Ronda recent history

In 1572 they founded the Royal Cavalry of Ronda for training for the defense. Between the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries they formed the bulk of the city stil preserved today. The old medina took the name of the City, while the Holy Spirit neighborhood was called Barrio Alto and the district of San Miguel, Barrio Bajo.

The new San Francisco neighborhoods experienced a great constructive development, adopting inns, churches, monasteries, etc. In the eighteenth century the city went through a time of constructing important buildings among which include the New Bridge, which is now considered the symbol of the city, and the Plaza de toros.

Contemporary Age

The Napoleonic invasion and the subsequent Spanish War of Independence were particularly virulent in Ronda and its mountains. Laurel’s Castle, citadel of Ronda, was shot down by the French in their retreat, and many mills and crops were ruined, leaving the area in a precarious situation.

The city was subjected to high taxes and food diaries, which stifled the local economy. Industrial production and the livestock were reduced to less than half and one third of the orchards were ruined due to the large number of Ronda’s inhabitants who left the mountains to fight the French. In fact, the population of 15,600 inhabitants was reduced to 5,000 in three years.

The French invasion is the origin of the phenomenon of banditry in the area, due to the formation of guerrillas to fight the invaders, that after the ravages of war, were left without means of subsistence and the assault had to be used for roads and Gibraltar contraband products.

This phenomenon was widely exploited by romantic travellers like Washington Irving, Prosper Merimee, Ford and Dore, who took inspiration from Ronda, mixing real history with fiction, forging its romantic image.

During the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, economic activity remained primarily rural, and having moments of brilliance in the early twentieth century with the arrival of the railroad. In 1918 the Assembly celebrated Ronda which set the current design of the flag, the anthem of Andalusia and their shield.

At that time it began to consolidate Ronda Savings Bank which was strongly promoted the city’s economy until its demise in 1990, to merge with other banks in Unicaja. After the Spanish Civil War the city experienced a deep crisis that led to mass emigration in Ronda.