When considering a visit to such a city as Alicante it is important to be aware of the fact that part of the uniqueness of Alicante lies in its three thousand years of history. Thus, to be able to understand it and enjoy it better it is crucial to delve a little more deeply into the idiosyncrasies of the city and its inhabitants from a historical as well as contemporary point of view.

The history of the first settlements goeas back to 5000 years BC, to the times in which the first hunter gatherer tribes from Central Europe came to occupy the slopes of Mount Benacantil, where the Castillo de Santa Barbara currently stands. Slowly other tribes began triccling into the region establishing settlements in the area. Around 1000 BC the native Iberian tribes were introduced to the alphabet, iron and the pottery wheel by the Phoenician and Greek traders who settled on the coast establishing small trading ports along Costa Blanca. Another settlement was located in the Benalúa area, whis time by the Roman and Carthage invaders who came to occupy the Iberian Peninsula in the sixth centyrz BC. Around this area, where the Roman city of Lucentum was built, the predecessor of the city of Alicante today.

The Romans ruled in the province for the next 700 years until the Arabs conquered the southern and eastern part of the Iberian peninsula in the 10th century. And with the arrival of the Moors, the present-day city was built under the protection of the castle .Their taking over of Medina Laqant had brought oranges, rice, palms and the gifts of Moorish art and architecture. The Moorish occupation lasted until the 12 century and after the reconquista Alicante was finally taken over by the Castilian king Alfonso X in 1246 only to be passed on to the Kingdom of Valencia in 1298 which was under the rule of the Catalonian king James II of Aragon.

After the unsecure period of Arab rule and centuries of succession wars, Alicante finaly could enjoy its rise of position during the golden age period of the 15th century. At that time the regions‘ importance rose and Alicante become a major Mediterranean trade port exporting wine, oranges, rice, olive oil and wool. This development was, however, hindered with the seventeenth century acts of intolerance, in which King Felipe III expelled thousands of Arabs who still lived and worked in Alicante after the reconquista. This cost the region its trade position as the Christian nobility could not make up for the number of skilled artisans and agriculture workers that were baniched from the land. The situation got worse after Alicante supported Carlos in the 16th century War of Spanish Succession. Because Carlos‘ rival Felipe won, he punished the whole region (including Valencia) with a withdrawal of their partly autonomous status they could enjoy for the previous 2-3 centuries. During the 18th and 19th centuries Alicante kept falling into a slow decline, being able to survive only on growing oranges and trading textiles. In the 20th century , after Franco’s dictatorship ended, Alicante was finally able to flourish once again growing to become the regions second largest city , and has recently an important tourist destination able to transform itself from a rather shabby and unimportant travel point to a full of life and local folclore modern port.