Salobreña’s ideal location and rich natural surroundings attracted numerous peoples – the Argaric, the Phoenicians, the Greeks, the Romans, and finally the Arabs – who chose to settle there. This is confirmed by remains found at Monte Hacho, or the Paleo-Christian necropolis which sits on Salobreña’s crag.
The Muslim influence is still crearly visible in the castle crowning the town which was used as a summer residence by the Nasrid Kings, as a fortified palace and royal gaol. The quarters surrounding the fortress, La Villa, Brocal and Albaycín, reflect Salobreña’s medieval past. The modernisation and mechanisation of agricultural processes brought about by the industrial revolution had an important impact on the local economy, which was mainly based on the cultivation of sugar cane.