The Alcazaba in Málaga is an urban fortress-palace built on Mount Gibralfaro's slopes, its name deriving from "al-Qasba" meaning fortress. The site attracted settlement since Phoenician times around 600 B.C., with Romans later establishing villas, fish-salting facilities, and a theatre. The fortress emerged during the Umayyad Emirate in 755 A.D., evolving significantly under successive Islamic dynasties. Its golden age came during the Nasrid period in the 14th century when the city housed approximately 150,000 inhabitants and the Alcazaba functioned as an independent administrative center spanning 14,200 square meters. The complex included fortified gates, residential quarters, baths, cisterns, and decorative elements, before undergoing gradual deterioration and comprehensive restoration beginning in 1933.
