The village was founded
by the Arabs, but retains little evidence of its Moslem past, having
become a dormitory town for Malaga and Torremolinos.
Nearby are the Royal Pigeon Shooting Society and a golf course.
History
Its origins date back to the period in which Gades exercised its
hegemony over the whole of the Frentum Gaditanum (Straits of Gibraltar),
over three thousand years ago, when the Phoenicians began their
wanderings and founded their first commercial factories, encouraged
by the rich mineral deposits to be found in the south of the peninsula.
In Roman times, it was called Lauro Vetus, and, later, Laurona.
According to Floro, fugitives from the Battle of Munda took refuge
in Lauro, and it was here that supporters of Julius Caesar beheaded
Gnaeus Pompeius. He may have been referring to Lauro Vetus, although
the early settlement was located lower down than the present-day
village.
During the Moslem occupation it was called Alhaurein. Remains of
Arabic walls are to be found in the village, specifically in the
Torre de Alhaurin vegetable garden.
It was conquered by the Catholic Monarchs in 1485.
On 5 December, 1831, in La Alqueria, a district in the village's
municipal AREA, General Torrijos and his entourage, who, several
days previously, had landed on the beaches of Fuengirola, believing
that the people of Malaga and, more importantly, its garrison would
support his insurrection against Ferdinand VII's absolutist régime,
were cornered. After three days of resistance, they gave themselves
up and were shot a few days later on La Misericordia beach in the
provincial capital; he was later buried in the mausoleum which stands
at the centre of Malaga's Plaza de la Merced square.
The 18th century saw work begin on an aqueduct which was never completed,
today the remains of this unusual project still stand, a curious
architectural structure which has provided shelter for a series
of houses built under what have become known as Zapata Arches (Arcos
de Zapata).
At the end of the 19th century, Alhaurin de la Torre, along with
the rest of the province, was affected by a phylloxera epidemic,
which destroyed most of the village's vines.
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