San Pedro de Alcántara

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St. Peter of Alcántara

San Pedro de Alcántara (St. Peter of Alcántara) (pop: approx 26,500) lies on the main Costa del Sol coastal road the N340/A7 as well as the new toll motorway the AP7, 10 km west of Marbella in Andalucia, Southern Spain. It is easily accessed from either Málaga or Cádiz and via the C339 from Sevilla and Ronda. The nearest airports of Málaga and Gibraltar are both within an hours drive. It is situated in the fertile plain of the same name, Vega de San Pedro Alcántara, a broad stretch of coastal lowland surrounded in a semicircle by rugged hills. On the East the Sierra Blanca of Marbella, dominated by its highest peak Pico del Astonar (1.270 m.) better known locally as "La Concha" (The Shell) because of its resemblance to a fluted sea shell when viewed from the west. To the North, there is the Sierra del Real or El Real del Duque, the Sierra de las Nieves and those of Tolox, on the West of the town the Monte Mayor and, finally, closing the mountain line the Sierra Bermeja.

San Pedro

As you enter San Pedro, through the entrance arch from the Cádiz direction, you find what is probably the most typical Spanish town left on the Costa del Sol, kept very clean with a central shopping area, quiet parks and squares and beautiful gardens. Turn right off the main road to the Nueva Alcántara area and you reach the very long, newly constructed promenade and the long, wide beaches, where there are many new developments taking shape.

San Pedro has the last summer fair (feria) in Andalucia which takes place in the second week in October.

[edit] History

San Pedro de Alcántara owes its origin to General Manuel Gutiérrez de la Concha e Irigoyen, first Marquís del Duero, who, in accordance with the Law governing the Colonisation of Land established in Spain in 1855, founded the Agricultural Colony of San Pedro Alcántara in 1860.

This name, given to such an ambitious project, is homage rendered by the Marquís to his mother, Petra de Alcántara Irigoyen y de la Quintana, and to St. Peter of Alcántara, a Saint from Extremadura devoutly worshipped by the family.

The construction of small reservoirs made possible the operation of an irrigation system which permitted the introduction of new forms of intensive cultivation in an area of approximately 100 square kilometres, after the due ploughing up and draining.

At the same time, the latest technical innovations in agricultural machinery were imported from the United States and the UK.

The labourers to be employed needed to have agricultural experience and therefore the Marquís recruited colonists and daily labourers from the villages on the coast of Granada and Almería, and from Valencia and Murcia. They were offered attractive and modern working conditions for those days; house, family allotment for their own use and a general store.

The project culminated with the creation of a School for Agricultural Training (also known as the Foreman's School) or Model Farm, which would provide specialists and foremen to promote the development of the colony. An idea which was never fully carried out.

An ancient Roman road was the only means of communication by land, and therefore orders were given to build a network of quality roads, some still used today.

The second means of communication was the sea, via which the supply of seeds and other requirements for farming were carried out, together with the despatch of the sugar cane to Málaga.

The impossibility of keeping up with the high interest payments on the loans obtained obliged the Marquís and thereafter, his daughter, to sell the colony in 1874.

San Pedro has its share of history and monuments, including the Parish Church, constructed in 1866. The building is of colonial style and stands adjacent to Villa San Luis, now the Deputy Mayor's office.

Las Bovedas is a Roman site belonging to the 3rd century A.D and consists of an octagonal building containing a central nucleus with seven rooms around it. There is an octagonal pool in the centre. The purpose is thought to be public baths or a water storage place at the end of an aqueduct.

Close by are the ruins of the Basilica, hidden amongst the Eucalyptus trees in the urbanisation of Linda Vista. Recent studies date the ruins to the 6th century and note them as one of the most important of their kind in the whole of Spain. Artefacts discovered here can be seen in the local museum and in the museums of Málaga and Marbella, they include skeletons, personal jewellery and clay vases.