Algeciras ( , ) is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the ...

of Spain belonging to the

province of Cádiz Cádiz is a province of southern Spain, in the southwestern part of the autonomous community of Andalusia. It is the southernmost part of mainland Spain, as well as the southernmost part of continental Europe. It is bordered by the Spanish provin ...

Andalusia Andalusia (, ; es, Andalucía ) is the southernmost autonomous community in Peninsular Spain. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomous community in the country. It is officially recognised as a "historical nationality". The ...

. Located in the southern end of the

Iberian Peninsula The Iberian Peninsula (), ** * Aragonese and Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica'' ** ** * french: Péninsule Ibérique * mwl, Península Eibérica * eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in southwestern Europe, def ...

, near the

Strait of Gibraltar The Strait of Gibraltar ( ar, مضيق جبل طارق, Maḍīq Jabal Ṭāriq; es, Estrecho de Gibraltar, Archaic: Pillars of Hercules), also known as the Straits of Gibraltar, is a narrow strait that connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Medi ...

, it is the largest city on the

Bay of Gibraltar The Bay of Gibraltar ( es, Bahía de Algeciras), is a bay at the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula. It is around long by wide, covering an area of some , with a depth of up to in the centre of the bay. It opens to the south into the Strait ...

( es, Bahía de Algeciras, link=no). The

Port of Algeciras The Port of Algeciras is the port and harbour of Algeciras, a city located in the province of Cádiz in the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. It is a commercial, fishing and passenger port. Primarily a transshipment port, its position nea ...

is one of the largest ports in Europe and the world in three categories:

container A container is any receptacle or enclosure for holding a product used in storage, packaging, and transportation, including shipping. Things kept inside of a container are protected on several sides by being inside of its structure. The term ...

cargo Cargo consists of bulk goods conveyed by water, air, or land. In economics, freight is cargo that is transported at a freight rate for commercial gain. ''Cargo'' was originally a shipload but now covers all types of freight, including tra ...

and

transshipment Transshipment, trans-shipment or transhipment is the shipment of goods or containers to an intermediate destination, then to another destination. One possible reason for transshipment is to change the means of transport during the journey (e.g ...

. The urban area straddles the small

Río de la Miel The Río de la Miel is a short river in the south of Spain, emptying into the Bay of Gibraltar at Algeciras. It falls over a distance of 350 metres including some waterfalls and working water mills. As the port of Algeciras The Port of Algecira ...

, which is the southernmost river of continental Europe. As of 1 January 2020, the municipality had a registered population of 123,078, second in its province after

Jerez de la Frontera Jerez de la Frontera (), or simply Jerez (), is a Spanish city and Municipalities of Spain, municipality in the province of Cádiz in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, in southwestern Spain, located midway bet ...

and greater than

Cádiz Cádiz (, , ) is a city and port in southwestern Spain. It is the capital of the Province of Cádiz, one of eight that make up the autonomous community of Andalusia. Cádiz, one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Western Europe, ...

city population. It forms part of the ''comarca'' of

Campo de Gibraltar Campo de Gibraltar (, "Gibraltar Countryside") is a comarca (county) in the province of Cádiz, Spain, in the southwestern part of the autonomous community of Andalusia, the southernmost part of mainland Europe. It comprises the municipalitie ...

. The surrounding metro area also includes the municipalities of

Los Barrios Los Barrios is a small town and municipality in the south of Spain. It is part of the province of Cádiz, which in turn is part of the Andalusia region. It belongs to the Campo de Gibraltar comarca. The town's name means “the districts” or “ ...

La Línea de la Concepción La Línea de la Concepción (, more often referred to as La Línea) is a municipality of Spain belonging to the province of Cádiz, Andalusia. The city lies on the sandy isthmus which is part of the eastern flank of the Bay of Gibraltar, a ...

Castellar de la Frontera Castellar de la Frontera is a town and municipality located in the province of Cádiz, in Andalusia, Spain. It is a medieval town within a castle. Description Castellar de la Frontera is a village within a castle surrounded by the walls of a w ...

Jimena de la Frontera Jimena de la Frontera is a historic town and municipality located in the province of Cádiz (province), Cádiz, Spain. According to estimates made by the Instituto Nacional de Estadística (Spain), National Statistics Institute of Spain (INE), th ...

, San Roque and Tarifa, with a population of 263,739.

Name

Algeciras' site was also that of Roman cities called ("White Harbor"), (current Getares) and . In the later "Byzantine" period, the site would come to be known in Greek as (), meaning "between rivers/canals". The Arabic name for the settlement founded after the Islamic conquest of the Iberian Peninsula was (, "The Green Island"), in reference to Isla Verde. gave the modern Spanish .

History

The area of the city has been populated since prehistory, and the earliest remains belong to

Neanderthal Neanderthals (, also ''Homo neanderthalensis'' and erroneously ''Homo sapiens neanderthalensis''), also written as Neandertals, are an Extinction, extinct species or subspecies of archaic humans who lived in Eurasia until about 40,000 years ag ...

populations from the

Paleolithic The Paleolithic or Palaeolithic (), also called the Old Stone Age (from Greek: παλαιός '' palaios'', "old" and λίθος ''lithos'', "stone"), is a period in human prehistory that is distinguished by the original development of stone too ...

era.

Due to its strategic position it was an important port under the

Phoenicia Phoenicia () was an ancient thalassocratic civilization originating in the Levant region of the eastern Mediterranean, primarily located in modern Lebanon. The territory of the Phoenician city-states extended and shrank throughout their his ...

ns, and was the site of the relevant Roman port of ''Portus Albus'' ("White Port"), with two nearby cities called ''Caetaria'' (possibly founded by the

Iberians The Iberians ( la, Hibērī, from el, Ἴβηρες, ''Iberes'') were an ancient people settled in the eastern and southern coasts of the Iberian peninsula, at least from the 6th century BC. They are described in Greek and Roman sources (amon ...

) and ''

Iulia Traducta Iulia Traducta was a Roman city in Andalusia, Spain, on the site of the modern Algeciras. Identification The location of the city of Iulia Traducta has been widely debated by historians. The traditional hypothesis identified the city of Iulia ...

'', founded by the

Romans Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

Recently it has been proposed that the site of ''Iulia Transducta'' was the ''Villa Vieja'' of Algeciras. After being destroyed by the

Goths The Goths ( got, 𐌲𐌿𐍄𐌸𐌹𐌿𐌳𐌰, translit=''Gutþiuda''; la, Gothi, grc-gre, Γότθοι, Gótthoi) were a Germanic people who played a major role in the fall of the Western Roman Empire and the emergence of medieval Euro ...

and their Vandal allies, Tarik landed in Algeciras and Tarifa in April 711. In the year 859 AD Viking troops on board 62 drekars and commanded by the leaders

Hastein Hastein (Old Norse: ''Hásteinn'', also recorded as ''Hastingus'', ''Anstign'', ''Haesten'', ''Hæsten'', ''Hæstenn'' or ''Hæsting'' and alias ''Alsting''Jones, Aled (2003). ''Transactions of the Royal Historical Society: Sixth Series'' Cambridge ...

and

Björn Ironside according to Norse legends, was a Norse Viking chief and Swedish king. According to the 12th- and 13th-century Scandinavian histories, he was the son of notorious Viking king Ragnar Lodbrok and lived in the 9th century, between 855 and 858. Bj� ...

besieged the city for three days and subsequently laid waste to much of it. After looting the houses of the rich, they burnt the Aljama mosque and the Banderas mosque. Reorganized near the medina, the inhabitants managed to recover the city and make the invaders run away, capturing two boats. It enjoyed a brief period of independence as a

taifa The ''taifas'' (singular ''taifa'', from ar, طائفة ''ṭā'ifa'', plural طوائف ''ṭawā'if'', a party, band or faction) were the independent Muslim principalities and kingdoms of the Iberian Peninsula (modern Portugal and Spain), re ...

state from 1035 to 1058. It was named ''al-Jazirah al-Khadra ("Green Island") after the offshore Isla Verde; the modern name is derived from this original

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

name (compare also

Algiers Algiers ( ; ar, الجزائر, al-Jazāʾir; ber, Dzayer, script=Latn; french: Alger, ) is the capital and largest city of Algeria. The city's population at the 2008 Census was 2,988,145Census 14 April 2008: Office National des Statistiques d ...

and

Al Jazeera Al Jazeera ( ar, الجزيرة, translit-std=DIN, translit=al-jazīrah, , "The Island") is a state-owned Arabic-language international radio and TV broadcaster of Qatar. It is based in Doha and operated by the media conglomerate Al Jazee ...

). In 1055 Emir Al-Mutadid of Seville drove the Berbers from Algeciras, claiming it for Arabs. Vowing to counter the Castilian expansion initiated by 1265, Nasrid Granada required assistance from Fez in late 1274 and ceded the place of Algeciras (together with Tarifa) to the

Marinid The Marinid Sultanate was a Berber Muslim empire from the mid-13th to the 15th century which controlled present-day Morocco and, intermittently, other parts of North Africa (Algeria and Tunisia) and of the southern Iberian Peninsula (Spain) ar ...

s. In 1278, Algeciras was besieged by the forces of the Kingdom of Castile under the command of

Alfonso X of Castile Alfonso X (also known as the Wise, es, el Sabio; 23 November 1221 – 4 April 1284) was King of Castile, León and Galicia from 30 May 1252 until his death in 1284. During the election of 1257, a dissident faction chose him to be king of Ger ...

and his son,

Sancho The name Sancho is an Iberian name of Basque origin (Santxo, Santzo, Santso, Antzo, Sans). Sancho stems from the Latin name Sanctius.Eichler, Ernst; Hilty, Gerold; Löffler, Heinrich; Steger, Hugo; Zgusta, Ladislav: ''Namenforschung/Name Studies/ ...

. This siege was the first of a series of attempts to take the city and ended in failure for the Castilian forces. An armada sent by Castile was also annihilated whilst trying to blockade the city's harbor. The Marinid grip over the town further increased in the ensuing decades, and the place turned into a Marinid stronghold from which razzias were launched into the still incipient Christian settlements in the Lower Guadalquivir and the Guadalete area. In July 1309

Ferdinand IV of Castile Ferdinand IV of Castile (6 December 1285 – 7 September 1312) called the Summoned (''el Emplazado''), was King of Castile and León from 1295 until his death. His upbringing and the custody of his person were entrusted to his mother, Queen M ...

laid siege to Algeciras as well as

Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = "Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gibr ...

. The latter fell into Christian hands, but Muslim Algeciras held on for the following three decades, until

Alfonso XI Alfonso XI (13 August 131126 March 1350), called the Avenger (''el Justiciero''), was King of Castile and León. He was the son of Ferdinand IV of Castile and his wife Constance of Portugal. Upon his father's death in 1312, several disputes en ...

of Castile resumed its siege. Juan Núñez de Lara, Juan Manuel,

Pedro Fernández de Castro Pedro Fernández de Castro (Algeciras, 1342), nicknamed ''el de la Guerra'' ('of the War'), was a powerful Galician noble and military figure of the House of Castro, descended by illegitimate lines from the kings of Castile-Leon- Galicia. Pedr ...

Juan Alfonso de la Cerda Juan Alfonso de la Cerda (1295 – August 7, 1347) was Lord of Gibraleón, Huelva, Real de Manzanares and Deza. He was the son of Alfonso de la Cerda, grandson of Ferdinand de la Cerda. His mother was Matile of Brienne, daughter of John I of ...

, lord of

Gibraleón Gibraleón is a town and municipality located in the province of Huelva Huelva () is a province of southern Spain, in the western part of the autonomous community of Andalusia. It is bordered by Portugal, the provinces of Badajoz, Seville, and ...

all participated in the siege, as did knights from France, England and Germany, and even King

Philip III of Navarre Philip III ( eu, Filipe, es, Felipe, french: Philippe; 27 March 1306 – 16 September 1343), called the Noble or the Wise, was King of Navarre from 1328 until his death. He was born a minor member of the French royal family but gained prominen ...

, king consort of Navarra, who came accompanied by 100 horsemen and 300 infantry. In March 1344, after several years of siege, Algeciras surrendered. On winning the city, Alfonso XI made it the seat of a new

diocese In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associ ...

, established by

Pope Clement VI Pope Clement VI ( la, Clemens VI; 1291 – 6 December 1352), born Pierre Roger, was head of the Catholic Church from 7 May 1342 to his death in December 1352. He was the fourth Avignon pope. Clement reigned during the first visitation of the Bl ...

bull A bull is an intact (i.e., not castrated) adult male of the species ''Bos taurus'' (cattle). More muscular and aggressive than the females of the same species (i.e., cows), bulls have long been an important symbol in many religions, includin ...

''Gaudemus et exultamus'' of 30 April 1344, and entrusted to the governance of the bishop of Cadiz. The bishops of Cadiz continued to hold the title of Aliezira, as it called, until 1851, when in accordance with a

concordat A concordat is a convention between the Holy See and a sovereign state that defines the relationship between the Catholic Church and the state in matters that concern both,René Metz, ''What is Canon Law?'' (New York: Hawthorn Books, 1960 st Edi ...

between Spain and the Holy See its territory was incorporated into the diocese of Cadiz. No longer a residential bishopric, Aliezira is today listed by the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...

as a

titular see A titular see in various churches is an episcopal see of a former diocese that no longer functions, sometimes called a "dead diocese". The ordinary or hierarch of such a see may be styled a "titular metropolitan" (highest rank), "titular archbi ...

. Left relatively unguarded during the

Castilian Civil War The Castilian Civil War was a war of succession over the Crown of Castile that lasted from 1351 to 1369. The conflict started after the death of king Alfonso XI of Castile in March 1350. It became part of the larger conflict then raging betwee ...

, the town was easily seized in 1369 by the Nasrids from Granada with assistance from a Marinid fleet. It was destroyed on the orders of Muhammed V of Granada. While tradition asserts that it was torn down immediately after the 1369 occupation, the Nasrid scorched-earth policy has been also dated to 1375, once Granadan repopulation efforts should have failed. The garrison was thus relocated to Gibraltar, with a worse port but more easily defensible, in Nasrid control after the Marinid retreat from the Iberian Peninsula. While the jurisdiction was ceded to Gibraltar in 1462 after the Castilian conquest of the latter place, there are hints about the continued existence of informal settlements by farmers and sepherds in the area, at least after 1466. Algecirasdestruida

Algeciras was refounded after 1704 by refugees from Gibraltar following the territory's capture by Anglo-Dutch forces in the

War of the Spanish Succession The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict that took place from 1701 to 1714. The death of childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700 led to a struggle for control of the Spanish Empire between his heirs, Phil ...

. As early as 1705, the place was described as "...a heap of stones,...only a few hovels scattered here and there, amidst an infinity of ruins". The sense of temporariness among the displaced population and the hopes for a return to Gibraltar were shattered by the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht. Besides Gibraltarians, throughout the 18th century repopulation was also participated by settlers from the rest of the Iberian Peninsula and from elsewhere, standing out Italians in the latter regard. Population rapidly increased (from 1,845 in 1725 to 6,241 in 1787). The Algeciras' social structure featured a comparatively small number of nobles and comparatively larger weight of clergy. Just like the rest of the Campo de Gibraltar,

husbandry Animal husbandry is the branch of agriculture concerned with animals that are raised for meat, fibre, milk, or other products. It includes day-to-day care, selective breeding, and the raising of livestock. Husbandry has a long history, startin ...

(cattle in particular) played an important role in the economy during the 18th century thanks to the rich pastures. Given the abundance of international conflicts in the Strait area during the 18th century, corsair activities against ships belligerent with Spain or neutral ships provisioning the enemy also became an important part of the economy. It was fortified to guard against British raids with installations such as the Fuerte de Isla Verde built to guard key points. The city was rebuilt on its present rectangular plan by

Charles III Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person ...

in 1760. In July 1801, the French and Spanish navies fought the British

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against Fr ...

offshore in the Battle of Algeciras, which ended in a British victory. The city became the scene for settling a major international crisis as it hosted the

Algeciras Conference The Algeciras Conference of 1906 took place in Algeciras, Spain, and lasted from 16 January to 7 April. The purpose of the conference was to find a solution to the First Moroccan Crisis of 1905 between France and Germany, which arose as German ...

in 1906. The international forum to discuss the future of

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to A ...

which was held in the Casa Consistorial (town hall). It confirmed the independence of Morocco against threats from Germany, and gave France control of banking and police interests. In July 1942 Italian frogmen set up in a secret base in the Italian tanker Olterra, which was interned in Algeciras, in order to attack shipping in Gibraltar. During the

Franco Franco may refer to: Name * Franco (name) * Francisco Franco (1892–1975), Spanish general and dictator of Spain from 1939 to 1975 * Franco Luambo (1938–1989), Congolese musician, the "Grand Maître" Prefix * Franco, a prefix used when ref ...

era, Algeciras underwent substantial industrial development, creating many new jobs for the local workers made unemployed when the border between Gibraltar and Spain was sealed by Franco between 1969 and 1982. In 1982 there was a failed plan codenamed

Operation Algeciras Operation Algeciras was a foiled Argentine plan to sabotage a Royal Navy warship in Gibraltar during the Falklands War. The Argentine reasoning was that if the British military felt vulnerable in Europe, they would decide to keep some vessels in ...

conceived by the

Argentinian Argentines (mistakenly translated Argentineans in the past; in Spanish (masculine) or ( feminine)) are people identified with the country of Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Argentines, ...

military to sabotage the British military facilities in Gibraltar during the

Falklands War The Falklands War ( es, link=no, Guerra de las Malvinas) was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and its territorial ...

. The Spanish authorities intervened just before the attack, and deported the two Argentine

Montoneros Montoneros ( es, link=no, Movimiento Peronista Montonero-MPM) was an Argentine left-wing Peronist guerrilla organization, active throughout the 1970s and early 1980s. The name is an allusion to the 19th-century cavalry militias called Montone ...

and military liaison officer involved.

Geography

Location

Algeciras is located in the southern end of the

, in the ''comarca'' of

. Its strategic location near the

—the choke point connecting the Atlantic Ocean and the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on ...

also entailing the nearest distance between Europe and the African continent—has historically powered the importance of the port. The city proper lies on the western bank of the

, fronting the

Rock of Gibraltar The Rock of Gibraltar (from the Arabic name Jabel-al-Tariq) is a monolithic limestone promontory located in the British territory of Gibraltar, near the southwestern tip of Europe on the Iberian Peninsula, and near the entrance to the Medite ...

, which dominates the eastern bank. The municipality spans across a total area of , bordering with the municipalities of

and Tarifa. The lower course of the river

Palmones Palmones is a village on the Bay of Gibraltar between Algeciras and La Linea de la Concepcion in the Province of Cádiz in Spain. The San Roque Refinery and Los Barrios commercial centre lie on either side of the town. The village has a sea pr ...

forms part of the boundary of Algeciras with the municipality of Los Barrios. The urban agglomeration formed by Algeciras and the surrounding settlements is the sixth largest in

and the third largest off the region's coast.

Climate

Algeciras has a

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on ...

subtropical climate The subtropical zones or subtropics are geographical and climate zones to the north and south of the tropics. Geographically part of the temperate zones of both hemispheres, they cover the middle latitudes from to approximately 35° north a ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (born 1951), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author and ...

: ''Csa'') with very mild, rainy winters and warm, dry summers with occasional heat waves, and temperature fluctuations are small because of the strong Oceanic influence. There are not snow registers in the city since the 19th century.

Population

Economy

Algeciras is principally a transport hub and industrial city. Its main activities are connected with the

, which serves as the main embarkation point between Spain and

Tangier Tangier ( ; ; ar, طنجة, Ṭanja) is a city in northwestern Morocco. It is on the Moroccan coast at the western entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar, where the Mediterranean Sea meets the Atlantic Ocean off Cape Spartel. The town is the capi ...

and other ports in Morocco as well as the

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; es, :es:Canarias, Canarias, ), also known informally as the Canaries, are a Spanish Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community and archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, in Macaronesia. At their closest point to ...

and the Spanish enclaves of

Ceuta Ceuta (, , ; ar, سَبْتَة, Sabtah) is a Spanish autonomous city on the north coast of Africa. Bordered by Morocco, it lies along the boundary between the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. It is one of several Spanish territori ...

and

Melilla Melilla ( , ; ; rif, Mřič ; ar, مليلية ) is an autonomous city of Spain located in north Africa. It lies on the eastern side of the Cape Three Forks, bordering Morocco and facing the Mediterranean Sea. It has an area of . It was pa ...

. It is ranked as the 16th busiest port in the world. The city also has a substantial fishing industry and exports a range of agricultural products from the surrounding area, including cereals, tobacco and farm animals. In recent years it has become a significant tourist destination, with popular day trips to Tarifa to see bird migrations; to Gibraltar to see the territory's sights and culture; and to the

whale watching Whale watching is the practice of observing whales and dolphins (cetaceans) in their natural habitat. Whale watching is mostly a recreational activity (cf. birdwatching), but it can also serve scientific and/or educational purposes.Hoyt, E. 2 ...

excursions. Algeciras is the southern terminus of two principal north–south

Euroroute The international E-road network is a numbering system for roads in Europe developed by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE). The network is numbered from E1 up and its roads ...

s, the E05 and E15. Both routes, moreover, run to Scotland (the E05 terminates at

Greenock Greenock (; sco, Greenock; gd, Grianaig, ) is a town and administrative centre in the Inverclyde council area in Scotland, United Kingdom and a former burgh within the historic county of Renfrewshire, located in the west central Lowland ...

and the E15 at

Inverness Inverness (; from the gd, Inbhir Nis , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness"; sco, Innerness) is a city in the Scottish Highlands. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highlands. Histor ...

) via France and England.

Tourism

Places of interest include: * Parque Natural del Estrecho * Parque Natural Los Alcornocales

Transport

Public transport

The bus urban transport in managed by C.T.M. (''Cooperativa de transporte de Marruecos''). * Bus lines: ** Line 1: Bajadilla-Pajarete ** Line 2: Colinas-San Bernabé-Reconquista ** Line 3: Rinconcillo ** Line 4: La Granja ** Line 5: Bahía de Algeciras ** Line 6: Juliana ** Line 7: Saladillo ** Line 8: San García-Saladillo ** Line 9: San García Directo ** Line 10: El Cobre ** Line 11: La Piñera ** Line 12: San García playa ** Line 16: Cementerio-Centro Penitenciario ** Line 18: Cortijo Vides-Piñera ** Line 19: Puerto-S.J.Artesano-Rinconcillo ** Line 21: San García – Residencia – Puerto – Parque

Rail

The

Algeciras Gibraltar Railway Company The Algeciras Gibraltar Railway Company was formed by British businessmen to build the Algeciras-Bobadilla railway line between Algeciras and Bobadilla, Antequera, the first section of track was laid on 1 September 1888. The first train was pu ...

built the

Algeciras-Bobadilla railway The Algeicras-Bobadilla railway was built by the Algeciras Gibraltar Railway Company, the first section of track was laid on 1 September 1888. The first locomotive was built by Beyer, Peacock & Company in Manchester, England. A 1st class return t ...

line, which connects

Algeciras railway station Algeciras railway station is the southernmost rail station on the Spanish rail network and on the European mainland, and serves the town of Algeciras, Andalusia. Information Algeciras station is located at the end of the Algeciras-Bobadilla rail ...

Bobadilla, Antequera Bobadilla, also known as ''Bobadilla Pueblo'' ("Bobadilla Village"), is a Spanish village in the municipality of Antequera, in the province of Málaga, Andalusia. It is located in the west of the Antequerano municipal territory, 3 km from Bob ...

and continues to the rest of Spain, the train line terminates near the port of Algeciras.

Road

The main routes serving Algeciras include: * European route E15 *

European route E05 The European route E5 is part of the United Nations international E-road network. It is the westernmost north–south "reference road", running from Greenock in Scotland, south through Great Britain and France to Algeciras, Spain. The route is ...

Autopista AP-7 The ''Autopista AP-7'' (also called ''Autopista del Mediterráneo'') ( ca, Autopista de la Mediterrània) is a Spanish autopista (controlled-access highway). It runs along the Mediterranean coast of Spain. AP-7 has two different sections (911+ ...

* Autovía A-48 *

N-340 The N-340 is a major highway in Spain. It is over 1,000 km long starting south of Barcelona and running predominantly along the coast to Chiclana de la Frontera and the N-IV to Cádiz. In many places the road has now been by-passed by th ...

* GR 7

Intercity buses

The main bus station is located next to the train station. Several bus companies operate intercity bus services from and to Algeciras.

Airport

The nearest airports are: *

Gibraltar Airport Gibraltar International Airport or North Front Airport is the civilian airport that serves the British overseas territory of Gibraltar. The runway is owned by the Ministry of Defence for use by the Royal Air Force as RAF Gibraltar. Civilian o ...

– to *

Jerez Airport Jerez Airport ( es, Aeropuerto de Jerez) , is an airport located northeast of Jerez de la Frontera in Southern Spain, about from Cádiz. Overview Jerez Airport is a modern airport with the principal arrivals and departures areas on the ground f ...

– to *

Málaga Airport Málaga Airport , officially Málaga–Costa del Sol Airport ( es, Aeropuerto de Málaga-Costa del Sol) since June 2011, is the fourth busiest airport in Spain after Madrid–Barajas, Barcelona and Palma de Mallorca. It is significant for Sp ...

– to In addition, the

Algeciras Heliport The Algeciras Heliport ( es, Helipuerto de Algeciras) is a public heliport in Algeciras (Province of Cádiz, Cádiz, Spain). It was inaugurated on July 1, 2010, by the Minister of Development, José Blanco López, José Blanco. It was the second ...

is being built for transport to

and other areas in the region.

Monuments

* Hornos Romanos del Rinconcillo (first century B.C.). (furnaces) * Factoría de salazones de la calle San Nicolás (first century). (salt meat factory) * La Villa Vieja, torres de la Huerta del Carmen (tenth century). (Towers) * Parque Arqueológico de las Murallas Meriníes (thirteenth century). (Archeological Park) * Capilla de Nuestra Señora de Europa (1690). (Chapel) * Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de la Palma (1736). (Church) * Hospital de La Caridad, (1748). * Capilla de la Caridad (1752). (Chapel) * Casa Consistorial (1756). (City Council) * Capilla de San Servando (1774). (Chapel) * Capilla del Santo Cristo de la Alameda (1776). (Chapel) * Plaza Alta (1807). * Mercado de Abastos de Algeciras of engineer Eduardo Torroja Miret (1935). (Supplies Market) * Art School Building. (1971) architect: Fernando Garrido Gutiérrez. * Faro de Isla Verde. Project of Jaime Font, constructed in 1864. (Light) *

Hotel Reina Cristina Hotel Reina Cristina is an historic hotel in Algeciras, Spain. It was opened in 1901. It is representative of the British colonial architecture imported into the city in the early twentieth century from the nearby British Overseas Territory of Gib ...

(1901). * District de San Isidro, typical district designed in the twentieth century.

Celebrations

* Arrastre de latas (5, January). * Feria Real de Algeciras (June). * Fiestas patronales en honor de Ntra. Sra. la Virgen de la Palma (August). * Fiesta de los Tosantos (1, November). * Carnival of Algeciras.

Sports

Algeciras CF Algeciras Club de Fútbol is a Spanish football team based in Algeciras, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1909 it plays in Primera División RFEF – Group 1, holding home matches at ''Estadio Nuevo Mirador''. History Foot ...

, the

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

club, founded in 1912, plays usually in the third-tier

Segunda División B Segunda División B ( en, Second Division B) was the third tier of the Spanish football league system containing 102 teams divided into five groups, until it was replaced by the new structure in 2021. It was administered by the Royal Spanish Foo ...

, with past spells in the lower

Tercera División Tercera División ( en, Third Division) was the fourth tier of the Spanish football league system. Founded in 1929, it was below the ''Primera División'' (also known as La Liga), the '' Segunda División'', and the semi-professional '' Segunda ...

and the higher

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commercially known as LaLiga SmartBank for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spanish football league system. Administrated by the L ...

. They play home games at the

Estadio Nuevo Mirador Estadio Nuevo Mirador is the Municipal Stadium of Algeciras, Spain. It is the home stadium of the football club, Algeciras CF. The stadium with a capacity for 7,200 spectators, and measuring 105 by 68 metres, is a modern sports complex located in ...

Algeciras BM Algeciras Balonmano was a Spanish handball team based in Algeciras, Andalusia. The last season, (2007–08) the team played in Liga ASOBAL. History Algeciras Balonmano was founded in 1966. *Note:: ''After'' of being relegated to División de H ...

, the professional

handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball or Olympic handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of throwing it into the ...

club, played in the

Liga ASOBAL Liga Asobal is the premier professional handball league in Spain. It was founded in 1958 with the name of División de Honor, changing its name to the current name in 1990. The Liga ASOBAL, which is played under EHF rules, currently consists of 1 ...

between 2005 and 2008. The team was dissolved due to enormous debts after relegation to second level in 2008.

Education

Universidad de Cádiz – Campus Bahia de Algeciras

The following education centres are property of the

University of Cádiz The University of Cádiz (in Spanish: Universidad de Cádiz), commonly referred to as UCA, is a public university located in the province of Cádiz, Andalusia, Spain, noted for its medicine and marine sciences curricula. It was founded in 1979 ...

: * Escuela Politécnica Superior de Algeciras * Escuela Universitaria de Enfermería de Algeciras * Escuela Universitaria de Estudios Jurídicos y Económicos del Campo de Gibraltar "Francisco Tomás y Valiente" * Escuela Universitaria de Magisterio "Virgen de Europa" * Centro Universitario de Derecho de Algeciras (CUDA)
Campus Bahia de Algeciras

Noted Natives of Algeciras

* Yahya Ibn Yahya * Paco de Lucía *

Ramón de Algeciras Ramón Sánchez Gómez, better known by his stage name Ramón de Algeciras, (5 February 193820 January 2009) was a Spanish flamenco guitarist, composer and lyricist. He was the most prolific collaborator of Paco de Lucía, his younger brother, r ...

Al-Mansur Ibn Abi Aamir Abu ʿĀmir Muḥammad ibn ʿAbdullāh ibn Abi ʿĀmir al-Maʿafiri ( ar, أبو عامر محمد بن عبد الله بن أبي عامر المعافري), nicknamed al-Manṣūr ( ar, المنصور, "the Victorious"), which is often Latiniz ...

* Ana Belén Palomo * Cristóbal Delgado Gómez *

José María Sánchez-Verdú José María Sánchez-Verdú (born 1968 in Algeciras) is a Spanish composer. Sánchez-Verdú graduated in ''Orchestra Conducting, Musicology and Composition'' at Madrid's Royal Conservatory and has a degree in Law from Universidad Complutense ...

Álvaro Morte Álvaro Antonio García Pérez (born 23 February 1975), known professionally as Álvaro Morte, is a Spanish actor. He gained worldwide recognition for playing the role of ' The Professor' in the television series ''Money Heist''. Early life � ...

* Canelita

Sister cities

, Spain * Neda, Spain * Dakhla,

Western Sahara Western Sahara ( '; ; ) is a disputed territory on the northwest coast and in the Maghreb region of North and West Africa. About 20% of the territory is controlled by the self-proclaimed Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), while the ...

References

;Citations * Algeciras. ''Encyclopædia Britannica Online'', 2006. * Algeciras. ''The Columbia Encyclopedia'', 2004 * ''Lonely Planet Andalucia'', Lonely Planet, 2005 ;Bibliography * * *

External links

*
Ayuntamiento de Algeciras
*
Expoalgeciras: Images Gallery
(History and present from Algeciras with old and current photographs) {{Authority control Municipalities of the Province of Cádiz Populated coastal places in Spain 711 establishments 8th-century establishments in Spain Populated places established in the 8th century