Morón de la Frontera, Province of Seville, Andalusia, Spain

🇪🇸 Morón de la Frontera is a Spanish town in Seville province, Andalusia, 57 km (35 mi) South-East of Seville. Situated in the south of the province, it is the centre of the region that bears the same name and is the head of one of the 85 judicial courts of Andalucia.

Geography In the year 2011 there were 28,489 inhabitants. At that time the municipality was 431.94 km² (166.77 sq mi), a population density of 65.96 inhabitants/km², an average altitude of 297 m (974 ft) and is 67 km (42 mi) from the provincial capital, Seville. Morón de la Frontera is ranked 11th in the municipality of the province in terms of the largest population. It is bordered in the north by Marchena and with Arahal. To the east is La Puebla de Cazalla, and to the west and the south are Montellano, Coripe and Pruna along with the province of Cádiz.

Flora and fauna The vegetation in the area mainly consists of cultivated olives and, to a lesser extent, oaks and almonds. In the surrounding mountains common flora include rosemary, mastic, thyme, and cane apple. Fauna includes several species of rabbits and hares as well as a large variety of birds.

History The origins of the city go back to prehistory, with the first human settlement being near the hill where the castle is today. For this reason and the rugged topography of this region, the historical district has steep and narrow roads, but newer sections of the city to the west and north-west have more standard sized roads. Much of the architecture in the city is listed under the categories of Bien de Interés Cultural and conjunto histórico, categories that are part of Spain's national system of heritage listing.

Etymology After the Roman conquest of the Iberian peninsula, this placed was called Maurorum, which was a reference to the large population from North Africa. During the Moorish rule of the Iberian Peninsula the Latin term evolved into Mawror, and finally Moron. Though generally less accepted, there is another theory that the name Moron, comes from the preromanesque word morr, translated as "rocky hill" or "rock". This has been justified by the rocky terrain around Moron.

The phrase "de la Frontera" or "Of the Border" refers to the border with Granada, because it was a border town between Fernando III's 1240 Christian conquest of Iberia until the fall of the kingdom of Granada in the late fifteenth century.

There are other cities with the same name in Spain, France, Argentina, Cuba, Venezuela, Peru and Mongolia.

Economy The economy of Morón is primarily based in the industries of construction, and the production of olive oil, cereals and preserved vegetables. The extraction of calcium oxide and, to a lesser extent tourism industry, are also important to the economy. With the development of the working population, more women have been incorporated into the labor market, increasing from 19.56% of women participating in 1981 to 41.42% in 2001. Most of the female workforce is employed in the sale of food and household goods. Many of these women are also employed by the olive industry part-time during the live harvesting season, both for making olive oil, and other olive products.

Demographics The last census by the national institute of statistics, released January 1, 2011, states that the city has 28489 inhabitants. In the 20th century, the demographics of the city were affected similarly to other agrarian zones in the province. Remarkably, the population of Morón de la Frontera actually increased during the Spanish Civil War, but this shift also produced a larger ratio of women to men in the city due to the conscription of many military-age men. There was smooth population growth into the 1960s, which was then followed by a sudden decline due to the decreasing birth rate and emigration. Since the late 1980s, the city has maintained slow but stable population growth.

Landmarks It is primarily known outside of Spain as being home to Morón Air Base. The most remarkable monuments are the Moorish castle ruins and the main church (San Miguel).