Welcome to Truly® jávea. This page is intended to give our visitors a little information about the local history of Jávea and the Costa Blanca - it is a 'brief history' which we hope will go some way to making the area in which our a little more real whilst staying at our Villas and Apartments in Jávea>.

A Brief history of Jávea...

Costa Blanca - the beginning...

A principal characteristic of the history of the Costa Blanca, and the Spain as a whole, is the successive waves of different peoples who have invaded the land and spread over the Peninsula. The first to appear were the Iberians, a people from north Africa. Later came the Celts, a typically Aryan people, and from the merging of these two peoples there grew a new race, the Celtiberians. The Celtiberians divided into several tribes (Cantabrians, Asturians, Lusitanians) who gave their names to their respective homelands. The next to arrive, were the Phoenicians - an extremely advanced trading people who were attracted to the Costa Blanca and Spain by the mineral wealth and mining possibilities. They founded a number of trading posts along the coast, the most important being Cadiz in the south of Spain. Later came the Greek settlers, and they were responsible for founding many towns, the most important being Rosas, Ampurias and Sagunto. The Phoenicians, in their struggle against the Greeks, enlisted the support of the Carthaginians, and under the leadership of Hamilcar Barca, they took possession of most of Spain. It was at this time that Rome forced the issue of a border dispute in defence of the areas under the influence of the Greeks, and so began in the Peninsula the Second Punic War - the single most important event in the history of the Costa Blanca and Spain to date.

Valencia - The regional capital of the Costa Blanca...

Valencia was founded by the Romans, who, after the Second Punic War, began the conquest of Spain under the leadership of Publius Cornelius Scipio, Africanus - the country was to be under Roman rule for six centuries. Once the Peninsula had been completely subdued, it was Romanized to such an extent that it produced writers of the stature of Seneca and Lucan and such eminent emperors as Trajan and Hadrian. Rome left in Spain four powerful social elements: the Latin language, Roman law, the municipality and the Christian religion. After the fall of the Roman Empire, the Suevi, Vandals and Alans entered Spain, but they were defeated by the Visigoths who, by the end of the 6th century, had occupied virtually the whole of the Peninsula. All of these peoples fought to make Valencia an important cultural and financial centre.

In 1094, Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar, called El Cid Campeador, conquered Valencia on behalf of the Christians, but the victory was relatively short lived, and the city later fell to the Almoravids in 1102. Following the Moorish domination, it was only in 1238 that James I of Aragon finally re-conquered the city, and founded the Kingdom of Valencia.

During the 15th and 16th centuries, Valencia became one of the major economic powers on the Mediterranean seaboard. It was a Golden Age for Valencia, known as the Valencian siglo de oro , which was characterized by investment in architecture and the arts in general, with such important figures as Ausias March, Isabel de Villena, Jordi de Sant Jordi and the author Joanot Martorell all flourishing under local patronage. During the War of Spanish Succession, Valencia sided with archduke Charles of Austria, and after the victory of the Bourbons at the Battle of Almansa (April 1707), Phillip V abolished the local privileges, or fueros. In 1874, Alfonso XII was proclaimed constitutional King at Sagunto, north of Valencia. When democracy was restored, the Land of Valencia was given its present Autonomous Statutes in 1982. The history of the city, now the capital of the Land of Valencia, is both rich and varied, providing a patrimony that has converted it into one of the major cities in Spain on both cultural and economic levels.

Alicante and the first settlers...

The town of Jávea is located on the eastern coast of Spain, approximately 90km from Alicante, in the Council of Valencia, and on that section of the coast known as the Costa Blanca.

The first settlements in the area were centred around the slopes of mount Benacantil - now the location of the Castle of Santa Bárbara. The location was no doubt chosen because of the proximity to the sea, and the combination of this with the protection afforded by the elevation above the surrounding lands no doubt made an appealing place for the first settlers. Actual physical remains have not been found, but historians are almost positive that the hilltops were first fortified by the Iberians, a Libyan people, who came from the south. A second settlement was almost certainly located in the Benalúa area, where the Roman city of Lucentum was built - and Lucentum was the foundation of the modern city of Alicante.

The Moors then invaded the Costa Blanca and fortified Lucentum and thus established the present day city and castle. Alfonso the 10th, known as Alfonso the Wise, conquered the city in 1246 in the name of the Castilian crown, and in 1308 Jaime II incorporated Alicante in the Kingdom of Valencia. In 1490 Ferdinand the Catholic granted Alicante its City Charter, and 100 years later it was to become the natural port of Castile, and with its growing sea trade, the economy of the Costa Blanca began to flourish. With this trade came an increasing population, and within decades Alicante had become Spain's third largest trading port.

War has been an integral part of the history of Alicante; it's privileged position on the coast made it appealing to invaders - especially from the sea. In 1691, during the reign of Charles II, the French Armada bombed the city for seven consecutive days and during the War of Spanish Succession (1701-14) Alicante was once again heavily bombarded. The city and it's people took the side of the Bourbons and this decision meant that Alicante suffered the bombardment and eventual destruction of the castle of Santa Bárbara by English forces. During the War of Independence (1804-14), also known as the Peninsular War, it was the provisional capital of the Kingdom of Valencia while Valencia itself was under occupation from General Suchet.

By the late 18th century Alicante had enjoyed a period of stability, and the city and its inhabitants entered a period of recovery from the disaster of war. It was only in the 19th century though that it started to expand once again. With the arrival of the railway in 1858, its linkage to the centre of the peninsula guaranteed its leading role as a port, giving it the cosmopolitan air of a city facing the sea and welcoming maritime traffic. Today, Alicante is the second largest city in the Land of Valencia with a population of 261.255 (figures taken from the 1991 census), a central location on the Costa Blanca, and now enjoying an extremely profitable period in it's history due to the tourist industry.

Modern Tourism in Jávea...

Today the Costa Blanca and Jávea are enjoying a new 'golden age' - that of tourism. Figures released in late August 2005 indicate that the number of tourists coming to the Costa Blanca and Spain in general has reached an all-time high. A record 31 million foreign tourists visited Spain between January and July of 2005, which represented a rise of 6.1 percent compared to the same period in 2004. The month of July 2005 saw Spain as a country accommodate 7.4 million international tourists alone. Catalonia was the most popular destination in Spain for international tourists in July 2005, with 2.2 million visitors spending their holidays in the Costa Brava or in the mountains inland. The second most popular destination was the Balearic Islands, followed by the Canary Islands, Andalucia, on the Costa del Sol, the Costa Blanca (including Jávea) and Madrid, in that order.

As usual it was the UK from whether the most tourists originated, with 9.1 percent of the July 2005 statistics being achieved by this nation, followed by Germany (5.6 percent), France (4.9 percent) and Italy (1.7 percent). However, the overall balance for the Spanish economy was not as positive as it should be as according the statistics, the 2005 tourists spent less during their visit, and stay for shorter periods than in previous years.

Having said that, Jávea and the Costa Blanca as a whole, continue to be regarded as one of the principal holiday destinations on the coast of Spain, and we are very happy to be able to offer our customers an excellent portfolio of Villas and Apartments in the area.