History

The Roman settlement of Lacidulia, which once stood on the site of a present-day farm near the modern village, has traditionally been considered to be the origin of Grazalema.

The Moslem invasion in the 8th century brought settlers of Berber origin, who gave the village the name Raisa lani suli, "city of the Banu al-Salim', which became Ben-salama "son of Zulema', and later Gran Zulema. During this time, the economy was based on forestry, agriculture and cattle farming, in addition to textile manufacture.

The Christian conquest of 1485 saw Zagrazalema, as it was by then known, become a part of the Ponce de Leon estate.

A huge economic boom took place in the 17th century, thanks to the fabric industry, which produced the famous Grazalema shawls.

At the start of the 19th century, during the War of Independence, Grazalema was attacked and pillaged by Napoleonic troops, who partially destroyed the village.

Today, the inhabitants of Grazalema are employed in the traditional fields of agriculture, cattle farming and hand-crafted textiles, in addition to entertaining the ever-increasing number of tourists who are attracted by the unusual landscape of Sierra de Grazalema Natural Park and by the charms of this mountain village.