city, Córdoba provincia (province), in the Andalusia comunidad autónoma (autonomous community), southern Spain, located 24 miles (39 km) east of Córdoba city. There is evidence in Bujalance of early Roman occupation. The ancient city was also the site of a seven-towered castle built in 935 by ʿAbd ar-Raḥmān III, the first caliph and greatest ruler of the Umayyad (Arab Muslim) dynasty of Spain; the castle's ruins are within the city. In 1227 the city was taken from the Almohads by Ferdinand III of Castile and León and was brought under the administration of Córdoba. It purchased independence from Córdoba in 1584 and became a city in 1639. The contemporary city is an agricultural-trade centre. Flour is milled and olive oil is processed there. Pop. (2007 est.) mun., 7,841.