Vícar, like the rest of the towns of the Poniente, Adra, El Ejido or Dalías, served as a settlement place for Roman and Arab peoples, who sought places on the Almeria coasts for the development of their civilization, within the peninsular territory.
The Apeos Commission, appointed on February 17, 1573, declares a house as its own property in the place of Vícar, in addition to others of the Taha. The appraisal that the bricklayer Francisco de Siles made of the total of Vícar’s houses was 93,000 maravedíes. Each type of distribution received a house in Felix, another in Enix and another in Vícar.
Of these settlements in the Comarca del Poniente, it is known from the remains and finds located in archaeological sites of great importance. Its appearance as a municipality in history occurs in 1505, specifically on December 8, when the Catholic Monarchs donate the town to Almería, by a Royal Decree, given in Ecija (Seville). Along with Vícar, Enix and Felix are also donated “by swear of inheritance forever and ever.” Enix, Felix, Los Marchales de Antón López, Miralles and Roquetas will make up the Taha de Felix.
The marking of this was carried out on September 18, 1573 by order of Martín de Sorais. The rebellion of the Moors in the Alpujarras, bordering region with Vícar and the entire Poniente, acquires special virulence in the Vícar area and especially in the surroundings such as the Castle and the Cerro de las Matanzas in Felix. The quelling of this revolt was carried out by the Marquis de los Vélez, who carried out this work in almost the entire province.
After the suffocation of the revolt and subsequent expulsion of the Moors, they proceeded to repopulate them, according to the rules given by King Felipe II, which are included in the Book of Apeos de Felix.
THE MYSTERY OF A NAME
Enigmatic is the name Vícar-Bícar, transcribed as it is from the early days of the Castilian conquest.
In Varrón we find the pre-Roman name of a vinario container, known as baccar. But that does not seem like the right place to look for such an obscure name, especially when we know that the wealth of the Roman Campo de Dalías was the olive tree and the cereals.
In Arabic, three words may have served as origin and denomination.
One has an almost fabulous meaning, typical of an oriental tale. It is said that the Arabs called ‘abqar’ (read baccarat) the land from which the geniuses (jinn) came -or abounded- and when they considered something especially beautiful or marveled at its strength and sharpness they attributed it to that origin . Another introduces us through more prosaic paths: bakîr, whose plural is bikâr, meant for the people of Granada “summer”, “summer thing”, “early”; in a more allegorical sense, bakara or bakira would be “to stop in a village”, leaving their companions in the open air or open field.
It can also come from low Latin, such as dehesa boyal, toril, “place where the cattle of a place grazed”, such as the “bacares” of our Alpujarra geography and the town of the same name in the Sierra de Filabres.
Which of these words could have served as the most likely origin of the population? Obviously the third, which refers to the mildness of the climate, and the fifth, with which it could be associated due to its use.
Source: Vicar City Council