After the eastern boundary of the Nasrid Kingdom had been established between the Kingdoms of Castile and Granada in the 13th century, a swift process of population drift in that territory, which gave an outstanding importance to fortified settlements; among those, Lorca played a remarkable role.

The image of this city was the one projected by an unassailable castle, the same location where King Alfonso X of Castile –also known as “the Wise”- ordered the construction of two towers, Alfonsina and Espolón , which became a symbol of the power that the Crown of Castile had all over the frontier. There was also a thriving population scattered over the hillside, surrounded by a fortified place that completed its buttressing.

For the duration of the 14 th and 15 th centuries, the appearance of Lorca changed gradually: the towers and walls that protected the city were strengthened, churches and monasteries were established, and new squares, streets and houses were build for a population whose greater majority was Christian, but lived together with Mudéjar and Jewish minorities.