page_title: History of Alicante
section_title: Modern history
hierarchical_section_title: History of Alicante / Modern history
caption_attribution_description: English: A view of Alicante, Spain from Castillo de Santa Barbara (Castle of Santa Barabara) Français&#160;: Une vue d'Alicante (Espagne) depuis le Castillo de Santa Barbara (Chateau de Santa Barbara) Español: Una vista de Alicante, desde el Castillo de Santa Barbara
context_page_description: The history of Alicante spans thousands of years. The first settlements in the Alicante area were made by Iberian tribes. Since then the area has been inhabited successively by Greeks, Romans, Muslims, and Christians.
context_section_description: During the early 20th century, Alicante was a minor capital which enjoyed the benefit of Spain's neutrality during the First World War, which provided new opportunities for the local industry and agriculture. The Moroccan war of the 1920s saw numerous alicantinos drafted to fight in the long and bloody campaigns at the former Spanish protectorate (Northern Morocco) against the Rif rebels. The political unrest of the late 1920s led to the victory of republican candidates in the local council elections throughout the country, and the abdication of King Alfonso XIII. 
  The proclamation of the Second Spanish Republic was much celebrated in the city on April 14, 1931. The Spanish Civil War broke out on July 17, 1936. Alicante was the last city loyal to the Republican government to be occupied by General Franco's troops on April 1, 1939, and its harbour saw the last Republican government officials flee the country. Even if not as famous as the bombing of Guernica by the German Luftwaffe, Alicante was the target of some vicious air bombings during the three years of civil conflict, most remarkably the bombing by the Italian Aviazione Legionaria of the Mercado de Abastos on May 25, 1938 in which more than 300 civilians perished.
  The next 20 years under Franco's dictatorship were difficult for Alicante as it was for the entire country. However, the late 1950s and early 1960s saw the onset of a lasting transformation of the city due to tourism. Large buildings and complexes rose in nearby Albufereta (e.g. El Barco) and Playa de San Juan, with the benign climate being the best tool to bring prospective buyers and tourists who kept hotels reasonably busy. 
  The tourist development, aside from construction, also brought numerous businesses such as restaurants, bars and other businesses focused on visitors. The old airfield at Rabasa was closed and air traffic moved to the new El Altet Airport, which made for a convenient facility for charter flights bringing tourists from northern European countries.
  When Franco died in 1975, his successor Juan Carlos I successfully oversaw the transition of Spain to a democratic constitutional monarchy. Governments of nationalities and regions were given more autonomy, and the Valencia region was permitted an autonomy they had not been allowed for four centuries.
  Later notable landmarks have been the opening of the European Union Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market and the construction of the Ciudad de la Luz, a series of facilities meant to sponsor film industries in setting up operations at Alicante.
caption: A view of Alicante from the Castillo de Santa Barbara.
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