1492–1833
The coast of the Kingdom of Granada
After the Granada War ended in 1492, the old Naṣrid kingdom passed to the Crown of Castile as the Kingdom of Granada, with its own captain general, high court and archbishop, until Spain was divided into provinces in 1833.
Its coast lay exposed. After the Turks settled in Algiers in 1516, Barbary pirates landed and plundered towns and farms. Charles I devised a chain of watchtowers that warned one another with smoke by day and fire by night, and most of them were built under Philip II.
In the 18th century, under Charles III, came the fortified houses, forts and batteries, built by then against the guns of English and Dutch fleets. Most of the towers stayed in use into the 19th century, and many still stand among beaches, housing estates and marinas.