Almería

Caliph Abd al-Rahman III founded the city in 955. The city grew wealthy during the Islamic era, becoming a world city throughout the 11th and 12th centuries. It enjoyed an active port that traded silk, oil, and raisins. This period was brought to an end with the 1147 conquest of the city by a Christian coalition. Control over Almería switched hands over the rest of the middle ages. In the early modern period, with the onset of Barbary piracy, the ethnic cleansing of moriscos in the Kingdom of Granada, and several natural calamities, urban decay accrued. The 19th-century reactivation of mining activity (lead) in the hinterland fostered commercial activity and demographic growth.

Key road routes include the A-7 connecting Almería to the rest of the Spanish Mediterranean coast and the A-92 connecting the city to Granada and inner Andalusia. Almería is served by a medium-sized airport and a port with a growing specialization in passenger and ro-ro transport with the North of Africa (Algeria and Morocco).

Being adjacent to a small desert, Almería has an exceptionally dry climate by European standards.