History

Sorvilán has traditionally been a village protected from the constant pirate incursions, which in past centuries isolated the Mediterranean coastline of the Alpujarra. As most nearby villages it based its economy in farming the land.
In the Nasrid period it must have been part of the Taha del Gran Cehel, which had Almegí­jar as head of this region. After the fall of the Muslim kingdom of Granada, the Catholic Monarchs granted King Boabdil a large part of the Alpujarra region, including these lands as stated in the capitulation records. This village returned to the Castilian Crown after Boabdil left to exile in the north of Africa.
Documents from the 19th century referring to Sorvilán and the nearby municipalities, describe it as a prosperous place due to the production of raisins, wines and liquors.