Stones of the Horseshoes

It seems that in these lands human life developed early, as evidenced by the petroglyphs that can be found in various parts of its municipal area, among which the so-called Piedra de la Herradura, stones in which primitive man left engravings. indecipherable messages. Difficult to determine if the peoples of the Mediterranean knew this town. In any case, Carthaginians and Punic were replaced by the Romans, attracted by the wealth of metals in the region. With the Arab occupation it seems that agriculture becomes more important, reducing mining activity.

In the Muslim era, Almería has a thriving industry of fine fabrics, such as linen and silk. The looms of Líjar did not reach the 20th century, but Pascual Madoz counts about 25 looms for the manufacture of linen and hemp fabrics in the census of this population made in 1846. The war against the French took place when the most insignificant people of the Sierra de los Filabres did not let go, without more, the grievance suffered by King Alfonso XII during his visit to France, back in 1883. The Spanish king was insulted and stoned by French citizens during this visit, when he arrived in Paris with Prussian uniform. The Lijareños were not intimidated by the numerical inferiority and officially declared war on “the cowardly French Nation”, even though everything was a misunderstanding finally clarified between French and Spanish diplomacy.