns strategic location, the city was the protagonist of exploration, colonization and evangelization of America between the XV and XVII centuries and is part of the history of the fall from grace of the Casa de Medina-Sidonia in 1645, the general decline of Spain under Charles II, the relocation of the Casa de Cadiz recruitment in 1711 and the earthquake in Lisbon in 1755.

The Galician-Portuguese song mentions "Luchas Sam" and "Barrameda" as different places. On April 4 of 1295 King Sancho IV verbally promised to the Lordship of Sanlucar Alonso Perez de Guzman el Bueno for his heroic action in defence of Tarifa, although the king died without realizing the honour.

It was King Ferdinand IV who confirmed the donation of the Villa de Sanlucar with all the people, terms and belongings, and rights and duty, as states granted the privilege of the Lordship of Sanlucar signed in Toro 13 October 1297 as well as the town of Sanlucar, including the domain namesake Trebujena, Chipiona and Rota.

Guzman el Bueno repopulated the village and assisted the population with tax advantages. He built a castle, known over time as the "Old Fortress", different from the "New Fortress" or Castle of Santiago and the walls of Sanlucar de Barrameda, which grew out of several suburbs. Today there are preserved remains of these walls in the Albaicin.

On the death of Guzman el Bueno, Sanlucar developed wealth with the opportunities presented by the Port of the Puerto de Barrameda, Puerto later named Bonanza. Marriage was arranged with Isabel Perez de Guzman one of the daughters of Guzman el Bueno with Fernando Ponce de Leon with a marriage dowry in Rota and Chipiona, both independent of the Lordship of Sanlucar villas in 1303 and incorporated into the possessions of the family of Ponce Leon, the seed of the House of Arcos.

In 1310 the Duke of Brittany visited Sanlucar, who was in Spain on his marriage with the Infanta Isabel, sister of Ferdinand IV. This visit opened trade routes between Sanlucar and Brittany, which was gaining in importance over the XIV and XV centuries.

In 1360 there was building around the Greater Parish Church of Nuestra Senora de la O. An anonymous chronicle written in Arabic Dikr called Bilad al-Andalus, mentions the Saluqa Castle, situated on a slight elevation on the left bank of the mouth of the Guadalquivir River and owned by Sidonia.

In the second half of the fifteenth century, still in the Middle Ages according to the classical history of the era, Sanlucar was trading in a modern idiom. El Puerto de Barrameda, like most of the ports of Lower Andalusia, maintained important trade relations with the northern ports of Europe and Genoa.

Wine is the main export and textiles and the main import. The Port was an active base in the exploration, trade and plunder along the Atlantic coast and in tough competition with the Portuguese. Between the years 1477 and 1478 the second Duke of Medina Sidonia, built the Castle of Santiago, staying with the Catholic Kings when he visited the city in 1477.

During the War of Spanish Succession, in 1478 the Duke gave the so-called privileges of the Bretons, a document that was easier for these traders to settle in the village and conduct their business. For the residence of these merchants were reserved Britons in Brettons street, next to the Alcaicería and Covachas or stores the Sierpes.

That same year, the Kings rallied in Sanlucar a large fleet, to conquer the overseas possessions of the king of Portugal but the army was defeated and captured by the Portuguese.

In 1497 the fleet left Sanlucar that landed on an unpopulated area of Northern Africa where they founded the city of Melilla, which became part of the dominions of the House of Medina Sidonia, and the crown of Castile.

In 1494, Trebujena constituted the independent municipality of Sanlucar de Barrameda, by a letter-puebla III granted by the Duke of Medina-Sidonia on April 21.

Following the discovery of America in 1492 the Seville Kings monopoly of trade with the islands of the Indies was threatened and resulted in the closure of overseas traffic to the ports of the Andalusian coast and the rapid economic decline.

Sanlucar was the only exception, as it managed to defend their freedom to trade in a lawsuit against the Kings, while retaining the sovereignty of the Duke and establishing and independent Customs that was a branch of the House Sevillana, engaging the large vessels sailing through the ordeal to get to Seville Guadalquivir.

The colonies of merchants Breton, Flemish, British and Italians continued to settle in the village. The colony of English merchants took a prominent role, building in I517 the English Church of St. George.

The Perez de Guzman, was in charge of the Captaincy General of the Sea Oceans and Coasts of Andalusia, and accumulated significant titles of Lord of Sanlucar in 1298,

Count of Niebla in 1369 and Duque de Medina-Sidonia in 1445.

His home was eventually establishing by his residence in Sanlucar, in the Palacio de los Duques de Medina-Sidonia, where today it is the seat of an important archive of the House of Medina Sidonia, and the Fundacion Casa de Medina-Sidonia.

This Sanlucar became the capital of the states of that noble house, becoming an important political and economic centre. In 1509 the villa was rented to some dukes at three and a half million maravedíes annually a fee more than half that of the Office of the port income. This high figure was about one third of the income of the Duke and was the highest among all its domains.

Sanlucar remained a port renowned throughout the Siglo de Oro and important voyages and expeditions departed from its Port notably the Third Voyage of Christopher Columbus in 1498. It also was the point of departure and arrival of the circumnavigation by sea of the Earth, an expedition begun by Ferdinand Magellan on September 20 1519 and completed by Juan Sebastian Elcano in 1522.

With the decree of division into provinces in 1833, the city was finally included in the province of Cadiz, by the Reconquista decree during the Old Regime, Sanlucar had formed part of the Kingdom of Seville and the Vicariate of Sanlucar de Barrameda belonged to the jurisdiction of the Archbishop of Seville.

Wine industry the manzanilla wine, which had begun to be made in the late eighteenth century, was improved thanks to the arrival to the "mountain" of a class of entrepreneurial grocers whose commercial and financial activities provided capital and credit for the area.

These families come from northern Spain and became wealthy as the work expanded and they gained property and capital, enabling them to match the wealth of families of old standing whose fortunes had started to decline.

In 1845 the Horse Society of Sanlucar de Barrameda, was established as the regulatory body of the horse racing event that is repeated every summer since then on the beach Sanlucar. After his first visit in 1848, the Dukes of Montpensier and Infanta of Spain, Antonio de Orleans y María Luisa Fernanda de Borbón, who lived in Seville Palacio de San Telmo, Sanlucar built his summer residence in the Palacio de Orleans-Borbon.

The royal entourage with its Dukes, court nobles, politicians and artists, brought to Sanlucar a cosmopolitan character that became the center of the bourgeoisie sevillana in summer. Famous visitors to the city included in 1853 he visited the Maria Amalia of Bourbon-Two Sicilies the Duke's mother, in 1856 Ferdinand II King of Portugal’s widower, Isabel II in 1862 sister of the Duchess and in 1882 Alfonso XII and Maria Cristina of Hapsburg - Lorena.

After the Revolution of 1868, launched in Cadiz and spread throughout the country the Sanlucar Canton proclaimed independence in 1873, like many other cities in Andalusia and Spain. The Restoration period is dominated by the problems of underdevelopment of the Andalusian countryside and the permanent loss of overseas colonies after the disaster of 1898.

This economic insecurity is compounded the problem of chieftaincy, which had a reputation for anarchy and the Mano Negra incidences; this was a situation similar to the Dictatorship of Primo de Rivera.