Láchar is a municipality in the

province of Granada Granada is a province of southern Spain, in the eastern part of the autonomous community of Andalusia. It is bordered by the provinces of Albacete, Murcia, Almería, Jaén, Córdoba, Málaga, and the Mediterranean Sea (along the Costa Tropi ...

, in

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. The village of Láchar lies in Granada's

floodplain A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river. Floodplains stretch from the banks of a river channel to the base of the enclosing valley, and experience flooding during periods of high Discharge (hydrolog ...

(or "''Vega de Granada''", in

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

) amid poplar

forest A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense ecological community, community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, ...

s, arable farmland and olive groves. The surrounding countryside, and particularly the pine forest known as Los Pinares, lends itself to outdoor sports and recreational activities, and there is also a long tradition of partridge shooting.

History

The origin of Láchar goes back to the times of the earliest

human settlement In geography, statistics and archaeology, a settlement, locality or populated place is a community of people living in a particular location, place. The complexity of a settlement can range from a minuscule number of Dwelling, dwellings gro ...

s and its situation in the fertile floodplain of the River Genil has made farming the main form of livelihood in the area for many centuries. Studies have revealed the existence of a

Roman 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 Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

settlement in the area, "Los Hornillos", and a field of silos has been found which would have been for the storage of food. Near to "Lacen" (the name given to Láchar by the Romans), there are also other Roman remains, such as the " Villas Rusticae" in Adamucejo (or Lower Daimuz), and Daragoleja, which was under the administrative control of the Roman villa of Ilurco. In

the Reconquest ''The Reconquest'' () is a 2016 Spanish romantic drama film directed by Jonás Trueba which stars Francesco Carril, Itsaso Arana, Candela Recio, Pablo Hoyos and Aura Garrido. Plot It is set in Madrid. Manuela and Olmo meet again 15 years after ...

, the alquería or farmstead was burnt by the

troop A troop is a military sub-subunit, originally a small formation of cavalry, subordinate to a squadron. In many armies a troop is the equivalent element to the infantry section or platoon. Exceptions are the US Cavalry and the King's Troo ...

s commanded by

Álvaro de Luna Álvaro de Luna y Fernández de Jarava (between 1388 and 13902 June 1453), was a Castilian statesman, favourite of John II of Castile. He served as Constable of Castile and as Grand Master of the Order of Santiago. He earned great influence in ...

(the

Constable of Castile Constable of Castile () was a title of a military nature created by John I, King of Castile in 1382, as a result of the Third Fernandine War against the Portuguese and the English. The post substituted the title of ''Alférez Mayor del Reino'' ...

) and was finally conquered in 1492. Láchar had previously formed part of the Alquería of La Piedra (the Spanish translation of its Arabic name) which was owned by a wealthy Nasrid family from Boabdil's court. Cortijo of Láchar were granted to the ancestors of the Count of Benalúa, who owned it until 1897 when ''Don'' Julio Quesada de Cañaveral y Piédrola successfully made a claim of ownership resulting in the cortijo and all its adjoining land being passed to him. At the end of the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

, the village was bought by the National Institute for Colonisation, to carry out the plans outlined in 1932 by the Institute for Agrarian Reform for the redistribution of land among new settlers.

Twin town

* Brenna,

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

References

Municipalities in the Province of Granada {{Granada-geo-stub

History

Twin town

See also

References