Bédar is a
municipality
A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate.
The term ''municipality' ...
of
Almería province
Almería (, , ) is a city and municipality of Spain, located in Andalusia. It is the capital of the province of the same name. It lies in southeastern Iberia on the Mediterranean Sea. Caliph Abd al-Rahman III founded the city in 955. The city gr ...
, in the autonomous community of
Andalusia
Andalusia ( , ; , ) is the southernmost autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain, located in the south of the Iberian Peninsula, in southwestern Europe. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomou ...
, Spain.
Demographics
History and Heritage
The history of Bédar can be traced to the early 16th century, when it was a Moorish settlement in the land of Vera. The parish of Bédar was formed in 1505 after the ‘
Reconquista
The ''Reconquista'' (Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese for ) or the fall of al-Andalus was a series of military and cultural campaigns that European Christian Reconquista#Northern Christian realms, kingdoms waged ag ...
’, and began to use the old mosque as a centre for worship, until construction of the current church. After repopulation of Bédar at the end of the 16th century with 27 inhabitants from Mojácar and Vera, the town expanded during the 16th and 17th centuries to a population around 600 inhabitants.
Mining operations in the area, for iron ore and other minerals, were developed during the end of the Moorish period from 1525. The greatest expansion began in the 19
th century, which marked a period of prosperity, Bédar being the third most important iron-producing area in the province of Almeria. After several breaks, coinciding with the World Wars, the industry finally closed in 1970, leaving an important industrial archaeological legacy.
Products from the mines were transported to
Garrucha
Garrucha is a municipality of Almería province, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Garrucha is a seaport of south-eastern Spain on the Mediterranean Sea and the right bank of the river Antas. In 1998 the town had a population of 500 ...
for onward transport by sea, with the construction of substantial
aerial cableways and the
Bédar to Garrucha Railway.
See also
*
List of municipalities in Almería
Almería (province), Almería is a provinces of Spain, province in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain, which is divided into 103 Municipalities of Spain, municipalities. Spanish census, Almería is t ...
References
External links
*
Bédar- Sistema de Información Multiterritorial de Andalucía
*
-
Diputación Provincial de Almería
Municipalities in the Province of Almería
{{Almería-geo-stub