Arabic in Spain

Arabic was spoken in Spain from the Islamic invasion of 711 to some time after the end of the Reconquista in 1492. Consequently, it has exercised a huge influence over Spanish – particularly in terms of vocabulary. The Real Academia Española lists some 1280 words from Arabic. For instance, almost all words in Spanish beginning with al– are Arabic in origin. Many, many places Spanish placenames also derive from Arabic (see below)

A number of laws were passed in the sixteenth century forbidding Arabic without varying degrees of ‘success’. The Laws of 1501 and 1511 banned the possession of most Arabic books and the 1511 decree invalidated contracts written in Arabic, though this does not seem to have been observed. In 1526 Charles V ordered that henceforth only Castilian would be spoken, used to create contracts, and used in the marketplace, but the legislation was suspended shortly afterwards. In 1566, Philip II ordered that all moriscos(baptized moors who stayed in Spain after the Conquest) would only be permitted to speak Castilian, not Arabic within three years. Although, the use of Arabic persisted in Spain until the expulsion of the moriscos in 1609. Clearly the injunction ¡Habla cristiano! (Speak Christian: i.e. Castillian and not Arabic) dates from this period, though it was (is?) also a common sneer by Franco supporters in Catalonia and the Basque Country.

With recent immigration from the Maghreb, Arabic is of course once again being widely spoken in Spain.

Arabic placenames in Spain

There are probably thousands of placenames in Spain with an Arabic origin, from large regions and rivers to the smallest of hamlets and streets. Arabic toponyms are common throughout Spain, except for areas that never came under Muslim rule or where this was particularly short-lived (Galicia, Asturias, Cantabria, the Basque country) and most of Catalonia. Conversely Arabic toponyms are particularly common along the Eastern Coast (Valencia and Murcia) and in Andalusia.

12C Koran used in Al-Andalus (Wikipedia)

This is a first draft. I’ll be adding more names to this.

Geographical features

  • Guadiana river. Meaning “River Anae” (from the Latin  Fluminus Anae, “River of Ducks”).
  • Guadalquivir river. Derived from Arabic wadi a1-kabir – the great river
  • Mulhacén. Highest mountain in peninsular Spain. Named after 15th century Sultan of Granada Ali Muley Hacén Abu al-Hasan, though it seems the name is posthumous to 1492.
  • Pico Almanzor. Mountain in the Gredos Mountains of Central Spain. Named after “Almanzor” Al-Mansur Ibn Abi Aamir, defacto ruler of Al Andalus in late 10th – early 11th centuries.
  • Cape Trafalgar. From Andalusi Arabic Taraf-al-ghar.
  • Río Guadix, Spain (The River River River – Río is “river” in Spanish, Guad < wad? is “river” in Arabic and Ix is “river” in Phoenician)
  • Albufera : coastal marsh, the most famous of which is L’ Albufera near Valencia. From the Arabic, al-buhayrah, for ‘the lagoon’ or ‘the small sea’.
  • Alpujarras (a1-bashurah – the bastion???)
  • Guadalviar (wadi al-abyad – white river)
  • Gibraltar: from the Arabic name Jabal Tariq, which means mountain of Tariq, or the more obvious Gibr al Tariq, meaning rock of Tariq).

Towns, cities and regions

  • Albacete is derived from the Arabic (al-basit- the plain)
  • Albarracín town in Aragón. Derived from Al Ban? Razin, name of the Berber governor of the town.
  • Alcalá (a1-qa1cah – the fort)
  • Axarquía Eastern region of Málaga province, From Arabic Ash-sharquía, The eastern/oriental (region).
  • Andalucía from, Al Andalus, the Arabic name for Muslim Iberia, but there is great debate to its origin: see here.
  • Algarve From Arabic “Al-Gharb Al-Andalus“. Al-Gharb means “the west”;
  • Algeciras from Al Jazeera Al Khadra meaning the green island.
  • Almería City and province of Andalucía. From Al Meraya. There is divergence of opinion as to the original meaning of its name. Some sources talk of al-Mirayah meaning the ‘the mirror’, others of Al-Meraya meaning ‘the watchtower’. Whatever the case (probably the latter) it comes form Arabic.
  • Benicasim (Bani Qasim – the sons of Qasim) ;
  • Calatayud (qal cat Ayyub – the fort of Ayyub [Job]);
  • Calatazor (qal cat al-nasur – the fort of eagles)
  • Guadalajara  Wad? al-?ij?rah, River or canyon of Stones.
  • Jaén: From Arabic Jayyan, crossroads of caravans.
  • La Mancha Derived from original Arabic name: la’a Ma-anxa : “No water”.
  • Medina Sidonia: from madina, city.
  • Tarifa: Originally Jazeera Tarif: the island of Tarif. Derived form the first name of the Berber conqueror Tarif ibn Malik.
  • Valladolid: from Balad al-Walid in Arabic, meaning ‘Land or town of of Walid’.