A lot of legends prevail regarding the origins of
the town, some of which confuse fact with fiction.
Some identify Velez with Sexi, capital of the ancient
region of Sexitania, while others attribute its founding
to Beluz, the Lybian Hercules, insisting that he gave
the town his name. One of the Christian tradition
claims the presence of St. Peter in the town. Details
obtained from archaeological excavations confirm that
Velez was inhabited in prehistoric times. The walls
of a Phoenician town've been discovered near the mouth
of the River Velez on Los Toscanos Estate, and necropolises've
been located on El Jardin and La Noria country estates.
Velez must have been an important urban centre while
the Roman era, giving refuge to settlers who had abandoned
the coast following the fall of the Empire; however,
it's during the Moslem occupation of Spain that the
town really acquired renown and importance. In the
13th century, the fortress of Velez, along with Comares
and Bentomiz, figured as one of the most important
towns in the area corresponding to the present-day
province of Malaga; proof of this is the alliance
between the Christian King Ferdinand III, known as
the Holy, and the Nazari ruler Al-Hamar. An account
by the traveller Ibn Batuta (1304-1368) describes
Velez as a prosperous town enjoying an active trading
relationship with the kingdom of Granada and the cities
of the Mediterranean via its commercial port at Mariyya
Balis -Atalaya de Velez- (Torre del Mar). In April
1487, it was captured by troops of the Catholic Monarchs
.The fall of Velez Malaga was crucial to the subsequent
surrender of Malaga. Torre del Mar's port developed
in the wake of the Christian conquest under the protection
of the castle -part of whose walls still stand today-
of Rui Lopez of Toledo, a distinguished Castilian
soldier who was awarded this military enclave in return
for his role in the capture of Velez. The 18th century,1704,
saw one of the most important naval battles of the
War of Succession. A Franco-Spanish fleet and the
combined forces of the English and Dutch navies locked
horns in a fierce battle involving 146 ships and almost
50,000 men. The confrontation failed to produce a
clear victor and the Anglo-Dutch contingent withdrew
to the port of Gibraltar, the French and Spanish heading
for Malaga. Another important episode in Velez’s
history occurred during the War of Independence, when
retreating Napoleonic troops blew up the town’s
walls, which were left practically in ruins. The village
and its municipal area were affected by the major
tremor known as the Andalusian Earthquake on Christmas
Day 1884, suffering 6 mortalities and extensive material
damage. A new stimulus, which was to change forever
the whole face of Velez-Malaga, the neighbouring dependency
of Torre del Mar and the rest of the municipal area,
as well as its inhabitants’ economic activities
and way of life, came in the second half of the 20th
century, when the progressive development of tourism,
which had begun in 1960s, transformed the town into
one of the Mediterranean’s leading holiday resorts.
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