Spanish Urbanization: History and City Formation

Urban Settlement in Spain

In Spain, a municipality with more than 10,000 inhabitants is considered an urban settlement. A semi-urban municipality has between 2,000 and 10,000 inhabitants and less than 25% of its population working in the primary sector. The diversity of cities depends on their past and recent economic and demographic factors.

Cities do not appear randomly. They were founded from a prior settlement in locations that meet one or more conditions facilitating the concentration of population and economic activities at that point.

The site might be a place with natural communication channels, such as rivers or major crossroads.

Coastal cities developed in places where conditions were suitable to build a port. Places of strategic and military importance, such as León and Pamplona, or Lugo, emerged from Roman military camps. The presence of an important religious center may also be a fundamental factor.

In most cases, the site of a city matches several of the above conditions. Cities exert influence over their environment, manifested in the formation of a hinterland or an area dominated by the city.

Formation and Evolution of the Urban System

Typically, Spanish cities have ancient origins. However, the primacy of the city population over the countryside is a recent phenomenon.

Early Urbanization

The urbanization of the peninsula began in the south, where Iberian and Tartessian settlements were almost urban in character. Colonization carried out by Phoenicians, Carthaginians, and Greeks on the Mediterranean coast, from Cádiz to Cartagena, led to the emergence of true cities.

Many cities show continuity between these periods, including: Cádiz, Málaga, Seville, Córdoba, and Cartagena.

The Roman period was characterized by its developmental task, which led to the formation of a true urban network based on the provincial organization of the empire and a network of roads and tracks.

Cities that grew as administrative capitals (Mérida, Seville, Tarragona) or those formed from military camps, commercial centers, or immigrant settlement places (León, Lugo) were significant.

The Medieval Period

During the Middle Ages, following the decline of the Visigoth period, the Muslim period represented another major impetus for territorial development. Córdoba was the most populated and most advanced city in Western Europe during the tenth century. A number of cities in Andalusia also experienced great development: Seville, Almería, Granada, and Málaga.

Cities in the northern Christian kingdoms began to grow by the twelfth century, spurred by the development of trade fairs that enabled the growth of cities like Barcelona, Salamanca, and Valladolid.

Note also the important role that the Camino de Santiago (Way of St. James) played in the development of cities such as Logroño, Burgos, and León.