HISTORY
Our past Although remains can be found from the Palaeolithic period, it was not until the arrival of the Tartessians and Phoenicians that these beaches started being relevant from the commercial and historical point of view. In the early days of Zahara de los Atunes, the stagnation of the Cádiz population was highly significant, for more than 200 years, on the Castilian-Nazari border (Late Middle Ages and Early Modern Times). As a result, the repopulation attempts of the old municipality of Vejer failed. This, together with its being on the border, as well as pirates and tuna fisheries (almadrabas) all conditioned the town’s development. In the 15th century, the Duke of Medina Sidonia exchanged the towns of Zafra, Zafrilla and Halconera with King Fernando IV for that of Vejer, precisely in order to be able to control the almadrabas at Conil and Zahara. Neither the border situation, nor the frequent attacks by Barbary pirates, from the 15th century, could deter the Duke in his determination to operate the highly profitable fisheries, building castles at Conil and Zahara to defend the almadrabas and the coast. So we could say that Zahara de los Atunes, as a population centre, basically emerged, from the building of the castle and Zahara de los Atunes by the Dukes of Medina Sidonia.
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