Camino Mozárabe

Transparent toponymic Arabism. Almería derives from Andalusian Arabic al-Mariyya (المَرِيَّة, 'the watchtower, the observation tower'), from classical marqab (coastal watch post). The foundation of the Arab city dates from 955 by Caliph Abd al-Rahman III on the old Roman port Portus Magnus, as maritime watchtower and main port of the Caliphate of Cordova for trade with the Maghreb. The toponym preserves in fossilised form the original military function.

Arabism from Andalusian ar-Riyāḍa ('the garden, the orchard'), from classical rawḍa. Distinct from the homonymous Rioja of the Ebro (of Basque origin).

Transparent toponymic Arabism. Alhama derives from Andalusian Arabic al-ḥamma (الحَمَّة, 'the thermal baths, the hot water baths'), from classical ḥamīm (hot water, steam). The toponym was systematically applied by Andalusian administration to localities with thermal springs, leaving dozens of peninsular Alhamas (Alhama de Granada, Alhama de Aragón, Alhama de Murcia). The epithet de Almería distinguishes this from the homonyms.

Arabism from Andalusian al-Bulūdhwī, anthroponym of a Zenata Berber lineage established in the Nacimiento valley during the emiral phase.

Pre-Roman toponym of disputed etymology, probable Iberian base *fin- with locative suffix.

Two-member Arabic compound on pre-Roman toponym. The medieval form Wādī Āš (وَادِي آش) derives from the Arabic wādī ('river, river valley') plus the old Iberian name Acci (attested on Celtiberian coins and cited by Pliny the Elder as the capital of the Bastuli), phonetically reinterpreted as Āš. The Castilian form Guadix preserves the complete Arabic composition with apocope of the final ī.

Toponym from the Latin petra ('stone, crag') with article. It designates the calcareous elevation on which the town sits.

Arabism derived from Andalusian qantarat ('bridge'), applied to the medieval bridge over the Aguas Blancas river.

Toponym of double filiation, Hispano-Roman and Arabic. The most sustained hypothesis —⁠Federico Corriente, Joan Coromines⁠— derives the medieval form Gharnāṭa (غَرْنَاطَة) from the old Ibero-Roman toponym Iliberris ('new city' in Iberian, cited by Strabo) through an intermediate stage Garnatha documented in 9th-century Mozarabic cartularies. An alternative popular hypothesis links it to Castilian granada (fruit of the pomegranate), popular etymological explanation without philological support.

Descriptive two-member compound. Pinos, locative plural of Latin pinus ('pine, resinous tree'), refers to the historical forest formation of Aleppo pine of the meadow. Puente, from the Latin pons, commemorates the famous medieval bridge of the Cubillas river, setting of the encounter between Christopher Columbus and the Catholic Monarchs in 1492.

Arabism derived from aṭ-Ṭarf ('the end, the edge'), from classical ṭarf, applied to the western limit of the Granada meadow.

Two-member compound. Alcalá, from Andalusian Arabic al-qalʿa (القَلْعَة, 'the castle, the height fortification'), from classical qalʿa with the specific sense of fortification atop a hill. La Real is a Castilian epithet added by Alfonso XI after the reconquest of 1341 to distinguish this Alcalá from the other peninsular ones (Alcalá de Henares, Alcalá de Guadaíra, Alcalá del Júcar) and to underline the direct royal belonging as opposed to noble seigneury.

Toponym derived from the Latin fratres ('brothers, friars') with plural suffix, designating old ecclesiastical property of a religious order.

Transparent toponymic Arabism. Alcaudete derives from Andalusian Arabic al-qabdaq or al-qabdaq al-aʿlā ('the high watchtower'), from classical qabdaq (watchtower, minor surveillance tower). The toponym commemorates the 11th-century Muslim watchtower on the limestone hill that dominates the town.

Arabism derived from Andalusian al-Yākī, anthroponym applied to the Muslim lineage of the place during the Nasrid phase.

Toponymic Arabism on pre-Roman base. The medieval form Bayyāna (بَيَّانَة), attested from the 9th century, derives from the Arabic anthroponym Bayyān with locative suffix -a; but the base seems to reuse a previous Iberian toponym Bania or Vaena attested on Celtiberian coins and linked to the people of the Turdetanian Iberians of the middle Guadajoz valley.

Transparent Romance compound. Castro, from the Latin castrum ('fortified camp, defensive settlement on height'), applied to the Ibero-Roman oppidum on which the old quarter sits. Del Río, Romance locative that refers to the Guadajoz river, main left-bank tributary of the Guadalquivir, on whose meander the town rises.

Toponym from the Latin speculum ('mirror, watchtower'), applied to height fortresses with function of surveillance and signal solar reflection.

Hagiotoponym from the Latin Sancta Crux, dedication to the True Cross applied to the foundational parish church of the place after the reconquest of 1240.

Toponym of pre-Roman filiation attested from the 2nd century BC. The most sustained etymology —⁠Joan Coromines, Manuel Pellicer⁠— derives the base from a Phoenician-Punic compound qart-tuba ('good city, prosperous city'), an onomastic model common to other Mediterranean Punic foundations (Carthage = qart-ḥadašt, 'new city'). The Latin form Corduba preserves the Phoenician base with adaptation to Latin phonology, and the Arabic Qurṭuba preserves the original model.

Transparent Romance compound. Cerro, from late Latin cirrus ('curly hair', by metaphorical extension 'crest, elevation covered with vegetation'), common topographical appellative. Muriano derives from the Latin anthroponym Murianus (from the gens Murius) with locative suffix -ano, designating the old Roman mining property of the place.

Romance compound. Villa plus harta (Latin farta, 'abundant, opulent'), designating 'prosperous town'.

Diminutive arabism derived from Andalusian al-Karāj ('open field, pastureland'), with Castilian diminutive suffix -ejos.

Two-member compound. Hinojosa, diminutive of Latin foeniculum ('fennel', aromatic umbelliferous plant) with locative suffix -osa, designates a setting covered with wild fennel characteristic of the Pedroches valley. Del Duque refers to the seigneury of the Dukes of Béjar, Marquises of Gibraleón, who acquired the town in 1444 by grant of John II of Castile.

Transparent Arabic toponym from Andalusian Bil al-Qaṣr ('beautiful castle') or derived from the Berber anthroponym Balqāẓar.

Toponym derived from the Latin castorea ('place of beavers', substantivised from the adjective castoreus derived from castor, 'beaver'). The denomination, attested from the 13th century, commemorates the historical presence of the European beaver (Castor fiber) in the upper courses of the Zújar river before its peninsular extinction during the 15th century.

Castilian toponym derived from coronada ('with crown, crowned'), applied to the profile of the hill surrounded by a calcareous outcrop that recalls a crown.

Toponym derived from the Latin campanarium ('place of bells, bell tower'), applied to the elevation with ecclesiastical tower visible from afar.

Compound. Quintana ('property whose rent was the fifth') plus de la Serena, historical region.

From the Latin Emerita Augusta = 'the emeriti of Augustus': a city founded in 25 BC by Emperor Augustus to settle the emeriti, the discharged veterans (emeritus = 'one who has completed service') of the V Alaudae and X Gemina legions.