The Castle of Guzmán el Bueno (Guzman the Good) is located on a high ledge, next to the sea, dominating the southernmost Spanish city on the peninsula and which gives access to the Strait of Gibraltar, Tarifa, in Cádiz.
The castle owes its name to the heroic deeds of Alonso Pérez de Guzmán, then warden of the fortress. In 1294 the Muslims laid siege to the castle and, having Don Alonso's son in their possession, urged him to surrender the square or his son would die. Don Alonso Pérez de Guzmán preferred to sacrifice his son rather than hand over the town, even throwing his own dagger from the octagonal tower for the execution.
Guzman’s descendants (those who survived) later became one of Spain’s most powerful families.
Guzmán el Bueno Castle was restored in the first half of the 17th century, when it still maintained its defensive activity as a bulwark against the Berber piracy that devastated these coasts during the 16th and 17th centuries.
In the 18th century, part of the walls of the Castle of Guzmán el Bueno were adapted for the installation of artillery and, during the War of Independence, it served as a barracks for the Spanish-British troops that defended Tarifa from the French army (1811-1812). .
