Alhama de Granada is a town in the province of Granada, approx. 50 km from the city of Granada. The name is derived from the thermal baths located there, which are called الـحَـمّـة al-hammah in Arabic.
History
There is clear evidence that the Romans used the hot springs located near the town. In the 15th century, Arabs consolidated the town next to these hot springs and it was long believed that they built the thermal baths there, though Salvador Raya Retamero, a local historian, argues in his book Reseña histórica de los baños termales de la muy noble y leal ciudad de Alhama de Granada that the earliest baths are in fact Roman in origin. A short interview with the author explains the details. The bath house in the Almohade style of the 12th century that is preserved in the spa is a good example of Arab bath construction. In 1482, the fortress town was taken from the Moorish Sultanate and Kingdom of Granada by the Catholic Monarchs. Alhama's position between Málaga and Granada gave it strategic importance for the Moors but they also had a particular fondness for the town and its thermal waters and hot springs. The cry of sorrow, ¡Ay de mi Alhama!, uttered by Abu Al-Hacen following the battle of 1482 when the town was lost to the Catholic conquerors, entered the Spanish language as an exclamation of regret. The story of the fall of Alhama and the subsequent slaughter of its inhabitants by the Christian knights is referred to in Tariq Ali's, The Islam Quintet in the first book Shadows of the Pomegranate Tree. The strategic influence of Alhama de Granada made its fall vital for the conquest of the Kingdom of Granada, which led to the beginning of a flourishing Christian age, because of the patronage of the Catholic Monarchs. Magnificent horse shoe arcs were built over the remains of Roman construction and are covered by a vaulted roof, pierced by star-shaped openings that let the daylight filter in. Under the vaulted roof of the baths the oldest warm spring of Alhama de Granada bubbles up. The newest one, which springs up a few metres from the other, was discovered in 1884, many centuries after a terrible earthquake whose epicentre could have been very near the area. Eleno de Céspedes was born into slavery in the town in 1545 or 1546, and went on to become possibly the first female surgeon in Spain, and perhaps in Europe. Alhama de Granada was the community with the highest number of victims from the 1884 Andalusian earthquake. According to El Defensor de Granada there were 463 dead and 473 injured. The real number seems to have been considerably higher, since more bodies were found under the rubble. More than 70% of the houses collapsed and 15% were badly damaged. The oldest, lower and eastern part of the town suffered less than the newer part. In 1975 the municipality of Alhama de Granada absorbed the municipality of Ventas de Zafarraya.
Tourism
Alhama de Granada looks out over spectacular scenery; the view to the Sierra Nevada is uninterrupted. The Sierras of Tejeda, Almijara and Alhama Natural Park is a few kilometers to the south. Alhama is situated not far from Arenas del Rey which itself is situated on the edge of the vast Bermajales lake which is surrounded by woods of poplars and Mediterranean black pines. Constructed between 1947 and 1954 this reservoir with a hydro-electric plant at one end provides sandy beaches, safe swimming and plenty of non-motorised water sports. There are also a couple of cafes at the edge of the lake. Many people spend evenings and weekends barbecuing at the water's edge. There are a few bars in Alhama which serve coffees and "tostadas" in the morning, lunch in the late afternoon, and tapas in the evening. Casa Ochoa Tertulia Bar and Cafe Bar El Tigre are local favorites. For nightlife, El Encuentro plays more contemporary pop and reggae music, while Por Amor Al Arte has live flamenco on the weekends.
Demography
Colors= id:lightgrey value:gray id:darkgrey value:gray id:sfondo value:rgb id:barra value:rgb ImageSize = width:580 height:300 PlotArea = left: 60 bottom: 30 top: 20 right: 20 DateFormat = x.y Period = from:0 till:12000 TimeAxis = orientation:vertical AlignBars = late ScaleMajor = gridcolor:darkgrey increment:2000 start:0 ScaleMinor = gridcolor:lightgrey increment:1000 start:0 BackgroundColors = canvas:sfondo BarData= bar: 1877 text: 1877 bar: 1887 text: 1887 bar: 1900 text: 1900 bar: 1910 text: 1910 bar: 1920 text: 1920 bar: 1930 text: 1930 bar: 1940 text: 1940 bar: 1950 text: 1950 bar: 1960 text: 1960 bar: 1970 text: 1970 bar: 1980 text: 1980 bar: 1990 text: 1990 bar: 2000 text: 2000 bar: 2010 text: 2010 PlotData= color:barra width:20 align:center bar: 1877 from:7769 till: 0 bar: 1887 from:7867 till: 0 bar: 1900 from:7683 till: 0 bar: 1910 from:7835 till: 0 bar: 1920 from:7545 till: 0 bar: 1930 from:8116 till: 0 bar: 1940 from:10075 till: 0 bar: 1950 from:10651 till: 0 bar: 1960 from:10177 till: 0 bar: 1970 from:8174 till: 0 bar: 1980 from:6069 till: 0 bar: 1990 from:6023 till: 0 bar: 2000 from:6012 till: 0 bar: 2010 from:6225 till: 0 PlotData= bar: 1877 at:7769 fontsize:S text:7.769 shift: bar: 1887 at:7867 fontsize:S text:7.867 shift: bar: 1900 at:7683 fontsize:S text:7.683 shift: bar: 1910 at:7835 fontsize:S text:7.835 shift: bar: 1920 at:7545 fontsize:S text:7.545 shift: bar: 1930 at:8116 fontsize:S text:8.116 shift: bar: 1940 at:10075 fontsize:S text:10.075 shift: bar: 1950 at:10651 fontsize:S text:10.651 shift: bar: 1960 at:10177 fontsize:S text:10.177 shift: bar: 1970 at:8174 fontsize:S text:8.174 shift: bar: 1980 at:6069 fontsize:S text:6.069 shift: bar: 1990 at:6023 fontsize:S text:6.023 shift: bar: 2000 at:6012 fontsize:S text:6.012 shift: bar: 2010 at:6225 fontsize:S text:6.225 shift:
