Why do some residents of Malaga towns and villages refer to them as 'The Place'

"This weekend I will go to El Lugar". With this curious expression meaning 'The Place' many locals refer to their town or village in Malaga province and in particular in Alfarnate, Alhaurín El Grande, Almáchar, El Borge and Casabermeja. It is a custom that is still maintained even by the younger generations. However, it is more common to say 'El Lugá', as a more traditional expression, with a local accent.

To understand the origin of this expression, we must go back to the Christian Reconquista and the reintroduction of Christianity that took place mainly in the 16th century, after the end of the Islamic period when the distribution of land and the marking of its boundaries began. El Lugar was given a legal organisation based on a Carta Puebla or Carta de Población; the document listing the rights, privileges and extensions of the new inhabitants. The expression, which was widely used almost 500 years ago still lives on in some Andalusian villages.

In El Borge, for example, there is everything from a butcher's shop with this name to a book written by Salvador Pendón, writer and former president of the Malaga's provincial Diputación authority entitled 'La casa del Lugá' (The house of the Lugá). Meanwhile, in the neighbouring village of Almáchar, where it is used much more frequently, there is everything from a theatre company to a craft shop.

It is no less frequent in Alhaurín El Grande, which is the most populous municipality of those who use this expression in Malaga where allusions to 'El Lugar' or 'El Lugá' can be seen on social media and in the names of many businesses, such as a chain of restaurants that has branches there, in Fuengirola and in the centre of Málaga, a company that distributes organic fruit and vegetables ('La Huerta del Lugá') or even a table tennis club.

In Alfarnate, reference to 'El Lugar' is equally frequent among its residents and locals who live outside the village and in Casabermeja, it is also common to find some businesses with this curious name, such as clothes shops, a tourist flat or even a brand of ajoblanco and gazpacho (traditional cold soups) that are made in the village.

There are also other villages in Malaga and other Andalusian provinces where similar references can be heard, although they are not as common nowadays as in the cases of Alhaurín El Grande, Alfarnate, Casabermeja, Almáchar and El Borge.