 Located between the rivers Tinto and Odiel, Huelva’s history reaches far back into prehistory, with evidence of human habitation dating from the Palaeolithic and the Neolithic. Its importance as an economic centre is based on an accident of geology that established large and rich mineral deposits in the southern foothills of the Sierra Morena.
An abundance of remains dating from the Bronze Age, at around 6th to 7th century B.C., testify to the presence of influential Phoenician and Greek settlements, and Roman ruins speak silent volumes about the prosperity and relative stability that these prospectors brought to the region. The Romans were brilliant miners and engineers and exploited the mineral wealth to the full. It is recorded that once the easily mined deposits of gold were exhausted the Roman engineers were mining quantities of gold measurable in parts per million.
In the 8th Century, the Moors invaded the region and named the city Welba and, for a time during this long period of Muslim domination, Huelva was part of a network of independent Arabic states, or taifa kingdoms. Historical upheavals in the 13th Century produced another change of management as the Christian forces of Alfonso X (The Wise) finally defeated the Moors in 1262.
 However, it was in the 15th Century that a series of events occurred that would radically alter history's serene passage of gradualism and culminate in establishing Spain as one of the great superpowers of the Age. An unknown Italian adventurer, one Christopher Columbus, proposed a madcap scheme that he thought would open up a westerly trade route to India.
From the beginning, the expedition had strong connections with Huelva: the supporters and promoters of the project were the Franciscan monks Juan Perez and Antonio de Marchena who provided Columbus with aid and moral support in the monastery of La Rabida; the captains of the ships and most of the crew were sailors from the ports of Huelva and it was from the port of Palos de la Frontera in Huelva that on the 3rd of August of 1492 Christopher Columbus set sail in his three precariously small ships, the Niña, the Pinta and the Santa Maria.
On the way he accidentally discovered America. The rest, they say, is history.
Another significant event that served to shape the city and the region was the acquisition of the mines of Rio Tinto by the English company Matheson and Co. in 1873. This single event resulted in a spectacular change both to the locality and to the demographics of Huelva.
Modern facilities for loading, unloading and transporting minerals were built and the many English families who established businesses here not only accelerated the level of economic development but also left an indelible mark on the character of today's population.
 Modern day Huelva is a thriving metropolis, proud of its association with the past and its links with South America.
It is the centre for important agricultural and maritime traditions and capital of a province of Andalusia that is increasingly attractive as a tourist destination, offering a diverse landscape from wide sweeping beaches to serene and tranquil mountains in which sleepy and picturesque white villages nestle like babies in a mother's arms and where the acorn fed Iberian pig provides a cured ham that is second to none.
More information: http://www.diphuelva.es
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