With settlements dating from the lower Paleolithic period, this is also an area where Phoenician and Carthaginian colonies once stood. The first town that actually existed on the site of the present-day city was the Roman town of Iulia Traducta (1st century AD). In 711, Tarik and his troops would found Al- Yazirat-al-Hadra (Green Island) on the Roman ruins.

The name Algeciras comes from the Arabic al-jazeera which means "the island" from which the Algiers as well as Al Jazeera are derived. The original Arabic name for this however is completely spelled out as `Al-Jazeera Al-Khudra` which means the Green Island. This port city in the south of Spain is therefore aptly named Algeciras as it faces the Mediterranean and is sprawling round the far side of the bay towards the Gibraltar.

The capital of a county and Moorish kingdom province, it was razed to the ground in the late 14th century. After the loss of Gibraltar (1704), its inhabitants had to leave and seek out new sites in the Bay of Algeciras to found new towns or perhaps repopulate old settlements. From the Medieval period (13th-14th century), it still retains the important Archaeological Site of Villa Nueva de Algeciras, with four flanking towers, remains of the barbican, a section of the moat and the access bridge.

Also handed down to our times are the remains of the Meriníes Baths, the Royal Baths of al-Binya, the meriní town of Algeciras, which are on show in the María Cristina Park. Roman ovens were found on the beach of El Rinconcillo, dating from 1 A.D.. Originally, this was the place where amphorae were made for transporting `Garum`. Another interesting building, on the outskirts of the city, is the Los Arcos del Cobre Aqueduct (18th century), used to transport water from the Sierra del Cobre to the local population. In current times, two sections remain, one in the Barriada El Cobre and one in the Barriada de La Perlita.