Cartaya is a Spanish locality and municipality in the Province of Huelva,. In 2010 it had 18,415 inhabitants. Its surface area is 226.4 km2 and has a density of 81.34 people per km2. The present town of Cartaya was founded in the 15th century by the Marquis of Gibraleón, Don Pedro de Zúñiga. Its name comes from the Phoenician word "Carteia", meaning city, which implies that the site had been settled much earlier.