All About Countries - Spain

Spain

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Contents General Information

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History 6 Nature 24 People 34 Economy & Transportation

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Culture 50

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Spanish Personalities

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Pablo Picasso

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Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra

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Francisco Goya

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Salvador Dali

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Diego Velรกzquez

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Placido Domingo

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Francisco Franco

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Ignatius of Loyola

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Julio Iglesias

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Rafael Nadal

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Spanish Cuisine Spanish Paella

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Gazpacho 100 Empanadas (with beef and chorizo)

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Tortilla 101 Churros 102

Spain Travel

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Crema Catalana

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Rioja Chicken Balls

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Barcelona 116

Fabada Asturiana

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Valencia 122

Galician Octopus

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Sevilla 126

Pedro Ximenez Jelly

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Bilbao 130

Sangria 107

Toledo 133

Madrid 109

Granada 137 Malaga 141 Other Places

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General Information Location

Spain (España) is a country located in southwestern Europe, in the Iberian Peninsula, with archipelagos in the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. It also has some small territories on the North African coast. It is bordered by Portugal to the west, France and Andorra to the north and northeast and Gibraltar to the south. Along with France and Morocco, it is one of only three countries to have both Atlantic and Mediterranean coastlines. Extending to 1.214 km, the border between Spain and Portugal is the longest uninterrupted border within the European Union.

Spain covers an area of 505.990 km2, has a density of 92 persons/km2 and has its capital in the city of Madrid, which hosts about 6.300.000 persons.

The country’s anthem is called “Marcha Real” which translates to “Royal March” and it is one of the few anthems without lyrics. It was composed by M a n u e l de Espinosa de los Monteros. The motto is “Plus Ultra” which from Latin translates to “Further Beyond”. Spain is organized as an unitary parliamentary constitutional monarchy with King Felipe VI being the monarch.

Spain’s total population according to the 2015 census is 46.423.064 persons. Other important Spanish citizens can be found in countries like Argentina (370.000), France (225.000), Venezuela (180.000), Germany (150.000) or Brazil (100.000). The official currency in

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Spain is Euro (EUR). The National Day of Spain or Fiesta Nacional de España is celebrated on 12 October.

Spain is a middle power and a developed country with the world’s 14th largest economy by nominal GDP and 16th largest by purchasing power parity. It is a member of the United Nations (UN), the European Union (EU), the Council of Europe (CoE), the Organization of Ibero-American States (OEI), the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the World Trade Organization (WTO) and many other international organizations.

Flag

The Spanish flag, as defined by the Spanish Constitution of 1978, is divided into three horizontal

Spanish Pesetas was the official currency before Euro was adopted

stripes of red, yellow and red, with the yellow part being twice the size of the red ones. The origin of the current flag of Spain is the naval ensign of 1785, “Pabellón de la Marina de Guerra” under Charles III of Spain. It was chosen by Charles III himself among 12 different flags designed by Antonio Valdés y Bazán. All projected flags were presented in a drawing which is in the Naval Museum of Madrid. The flag remained the emblem of the marine forces for most of the next 50 years, flying over coastal fortresses, marine barracks and other naval properties.

During the Peninsular War, the flag could also be found on marine regiments fighting inland. Not until 1820 was the first Spanish land unit, the “La Princesa Regiment” provided with one and it was not until 1843 that Queen Isabella II of Spain would make the flag official.

Throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, the colour scheme of the flag remained intact, with the exception of the Second Republic period (1931-1939). The only changes centered on the coat of arms. The flag described in the Spanish Constitution is the simple version of civil use without the emblem. The popular nickname of the flag is Rojigualda.

which is a blue oval with a red edged border containing three “fleur de lies”. At the bottom of the shield is a pomegranate, which represents Grenada. Wrapped around the pillars is a red scroll with the motto “Plus Ultra” written on it.

In the modern flag, moreover, the coat of arms is definitely simplified compared to the past versions.

Each of the four quadrants represents one of the four kingdoms that were reunited to form the first true Spanish Kingdom in the 15th century: Castile, represented by the castle, León, identified with the historic lion, Aragon represented by the famous Senyera and finally Navarre identified with the united chains.

Even the ancient Moor kingdom of Granada is inserted in the bottom of the coat of arms under the form of a pomegranate fruit.

Coat of Arms

The coat of arms consists of a crowned shield, quartered and guarded on each side by the crowned Pillars of Hercules representing Gibraltar and Cueta.

Every quarter displays badges from the original Spanish kingdoms. In the center of the shield there is the emblem of the reigning Spanish royal Family, the House of Bourbon, 5

History Antiquity

The Iberian Peninsula is home to many prehistoric sites of world renown. The discoveries testify to a human occupation from the Lower Paleolithic (sites of Orce, Pinedo, Aridos, Torralba, Ambrona, Atapuerca). During the Upper Paleolithic, the Spanish Solutrean culture left some traces in the cave of ParpallĂł.

The Magdalenian site of Altamira offers a spectacular example of cave art dating back around 12.000 BC. The Mesolithic was first represented by the Sauveterrian culture then spread to the north and east of the peninsula by the Tardenoisian, a culture that appeared during the submersion of the Doggerland in the North Sea. Original Neolithic cultures (Campaniforme, civilization of El Algar from the region of Murcia) developed thus in Spain. The technique of metallurgy and the erection of megalithic monuments connected Spain with the evolutions which concerned the rest of Western Europe: the Taulas of the Balearic Islands were vertical stones

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A painting of bison dating from the Upper Paleolithic era in the Altamira caves

surmounted by another horizontal stone.

Since the 9th century BC, Celts, Phoenicians, Greeks and Carthaginians entered the Iberian Peninsula, followed by the Roman Republic, who reached in the 2nd century BC. Spain’s present language, religion and legal system persist since the Roman period.

Conquered by the Visigoths in the 5th century AD and attacked several times in the 711 by the North African

Taulas of the Balearic Islands

Islamic Moors, modern Spain began to form after the “Reconquista”, the efforts to drive out the Moors, who remained in Spain until 1492.

Iberia had already passed through a long history of human habitation in the late 3rd century BC, when the Romans subdued the Celts, Iberians and Basques who were living there. The Peninsula remained a Roman region until the Visigoths invaded the place in the early 5th century. Over the next three centuries, the region became Christian, but an invasion of Morocco in 711 laid the foundation for what was to be a flourishing Islamic civilization, which lasted six centuries.

lasted for more than 500 years. The Celtic and Iberian indigenous population were Romanized and local leaders were recognized as members of the Roman aristocratic class. In 209 BC, Cartagena was taken over by the Romans. The Carthaginians were finally crushed at the Battle of Zama in Africa in 202 BC. In Hispania, Celtiberian guerilla warfare hampered the complete and rapid Romanization of the region. In 133 BC, Scipio Aemilianus destroyed Numantia. The inhabitants of the city preferred to suicide instead of submitting to Rome.

Partial uprisings continued in Hispania for another century.

Hispania under Carthage Empire

Roman Spain

After the First Punic War (264-240 BC), the Carthaginians expanded their influence from Cartagena in southern Hispania under the leadership of the Barcids. They exploited mines and made out of Carthage an economic and commercial power. The pretext for the outbreak of the Second Punic War was the seat of the city of Sagunto in Hispania, Rome’s ally.

The writer Livy presents the capture of Sagunto as a deliberate aggression of Hannibal Barca against the Roman interests. In 218 BC, Hannibal left Tarragona and marched on Rome through Gaul with 37 elephants.

During the Second Punic War, the Roman Empire won Carthaginian colonies on the Mediterranean coast (from 210 BC to 205 BC), bringing under Roman rule nearly the entire Iberian Peninsula, a dominion that

The Romans improved the existing cities, such as Lisbon (Olissis Bona) and Tarragona (Tarraco) and founded new cities such as Zaragoza (Caesaraugusta), Mérida (Augusta Emerita), Valencia (Valentia), León (Legio Septima), Badajoz (Pax Augusta) or Palencia (Παλλαντία/Pallantía). Because of the Roman guardianship, the economy has highly developed.

Hispania served as a granary empire. From its boundaries gold, wool, olive oil and wine were exported.

Agricultural production increased after the introduction of irrigation. Christianity was introduced into Hispania in the 1st century and became very popular especially in cities in the 2nd century AD. Most languages (one exception is Basque) spoken in the peninsula, the religion and contemporary laws have their basis from

Hispania under the Carthage Empire

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Hadrian and Trajan were the most famous Roman Emperors born in nowadays Spain

that era.

In 77 BC, Pompey was sent to Hispania to fight against the last supporters of Marius and managed to defeat his opponents after the assassination of Sertorius

by Perpenna. During the first triumvirate with Julius Caesar and Crassus, he controlled Hispania. During the Civil War, Caesar fought the supporters of Pompey.

Between 26 and 19 BC, Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa defeated with difficulty the mountaineers Astures and the Cantabres. The local aristocracy was integrated into the order of senators and that of the knights, with remarkable figures like Seneca the Elder and his family. Several Spaniards were even emperors in the 2nd century AD (Trajan and Hadrian) and in the 4th century (Theodosius I, Maximus). In 74 AD, Emperor Vespasian offered the right to Roman citizenship to all the free townsmen from Hispania.

During the Pax Romana, the Iberian economy developed in relation with the other regions of the Mediterranean basin: it benefited from exports of tin, olive oil, wine and gold. It was also at this time that Christianity progressed in the Hispano-Roman population. Cities were growing everywhere and even nowadays there are still some buildings characteristic to the Roman civilization: the Aqueduct of Segovia, the Cordoba Bridge, Lugo Ramparts, historical remains in Toledo and the Tarragona amphitheater. In the 3rd century, Germanic incursions ravaging Gaul spared Spain except for 258 when the most advanced Alaman raid reached Tarragona. In 408 and 409, the two usurpers Constantine III and Maximus extended their authority 8

over Spain. Thus, the Romans dominated Hispania for seven centuries, which were mostly punctuated by the peace and modernization of the Spanish society.

Visigoths

The first Germanic tribes who invaded Hispania arrived in the 5th century, when the Roman Empire has fallen. Visigoths, Swabians, Vandals and Alans arrived into Spain by crossing the Pyrenees.

Romanized Visigoths had entered Spain in 415. After their monarchy converted to Christianity, the Visigoth Kingdom conquered the northern territories of the Swabians and the southern territories of the Byzantine Empire, actually occupying the whole peninsula.

When peace was concluded by the Pact of 418, the Roman emperor Honorius granted the Visigoths land in the region of present-day Aquitaine, followed

Roman Provinces of Spain

Diocesis Hispaniarum under the Roman Empire

by others in Spain. Following a second agreement, they eliminated the Vandals who had to retreat to the other side of the Strait of Gibraltar. They then controlled one of the largest barbarian kingdoms that extended beyond the Pyrenees and whose capital was at Toulouse. Driven out of Aquitaine by the Franks of Clovis I after the Battle of VouillĂŠ in 507, they retreated to the peninsula and established their capital at Toledo. They preserved Septimania until the beginning of the 8th century. They ended up absorbing the Kingdom of Sueves to the west in 585. However, the Byzantine emperor Justinian I managed to put his hands on the ancient province of Betic (current Andalusia) in 554 and imposed the Byzantine suzerainty in the kingdom of the Visigoths.

The Byzantine influence faded away with the victories of King Leovigild in Cordoba and Malaga (664).

Too few to occupy the entire peninsula, the Visigoth people have mostly established north of the Meseta between the Tagus and the Ebro Rivers, establishing themselves in these mountainous and wooded regions with harsh climate rather than Andalusia and the Mediterranean coast. The Visigoth

domination was therefore mainly military. The Visigoths then converted to Christianity when King Recar I imposed it as the official religion in 589. One of the greatest scholars of this period was Saint Isidore of

Visigoth Kingdom of Spain

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Seville, but there were also other ecclesiastics of great value such as his brother Leander. Before their collapse in 711, the Visigoths had time to develop an original art.

Islamic Hispania

In the 8th century, almost the entire Iberian Peninsula was conquered (711-718) by Berbers (or Moors) from North Africa led by Tariq ibn Ziyad. These conquests were part of political and territorial expansion of the Islamic Umayyad Caliphate. Only a few areas in the mountains of northern Iberia have retained their independence, occupying territories now included in the autonomous communities of Aragon, Asturias and Navarra.

Under the Muslim rule, Christians and Jews were recognized as “peoples of the Book” and enjoyed the freedom to practice their religions, but being “dhimmi”, they were faced with a number of discriminations and mandatory penalties because of their religion. The number of converts to Islam has grown steadily. Following the massive conversion of the 10th and 11th centuries, it is believed that the Muslims have outnumbered the Christians on the territories that remained under Islamic rule.

The Muslim community in the Iberian Peninsula was itself diverse and characterized by social tensions.

The Berbers from North Africa, which were an essential component of the invading armies, clashed with the Arab leaders from the Middle East. Over time, large groups of Moors have installed in the Guadalquivir River valley, the Valencian coast and (towards the end of this period) in the mountainous region of Granada.

The overthrow of the Umayyads by the Abbassids resulted in the emancipation of Spain: Abd al-Rahman

The Caliphate of Cordoba

I, grandson of the last Umayyad Caliph, took refuge in North Africa, then seized Cordoba in 756, where he proclaimed himself Emir. He had to fight against the Berbers and various Arab leaders. Two of them even provoked the intervention of Charlemagne (778). The latter marched on Spain, where the future Catalonia province was formed.

Córdoba, the capital of the caliphate was the largest and richest city of medieval Europe.

Mediterranean trade and cultural exchange flourished.

Muslims imported a rich intellectual tradition from the Middle East and North Africa. Hebrew and Muslim scholars have revived and expanded the teachings of classical Greeks in Western Europe. The Romanized cultures and the Islamic ones of the Iberian Peninsula acted upon each other in very complex ways, resulting in shaping the region’s distinctive culture. Outside the cities, where most of the population lived, the land ownership system was preserved from the Roman times, because the Muslim rulers haven’t dispossessed the landowners. The introducing of the agricultural methods and new cereals, have resulted in a remarkable development and expansion of agriculture.

La Reconquista

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King Clovis I killing Visigoth King Alaric II

In the 11th century, Muslim possessions were divided into rival Taifa Kingdoms, which allowed the Christian Kingdoms to expand and strengthen their power. The arriving of the Almoravides and the Almohads caused the restoration of the Islamic rule on the Iberian Peninsula, introducing a less tolerant form of Islam. However, the Almohad state couldn’t resist the growing military power of the Christians. After 1212,

Iberia under the Umayyad Caliphate

only the south of the peninsula was still under Muslim control. In 1248, the Christians took Seville back. Only the kingdom of Granada resisted until 1492. At that date, Spain became completely Christian again.

The term of “Reconquista” is used to describe a period of many centuries of territorial expansion towards south of the Christian Kingdoms. Allegedly, the “Reconquista” has started after the Battle of Covadonga in 722, when the Christian forces defeated the Muslim ones, resulting in the formation of the Kingdom of Asturias. Muslim forces crossed the Pyrenees, but were defeated at the Battle of Poitiers by France. Then, they retreated to safer positions in Iberia, with marked borders on the Duero and Ebro rivers. In 839, the Muslims were expelled from Galicia, a region where there has been a religious center and a place of many pilgrimages, Santiago de Compostela. Immediately after the recapturing of Galicia, French forces founded the Christian states in the Pyrenees. These countries have become the so-called “Christian kingdoms” and the territories occupied by them initially were Navarra, Aragon and Catalonia.

The division of Andalusia between the Taifa

kingdoms helped the “Christian kingdoms” in expanding their territories. The capture of Toledo in 1085 resulted in the recapture of all the northern half of Spain. In 1175, part of the Kingdom of Castile has declared its independence from the rest of the “Christian

A battle of the Reconquista from the Cantigas de Santa Maria

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Map of the Reconquista

Kingdoms” and that part is now called Portugal. In 1469, the crowns of the Christian kingdoms of Castile and Aragon were united through the marriage of Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon. In 1478 commenced the completion of the conquest of the Canary Islands and in 1492, the combined forces of Castile and Aragon conquered the Emirate of Granada, ending thus the last remnant of a 781 year presence of Islamic rule in the Iberian Peninsula. That same year, Spain’s Jews were ordered to convert to Catholicism or face expulsion from Spanish territories during the Spanish Inquisition. The Treaty of Granada guaranteed religious tolerance towards Muslims, but the tolerance was only partial, and it was not until the beginning of the 17th century, after the Revolt of the Alpujarras, that Muslimthe s were finally expelled.

In 1478, Queen Elizabeth I of Castile 12

strengthened the Spanish inquisition, an institution which was prohibited only in 1834, during the reign of Elizabeth II. By 1512, the unification of present-day Spain was complete. However, the project of Castilian monarchs was to unify all Iberia and this aim seemed almost accomplished when Philip II became King of Portugal in 1580, and of the other Iberian Kingdoms (collectively known as “Spain”, which wasn’t back then a unified state). In 1640, the centralist police of Count Olivares provoked wars in Portugal and Catalonia: Portugal became an independent kingdom once again and Catalonia enjoyed a supported independence from France, but only for a brief period.

The New World and the Catholic Kings

The 1492 year also marked the arrival of Christopher Columbus to the New World, in a voyage

Treaty of Tordesillas

that was funded by Isabella. Columbus’s first voyage crossed the Atlantic and reached to the Caribbean Islands, beginning thus, the European exploration and conquest of the Americas, although he was convinced that he had reached the Orient. The colonization of the Americas was marked by conquistadores like Hernán Cortés and Francisco Pizarro. Miscegenation was the rule between the native and the European cultures and people. The Treaty of Tordesillas, signed at Tordesillas on 7 June 1494, and authenticated at Setúbal, Portugal, divided the newly discovered lands outside Europe

Queen Isabella of Castile

between Portugal and the Crown of Castile, along a meridian 370 leagues west of the Cape Verde islands, off the west coast of Africa. This line of demarcation was about halfway between the Cape Verde islands (already Portuguese) and the islands entered by Christopher Columbus on his first voyage (claimed for Castile and León), named in the treaty as Cipangu and Antilia (Cuba and Hispaniola).

The lands to the east would belong to Portugal and the lands to the west to Castile. The treaty was signed by Spain on 2 July 1494 and by Portugal on 5 September 1494. The other side of the world was divided a few decades later by the Treaty of Zaragoza, signed on 22 April 1529, which specified the antimeridian to the line of demarcation specified in the Treaty of Tordesillas. Originals of both treaties are kept at the Archivo General de Indias in Spain and at the Arquivo Nacional da Torre do Tombo in Portugal. In 1497, the Spaniards took Melilla on the North African coast. This was the beginning of a series of presidencies, including the conquest of Oran in 1509. In 1515, the Kingdom of Navarre was added to the possessions of the crown.

King Ferdinand II of Aragon

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When Ferdinand of Aragon died in 1516, his grandson kilometers long, these fortifications included numerous forts, bastions and watchtowers. In the 16th century, the Charles V became the first true king of Spain.

Spaniards made Oran a stronghold and built a prison on a rocky outcrop near the harbor of Mers El Kebir.

Spanish presence in Algeria

In July 1501, the Portuguese launched an This place was populated by many monkeys which gave expedition to try to get the lands from the Andalusian its name to the fortress. Spanish deportees locked up in beach. Following the landing on Mers-el-Kebir in 1505, La Mona could see their families once a year, on Easter Spain engaged in the first organized expedition against Sunday. In 1563, Don Álvarez de Bazán y Silva, Marquis Oran. The city then had about 25.000 inhabitants. The de Santa Cruz, built Fort Santa Cruz at the summit of capture of the city by the army of Cardinal Francisco the Aïdour Peak. In 1568, Don Juan of Austria visited Jimenez de Cisneros commanded by Pedro Navarro Mers-el-Kebir and Oran. The Jews of Oran did not have took place on 17 May 1509. After the occupation of the an easy life with the Spaniards as they were considered port of Mers-el-Kebir (1505), and that of the city of Oran enemies of their religion. The Jews who lived in Ras El (1509), the city was deserted then totally occupied by Ain and the White Ravine were expelled from Oran by the Spanish troops. In 1509, Cardinal Jimenez began the the Spaniards in 1669 and had to live in the mountain of construction on the ruins of the Ibn El Beitar Mosque of the Upper Corniche (Misserghin).

In 1701, the Rozalcazar or Bordj Lahmar or Castle the Church of Saint Louis, which dominated the old city on both sides. In 1554, the governor count d’Alcaudete Neuf was considered the largest of the fortifications of made an alliance with the Moroccan sultan Mohammed the city of Oran. Thus in 1707, Moulay Ismaïl, sultan Ash-Sheikh against the Turks then settled in Algiers of Morocco having tried to force the defense, saw his army decimated. The city, therefore, knew a continuous and managed to maintain the Spanish presence.

The Spaniards repaired the fortress to house growth. The demolition of the walls was carried out the governors of the city. More than two and a half over several years. It was during this period that the

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The Battle of Oran (by Antonio Palomino)

Spain was Europe’s leading power throughout the 16th century and most of the 17th century, a position that was reinforced by trade and wealth from the colonial possessions and became the world’s leading maritime power. It reached its apogee during the reigns of the first two Spanish Habsburgs, Charles V (1516-1556) and Philip II (1556-1598). The cultural efflorescence witnessed during this period was referred to as the “Spanish Golden Age”.

The expansion of the Spanish Empire caused immense upheaval in the Americas as the collapse of societies and empires and new diseases from Europe devastated the American indigenous populations. The rise of humanism, the Counter-Reformation and new geographical discoveries and conquests raised issues that were addressed by the intellectual movement now known as the “School of Salamanca”, which developed the first modern theories of what are now known as international law and human rights.

In the late 16th century and in the first half of the 17th century, Spain was confronted by unrelenting challenges from all sides. Barbary pirates, under the aegis of the rapidly growing Ottoman Empire, disrupted life in many coastal areas through their slave raids and the renewed threat of an Islamic invasion.

By the middle decades of a plague ridden 17th century Charles III of Spain Europe, the Spanish Habsburgs had enmeshed the Spaniards locked themselves inside the fort due to the country in continent wide religious political conflicts. lack of supplies. In 1770, Oran became a town of 532 These conflicts drained the empire of resources and private houses and 42 buildings, a population of 2.317 undermined the economy. Spain managed to hold bourgeois and 2.821 free deportees engaged in trading. on to most of the scattered Habsburg empire, and Between 1780 and 1783, Minister Floridablanca proposed to England to exchange Oran for Gibraltar.

Spain – European and World Power

In the 16th century, Spain became the most powerful nation in Europe due to welfare derived from the Spanish colonization of the Americas. But after a series of long, costly wars and revolts, the decline of Spanish power in Europe began. The controversy over the succession to the throne consumed the country in the 18th century. (War of Spanish Succession - a centralized Spanish state was established just after this war) Through an occupation by France during the Napoleonic era in the early 1800’s, in Spain, a series of armed conflicts and riots between the liberals and the supporters of the old regime began towards the 19th century; a century that saw the loss of much of the Spanish colonies in America, culminating in the Spanish-American War from 1898.

King Charles V

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Francisco Pizarro and Hernán Cortés

managed to help the imperial forces of the Holy Roman Empire reverse a large part of the advances made by the Protestant forces, but was finally forced to recognize the separation of Portugal (with whom it was united in a personal union of the crowns from 1580 to 1640) and the Netherlands, and eventually suffered some serious military reverses to France in the latter stages of the immensely destructive Thirty Years’ War.

Gaspar de Guzmán, Count of Olivares (1587-1645), prime minister of Philip IV undertook important reforms such as the fight against corruption and inflation, the centralization of administration and support for commercialism. Nevertheless, he couldn’t prevent the country from declining and couldn’t avoid the bankruptcy of 1627. He supported the House of Austria in the midst of the conflicts of the Thirty Years’ War, which went beyond the rising of the Spanish Netherlands and opposed the policy of France led by Cardinal Richelieu. In 1640, Portugal detached itself from Spain after the Lisbon revolt. The Spaniards lost the Battle of Rocroi in 1643 and had to yield the county of Roussillon and the county of Artois. Then 16

the reign of the “weak king”, Charles II, precipitated the end of the golden century. His death without an heir in 1700 opened the War of Spanish Succession (17011713) between the French and Austrian dynasties.

The Treaties of Utrecht (1713) amputated the Spanish power of several territories in Italy and the Netherlands, Gibraltar and Menorca became naval bases of Great Britain. The grandson of Louis XIV, heir to the House of Bourbon, became King of Spain under the name of Philip V of Spain. Spain was no longer a major power of the continent and its dynastic ties with Austria were broken.

Revolutionary Epoch and the Napoleonian Wars

The 18th century saw a gradual recovery and an increase in prosperity through much of the empire. The new Bourbon monarchy drew on the French system of modernizing the administration and the economy.

Enlightenment ideas began to gain ground among some of the Kingdom’s elite and monarchy. Military assistance for the rebellious British colonies in the American War

as enlightened despots: the Jesuits were expelled in 1767 and the schools were secularized The activity of Pedro Pablo Abarca of Bolea, Count of Aranda and President of the Council of Castile from 1766 to 1773, when he was appointed ambassador to France, was decisive.

The Inquisition, however, remained powerful and will be abolished only later under the Napoleonic regime.

The Enlightenment philosophy only touched a small part of the Spanish elite. A decree of 1773 prompted nobles to invest in productive activities rather than sumptuary spending. According to the tacit agreement of the Family Pact, Spain was in solidarity with France at the time of the Seven Years’ War. The treaty of Paris of 10 February 1763 has put an end to this conflict in the wake of which Spain lost Florida but recovered French Louisiana. In 1776, Spain committed itself alongside France and American insurgents in the American War of Independence. This participation allowed it to take back important territories in North America and in particular Florida.

In 1793, Spain went to war against the revolutionary new French Republic as a member of the first Coalition. The subsequent War of the Pyrenees polarized the country in a reaction against the Gallicized elites and following a crushing defeat on the battlefield, Gaspar de Guzmán, Count of Olivares peace was made with France in 1795. The Peace of Basel of Independence improved the Kingdom’s international saw Spain losing control over two-thirds of the island of standing. Philip V’s attempt to recapture part of Italy Hispaniola. The Prime Minister, Manuel Godoy, then triggered the war of 1718-1720, which saw the defeat ensured that Spain allied herself with France in the of Spain which, therefore, reduced its ambitions. The brief War of the Third Coalition which ended with the Bourbons, especially Charles III of Spain wished to reign British victory of Admiral Horatio Nelson at the Battle

The Spanish Empire at its peak

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of 1826, the only American colonies that Spain held in the Americas were Cuba and Puerto Rico.

The Napoleonic Wars left Spain economically ruined, deeply divided and politically unstable. In the 1830’s and 1840’s, anti-liberal forces known as “Carlists” fought against the liberals in the Carlist Wars. Liberal forces won, but the conflict between the progressives and conservative liberals ended in a weak early constitutional period. After the Glorious Revolution of 1868 and the short-lived First Spanish Republic, a more stable monarchic period began, which was characterized by the practice of “turnismo” (the rotation of government control between the progressives and the conservative liberals within the Spanish government).

First Republic

The First Spanish Republic was proclaimed on 11 February 1873. The industrialization of the country remained precarious, while at the same time the country was dispossessed of its colonies, marked by the Napoleonic wars and civil wars. The country remained on the fringes of Europe while French, British and Germans developed powerful industries. However, as early as 1874, the Bourbons were restored in the person of Alfonso XII, son of Isabel II and a stable constitutional monarchy (1876) settled. But the agrarian crisis, the industrial delay, the autonomist demands of Catalonia, strikes and anarchism destabilized the country.

Joseph Bonaparte

In the late 19th century, nationalist movements of Trafalgar in 1805. In 1807, a secret treaty between arose in the Philippines and Cuba. In 1895 and 1896 Napoleon and the unpopular Prime Minister led to a the Cuban War of Independence and the Philippine new declaration of war against Britain and Portugal. Revolution broke out and eventually the United States Napoleon’s troops entered the country to invade became involved. The Spanish-American War was Portugal but instead occupied Spain’s major fortresses. fought in the spring of 1898 and resulted in Spain losing The ridiculed Spanish king abdicated in favour of the last of its once vast colonial empire outside of North Napoleon’s brother, Joseph Bonaparte.

From Spain’s defeat suffered against the French, the Latin American anti-colonialists who resented the Imperial Spanish government’s policies that favoured Spanish-born citizens (Peninsulars) over those born overseas (Criollos) benefited and demanded retroversion of the sovereignty to the people. Starting from 1809, Spain’s American colonies began a series of revolutions and declared independence, leading to the Spanish-American wars of independence that ended the Spanish control over its mainland colonies in the Americas. King Ferdinand VII’s attempt to re-assert control proved to be futile as he faced opposition not only from the colonies but also in Spain. As a consequence, army revolts followed, led by liberal officers. By the end 18

Spanish prisoners in Manila, Philippines

Battle of the First Carlist War (by Francisco de Paula Van Halen)

Africa. El Desastre (the Disaster), as the war became to be known in Spain, gave an added impetus to the “Generation of 98”, who were conducting an analysis of the country. Although the period around the turn of the century was one of increasing prosperity, the 20th century brought little peace. The country remained neutral during World War I. The heavy losses suffered during the Rif War in Morocco brought discredit to the government and undermined the monarchy.

Neutral during the First World War, Spain was strongly affected by the Spanish flu. The government was facing a general strike in 1917. In Spanish Morocco, the revolt of Abd el-Krim in the 1920’s provoked the Rif War. General Primo de Rivera imposed himself as prime minister after the coup d’état of 13 September 1923. He took radical measures that instituted a dictatorship.

He was also undertaking a series of major works to modernize the country, but his authoritarianism, the economic crisis of 1929, the persistence of the agrarian problem and the discontents visible all over the country were the reason for his exile in 1930. The Second Spanish Republic was then proclaimed.

Second Republic and Civil War

The 20th century initially brought little peace.

The colonization of Western Sahara, Spanish Morocco and Equatorial Guinea was tried as a substitute for the loss of the Americas. A period of dictatorship (1923-1931) ended with the establishment of the Second Spanish Republic. The increasing political polarization combined with the increasing violence led to the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in July 1936.

People during the “Tragic week” in 1909

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Berber Camp during the Rif War

Following the victory of his nationalist forces in 1939, General Francisco Franco ruled an exhausted politically and economically nation.

A period of authoritarian rule under General Miguel Primo de Rivera (1923-1931) ended with the establishment of the Second Spanish Republic. The Republic offered political autonomy to the linguistically distinct regions of Basque Country, Catalonia and Galicia and gave voting rights to women and was increasingly dominated by left wing political parties.

In the worsening economic situation of the Great Depression, Spanish politics became increasingly chaotic and violent. Hitler’s Third Reich and Mussolini’s

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Spanish Civil War Map

Italy supported Franco, especially during the tragic episode of Guernica. The Soviet Union sold arms to the Republicans, while seeking a communist takeover within the republic. Stalin, however, didn’t invest much in this war as he feared indeed that a communist regime in Spain would have tilted France and the United Kingdom in the fascist camp. France and the United

Francisco Franco (center, with moustache)

Francisco Franco and US President Dwight Eisenhower in 1959 in Madrid, Spain

Kingdom did not participate directly, but they let the International Brigades engage with the Republicans. In 1939, General Franco emerged victorious and became a dictator.

Francoist Spain

The state, as established under Franco, was nominally neutral in the Second World War, although sympathetic to the Axis. The only legal party under Franco’s post-civil war regime was the Falange Española Tradicionalista y de las JONS, formed in 1937. The party emphasized the “Falangism”, a form of fascism which is anti-communism, anti-democratic, and promotes nationalism and Roman Catholicism. Given Franco’s opposition to competing political parties, the party was renamed the “National Movement” (Movimiento Nacional) in 1949. During the Second World War, Franco went from neutrality to non-belligerency in 1940, to return to neutrality in 1944. The Falange controlled the political police, the national education, the press, radio, propaganda and all economic and

union life until the year 1943. After the war, the Falange was gradually removed from power for the benefit of the Catholic Church, to differentiate the country from the regimes of Italy and Germany.

After World War II, Spain was politically and economically isolated, and was kept out of the United Nations. This changed in 1955, during the Cold War period, when it became strategically important for the US to establish a military presence on the Iberian Peninsula, as a counter to any possible move by the Soviet Union into the Mediterranean basin. In the 1960’s, Spain registered an unprecedented rate of economic growth which was propelled by industrialization, a mass internal migration from rural areas to cities and the creation of a mass tourism industry. Franco’s rule was also characterized by authoritarianism, promotion of a unitary national identity, the favouring of a very conservative form of Roman Catholicism known as National Catholicism and discriminatory language policies.

In 1962, Salvador de Madariaga, founder of the Liberal International and the College of Europe, met in 21

in government by the Partido Popular (PP) after the latter won the 1996 General Elections. At that point, the PSOE had served almost 14 consecutive years in office.

On 1 January 2002, Spain fully adopted the Euro, and Spain experienced strong economic growth, well above the EU average during the early 2000’s. However, well publicized concerns issued by many economic commentators at the height of the boom warned that extraordinary property prices and a high foreign trade deficit were likely to lead to a painful economic collapse.

The proportion of Spain’s foreign born population increased rapidly from around 1 in 50 in 2000 to almost 1 in 8 in 2010 but has since declined.

The flag of the Falange Española Tradicionalista y de las JONS The bursting of the Spanish property bubble in 2008 led the congress of the European Movement in München to the 2008-2015 Spanish financial crisis and high levels with members of the opposition to Franco’s regime inside of unemployment, cuts in government spending and the country and in the exile. There were 118 politicians Catalan independentism served as a backdrop to the from all factions. At the end of the meetings a resolution 2011-2012 Spanish protests. In 2011, Mariano Rajoy’s in favour of democracy was made. However, in the conservative People’s Party won the elections with 1960’s and 1970’s, Spain was gradually transformed into 44,6% of the votes and Rajoy became the Spanish Prime a modern industrial economy with a growing tourism Minister after having been the leader of the opposition sector. After the death of dictator Francisco Franco in from 2004 to 2011. On 19 June 2014, the monarch, Juan November 1975, his personally designated successor, Carlos, abdicated in favour of his son, who became Prince Juan Carlos assumed the titles of king and head Felipe VI. of state. He played an important role in guiding Spain to a modern democratic state, especially in opposing an attempted coup d’etat in 1981. Spain joined NATO in 1982 and joined the European Union in 1986. After the death of Franco, the old historic nationalities of Basque Country, Catalonia and Galicia were given great autonomy, which has extended to all Spanish regions.

Modern Spain

With Franco’s death in November 1975, Juan Carlos succeeded to the position of King of Spain and head of state in accordance with the law. With the approval of the new Spanish Constitution of 1978 and the restoration of democracy, the State devolved much authority to the regions and created an internal organization based on autonomous communities.

During the 1980’s, the democratic restoration made possible a growing open society. New cultural movements based on freedom appeared like “La Movida Madrileña”. On 30 May 1982, Spain joined NATO, following a referendum. That year, the Spanish Socialist Workers Party (PSOE) came to power, the first left-wing government in 43 years. In 1986, Spain joined the European Economic Community, which later became the European Union. The PSOE was replaced 22

King Juan Carlos I of Spain

In 1986, Spain officially joined the European Union

View from the city of Malaga nowadays

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Nature Landforms

Most of the Spanish peninsular overlaps the Meseta Central, a high area, bordered and crossed by mountain chains. Other landforms include narrow coastal areas and some lowland areas focused on the course of rivers, of which the most extensive is the plain of Andalusia. The country can be divided into ten subregions: Meseta Central, Cantabrian Cordillera, Iberian area, the Pyrenees, the Cordillera Penibética area, the Andalusian Plain, the Ebro River Basin, the coastal plains, the Balearic Islands and the Canary Islands.

These regions are usually found grouped into four main areas: the Central Meseta associated with the mountains that cross and borders it and other mountainous areas, lowlands and islands.

The Meseta Central (“Inner Plateau”) is a vast

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plateau in the heart of peninsular Spain, which has elevations that range from 610 to 760 m. Rimmed by the mountains, the Meseta Central slopes gently to the west and to the series of rivers that form some of the border with Portugal. The Sistema Central, described as the “dorsal spine” of the Meseta Central, divides the Meseta into northern and southern sub-regions, the former higher in elevation and smaller in area than the latter. The Sistema Central rims the capital city of Madrid with peaks that rise to 2.400 m north of the city and to lower elevations south of it. West of Madrid, the Sistema Central shows its highest peak, Pico Almanzor, of 2.592 m. The mountains of the Sistema Central, which continue westward into Portugal, display some glacial features. The highest of the peaks are snow-capped for most of the year. Despite their height, however, the mountain system doesn’t create a major barrier between the northern and the southern portions of the Meseta Central because several passes permit road and railroad transportation to the northwest and the northeast.

The Cordillera Cantábrica, a limestone formation, runs parallel to, and close to, the northern coast near the Bay of Biscay. Its highest points are the

The Pyrenees in Catalonia

Guadalquivir river passing through Seville

Picos de Europa, surpassing 2.600 m. The Cordillera Cantábrica extends for about 182 km and abruptly drops 1.500 m, some 30 km from the coast. To the west lies the hills of the northwest region and to the east the Basque mountains that link them to the Pyrenees.

External to the Meseta Central lies the Pyrenees in the northeast and the Sistema Penibético in the southeast. The Pyrenees, extending from the eastern edge of the Cordillera Cantábrica to the Mediterranean Sea, form a solid barrier that separates Spain, France and Andorra and has acted as a natural border throughout history, which has effectively isolated the countries from each other. Passage is easy in the relatively low terrain at the eastern and western extremes of the mountain range. It is here that international railroads and roadways cross the border. In the central section of the Pyrenees, however, passage is difficult. In several places, peaks rise above 3.000 m. The highest, Pico de Aneto, surpasses 3.400 m.

Image from the Meseta Central

The Sistema Penibético extends northeast from the southern tip of Spain, running parallel to the coast until it merges with the southern extension of the Sistema Ibérico near the Rio Júcar and with the eastern extension of the Sierra Morena. The Sierra Nevada, part of the Sistema Penibético south of Granada, includes the highest mountain on the peninsula and continental Spain, Mulhacén, which rises to 3.479 m. Other peaks in the range also surpass 3.000 m.

The major lowland regions are the Andalusian Plain in the southwest, the Ebro Basin in the northeast, and the coastal plains. The Andalusian Plain is essentially a wide river valley through which the Río Guadalquivir flows. The river broadens out along its course, reaching its widest point at the Golfo de Cadiz. The Andalusian Plain is bounded on the north by the Sierra Morena and on the south by the Sistema Penibético. In the east these two mountain chains meet. The Ebro Basin is formed by the Río Ebro valley, contained by mountains on

Mulhacen is the highest peak of mainland Spain

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three sides, the Sistema Ibérico to the south and west, the Pyrenees to the north and east, and their coastal extensions paralleling the shore to the east. Minor lowlying river valleys close to the Portuguese border are located on the Tagus and the Río Guadiana.

The Coastal Plains regions are narrow strips between the coastal mountains and the seas. They are broadest along the Golfo de Cádiz, where the coastal plain adjoins the Andalusian Plain, and along the southern and central eastern coasts. The narrowest coastal plain runs along the Bay of Biscay, where the Cordillera Cantábrica ends close to shore.

Spain also includes the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean Sea, the Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean and a number of uninhabited islands on the Mediterranean side of the Strait of Gibraltar, known as plazas de soberanía (“places of sovereignty”, or territories under Spanish sovereignty), such as the Chafarinas Islands and Alhucemas. The peninsula of Vélez de la Gomera is also regarded as a plaza de soberanía. The isle of Alborán, located in the Mediterranean between Spain and North Africa, is also administered by Spain, specifically by the municipality of Almería, Andalusia.

The little Pheasant Island in the River Bidasoa is a Spanish-French condominium.

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Pico D’Aneto is the most well-known peak of Spain

La Cimbarra waterfall in the Sierra Morena

Mainland Spain is a mountainous country, • The Mediterranean climate, characterized by warm and dry summers. It is dominant in the peninsula, dominated by high plateaus and mountain chains. with two varieties, one of which has a more extreme After the Pyrenees, the main mountain ranges are the Cordillera Cantábrica (Cantabrian Range), Sistema climate, hotter in summer and colder in winter, which extends to additional areas not typically Ibérico (Iberian System), Sistema Central (Central associated with a Mediterranean climate, such as System), Montes de Toledo, Sierra Morena and the much of central and northern-central of Spain.

Sistema Bético (Baetic System) whose highest peak, the 3.478 m high Mulhacén, located in Sierra Nevada, • The semi-arid climate, located in the southeastern quarter of the country, especially in the region of is the highest elevation in the Iberian Peninsula. The Murcia and in the Ebro valley. In contrast with highest point in Spain is the Teide, a 3.718 metre active the Mediterranean climate, the dry season extends volcano in the Canary Islands. The Meseta Central beyond the summer. (often translated as “Inner Plateau”) is a vast plateau in the heart of peninsular Spain. There are several major • The oceanic climate, located in the northern quarter of the country, especially in the region of Basque rivers in Spain such as the Tagus (Tajo), Ebro, Guadiana, Country, Cantabria, Asturias and partly Galicia. In Douro (Duero), Guadalquivir, Júcar, Segura, Turia and contrary to the Mediterranean climate, winter and Minho (Miño). Alluvial plains are found along the summer temperatures are influenced by the ocean, coast, the largest of which is that of the Guadalquivir in and have no seasonal drought.

Andalusia.

Apart from these main types, other sub-types can be found, like the alpine climate in the Pyrenees Climate

Three main climatic zones can be separated, and Sierra Nevada, and a typical desert climate in according to geographical situation and orographic the zone of Almería and in most parts of the Canary Islands, while in higher areas of the Canary Islands conditions:

Spain’s Climate Map

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it can be said that during summer there are pleasant temperatures. Winters are gentle. Temperatures during winter are usually between 8 and 15ºC, so basically there is no real winter. Most floods occur during the spring and autumn periods, but these aren’t numerous. Rains are more often in the seaside areas. Inside the country, the weather is harsher and dryer. There, the winters are much colder and often accompanied by snow. Between day and night there are higher temperature differences.

Differences in temperature are also recorded between mountain massifs and plain areas where the climate is continental.

Spain’s warmest region is Andalusia, in the south of the country. In July and August, average air temperature fluctuates between 27 and 29ºC and sea water between 22 and 23ºC. In the Balearic Islands, during the summer months, the temperature is about 25°C and the air temperature is 29°C. Temperature records were recorded at Murcia (47.2ºC), Malaga the predominant climate is subtropical. The warmest (44.2ºC) and Valencia (42.5ºC). Inside the country, region of Spain is the Mediterranean coast, as well as the record high temperatures were as following: Seville southern and eastern parts. Here there is a subtropical (47ºC), Cordoba (46,6ºC), Badajoz (45ºC), Albacete and Mediterranean climate, most of the days being sunny. Zaragoza (42,6ºC), Madrid (42,2ºC), Burgos (41,8ºC), The temperatures oscillate between 25 and 30°C, so Valladolid (40,2ºC). The lowest recorded temperatures

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Beach in Palma de Mallorca

were: Albacete (-24°C), Burgos (-22°C), Salamanca (-20°C), Teruel (19°C), Madrid (-14.8°C) and Seville (-5.5°C). Thermal records on the Atlantic Ocean’s northern shore are: Santa Cruz de Tenerife (42,6ºC).

The lowest temperatures in this area were recorded at Santa Cruz de Tenerife (-8.1°C).

Flora

In the subalpine part between 1.200 and 2.400 m, the climate is quite humid and gives rise to a dense vegetation of conifers such as spruce and black pine. The spruce occurs in the most humid areas of this region with dense forests, which means that the understory receives a reduced amount of sunlight and is not very rich. The black pine is smaller and has a thick trunk and its insolation is greater. Its associated undergrowth consists of rhododendron, bearberry and juniper blueberries. This vegetation becomes thicker when the black pine forests are cleared by man. The destruction of the same forests leads to the formation of a meadow of Festuca scoparia in limestone or Nardus stricta on acid soil. If there is a great abundance of carbonates in the soil, the undergrowth of the black pine forest becomes impoverished. The next floor is the alpine one between 2.300 and 3.000 m. The dominant vegetation is formed by meadows of small plants with abundant bulbous plants with a short life cycle. According to the humidity and the type of soil there are also other botanical species.

The last floor is the level of more than 3.000 m in height and is located in specific areas such as the Pyrenees. The areas of low slope are covered with snow all year round and vegetation is non-existent. Where there is slope, the snow slides and the ground is not covered, there are small rupicola plants, mainly mosses

The Red Carnation is the national flower of Spain

Beach in Tenerife

or lichens. At points where there is a defective drainage, the melting water of the snow causes the formation of peat bogs with its characteristic vegetation of Sphagnum and Carex. It comprises a large part of the mountains of the Peninsula outside the expansion of the Pyrenees. In the mountains of transition to the Atlantic, vegetation is limited to the highest parts of the Cantabrian mountain range, the vegetation is poorer than in the Pyrenees because the subalpine floor disappears and as a result there are small bushes and shrubs of reduced

Cacti Vegetation in Gran Canaria

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In the northern part of the Iberian system, the supraforestry floor, which also begins around 1.900 m, comes in contact with the beech forests and mainly has a pine forest (Cytisus scoparius) and dwarf juniper vegetation.

To the south and east of the above mentioned places, there is the Sierra Nevada. Here, the fundamental climatic characteristic is the existence of a dry summer.

The montane floor in contact with the supra-forestry is constituted by the holm oak, the quejigo and in the rainier areas by the marojo. Particularly important are the Mediterranean Orรณfilas species in the form of a spiny pillow, many of which are also present in the high North African mountains. The rocky outcrops occupy Palm Trees in Valencia great extensions in relation to the climate and with an size: Juniper, Calluna vulgaris, heather and Genista. intense grazing. Only in the bottoms of the valley and The Atlantic coast gives place to the alpine meadow at other places of great humidity are there meadows with higher altitudes. Where the siliceous soil predominates, abundant Central European plants and even with a few the landa develops and in the highest areas, when the species of rare plants. soil is limy the vegetation is discontinuous.

In the mountains of transition to the Fauna In the Iberian Peninsula it is possible to find Mediterranean, the main characteristic is that there is rain irregularity, dry season and the subalpine species that have disappeared in other European regions. floor does not exist. Above the deciduous forest is the It is because historically it has been a sparsely populated scrubland. In the Central system, the dwarf juniper, territory compared to countries like Germany, Great which is already abundant along with the pine, becomes Britain or Italy, all of them of lesser extent, and to increasingly abundant and dense, forming a relatively the late industrialization, which caused the decline of closed sub-shrub formation. On the top of it there numerous species and the extinction of some others. It are meadows of Nardus stricta and Festuca indigesta. was a phenomenon documented throughout the 20th

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Steppe View of the Desierto de los Monegros

century. A large number of species are present in the Iberian Peninsula due to the influence of African fauna (common chameleon, black tortoise, Moorish hedgehog purple swamp, mongoose, etc.). Among the large carnivores there are two species that have disappeared from a large part of Western Europe: the brown bear, which survives in the Cantabrian mountain range and in certain Pyrenean enclaves as well as the Iberian wolf, an endemic subspecies of the Peninsula, although the most emblematic carnivore is undoubtedly the Iberian lynx, the most threatened species of the entire European continent. Much more numerous are the populations of wildcat, red fox and those of badgers, polecats and weasels. Somewhat less numerous are those of otter and marten.

The herbivores are represented by fairly widespread species, such as the red deer, the fallow deer and the roe deer. There are endemic populations of mountain goats and Pyrenean and Cantabrian redoubts of chamois. The wild boar is also widely spread. In recent years a strong effort is being made to recover the European bison, which is raised in reserves in the Pyrenees and in Castilla y LeĂłn. Several Mediterranean species of insectivores are well represented: shrews (Crocidura russula, Suncus etruscus), musgaĂąo de Cabrera, Iberian mole, the rare desman of the Pyrenees; rodents: red squirrel, dormouse mask, voles; lagomorphs (the Iberian hare), Chiroptera (Myotis

The Bull is the national animal of Spain

capaccinii, Myotis myotis, Pipistrellus pipistrellus, Tadarida teniotis, common noctule, Hypsugo savii) and somewhat less pinnipeds and cetaceans.

The number of bird species in the Iberian Peninsula is very high compared to other European faunas. This is due not only to its geographical position or its regional diversity and biotopes, but also to the fact that different species native to northern Europe or sub-Saharan Africa winter or nest in several areas of the Peninsula. It is also possible to see many others that use the Strait of Gibraltar as a bridge of their migrations between Europe and Africa. Among the great raptors there can be included scavengers such as the threatened black vulture or the bearded vulture. More abundant

Lataste Viper

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Monk Seal

are the Egyptian vulture and griffon vulture. Also endangered is the emblematic Iberian imperial eagle.

In the Spanish mountains and forests still inhabit populations of hawks, goshawks, elanios, alcotanes, golden eagles, roadways, Bonelli, peregrine falcon, honey buzzard and others. In the cereal plains there are the eaglets, buzzards, black and real kites. In towns and cities, kestrels and owls usually live. There are also populations of osprey, eagle owl, small owl, barn owl, tawny owl and little owl.

The numerous passerines have significant species such as the Moorish sparrow. The corvids are also well represented by: magpie, jay, jackdaw, crow, raven, blue-billed chough, Pyrrhocorax graculus and jackdaw.

The bee-eater and the ratchet reveal the proximity of the African continent to the Peninsula once more. The Ciconiiformes have a varied set of ardeidae (imperial heron, gray heron, cattle egret, little egret, crab-eater, white heron and common swift) and two significant species: the abundant white stork and the less frequent black stork. The cereal plains and semi-arid landscapes of the Iberian steppes are the habitat of the great bustard, the little bustard, the gangue, the ortega and the stone curlew. In the Canary Islands, mainly in Lanzarote and Fuerteventura, the runner and the Canarian houbara live.

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The coasts and rivers are home to a great variety of waders, låridos, cormoranes and anatidae. Here we must point out the relevance of species such as the Audouin’s gull, the European storm petrel, the horned coot, the guillemots and razorbills, etc. The anatidae have common species such as the Mallard, Common Teal, Brown Duck, the spoon duck, and others. Not counting accidental or rare observations, the avifauna of the peninsula consists of 352 species, of which two are endemic (imperial eagle) and the Iberian blue-necked, nine are globally threatened with extinction, seven were introduced by man and one more was reintroduced.

Spanish Ibex

Bearded Vulture 33

People Language

Spanish, sometimes called Castilian (castellano) is an Iberian Romance language subgroup. It is one of the six official languages of the United Nations. Spanish ranks as the second most spoken language in the world according to the number of speakers who have it as their mother tongue, preceded only by Mandarin Chinese.

Spanish is being spoken as the first and second language by about 450 to 500 million persons. Spanish ranks 3rd as the most used language by number of speakers combined (both native and foreign), being overtaken by Mandarin Chinese and English.

Spanish also occupies second place among the most studied languages in the world, being learned by at least 14 million students. According to other sources, the number exceeds 46 million students distributed in 90 countries. Both Spanish and other Romance languages are a modern continuation of Vulgar Latin that was spoken together with classical Latin in the Roman Empire and laid the foundation of all modern

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Romance languages. Due to its spread in America, Spanish is a neo-Latin language that has experienced the most widespread in the world.

From the 16th century onwards, the language was taken to America and the Spanish East Indies via Spanish colonization of America. Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, author of Don Quijote, is such a well-known reference in the world that Spanish is often called la lengua de Cervantes (“the language of Cervantes”). In the 20th century, Spanish was introduced to Equatorial Guinea and the Western Sahara, and to areas of the United States that had not been part of the Spanish Empire, such as Spanish Harlem in New York City.

Spanish has developed as a Latin dialect spoken in the bordering areas of Cantabria, Burgos, La Rioja and Álava, the northern provinces of nowadays Spain, becoming the most popular idiom of the Kingdom of Castile. Latin was then the official language. Hence the original name of the dialect, Castellano, which makes reference to the geographical origin of the language. The other name, español, comes from the Latin medieval Hispaniolus, specifically in its correct form, Spaniolus.

Ramón Menéndez Pidal offers another etymological explanation. To the classic words “hispanus” and “hispanicus” there was attached in Vulgar Latin the suffix “one”, so the word “hispanione” changed to españón,

Castillan Dialects of Spain

Countries where Spanish is the official or co-official language

and then to español. This word was then borrowed by other Romance languages (Catalan – espanyol, French – espagnol, Italian – spagnolo, Occitane – espanhou, Portuguese – espanhol, Romanian – spaniol).

Previously, several pre-Roman languages (also called Paleohispanic languages), unrelated to Latin, and some of them unrelated even to Indo-European, were spoken in the Iberian Peninsula. These languages included Basque (still spoken today), Iberian, Celtiberian and Celtic. Traces of Basque especially can be found in the Spanish vocabulary today, mainly in place names.

The historic and socio-economic events and the use of Spanish as language have enabled it to become the lingua franca in the Iberian Peninsula, but these facts have not led to the disappearance of other languages spoken there. It is estimated that in the second half of the 16th century, in Spain, 80% of the residents spoke Spanish. Spanish is part of the Ibero-Romance subgroup of Romance languages. It has much in common with the following languages: Aragonese, Asturian, Catalan, Galician and Portuguese.

Spanish speakers can understand the Italian language, without knowing Italian. The Ladino language, spoken

by Sephardic people, actually is medieval Castilian, influenced by Turkish and Hebrew.

The variety with the most speakers is Mexican Spanish. It is spoken by more than 20% of the world’s Spanish speakers. One of its main features is the reduction or loss of unstressed vowels, mainly when they are in contact with the sound s. In Spain, northern

dialects are popularly thought of as closer to the standard, although positive attitudes toward southern dialects have increased significantly in the last 50 years.

Even so, the speech of Madrid, which has typically southern features such as yeísmo and s-aspiration, is the standard variety for use on radio and television.

The educated Madrid variety has most influenced the written standard for Spanish.

Religion

The Roman Catholic Church is the largest denomination of Christians present in the country.

According a study by the Spanish Sociological Research Center in July 2009, approximately 73% of Spaniards are Catholic, 2% are part of other religions and about

Spanish Dialects

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Spanish Varieties across the world

22% of the Spanish people declared themselves atheists or agnostics. Most Spaniards do not regularly attend religious services. The same study shows that Spaniards identify themselves as religious. 58% rarely or never go to church, 17% go to church a few times a year, 9% go several times a month and 15% go every Sunday or multiple times a week. An overwhelmingly majority of young Spaniard people, including those who are Catholic, tend to ignore the conservative advices of the church on issues like premarital sex, sexual orientation or contraception. The total number of parish priests decreased from 24.300 in 1975 to 19.307 in 2005. The number of nuns also fell by 6,9% to 54.160 in the first half of the first decade of the 21st century.

According to the latest Eurobarometer 2005: 59% of the Spanish citizens responded “I think there is a God”, 21% responded that “I think there is a force, a spirit”, 18% answered that “I do not think there is any spirit, force or God.” While the Roman Catholic Church is the strongest denomination in Spain, most Spaniards choose to ignore its teachings. Agnosticism and atheism enjoy the social prestige, according to the general secularization of Western Europe. Revivalist efforts by the Catholic Church and other creeds have not had any significant success out of their previous sphere of influence.

According to the Eurobarometer 69 (2008), only 3% of Spaniards consider religion as one of their 36

three most important values, even lower than the 7% European average. Proves of Spain’s secular nature can be seen in the general support towards legalization of same sex marriages, 70% of Spaniards supporting gay marriage, according to a study by the Center for Sociological Research in 2004. In June 2005 a law project was voted which allowed gay marriages, making Spain the 3rd country in the European Union to allow samesex marriage. Proposals to change the laws to make the divorce process to take less time and to eliminate the need for a culprit are also popular.

Previous waves of immigration, especially during and after the 1990’s, led to a growing number of Muslims, which counts about 1 million members. Today,

Spain’s religious situation is downgrading

Islam is the second largest religion in Spain, after Roman Catholicism, representing approximately 2,5% of the total population. Hindu and Sikhs count less than 0.3%.

Other religions represented in Spain include Buddhist and Baha’i communities. Judaism represents less than 1% of the population. They are present especially in Barcelona, Madrid and Murcia. Protestantism was also stimulated by immigration, but still remained a small force among native Spaniards. Spain was seen as a graveyard for foreign missionaries among Protestant Evangelicals. Protestant Churches count approximately 1.200.000 members. Over these waves of immigration, a significant number of people from Latin America, who are practicing Catholics, helped the Catholic Church to recover some masses of people (Sunday mass people), which in 1960 and 1970 existed but disappeared during the 1980’s.

During the last decade, the Catholic Church’s involvement in political affairs by means of special groups such as Opus Dei, Neocatechumenal way or The Legion of Christ, especially through leading politicians

Hall of the Abencerrajes inside the Alhambra Mosque in Granada

in the popular right wing party, increased again. MassMedia also contributed to the church’s involvement in politics. The Church is no longer seen as a neutral and independent institution in politics and is generally aligned with the views and politics of the People’s Party.

This involvement was, as a consequence, a new criticism from some important sectors of people (in particular, most of the right-wing voters) against the Church and the way in which it is economically sustained by the state.

World Heritage

Every year, thousands of pilgrims are heading towards Santiago de Compostela Cathedral in Spain

On UNESCO’s list there can be found 39 cultural objectives, 3 natural objectives and 2 mixed objectives in Spain: Cultural Objectives: • Alhambra, Generalife and Albayzín, Granada • Aranjuez Cultural Landscape • Archaeological Ensemble of Mérida • Archaeological Ensemble of Tárraco • Archaeological Site of Atapuerca • Burgos Cathedral • Catalan Romanesque Churches of the Vall de Boí • Cathedral, Alcázar and Archivo de Indias in Seville • Cave of Altamira and Paleolithic Cave Art of Northern Spain • Cultural Landscape of the Serra de Tramuntana • Heritage of Mercury. Almadén and Idrija • Historic Centre of Cordoba • Historic City of Toledo • Historic Walled Town of Cuenca • La Lonja de la Seda de Valencia • Las Médulas • Monastery and Site of the Escurial, Madrid • Monuments of Oviedo and the Kingdom of the 37

Asturias Mudejar Architecture of Aragon Old City of Salamanca Old Town of Ávila with its Extra-Muros Churches Old Town of Cáceres Old Town of Segovia and its Aqueduct Palau de la Música Catalana and Hospital de Sant Pau, Barcelona • Palmeral of Elche • Poblet Monastery • Prehistoric Rock Art Sites in the Côa Valley and Siega Verde • Renaissance Monumental Ensembles of Úbeda and Baeza • Rock Art of the Mediterranean Basin on the Iberian Peninsula • Roman Walls of Lugo • Routes of Santiago de Compostela: Camino Francés and Routes of Northern Spain • Royal Monastery of Santa María de Guadalupe • San Cristóbal de La Laguna • San Millán Yuso and Suso Monasteries • Santiago de Compostela • Tower of Hercules • University and Historic Precinct of Alcalá de Henares • Vizcaya Bridge • Works of Antonio Gaudí Natural Objectives: • Doñana National Park • Garajonay National Park • Teide National Park Mixed Objectives • Ibiza, Biodiversity and Culture • Pyrénées - Mont Perdu • • • • • •

Demographics

Spain is composed of many nations but has adopted the Castilian culture to become what is now Spain, although there is a growing recognition of other nationalities within the country, most well-known being the basques. The number of immigrants in Spain has exploded in the past decade, rising from 500.000 in 1996 to 4,5 million in 2008, leading to a population of 45 million. During this period the country experienced strong economic growth.

In 2007 Spain had officially 45,2 million inhabitants.

The population density in Spain is lower than in other western European countries, and its distribution is very disproportionate. Most of the population lives on 38

Distribution of the Spanish Population

the coast, the only exception being the Community of Madrid. The population of Spain doubled during the 20th century as a result of the spectacular demographic boom in the 1960’s and early 1970’s. After that time, the birth rate plunged through the 1980’s and Spain’s population became stalled, its demographics showing one of the lowest sub replacement fertility rates in the world, only above Greece, Portugal, Hungary, Ukraine, and Japan. Many demographers have linked Spain’s very low fertility rate to the country’s lack of any real family planning policy. Spain spends the least on family support out of all western European countries, 0,5% of GDP. A graphic illustration of the enormous social gulf in this field is the fact that a Spanish family would need to have 57 children to enjoy the same financial support as a family with 3 children in Luxembourg.

In emigration/immigration terms, after centuries of net emigration, Spain has recently experienced largescale immigration for the first time in modern history.

According to the Spanish government there were 5.730.667 foreign residents in Spain as of January 2011.

Of these, more than 860.000 were Romanian, and 760.000 were Moroccan while the number of Ecuadorians was around 390.000. Colombian population amounted to around 300.000. There are also a significant number of British (359.076 as of 2011, but more than 1 million are estimated to live permanently in Spain) and German (195.842) citizens, mainly in the provinces of Alicante, Málaga, Balearic Islands and Canary Islands. Chinese number over 166.000 citizens. Immigrants from several sub-Saharan African countries have also settled in Spain as contract workers, although they represent only 4,08% of all the foreign residents in the country.

During the early 2000’s, the mean year on year demographic growth set a new record with its 2003 peak variation of 2,1%, doubling the previous record reached

Density of Spain as of 2008

back in the 1960’s when a mean year on year growth of 1% was experienced. This trend is far from being reversed at the present moment and, in 2005 alone, the immigrant population of Spain increased by 700.000 people. The growing population of immigrants is the main reason for the slight increase in Spain’s fertility rate. From 2002 through 2008 the Spanish population grew by 8%, of which 7% were foreign.

The native Canarians are the descendants of

the population of the Canary Islands prior to Spanish colonization in the 15th century. Also included are many Spaniard citizens who are descendants of people from Spain’s former colonies, mostly from Equatorial Guinea, Argentina, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Peru, Colombia, Morocco and the Philippines. There is also a sizable number of Spaniards of Eastern European, Maghrebian, Sub Saharan-African, South Asian and Middle Eastern descent.

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Native-born Spanish citizens of all ethnic Cantabria Santander groups make up 86% of the total population, while 14% are immigrants. Among the immigrants, around La Rioja Logroño 57% of them come from Spain’s former colonies in Ceuta Latin America (including those from Cuba, Argentina, Ceuta Ecuador, Puerto Rico, Chile and Uruguay), Africa Melilla and Philippines (Southeast Asia). The rest are mostly Melilla Eastern European (especially Romanians, Bulgarians, Russians, Serbians, Croatians, Bosnians, Ukrainians The top 20 largest cities from Spain can be seen in the and Albanians), North and West Africans (notably following table: Moroccans, Algerians, Senegalese, Guineans, Nigerians City Name Region Population and Cameroonians), Middle Eastern peoples (including Madrid 6.300.000 the Lebanese and Syrian communities), South Asians 1 Madrid (including Indians and Pakistanis), and Chinese, as Catalunia 4.800.000 well as a sizable number of citizens from the European 2 Barcelona Union, as of 2007 mostly Romanians, Bulgarians, 3 Valencia Valencia 1.570.000 British, Portuguese, Polish and Germans.

Communidad

Spain is divided into 19 regions as following: 4 Sevilla Andalusia 1.100.000

Region

Capital

Andalusia

Seville

Catalunia

Barcelona

Madrid

Madrid

Valencian Community

Valencia

Galicia

Santiago de Compostela

Castilla-Leon

Valladolid

Basque Country

Vitoria-Gasteiz

Castilla-La Mancha

Toledo

Canary Islands Murcia

Santa Cruz de Tenerife and Las Palmas Murcia

Aragon

5

Zaragoza

Aragon

680.000

6

Malaga

Andalusia

570.000

7

Murcia

Murcia

440.000

8

Palma de Mallorca Las Palmas

Balearic Islands

400.000

Canary Islands

390.000

10 Bilbao

Basque Country

350.000

11 Alicante

Valencia

335.000

12 Cordoba

Andalusia

330.000

13 Valladolid

Castilla-Leon

310.000

14 Vigo

Galicia

300.000

15 Gijon

Asturias

280.000

Zaragoza

16 L’Hospitalet

Catalunia

255.000

Extremadura

Mérida

17 La Coruña

Galicia

250.000

Balearic Islands

Palma

18 Vitoria-Gasteiz Basque Country

245.000

Asturias

Oviedo

19 Granada

Andalusia

240.000

Navarre

Pamplona

20 Elche

Valencia

230.000

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Spoken language in Spain by different groups

Spain’s regions

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Economy & Transportation Economy

Spain’s economy, as well as its population is the 5th largest economy in the EU and in absolute terms is among the 10 largest economies in the world. In relative terms, the Spanish economy is losing several positions in favour of the more populated states. Its target for economic growth, even if moderate, it exceeds those of its neighbours and European partners.

After the great growth of the late 1980’s, the Spanish economy entered into recession in 1992.

With the entry of Spain into the European Economic Community, the predecessor of the European Union on 1 January 1986, it became necessary the opening of the economy, the modernization of industry, improvement of the infrastructure and revision of the economic legislation to meet the EU requirements. By doing this, Spain has accelerated its GDP growth, reduced its public debt, unemployment fell from 23% to 15% in 3 years and brought the inflation level down to less than 3%.

The most important challenges for the Spanish economy are reducing the public deficit, a greater reduction in unemployment, a reform to be applied on the labor laws, reduction of inflation, an increase in productivity and an increase in GDP per capita.

The economy recovered since 1995, due to increased consumer confidence and private consumption, although this increase was less than in recent years. Unemployment is still a problem for Spain.

In 2005, the unemployment rate was 8,5%, nevertheless, the figure demonstrates a better situation toward previous levels. Devaluation of the peseta during the 1990’s made exports more competitive, but the force that the euro showed since it was adopted (at the end of 2003, 1 euro was equivalent to 1,25 $) provoked doubts in relation to the too high prices for foreign buyers.

This was compensated by the trade facilitation between the countries in the Eurozone. A chronic problem in Spain is the excessive growth of the prices for a house due to generalized estate speculation, the fashion of having a second house, massive British and German residential tourism, money laundering by the mafia, population growth due to immigration, the increase of municipalities funding and others.

The capital contributions from the EU, which 42

Cuatro Torres Business Area in Madrid

significantly helped the increase of the Spanish economy since its incorporation in the CEE, began to decline significantly in recent years due to the effects of the EU enlargement. On the one hand, funds from the CAP (Common Agricultural Policy) must be distributed among several countries (the new EU countries from Eastern Europe have a significant agricultural sector), on the other hand, the cohesion funds and the structural Funds will inevitably decline due to the economic success of Spain (income per capita has increased even more in absolute terms and Spain is now the 8th economy in the world) and the incorporation of countries with lower incomes, which cause a decrease in the Community average and makes the Spanish regions considered poor to enter now among the European average.

Spain is the second country in the world in terms of foreign tourists, according to data from the World Tourism Organization, hovering just behind France, and enjoys a market share of 7% of world tourism, ahead

Torre Agbar in Barcelona

Spain’s Export Tree Map

Manufacturing Statistics in Spain

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of the US and Italy. Tourism has brought Spain 37.500 million € in 2004, which places it number 2 in terms of revenue, behind the United States, who won 75.000 € in 2004 (12% of total), and ahead of France (33.900 €) and Italy (29.600 €).

Between January and November 2005 there were a total of 52,4 million foreign tourists, 6,2% more than those registered in the same period a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Trade. Catalonia is Spain’s leading tourist destination.

The 13,2 million tourists visiting Barcelona and its surroundings involve a total of 25,3% registered tourists in Spain, and has also increased from 12,7%, the previous year.

The second tourist destination of Spain is the Balearic Islands with 9,4 million tourists in the first 11 months of 2005, 1% more than the previous year.

Canary Islands, with 8,6 million tourists (1,6% less than the previous year), are the 3rd tourist destination ahead

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of Andalusia, which reached 7,6 million (plus 1,3%) and the Community of Valencia with 4,8 million (plus 9,5%). According to forecasts of the World Tourism Organization, the number of foreign tourists in Spain will increase on average by 5% per year over the next 20 years, which would mean 75 million foreign tourists in 2020, about 20 million more than in 2005.

The automotive industry is one of the largest employers in the country. In 2015, Spain was the 8th largest automobile producer country in the world and the 2nd largest car manufacturer in Europe after Germany. By 2016, the automotive industry was generating 8,7% of Spain’s GDP, employing about 9% of the manufacturing industry. By 2008 the automobile industry was the 2nd most exported industry while in 2015 about 80% of the total production was for export. German companies poured 4.8 billion € into Spain in 2015, making the country the second-largest destination for German foreign direct investment behind only the U.S.A. The

Olive oil producing areas of Spain

lion’s share of that investment, 4 billion €, went to the country’s auto industry.

Spanish electricity usage constituted 88% of the EU15 average (EU15: 7,409 kWh/person), and 73% of the OECD average (8,991 kWh/person). Spain is one of the world leaders in renewable energies, both as a producer of renewable energy itself and as an exporter of such technology. In 2013 it became the first country ever in the world to have wind power as its main source of energy.

Agribusiness has been another segment growing aggressively over the last few years. At slightly over 40 billion €, in 2015 agribusiness exports accounted for 3% of GDP and over 15% of the total Spanish exports. The boom was shaped during the 2004-2014 period, when Spain´s agribusiness exports grew by 95% led by pork, wine and olive oil. By 2012, Spain was by far the biggest producer of olive oil in the world, accounting for 50% of the total production worldwide. By 2013 the country became the world’s leading producer of wine. In 2014 and 2015, Spain was the world’s biggest wine exporter.

However, poor marketing and low margins remain an issue, as shown by the fact that the main importers of Spanish olive oil and wine (Italy and France) buy bulk Spanish produce which is then bottled and sold under Italian or French labels, often for a significant markup.

Spain is the largest producer and exporter in the EU of citrus fruit (oranges, lemons and small citrus fruits), peaches and apricots. It is also the largest producer and exporter of strawberries in the EU. Traditionally until 2008, most exports and imports from Spain were held with the countries of the European Union: France, Germany, Italy, UK and Portugal.

In recent years foreign trade has taken refuge outside the European Union. Spain’s main customers are Latin America, Asia (Japan, China, India), Africa (Morocco, Algeria, Egypt) and the United States of America. Principal products are imported in Asia: Japan, China, South Korea, Taiwan, as well as in African countries producing oil and gas (Nigeria, Algeria, Libya) and Morocco, and the Latin America Argentina, Mexico, Cuba (tourism) Colombia, Brazil, Chile (food products) and Mexico, Venezuela and Argentina (petroleum). After the crisis that began in 2008 and the fall of the domestic market, Spain has turned outwards widely increasing the export supply and export amounts.

Spain has diversified its traditional destinations and has grown significantly in product sales of medium and high technology, including highly competitive markets like the US and Asia.

Transportation

The Spanish road system is mainly centralized, with six highways connecting Madrid to the Basque Country, Catalonia, Valencia, West Andalusia, Extremadura and Galicia. Additionally, there are highways along the Atlantic (Ferrol to Vigo), Cantabrian (Oviedo to San Sebastián) and Mediterranean (Girona to Cádiz) coasts. Spain aims to put 1 million electric cars on the road by 2014 as part of the government’s plan to save energy and boost energy efficiency. The Minister of Industry, Miguel Sebastian said that “the electric vehicle is the future and the engine of an industrial revolution.”

Spain has the most extensive high-speed rail network in Europe, and the second-most extensive in the world after China. As of October 2010, Spain has a total of 3.500 km of high-speed tracks linking Málaga, Seville, Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia and Valladolid, with the trains reaching speeds up to 300 km/h. On average, the Spanish high-speed train is the fastest one in the world, followed by the Japanese bullet train and the French TGV. Regarding punctuality, it is second in the world (98,54% on-time arrival) after the Japanese Shinkansen (99%). Should the aims of the ambitious AVE programme (Spanish high speed trains) be met, by 2020 Spain will have 7.000 km of high-speed trains linking almost all provincial cities to Madrid in less than 3 hours and Barcelona within 4 hours.

Most railways are operated by RENFE, narrow gauge lines are operated by FEVE and other carriers in individual autonomous communities. It is proposed to build or convert more standard gauge lines, including some dual gauging of broad gauge lines, especially where these lines link to adjacent countries. A highspeed rail line (AVE) between Madrid and Seville was completed in 1992. In 2003, high-speed service was inaugurated on a new line from Madrid to Lleida and

Spanish bus in Salamanca

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M40 Highway outside Madrid

extended to Barcelona in 2008. The same year, lines from Madrid to Valladolid and from Córdoba to Málaga were inaugurated. In 2010, AVE line Madrid-CuencaValencia was inaugurated.

Spain also has numerous maritime communications, with more than 53 international ports on the Atlantic and Mediterranean coasts. In particular, the port of Algeciras, Spain’s only world class port has considered the movement to higher passenger and cargo. The port of Vigo is also one of the busiest in terms of cargo traffic, fish transport and frozen products. The Port of Seville is a unique port because of the river Guadalquivir that crosses the country.

The city is inside the mainland, but it is landlocked by the Guadalquivir River. The Port of Cadiz nearby is a strategic point for transportation of goods to the Canary Islands archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean. The Port of Barcelona, is the leader regarding Mediterranean cruise traffic and the second worldwide. One of the ferries from Algeciras to Ceuta is running almost every day across the year. The port of Valencia in Spain is the busiest seaport in the Mediterranean basin, 5th busiest in Europe and 30th busiest in the world. There are four other Spanish ports in the ranking of the top 100 busiest world seaports; as a result, Spain is tied with Japan in the third position of countries leading this ranking.

There are 47 public airports in Spain. The

busiest one is the airport of Madrid (Barajas), with 50 million passengers in 2011, being the world’s 15th busiest airport, as well as the European Union’s 4th busiest. Barajas has a role of a “hub” with linking

Madrid Metro

Madrid Metro Map

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Highspeed train operated by RENFE on Madrid-Barcelona route

Water transport activity in the port of Melilla

provincial capitals and abroad, especially in Europe and Latin America. The airport of Barcelona (El Prat) is also important, with 35 million passengers in 2011, being the world’s 31st busiest airport. Barcelona’s El Prat, after the inauguration of the new Terminal 1 in 2008, has a bigger capacity of passengers and aims to become the second largest airport in southern Europe.

Other main airports are located in Mallorca (23 million passengers), Málaga (13 million passengers), Las Palmas (Gran Canaria) with 11 million passengers, Alicante (10 million passengers) and smaller, with the number of passengers between 4 and 10 million, for example Tenerife (2 airports), Valencia, Seville, Bilbao, Ibiza, Lanzarote, Fuerteventura. Also, there are more than 30 airports with the number of passengers below 4 million.

There are municipal transport companies in each city. For example, the municipal transport company in Madrid is EMT with a fleet of 1.907 buses and a total of 203 lines of which 1 Airport Express line, 6 lines providing university service during the academic year and 26 night lines. The EMT buses provide service 365 days a year, 24 hours/day. To facilitate communication between different means of transport,

there are 10 travel tickets (Metrobus) of monthly or yearly subscriptions and valid for train, bus and subway.

Monthly subscriptions for young people up to 21 years have a considerable discount.

There are intercity buses and long distance buses that connect different cities of Spain. The main bus companies that serve long distance transport are ALSA and Avanza.

In the main cities of Spain there is Metro (Madrid, Barcelona, Bilbao, Malaga, Palma de Mallorca, Sevilla, Valencia). The Madrid Metro has an excellent infrastructure. Currently, it has 12 lines linking the city completely, plus 3 subway lines loosely (Metro Ligero) connecting the periphery. It has a very simple and clear system for using agility and speed. The Metro opens at 06:00 and closes at 01:30.

A lot of cities from Spain are using the tram.

Valencia was the first Spanish city to reintroduce the tram, in 1994. The success of the modern tramway network in Valencia led to the extension of its lines on three occasions. After Valencia, it came Bilbao (2002), Alicante (2003), Barcelona (2004) and in October 2006, the inauguration of the 4,7 km long Vélez-Málaga tramway (which linked Vélez-Málaga with the coastal part of Torre del Mar).

Then came Seville, where a tramway network named MetroCentro has been running since spring 2007, Tenerife (2007), Murcia (2007), the Madrid suburb of Parla (2007) and Vitoria (2008). In Tenerife, the tramway is operated by the company Metropolitano de Tenerife. It runs through and connects the cities of Santa Cruz de Tenerife and San Cristóbal de La Laguna, and has a fleet of 26 Citadis trams, made by the French multinational 47

Madrid Barajas Airport

Barcelona’s El Prat Airport

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Alstom. In Zaragoza, the commercial service began on 19 April 2011. Barcelona, for example has 7 tram lines, which seem quite recent. They are in operation for about 6 years. In Barcelona, the famous Tram Blau is the most well-known and it is short and blue, just like those in Lisbon. It was introduced just a few years, the idea being of improving the transport (If that would be needed, but it is easy to understand, given the number of tourists in Barcelona). This tram travels from Plaça John F. Kennedy to Plaça Dr Andreu. From the latter, you can take the cable car to Mount Tibidabo, another must see place in Barcelona. The tram is running from 20 to 20 minutes, between 7:45 and 20:50 every day.

Barcelona’s famous TramBlau

Bilbao Tram

Spanish Taxi’s waiting for their clients

Tram in Zaragoza

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Spanish Holidays

Culture Spanish Proverbs

1. To someone with good understanding, only a few words are necessary. (A buen entendedor, pocas palabras bastan.)

2. In the face of deeds done, present a full chest. (A lo hecho, pecho.)

3. Tell me who you are friends with and I´ll tell you who you are. (Dime con quién andas y te diré quién eres.)

4. Being alone is preferable to being in bad company.

(Más vale solo que mal acompañado.)

5. A full belly and a happy heart. (Barriga llena, corazón contento.)

6. Advice I sell and for myself have none. (Consejos vendo y para mí no tengo.)

7. Getting up very early won´t make the sun rise any sooner. (No por mucho madrugar amanece más temprano.)

8. Each madman on his high horse. (Cada loco con su tema.)

9. Everyone cuts firewood from the fallen tree. (Del árbol caído, todos hacen leña.)

10. In the land of the blind, the one-eyed is king. (En tierra de ciegos, el tuerto es rey.)

11. Better a bird in hand than a hundred in the sky.

(Más vale pájaro en mano que ciento volando.)

12. Weeds never die. (Hierba mala nunca muere.)

13. Shoemaker, to your shoes! (Zapatero, a tus zapatos!)

14. He who takes too much upon himself can’t do justice to all of his assumed duties. (Quien mucho abarca poco aprieta.)

15. A cat with mittens cannot hunt mice. (Gato con guantes no caza ratones.)

16. Better to be a mouse´s head than a lion’s tail. (Más vale ser cabeza de ratón que cola de león.)

17. Flies don´t enter a shut mouth. (En boca cerrada no entran moscas.)

18. In the blacksmith´s house, a wooden spoon. (En casa del herrero, cuchara de palo.)

19. God helps him who rises early. (A quien madruga, Dios le ayuda.)

20. In bad times, a face held high. (A mal tiempo, buena cara.)

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Period

Holiday

1 January 6 January 28 February 1 March

New Year’s Day (Año Nuevo) Epiphany (Día de Reyes / Epifanía del Señor) Día de Andalucía Dia de les Illes Balears

19 March

Saint Joseph’s Day (San José)

Variable Variable Variable 23 April 1 May 2 May

Maundy Thursday (Jueves Santo) Good Friday (Viernes Santo) Easter Monday (Lunes de Pascua) San Jorge (Día de Aragón y Día de Castilla y León) Labour Day (Día del Trabajador) Fiesta de la Comunidad de Madrid

17 May 30 May

Día das Letras Galegas Día de Canarias

31 May Variable

Día de la Región Castilla-La Mancha Corpus Christi

9 June

Día de la Región de Murcia y Día de La Rioja 24 June Saint John’s Day (Sant Joan) 25 July Saint James (Santiago Apóstol) 15 August Assumption (Asunción) 2 September Día de Ceuta 8 September Día de Asturias y Día de Extremadura 11 September Diada Nacional de Catalunya 15 September Día de Cantabria 9 October Dia de la Comunitat Valenciana 12 October Fiesta Nacional de España 25 October

Euskadi Eguna (in Basque country)

1 November

All Saints Day (Día de todos los Santos) Constitution Day (Día de la Constitución) Immaculate Conception (Inmaculada Concepción) Christmas (Navidad) Saint Stephen’s Day (Sant Esteve) Feast of the Sacrifice or Eid al-Adha (Celebración del Sacrificio)

6 December 8 December 25 December 26 December Variable

Bullfighting is a true spectacle in Spain

Spanish Costumes (1500-1600)

Flamenco Dancer

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Spanish Empire Allegory

Siesta is one of the most important parts of the day (by Ramon MartĂ­ i Alsina)

52

Semana Santa (Holy Week) in Zaragoza

Spanish People are absolutely crazy about football

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Spanish personalities

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pablo picasso

Pablo Picasso (b. 25 October 1881 in Malaga, Spain - d. 8 April 1973 in Mougins, France) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist, stage designer, poet and playwright who spent most of his adult life in France. Regarded as one of the greatest and most influential artists of the 20th century, he is known for co-founding the Cubist movement, the invention of constructed sculpture, the co-invention of collage, and for the wide variety of styles that he helped develop and explore. Among his most famous works are the protoCubist Les Demoiselles d’Avignon (1907), and Guernica (1937), a portrayal of the Bombing of Guernica by the German and Italian air forces at the behest of the Spanish nationalist government during the Spanish Civil War.

Painting was part of Picasso’s life and at the same time, his life meant art. Pablo Picasso was born in Malaga, region of Andalusia as José Ruiz Blasco’s son, a painter and professor at the School of Fine Arts in Malaga and his wife, Maria Picasso y López. Pablito’s talent stands out since childhood and as a teenager, he amazes his teachers at the Institute of Fine Arts in La Coruna, although he was hardly able to bear the rigor of tradition and academic education. In 1895, the family moved to Barcelona. His father gave him his brushes, a gesture through which he recognizes the young boy’s talent. Young Picasso continues his studies at the School of Fine Arts in Barcelona (1896) and at the Academy of Painting in Madrid (1897-1898). In 1900, Pablo, aged 19 years old, exhibits his first works in the Els Quatre Gats (“The Four Cats”) cafe in Barcelona, where the artistic vanguard and intellectuals of Catalunya’s capital gather.

In 1901, Pablo begins to sign his works with his mother’s name, believing that Picasso “sounds very good.” He spent the following years traveling between Spain and France. In Paris, Picasso is influenced by the works of Auguste Renoir and Claude Monet. He exhibits some paintings at Ambroise Vollard’s gallery, where he meets painter Max Jacob, with whom he will have a lasting friendship.

In 1904, Picasso decides to settle permanently in Paris, in an old house, known as “Bateau Lavoir”, where students, painters, sculptors and actors used to live. At first, he paints sad pictures, using cold blue tones (it’s the so called blue period), expressing loneliness, suffering and poverty, reflecting an affective melancholic mood.

Pablo Picasso

Pablo Picasso in 1908

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Pablo meets Fernande Olivier, a young and elegant brunette, with whom he falls in love and will live together.

Then, in Picasso’s canvases, the open shades started to dominate (it’s his so called pink period).

Fascinated by the universe of harlequins, acrobats and clowns, he used to go often to a nearby circus where he could find reasons for his paintings. He spends the summer of 1905 in a village in the Pyrenees with Fernande. There, he works at the paintings that will mark the beginning of his “primitive period” of creation.

Picasso deviates from the classic, figurative way of presenting the human face, being more interested in the Iberian sculpture before the Roman domination, and thus, he starts painting models exclusively from his imagination. This process is crowned by the painting “Les Demoiselles d’Avignon” (1907), which foretells the birth of Cubism.

Between 1908 and 1914, along with Georges Braque, Picasso draws forth a revolutionary way of treating forms, which will gain the name of “Cubism”, from critic Louis Vauxcelles’ article: “... they despise forms, they reduce everything: from places, faces, houses to elementary geometric shapes, like cubes”. In reality, Picasso and Braque tried to represent threedimensional objects on a two-dimensional surface of the painting without using any illusionist means, bringing together the shape and the surface by using the means of a painting without distinctions between the foreground and background in perspective.

The objects are divided into elementary parts, only to be rebuilt again on the painted surface. Since 1912, Picasso used the “Collages” method (pasted paper, from the French: collage, papiers colles), the cubism entering thus into the so-called “synthetic phase”. Thus Picasso managed to accentuate even further the gap between the surface of the painting and the relief of the represented objects.

These years would represent a turning point for Picasso. The manner of painting and his financial situation radically changed. The prices of his paintings grew and he will never know the feeling of poverty again.

Picasso rented a house in the bourgeois Montparnasse district, where he moved with his new girlfriend, Marcelle Humbert. In 1915, he met writer Jean Cocteau and Sergei Diaghilev, avant-garde ensemble leader of “Les Ballets Russes”. Picasso designed the sets and costumes for the ballet “Parade” (1917), staged by Jean Cocteau. Pablo went to Rome with the ballet dancers and fell in love with dancer Olga Koklova, whom he 56

married in the summer of 1918.

During his trip to Italy, Pablo Picasso visits the city of Napoli and the ancient ruins of Pompeii, where he admires the Roman murals. Picasso reintroduced the figurative compositions style, represented in a naturalist manner with contrasts of light and shadow. His elegant drawing sometimes only limits at the representation of the women or children’s body contours (“Seated Nude”, 1923). The use of light colours recalls his pink period (“Harlequin with folded hands”, 1923). For Pablo, it is a time of quiet family life and work. In 1921, his first child is born, Paul. Soon, however, the relation between the couple broke. Picasso began an affair with MarieThérèse Walter.

In 1925, Picasso participated with his painting, “Three dancers”, at the first surrealist exhibition in Paris.

Picasso wasn’t an artist in the surreal sense and he hasn’t been part of the Parisian circle formed around André Breton. However, he is sometimes regarded as surreal by the fact that his work doesn’t reflect a tangible reality, but renders an internal representation (“Painter”, 1933 and “Nude in the middle of a landscape”, 1933). During this time, Picasso painted a cycle, devoted to bullfighting (“Bullfight: Death of a Toreador”, 1933) and resumed the ancient myth of the Minotaur, which symbolized virility.

Woman in Armchair

“Les Demoiselles d’Avignon”, probably Picasso’s most famous work

In 1935, he splits from Olga Koklova. Pablo met Dora Maar, a painter and photographer, who had many friends in the circle of the surrealists. In his new love, the painter finds an intellectual correlation which he lacked until then. However, he will not leave MarieThérèse and will divide his life between the two women.

After the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War, Picasso pronounced for the Republican government.

In July 1937, the “World Expo” took place in Paris.

Picasso’s painting “Guernica”, exhibited in the Spanish

pavilion was dedicated to the Basque town of Guernica, which was bombed by the German aviation. This work marks the beginning of the artist’s political engagement, which will culminate with the inclusion in the French Communist Party in 1944. During the German occupation of Paris, Picasso’s studio in rue des Grands Augustins became a meeting point for artists and writers, as Jean-Paul Sartre or Raymond Queneau.

In 1946, Picasso leaves Dora Maar. He actually started a relationship with the young painter Françoise 57

Gilot, whom he had known three years earlier. They moved together in southern France. Since 1948, he will live in Vallauris, where Picasso consecrated to sculpture, ceramics and lithography. In 1949, his daughter, Paloma, was born, whose name recalls the famous “dove” on the poster of the World Peace Congress. In 1953, Pablo separated from Françoise and withdrew from the Communist Party, but ends up with a new romance, Jacqueline Roque. Jacqueline was 26 years old when they married in 1961. In 1963, the “Picasso Museum” opens in Barcelona, which will later include most of his works. Pablo Picasso died on 8 April 1973 in Mougins, near Cannes, at the age of 91 years old. Picasso transformed his life into a legend. After years spent among bohemians in Montmartre, he has become, thanks to its innovative genius and spirit, but also because of his famous friendships and amorous adventures, the most famous painter of the 20th century.

Picasso was one of the 250 sculptors who exhibited in the 3rd International Sculpture held at the Philadelphia Museum of Art in the middle of the year 1949. In the 1950’s, Picasso’s style changed once again, as he took to producing reinterpretations of the art of the great masters. He made a series of works based on Velázquez’s painting of “Las Meninas”. He also based paintings on works by Goya, Poussin, Manet, Courbet and Delacroix. He was commissioned to make a

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maquette for a huge 15 meters, high public sculpture to be built in Chicago, known usually as “The Chicago Picasso”. He approached the project with a great deal of enthusiasm, designing a sculpture which was ambiguous and somewhat controversial. What the figure represents is not known. It could be a bird, a horse, a woman or a totally abstract shape. The sculpture is one of the most recognizable landmarks in downtown Chicago and was unveiled in 1967. Picasso refused to be paid 100,000 $ for it, donating them to the people of the city.

Picasso’s final works were a mixture of styles, his means of expression in constant flux until the end of his life. Devoting his full energies to his work, Picasso became more daring, his works more colourful and expressive, and from 1968 to 1971, he produced a torrent of paintings and hundreds of copperplate etchings.

At the time, these works were dismissed by most as pornographic fantasies of an impotent old man or the slapdash works of an artist who was past his prime.

Only later, after Picasso’s death, when the rest of the art world had moved on from abstract expressionism, did the critical community come to see that Picasso had already discovered Neo-Expressionism and was, as so often before, ahead of his time.

From the beginning of his career, Picasso displayed an interest in subject matter of every kind and demonstrated a great stylistic versatility that

Guernica (1937)

enabled him to work in several styles at once. For example, his paintings of 1917 included the pointillist “Woman with a Mantilla”, “The Cubist Figure in an Armchair”, and the naturalistic “Harlequin”, all of them being exhibited nowadays in the Museu Picasso, Barcelona. In 1919, he made a number of drawings from postcards and photographs that reflect his interest in the stylistic conventions and static character of posed photographs. In 1921, he simultaneously painted several large neoclassical paintings and two versions of the Cubist composition, “Three Musicians”, exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, respectively at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. In an interview published in 1923, Picasso said: “The several manners I have used in my art must not be considered as an evolution, or as steps towards an unknown ideal of painting ... If the subjects I have wanted to express have suggested different ways of expression I have never hesitated to adopt them.”

Although his Cubist works approached abstraction, Picasso never relinquished the objects of the real world as subject matter. Prominent in his Cubist paintings are forms easily recognized as guitars, violins, and bottles. When Picasso depicted complex narrative scenes, it was usually in prints, drawings, and smallscale works. “Guernica”, painted in 1937 is one of his few large narrative paintings.

Picasso painted mostly from imagination or memory. According to William Rubin, Picasso

Garçon à la pipe (1905), a painting from Picasso’s pink period

“Could only make great art from subjects that truly involved him ... Unlike Matisse, Picasso had eschewed models virtually all his mature life, preferring to paint individuals whose lives had both impinged on, and had real significance for, his own.” Art critic, Arthur Danto said Picasso’s work constitutes a “vast pictorial autobiography” that provides some basis for the popular conception that “Picasso invented a new style each time he fell in love with a new woman”. The autobiographical nature of Picasso’s art is reinforced by his habit of dating his works, often to the day. He explained: “I want to leave to posterity a documentation that will be as complete as possible. That’s why I put a date on everything I do.”

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Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra

Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (b. 29 September 1547 in Alcalá de Henares, Spain - d. 22 April 1616 in Madrid, Spain) is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the Spanish language and one of the world’s pre-eminent novelists. His major work, Don Quixote, considered to be the first modern novel, is a classic of Western literature, and is regarded amongst the best works of fiction ever written. His influence on the Spanish language has been so great that the language is often called la lengua de Cervantes (the language of

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Cervantes). He has also been dubbed El príncipe de los ingenious (The Prince of Wits).

Miguel was baptized on 9 October 1547 in the parish of Santa María la Mayor. His birth certificate reads: “On Sunday, the ninth day of October in the year of the Lord one thousand five hundred forty-seven, Miguel was baptized, son of Rodrigo Cervantes and his wife, Doña Leonor. Reverend Serrano Bartolomé baptized him. According to people like Américo Castro, Daniel Eisenberg and others, Cervantes’ both parents had ancestors from Cordoba, but this theory is not supported unanimously. It should be mentioned that the surname “Saavedra” does not appear in any document in Cervantes’ youth, nor was used by his brothers. Initially, his official names were “Miguel de Cervantes Cortinas”,

Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra

the name “Saavedra” being added only after his release from an Algerian prison, presumably to distinguish himself from a certain “Miguel de Cervantes Cortinas” who had fallen out of favor with the royal Court.

His father, had his ancestors in Galicia and was called Rodrigo de Cervantes. He was a barber-surgeon, but at that time the term had another meaning. By 1551, Rodrigo de Cervantes moved with his family at Valladolid. Because of debts, he was imprisoned for several months and his goods have been seized. In 1556, he went to Córdoba in order to take up the legacy of Juan de Cervantes, the writer’s grandfather, and to escape from creditors. There is no precise data regarding Cervantes’ early study years, but undoubtedly he did not manage to register at the University. However, it seems that he might have studied in Valladolid, Córdoba and Sevilla. It’s also possible that he studied in the “Company of Jesus” because his novella “El coloquio de los perros” (“Colloquium dogs”) starts with a description of the Jesuit college, which seems to be an allusion to his student life.

In 1566, he established in Madrid. He assists at the grammar classes taught by Professor Juan López de Hoyos, who in 1569, published a book about the illness and death of Queen Isabel de Valois, the third wife of Philip II of Spain. López de Hoyos included in the book three poems written by Cervantes, whom he called on one occasion “our precious and beloved disciple”. These were his first literary manifestations. In those years, Cervantes discovered his passion for theater, seeing representations of Lope de Rueda and, as stated in the second part of “Don Quijote” through the mouth of the main character, “he was attracted to the world of actors.”

It seems that Cervantes decided to seek refuge in Italy after he was charged of injuring in a duel a certain Antonio Sure, an action that made King Philip II of Spain very angry. He arrived in Rome in December 1569. There, he read the chivalrous poems of Ludovico Ariosto and the “Dialogues of love” of Sephardic Jew, León Hebreo, of Neo-Platonic inspiration that would shape the conception of love for Cervantes. The writer is influenced by the style of those writers and by the Italian art in general, as demonstrated by one of his short stories “El licenciado Vidriera” (the title alludes to a very delicate and shy person) and by other allusions scattered throughout the his opera.

Cervantes entered in the service of Giulio Acquaviva, who became cardinal in 1570 and the writer probably knew him from Madrid. The two went together to Palermo, Milan, Florence, Venice, Parma and Ferrara.

Afterwards, Cervantes was employed as a soldier in the company of Captain Diego de Urbina, embarking on the “Marquesa” galley. On 7 October 1571, Miguel de Cervantes participated in the Battle of Lepanto in the Christian army led by Don Juan of Austria (half-brother of the Spanish King Felipe II). An official report drawn up eight years later would say: “When the Turkish army could already be seen in the naval battle mentioned earlier, Miguel de Cervantes felt sick and had a fever, and the captain ... and many friends told him that if he was sick and had a fever, he ought to stay in his room in the galley. The earlier mentioned Miguel de Cervantes replied that what was to be said about him, and that he shouldn’t do this, and that he preferred to die fighting for God and the King, instead of remaining healthy and hiding ... and he fought with courage in the battle with the Turks at the place where they landed, listening to the captain’s orders, together with other soldiers. And once the battle finished, knowing how well Miguel de Cervantes fought, Don Juan increased his fee by four ducats ... From that naval battle, he came out wounded by two arrows in the chest and in the hand, remaining thus crippled.”

Hence the nickname “The Crippled from Lepanto” (in Spanish - “el manco de Lepanto”). In reality, his left arm wasn’t amputated, but it was stiffed after a piece of plumb severed a nerve and he could not move his arm so easily. It seems that those injuries were not too serious because six months after hospitalization in Messina, Cervantes resumed military life in 1572. He was part of the naval expeditions in Navarino (1572), Corfu, Bizerta and Tunis (1573). All these expeditions were made under the command of Captain Manuel Ponce de León, in the regiment of Lope de Figueroa, mentioned in the dramatic work “El alcalde de Zalamea” (“The Mayor of Zalamea”) by Pedro Calderón de la Barca.

Then, Miguel passed through cities from Sicily and Sardinia, Genoa and Lombardy. He stationed two years in Napoli until 1575. Cervantes has always been proud of his participation in the Battle of Lepanto, which was for him, as he would write in the preface of the second part of “Don Quijote”, “the greatest opportunity he had seen in the past centuries, the present, and doesn’t even hope to be able to see in the future.”

While returning from Napoli to Spain aboard the Sol galley, a small Turkish fleet, commanded by Arnaut Mami, made Miguel de Cervantes and his brother, Rodrigo, prisoners on 26 September 1575, in the area of what is now called Costa Brava and they were taken in Algeria. Cervantes was sold as a slave to Greek 61

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Painting of Miguel de Cervantes at the Museo del Prado, Madrid, Spain

renegade, Dali Mami. The fact that recommendation letters were found upon him, signed by Don Juan of Austria and the Duke of Sessa, made the kidnappers believe that Cervantes was a very important person and that they could get a good reward. They asked for 500 gold “escudos” in exchange for his freedom. In the five years in prison, Cervantes, a man with strong spirit and highly motivated, tried to escape four times. To avoid reprisals against his detention colleagues, it was said that he took every time the sole responsibility. He preferred to be tortured rather than being a traitor. Information on his years of detention came from official reports and from the words of Cervantes, as well as from a book that proved to be written by the great writer, in which he may have exaggerated his gestures of heroism.

The first escape attempt failed because the Moor that was supposed to lead Cervantes and his colleagues at Oran, abandoned them in the first day.

The prisoners had to return to Algeria, where they were again placed in chains and observed more closely than before. Meanwhile, Cervantes’ mother managed to gather a certain amount of ducats, which proved to be insufficient to release both of her sons. Miguel preferred to set free his brother Rodrigo, who arrived in Spain, and devised a plan to release his brother and the other prisoners. Cervantes reunited with the other prisoners in a hidden cave, waiting for the coming of a Spanish galley. The galley came but failed to approach the coast and eventually was captured. The Christians hid in a cave, were discovered thanks to the betrayal of one of them, nicknamed “el Dorador”. Cervantes was declared solely responsible for organizing the escape and the Turkish governor of Algeria decided to put Cervantes in chain and close him in a well-kept place, where he would remain for five months.

The third escape plan was conceived by Cervantes in order to get to Oran overland. He sent there a Moorish believer with letters to General Martín de Córdoba, in which he explained the plan and asked for a guide. Unfortunately, the messenger was caught and the letters were discovered. They clearly showed that Miguel de Cervantes had planned everything. He was sentenced to receive two thousand blows, but the sentence was not executed because many spoke in his support. The last escape attempt occurred thanks to a sum of money which was handed to him by a Venetian merchant who was at the time in Algeria. Cervantes has acquired a frigate capable of carrying sixty prisoners.

When everything was already arranged, one of which had to be freed, former Dominican doctor Juan Blanco

Portrait of Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra

de Paz, unveiled the plan to the Turkish governor. As a reward, the traitor obtained a “escudo” and a jar of lard. The Governor moved Cervantes to a safer prison, in his palace. Thereafter, he decided to take him to Constantinople, where the escape would have been impossible.

In May 1580, two representatives of the Christian order called “Trinitarian Fathers” , which dealt with the issue of detainees arrived in Algeria. They sometimes accepted to take themselves prisoners in exchange for freeing the captives. The monks Antonio de la Bella and Juan Gil had just 300 hundred escudos and tried to liberate Cervantes, for who it was asked 500. The monk appealed to the Christians merchants that were present in the area to gather the missing amount. They managed it just when the governor was preparing to leave for Constantinople on 19 September 1580, and Cervantes was released. Miguel arrived in Spain on 24 October and was stationed for a while in Valencia, and in November or December he returned with his family to Madrid.

In May 1581, Cervantes moved to Portugal, where the headquarters of the Court of Philip II of Spain 63

Cover of Cervantes on a 19th century German history of literature book

were located, in order to find a way to rebuild his life and to pay the debts incurred by his family to release him from Algeria. He was sent to a secret mission in Oran, because he had more knowledge on the culture and customs of North Africa. For his work, he received 50 escudos. It returned to Lisbon, late, was headed to Madrid. In February 1582, he unsuccessfully applied to fill a vacant position in the Indies. All these years, the writer had an amorous relationship with Ana Villafranca de Rojas, wife of Alonso Rodríguez, an Innkeeper. This relationship resulted in a daughter named Isabel de Saavedra, which the writer recognized.

On 12 December 1584, Cervantes married Catalina de Salazar y Palacios in a village in the province of Toledo. Catalina was a young woman who wasn’t even in her 20’s and didn’t have much of a dowry. It is considered that this marriage was not only sterile, but simply a failure. After two years of marriage, Cervantes began his long journey through Andalusia. It’s very likely that Cervantes had written his first important literary work, “La Galatea” between 1581 and 1583, a book published in Alcalá de Henares in 1585. Until then, Cervantes published a few compositions in verse, as part of some poets’ anthologies. “La Galatea” 64

appeared to be divided into six chapters, representing only the “first part” of the work. Cervantes promised to continue. However, it never got printed. In the preface, the work is described as a “pastoral poem” and the author insists about his eternal passion for poetry. It is in fact a pastoral novel, a species introduced into Spain

by Jorge de Montemayor. Influences of Cervantes as a soldier in Italy can be easily detected in the novel.

The matrimonial never lasted. He divorced his wife after two years of marriage, without having had any children. Cervantes does not mention his wife in all of his many autobiographical texts, although he is the one who introduced the topic of divorce into Spanish literature through means called “Judger of divorces”, impossible in a Catholic country. The matrimonial was allegedly unhappy, although the author claims that “the worst concert is worth more than the best divorce”.

In 1587, Cervantes travelled to Andalusia as Commissioner of supply for the Invincible Armada.

During his years as commissioner, he made countless times the way between Madrid and Andalusia, passing through Castile-La Mancha. This is the itinerary of Rinconete and Cortadillo. He established himself at Sevilla and went to work as a collector of taxes, a job that will attract a lot of trouble because he was instructed to go from house to house and raise taxes, mostly for spending in the wars that Spain was involved in. He is imprisoned in 1597 in the Royal Prison of Seville, following the collapse of the bank where Cervantes deposited the taxes. The writer was accused of appropriation of public funds, some people finding some irregularities in calculations that he was responsible for. Don Quijote was “designed” in prison, or at least that is what Cervantes wrote in the preface, but it is not clear whether or not he began to write while he was incarcerated. The other detention of Cervantes was a very short one in Castro del Río (Córdoba).

In 1604 he settled in Valladolid, then the Royal Court of Philip III of Spain and in 1605 he published the first part of his masterpiece, “El ingenioso hidalgo don Quijote de la Mancha”. The book marked the beginning of realism as an aesthetic literary and created the species called modern novel, a polyphonic novel that will have a remarkable influence by cultivating what has been called “an unleashed writing” in which the artist can manifest in “epic, lyric , tragic, comic”, with an apparent ingenuity, making a parody of all the other genres. The second part, “El ingenioso caballero don Quijote de la Mancha” didn’t appear until 1615. Both parts allowed the author to enter in the history of universal literature

and turned him it into a canonic Western literature author, along with Dante, Shakespeare, Michel de Montaigne or Goethe.

Between the two parts of Don Quijote, the Exemplary novels” occur 1613. It is a group of twelve short narratives he composed some years before, which showed great originality. In them, the author explores various narrative formulas. For “El celoso extremeño” (“The Jealous of Extremadura”), a second version was kept, revised by Cervantes. It would have been enough just the “Exemplary novels” for Cervantes to be recognized as one of the greatest authors of the Castilian language.

Cervantes was also occupied by literary criticism. This appeared in “La Galatea” in “Don Quijote” and in a book of his own, “Viaje del Parnaso” (“Journey of Parnassus”), a long poem based on sestet.

In 1615, he published “Ocho comedias y ocho entremeses nueuos”, but his dramas, very popular today, “La Numancia” and “El trato de Argel” remained unknown until the 18th century.

Cervantes’s influence in literature was so great that modern Spanish was called Statues of Don Quijote de la Mancha and Sancho Panza in Plaza de España, Madrid “the language of Cervantes”.

While 23 April 1616 was recorded as the date of Alonso, a modern physician who has examined the his death in some references, and is the date on which surviving documentation, was type-2 diabetes, a result his death is widely commemorated, along with that of of a cirrhosis of the liver. This is the best explanation for William Shakespeare, Cervantes in fact died in Madrid the intense thirst he complained of. The cirrhosis was the previous day, 22 April. He was buried on 23 April. not caused by alcoholism. Cervantes was too productive, The cause of his death, according to Antonio López especially in his final years, to have been an alcoholic.

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francisco goya

Francisco Goya (b. 30 March 1746 in Fuendetodos, Aragon, Spain - d. 16 April 1828 in Bordeaux, France) was a Spanish romantic painter and printmaker. He is considered the most important Spanish artist of late 18th and early 19th centuries and throughout his long career was a commentator and chronicler of his era. Immensely successful in his lifetime, Goya is often referred to as both the last of the Old Masters and the first of the moderns.

Francisco de Goya was born in Fuendetodos, a small village in the Aragon region in northern Spain.

Soon the family will establish at Zaragoza, the capital of the Aragon province. Goya followed the Jesuits school after which he entered as an apprentice in the workshop of painter José Luzán Martinez, where he will practice the art of drawing by copying engravings. In 1763, he tried to join the Royal Academy of San Fernando in Madrid, but was rejected. He continued his artistic development under the direction of Francisco Bayeu.

In 1773, Goya married Josefa, the younger sister of his master. Goya will try once again to enter at the San Fernando Academy in 1766, but he will again be rejected. In 1795, he will be appointed as director of this institution.

By the end of 1769, Goya will go to Rome, where he will remain until June 1771. In Italy, he received a scholarship from the Academy of Parma, which ambitioned him to continue his artistic work, so that on his return to Spain, Goya already hold a master certificate. He establishes in Zaragoza and decorates the Sobradiel palace, paints a mural on the small dome of the cathedral El Pilar and performs a cycle of paintings for the monks from Aula Dei.

Since 1774, Goya was part of a team of painters, which under the leadership of Francisco Bayeu were preparing tapestries projects designed for the royal palaces of Madrid and Escorial. Soon, however, he began to paint after his own ideas. Thus, in 1781, he painted the altar of San Francesco Grande in Madrid. After Francisco painted the portrait of Count Floridablanca in 1783, the count introduces the artist to the highest spheres and presents him in front of the young brother of the king, Don Luis, who appoints the painter to execute his family portrait. Beginning from 1785, Goya will be the favorite painter of Prince Osuna, who asked the 66

Francisco de Goya

painter for several works, becoming, along with King, the greatest patron of the artist. Formal recognition will come in 1786, when he becomes painter of the Royal Court, with a pension of 15.000 reals per year. In 1788, the new king of Spain, Charles IV, maintained Goya in this position.

In 1792, the artist gets sick from a disease which is unknown. After a convalescence period spent in Andalusia, the painter returns to Madrid, but was and remained deaf. The disease has affected the physical and mental state of the painter, which is reflected in his art: it gains inner strength and becomes more expressive.

Only now the true genius of Goya is born. In 1795, Francisco Goya met the Duchess of Alba. The beautiful lady, who was left a widow, invited him to her residence in Andalusia, at Sanlácar, located near Cadiz. The Duchess proves inconsistent in her feelings, however, and the idyll doesn’t last long. Goya’s works from this period show a sharp maliciously critical sense. With his brush he will mock everyone, even the royal persons. A proof of these actions is for instance the famous painting “Portrait of the family of Charles IV” during the years 1800-1801. The artist saw the Spanish monarchy with a lucid eye. Writer Ernest Hemingway exclaimed at the sight of the painting: “On each of these faces Goya printed his contempt towards them. You have to be a genius to convince the King of the opposite, too stupid

La Maja Vestida

Hasta La Muerte”, one of the most famous paintings of Goya

indeed to notice that the court painter condemns them in the eyes of the whole world”. Indeed, the artist exposed the prominent vanity and mediocrity of the portrayed persons.

In his state duties, but also in the conjugal ones, the King is replaced by Manuel Godoy, his young and ambitious prime minister. For this perky man, hated by the Spanish people who called him “The butcher” (“chorizero”), Goya painted the famous paintings “La Maja Desnuda” (“Naked Maja”, 1799-1800) and “La Maja Vestidos” (“Dressed Maja”, 1800-1803). “Maja Desnuda” is one of the rare Spanish nude paintings and is also one of the most famous. Unlike “Venus Rokeby” of Velázquez, Goya presents the nakedness openly, almost challenging. The clear and direct felt sensuality can’t leave the viewer indifferent. Precisely for this reason, Godoy ordered a more conventional canvas of the same dimensions, showing a clothed Maja and covering the naked picture of Maja with it. The ruse was discovered in 1813 and the Inquisition confiscated both paintings. The identity of the painted person was surrounded by an aura of legends. For a long period it was told that the artist used as a model the Duchess of Alba, changing her physiognomy, the beautiful head of the woman giving the impression that it was stuck to the body, like Goya painted the lover’s body in such a way that it can’t be recognized by other eyes. Probably Goya used as a model one Godoy’s ramparts, but legends have a long life.

Besides the paintings executed for custom 67

persons, the painter has done engravings on thematic cycles. In “Los Caprichos” (“Caprices”, 1797-1799), in a total number of eighty prints, the artist shows fantasies which come to life when reason falls asleep and man’s will is governed by silliness, indignity, pain and unbridled desires. In the years 1810-1815, it followed a second cycle, “Los desastres de la guerra” (“Horrors of War”), during the war with Napoleonic France and the bloody suppression of the revolt in Madrid. The repression of the rebels will be subject to two famous paintings: “2 May 1808”, during the Massacre in Madrid, painted in 1814 and “3 May 1808”, during the shooting of the Madrid rebels, painted in 1814.

In late 1807, the French armies occupied Spain and Napoleon placed on the Spanish throne his brother, Joseph. Like many contemporaries across Europe, Goya thought at first that the reign of Napoleon will lead to the spread of revolutionary ideas and the democratization of Spain. These hopes were deleted by the war that will last until 1814, until the withdrawal of the French troops. After the return to the throne of King Ferdinand VII, the artist had to demonstrate that during the French government he remained faithful to the Spanish crown. The last work which has been commissioned to the painter by the King, for the cathedral of Seville, will be executed in 1817.

Francisco Goya’s wife, Josefa, died on 20 June 1819. A year later, he will move near Madrid, where

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he buys a house, which will name it with a sense of black humor “Quinta del Sordo” (“House of the deaf ”), accompanied by Leocadia Weiss, who became his companion for life after the death of Josefa. The artist lives isolated from the world, his style becomes serious, the satire from his painting “Old women” (or “Hasta la Muerte”, 1808-1810) takes on macabre features in a cycle of fourteen gruesome scenes (1821-1823): “Two old men eating soup ‘’, “Saturn devouring his children” and so on, producing a stunningly depressing impression, often downright unbearable. In his creation, the roads of art and beauty were separated, the painted themes required other aesthetic categories, including “Ugly”.

The artist’s gaze transforms the horror reality into works full of drama and cruelty.

In 1823, Ferdinand VII requires help to the French army to defeat the revolution that broke out in Madrid. In 1824, Goya goes to Plombières-les-Bains, a resort in the Vosges Mountains. After a month of visiting Paris, he establishes at Bordeaux. The fact that he was abroad didn’t weak his creative force. Goya painted bullfight scenes, portraits (“Milkmaid of Bordeaux”, 1827) and realized thumbnails. In the spring of 1825, Francisco gets sick and three years later, on 16 April 1828, he dies in Bordeaux. The artist’s remains will return to Spain at the end of the First World War. From Francisco Goya remained the well-known phrase: “The sleep of reason produces monsters”.

Dos viejos comiendo sopa

The Family of the Duke of Osuna

Saturno devorando a su hijo

Charles IV of Spain and His Family

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Salvador dali

Salvador Dali (b. 11 May 1904 in Figueres, Catalonia, Spain - d. 23 January 1989 in Figueres, Catalonia, Spain) was a prominent Spanish surrealist painter. Dalí was a skilled draftsman, best known for the striking and bizarre images in his surrealist work.

His painterly skills are often attributed to the influence of Renaissance masters. His best known work, The Persistence of Memory, was completed in August 1931. Dalí’s expansive artistic repertoire included film, sculpture, and photography, in collaboration with a range of artists in a variety of media. Dalí attributed his “love of everything that is gilded and excessive, my passion for luxury and my love of oriental clothes” to an “Arab lineage”, claiming that his ancestors were descended from the Moors.

Since he was just a child, Salvador Dalí showed great interest for painting, his first attempts were on cardboard boxes for hats, received from his aunt, a seamstress luxury. The family lived in Figueres, but one summer, his parents sent him to Moule de la Torre, to one of their friends, Ramon Pichot, an impressionist painter. Convinced of Salvador’s talent, Pichot suggests the young man to continue his studies in Madrid. In 1918, the first exhibition of his works in the local theater of Figueres would take place.

In 1921, Salvador Dalí enters the Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando in Madrid, where he befriends Federico García Lorca and Luis Buñuel, but disappointed by the teaching system, he incites students to protests and is expelled from school. He starts wearing whiskers, shorts, long coats, felt hats and starts smoking from pipes. He is interested in the Italian futurists, then by the “School of Metaphysics” of Giorgio De Chirico, which will greatly influence his artistic development, especially the passionate readings of Freud which awakened his vocation for the unconscious manifestations in art.

In 1926 he goes to Paris, where he comes into contact with the intellectual atmosphere of the French capital at that time full of surreal effervescence and gets acquainted with André Breton, Pablo Picasso, Joan Miró and Paul Eluard. In this surrealist circle, he befriends especially with French writer René Crevel, who will dedicate the painter a booklet entitled Dalí o el antioscurantismo in 1931.

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Salvador Dali

Dalí is excited by the surrealist movement, in which he sees the possibility of the development of his exuberant imagination united with a technical virtuosity of drawing and colour. Because of his behavior, in 1934 he is expelled from the Surrealist artists group, which did not prevent him from believing that he is the only artist capable of capturing the “surreal forms.” As an alternative to the “psychic automatism” advocated by Breton, Salvador Dalí used his own style as “paranoicocritical method”, which he defines as “a spontaneous method of irrational knowledge which consists in the critical interpretation of delusional reveries” Thus, the images that the artist is trying to fix on canvas derives from the cloudy bustle of the unconscious (paranoia) and manages to take shape only through the rationalization of delirium (the critical moment).

From this method resulted extraordinary fantasy and full of stupefaction images. The adopted technique is the Renaissance painting, from which Salvador borrows only the drawing accuracy and chromaticism, but not the formal balance. In his paintings, the illusionistic effects prevail and a thematic complexity that reminds about the emphasis and the exuberance of Iberian baroque. Dalí used large spaces that included a

Geopoliticus Child Watching the Birth of the New Man

large amount of elements: people, animals, objects, in an irrational combination of reports and distortions of reality.

In 1929, Salvador Dalí met Gala Diakonova, wife of the poet Paul Eluard, for which he had a passion that will not go of him until the end of his life. He manages to separate her from Éluard, Gala not only becoming his wife, but also his inspiring muse, representing her in many of his paintings. Thanks to Gala, Dalí will finally know the physical love, which until then had been completely foreign for him, thus saving him from madness, as the artist confessed subsequently, but some biographers doubt this statement.

Between 1939 and 1948, Salvador lived in New York, where his exhibitions obtained a triumphant

success. The artist indulged in pride and created provocative themes in which occurred, in an obsessive manner, a universe of eroticism, sadism, scatology and putrefaction. Salvador Dalí used to walk the streets of New York with a bell, which he used to attract attention upon himself, the thought that he might go somewhere unnoticed, being to him as unbearable as poverty and humility. An Italian friar, Gabriele Maria Berardi, claimed to have performed an exorcism on Dalí while he was in France in 1947. In 2005, a sculpture of “Christ on the Cross” was discovered in the friar’s estate. It had been claimed that Dalí gave this work to his exorcist out of gratitude, and two Spanish art experts confirmed that there were adequate stylistic reasons to believe the sculpture was made by Dalí. When he gave interviews, 71

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Salvador DalĂ­ in 1939

he talked about himself in the third person, using the words “Divine Dalí” or simply “divine”. He explained in a scientific manner how he was eating ham with roses jam every morning, how he swims twenty minutes each day, has a siesta of seven minutes, but confessed that the fear of death was never leaving him. He argues that this fear is together with his libido, the engine of his creation.

In 1959, André Breton organized an exhibit called “Homage to Surrealism”, celebrating the 40th anniversary of Surrealism, and contained works of Dalí, Joan Miró, Enrique Tábara, and Eugenio Granell.

Breton vehemently fought against the inclusion of Dalí’s “Sistine Madonna” in the International Surrealism Exhibition in New York the following year.

Dalí’s post-World War II period bore the hallmarks of technical virtuosity and an intensifying interest in optical effects, science, and religion. He became an increasingly devout Catholic, while at the same time he had been inspired by the shock of Hiroshima and the dawning of the “atomic age”.

Therefore, Dalí labeled this period as “Nuclear Mysticism”. In paintings such as “The Madonna of Port

Lligat” and Corpus Hypercubus from 1954, Dalí sought to synthesize Christian iconography with images of material disintegration inspired by nuclear physics.

His “Nuclear Mysticism” works included such notable pieces as “La Gare de Perpignan” from 1965 and “The Hallucinogenic Toreador” from 1968-1970. In 1960, Dalí began the work on his Theatre and Museum in his home town of Figueres. It was his largest single project and a main focus of his energy through 1974, when it opened. He continued to make various additions through the mid-1980’s.

In 1968, Dalí filmed a humorous television advertisement for the Lanvin chocolates. In this commercial, he proclaimed in French “Je suis fou du chocolat Lanvin!” (“I’m crazy about Lanvin chocolate!”) while biting a morsel, causing him to become crosseyed and his moustache to swivel upwards. In 1969, he designed the “Chupa Chups” logo, in addition to facilitating the design of the advertising campaign for the 1969 Eurovision Song Contest and creating a large on-stage metal sculpture that stood at the Teatro Real in Madrid.

In 1968, Dalí had bought a castle in Púbol for Gala.

Starting from 1971, she would retreat there alone for weeks at a time. By Dalí’s own admission, he had agreed not to go there without written permission from his wife. His fears of abandonment and estrangement from his longtime artistic muse contributed to depression and a failing health.

In 1980 at the age of 76 years old, Dalí’s health took a catastrophic turn. His right hand trembled terribly, with Parkinson-like symptoms. His near-senile wife allegedly had been dosing him with a dangerous cocktail of unprescribed medicine that damaged his nervous system, thus causing an untimely end to his artistic capacity.

Until the last period of his life, Dalí continued to fuel to the extreme his fame of an eccentric artist, original up to the delirium limits, becoming in time the prisoner of his own character, proud and unpredictable.

In 1975, he received a knighthood and became “Marquis of Pubol” because at that time he lived in the Pubol castle, which was offered to Gala.

Gala died in 1982 and in 1983, Dalí painted his final work, “The Swallow’s Tail”. After an accident, he suffered severe burns and retires from public life.

Salvador leaves the castle and takes house in the “Galatea” tower from his “Teatro-Museo” where he would die on 23 January 1989 in Figueras, the town where he was born.

The Architectural Angelus of Millet (1933)

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The Persistence of Memory

Oasis (1946)

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Diego Velázquez

Diego Velázquez (b. 6 June 1599 in Seville, Spain - d. 6 August 1660 in Madrid, Spain) was a Spanish painter who was the leading artist in the court of King Philip IV and one of the most important painters of the Spanish Golden Age. He was an individualistic artist of the contemporary Baroque period, important as a portrait artist. In addition to numerous renditions of scenes of historical and cultural significance, he painted scores of portraits of the Spanish royal family, other notable European figures, and commoners, culminating in the production of his masterpiece Las Meninas (1656).

Diego Velázquez was born in the late spring of 1599, in Seville, Andalusia. His baptism took place on 6 June in the popular neighborhood church of “San Pedro”. He was the son of Juan Rodriguez de Silva, which came from a Portuguese impoverished noble family, and of Jeronima Velázquez. According to the Spanish habit, Diego took his mother’s name and he remained known in art history under the name of Velázquez.

From his early childhood he was interested in drawing.

At the age of 11 years old, Diego enters in the studio of Francisco Pacheco, which communicates him complex knowledge, linking theory to art practice. Velázquez obtained his painter patent on 14 March 1617, which gave him the right to open his own workshop, set up under his name and receive students. He has barely 18 years old by then. In 1618 he married Juana, daughter of his master, Pacheco, from which he receives a rich dowry.

In 1622, Velázquez departs for Madrid, where he gets observed by painting the portrait of poet Luis de Góngora y Argote. Minister Olivarez, a native of Andalusia, called the young Velázquez to the royal court to paint a portrait of chaplain Don Juan de Fonseca. The portrait is very quickly realized and sent to the royal palace of “Alcazar”. Impressed by the artist’s creation, King Philip IV asked him to paint a portrait of himself (now lost) that Velázquez ends on 30 August 1623. This painting marked the beginning of a life connection between the painter and the sovereign.

On 6 October 1623, the young Velázquez is named as “court painter” and lives together with his family in Madrid, at the Alcazar palace. From August 1628 to April 1629, in Madrid came the Flemish painter

Diego Velázquez

Peter Paul Rubens, who painted the portraits of the royal family. Together they viewed the entire collection of the “Escorial” palace, admired the works of Tiziano and discussed about Italian painting. These discussions awaken in Velázquez the desire to know Italian.

In 1629, the king allows the painter to leave and Velázquez leaves Madrid in July. He travelled with General Spinola, the newly appointed commander of the Spanish troops in Italy. By late August, Velázquez arrived in Genoa, from there he went to Milan, then to Venice and Rome. The artist remained for a year in the Eternal City. Before returning to Spain, Velázquez visited Naples to paint a portrait of the Spanish King’s sister, the Infanta Maria, married to the future emperor Ferdinand III.

After his return from Italy in January 1631, the painter immediately takes up his position at the royal court. He responded to numerous requests for the execution of portraits and paintings of religious subjects. Good part of the year 1635, he dedicated to the painting entitled “The Surrender of Breda”. The painting represents the moment when Justin Nassau, governor of the Dutch city of Breda surrenders his city keys to General Ambrogio Spinola, commander of the victorious Spanish armies. The scene was meant to present the Spanish ideal of chivalrous nobility towards the beaten opponent. The painting is realized in the 75

“Las Meninas”, Velázquez’s most famous painting

natural light of the day and highlights the specific green and blue tones of the Dutch landscape. The painting is realized to decorate the great hall of the new palace “Buen Retiro”.

Velázquez’s duties as court painter widen 76

in 1636, when he receives the title of “Ayuda de guardarropa”, having the task of decorating the royal apartments. In 1643, he is named superintendent of the royal collection, with the task of overseeing the renovation of the Alcazar palace.

It is the period in which Velázquez is part of the King’s closest circles. From written sources we know that the artist was the author of several nudes, but of them only “Venus Rokeby” was kept. In the Spanish paintings of the 17th century and 18th century, the female nudes were a rarity. The Inquisition did not allow such a theme in paintings. Velázquez’s creation reminds of Tiziano’s nudes (“Venus of Urbino”), but the Spanish artist creates a personal vision of the topic. The slender body, but also amazingly modeled of the goddess is viewed from the rear. The reflection of her image in the silver mirror is unclear. We feel that Venus doesn’t admire her own beauty, but rather of the one who looks at her.

In 1649, Velázquez proposes to the King to send him to Italy with a mission to acquire paintings and sculptures for the new gallery of the Alcazar palace. The painter arrives in Venice where he buys the painting “Venus and Adonis “ by Paolo Veronese, as well as numerous works of Tintoretto. Then he went to Modena, Parma, Bologna and Rome in late May.

He paints the portrait of his servant, Juan de Pareja, who, after returning to Spain, restores his freedom. The painting arouses admiration in the Italian circles of painters and Velázquez is elected member of the “Academy Saint Luke”. The portrait of Pope Innocent X, the artist presents a particularly strong personality with a penetrating gaze, full of determination. The technical virtuosity can be seen in the way that the red silk cape was painted, on which golden reflections shine.

The Pope was very pleased of the portrait and wanted to reward the artist with an enormous amount of money, but Velázquez proudly refused, saying that achieving the papal portrait is a service obligation for the court painter of “His Catholic Majesty”. In June 1651, Diego returns to Madrid.

Between 1651 and 1660, Velázquez continued his career at the royal court, while creating new masterpieces. His painting titled “Las Meninas”, also known as “Lord of honor” or “Family of Philip IV”, is one of the most illustrious creations in the history of

Old Woman poaching eggs

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Diego Velázquez self-portrait in 1630

Portrait of Pope Innocent X

universal painting. The painter portrays himself here with a brush and palette in his hand. The painting fascinates through its realistic painting and at the same time through its discrete court life, through authenticity of expression, precise capturing of gestures and looks and through the masterful scene appearance.

In February 1652, Philip IV appointed Deigo Velázquez as grand marshal of the Palace (Aposentador mayor de Palacio) and in 1659 to the painter is conferred the “Knight of Saint James” cross. The next year, he prepares the wedding of Infanta Margaret Theresa of Spain to the King of France, Louis XIV. The wedding took place at the French-Spanish border. After his return to Madrid, the painter becomes ill. The King visits his favorite on the sickbed. After seven days of agony, Diego Velázquez died on 6 August 1660. He was buried in the church of San Juan Bautista.

The importance of Velázquez’s art even today is evident, considering the respect with which 20th century painters regarded his work. Pablo Picasso presented the most durable homages to Velázquez in 1957, when he recreated “Las Meninas” in 58 variations, in his characteristically cubist form. Although Picasso was concerned that his reinterpretations of Velázquez’s

painting would be seen merely as copies rather than unique representations, the enormous works, including the largest he had produced since “Guernica” in 1937, obtained a position of importance in the canon of Spanish art. Picasso retained the general form and positioning of the original in the context of its avantgarde cubist style.

Salvador Dalí, as with Picasso in anticipation of the tercentennial of Velázquez’s death, created in 1958 a work entitled “Velázquez Painting the Infanta Margarita With the Lights and Shadows of His Own Glory”. The color scheme shows Dalí’s serious tribute to Velázquez. The work also functioned, as in Picasso’s case, as a vehicle for the presentation of newer theories in art and thought, nuclear mysticism, in Dalí’s case.

The Anglo-Irish painter, Francis Bacon found Velázquez’s portrait of Pope Innocent X to be one of the greatest portraits ever made. He created several expressionist variations of this piece in the 1950’s.

However, Bacon’s paintings presented a more gruesome image of the pope, who had now been dead for centuries.

One such famous variation, entitled “Figure with Meat” from 1954, shows the pope between two halves of a bisected cow.

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Venus Rokeby

Christ in the House of Mary and Martha

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placido domingo

Placido Domingo (b. 21 January 1941 in Madrid, Spain) is a Spanish tenor, conductor and arts administrator. He has recorded over a hundred complete operas and is well known for his versatility, regularly performing in Italian, French, German, Spanish, English and Russian in the most prestigious opera houses in the world. Although primarily a liricospinto tenor for most of his career, especially popular for his Cavaradossi, Hoffmann, Don José, and Canio, he quickly moved into more dramatic roles, becoming the most acclaimed Otello of his generation. In the early 2010’s, he transitioned from the tenor repertory into almost exclusively baritone parts, most notably Simon Boccanegra. He has performed 147 different roles.

Jose Placido Domingo Embil was born in the Barrio de Salamanca district of Madrid, Spain, being one of the most famous Spanish tenors and conductors of all time. He is famous for his powerful lyrical singing voice or for his lyrical-dramatic tenor voice, which allowed him to play even baritone roles. In 1949, he moved together with his parents in Mexico where he privately studied piano, then canto and conducting art at the National Conservatory of Music in Mexico City.

Placido’s first professional musical appearance was in 1957 in the company of his mother in a concert at Merida in Yucatan. For a period, he played baritone roles in Manuel Fernandez Caballero’s zarzuela, “Gigantes y cabezudos” and a minor role in the Mexican production of opera “My Fair Lady” by Loewe. With this company, he participated in over 185 performances among them, Lehar’s operetta, “The Merry Widow”.

Placido Domingo’s theater stage debut was in 1959 at Teatro Degollado in Guadalajara, starring in Pascual’s baritone role of “Marina” by Emilio Arrieta.

Then, he sang in Ciudad de Mexico in the opera “Rigoletto”, with Norman Treigle and Cornell MacNeil, after which, he was the Father confessor of “Dialogues Carmelites” by Francis Poulenc. In May 1961, Domingo played in the role of Alfredo in “La Traviata”, on the opera stage in Monterrey. In the period 1962-1965, together with his wife, soprano Marta Ornelas, Placido was employed in Israel, at the Tel Aviv Opera, where he participated in 280 performances. His international career began to rose since the successful appearance in New York City, in the opera “Don Rodrigo”, by Alberto 80

Placido Domingo

Ginastera in 1966. Placido Domingo practically sang on all major stages of the world. He sang for the first time at the Opera of Chicago in 1968, at Teatro La Scala, Teatro Municipal de Santiago, at the San Francisco Opera in 1969, at Covent Garden in 1971 and at the Teatro Colón of Buenos Aires in 1972. He sang under the wand of conductors like Herbert von Karajan, Zubin Mehta and James Levine. Placido Domingo is considered the best tenor still in life. He sang in many languages such as: Italian, French, German, Spanish, English and Russian.

He participated in the Closing Ceremony of the Olympic Games in Beijing.

In the early 21st century, he intensified his work as a conductor. He conducted for the first time the “Traviata” on 7 October 1973 at the New York Opera.

Placido had a special success with “Carmen” for the inauguration of the Universal Exposition in Seville in 1992. He conducted the Montreal Symphony Orchestra on 8 November 2005. He recorded in 1981 the song “Perhaps Love” in a duet with popular American folk

Placido Domingo in Buenos Aires (2011)

and pop singer, John Denver. Domingo appeared in six filmed operas, such as “Madama Butterfly”, directed by Jean-Pierre Ponnelle, “Carmen”, directed by Francesco Rossi, winner of a Grammy, “Tosca”, directed by Gianfranco de Bosio, as well as “Otello”, “Cavalleria rusticana & Pagliacci”, “La Traviata”, with Teresa Stratas, who received a Grammy award, all of the previous directed by Franco Zeffirelli.

Throughout the 1990’s and 2000’s until today, Domingo has continued adding new roles to his growing repertoire, while at the same time dropping earlier parts. The 1990’s were the start of rapid change in the types of roles the tenor performed. During this decade, he sang his last “Cavaradossi”, “Don Carlo”, “Don José”, “Gustavo/Riccardo”, “Hoffmann”, and “Alvaro”, among others, and he began instead to expand the breadth of his roles more substantially beyond the standard Italian and French repertory. In particular, he increased his involvement in Wagnerian operas. Although he had

already sung “Lohengrin” and recorded a few operas by the composer, he did not perform any of Wagner’s works frequently onstage until he debuted as Parsifal in 1991 and Siegmund in 1992. He continued to sing these roles for almost two decades, including at the Bayreuth Festival. For the first time in over three decades, Domingo debuted in a Mozart opera, “Idomeneo”, in 1994 at the Met. During the 1990’s, he also appeared in the early Verdi opera, “Stiffelio”, the Brazilian “Il Guarany”, and the French grand operas, “Hérodiade” and “Le Prophète”, all of which are rarely performed.

Toward the end of the decade, he added his first Russian-language opera, Tchaikovsky’s “The Queen of Spades”, although he had performed Eugene Onegin in translation while in Israel early in his career.

In the 2000’s, he sang his last performances of some of the most successful operas from early in his career: “Andrea Chenier”, “Samson et Dalila”, “Otello”, “La Fanciulla del West”, “Fedora”, “Pagliacci”, and 81

Domingo in Vienna in 2014

“Adriana Lecouvreur”. In the 21st century, however, he has focused mostly on new roles. Early in the 2000’s he sang the role of Arrigo in two concert performances of Verdi’s rare “La battaglia di Legnano” and debuted in Wolf-Ferrari’s “Sly”, an opera that his Three Tenors colleague, José Carreras, had recently revived from obscurity. Domingo himself worked to popularize Franco Alfano’s infrequently performed “Cyrano de Bergerac” a few years later. Shifting musical styles again, he appeared in the 18th century operas “Iphigénie en Tauride” and “Tamerlano” late in the decade.

Additionally, Domingo created several new roles in modern operas, such as the title role in Tan Dun’s 2006 opera “The First Emperor at the Metropolitan Opera”, which was broadcast worldwide into movie theaters as part of the Met Live in HD series. In September 2010, he created the role of the poet Pablo Neruda in the world première of Daniel Catán’s opera based on the film “Il Postino” at the Los Angeles Opera. During the 2011-2012 season, Domingo sang “Neptune” in the Metropolitan Opera’s world premiere performance of Jeremy Sams “The Enchanted Island”. A pastiche of Baroque opera with story and characters drawn from 82

Shakespeare’s “The Tempest and A Midsummer Night’s Dream”, a performance of the production was telecast on PBS’ Great Performances at the Met.

Giving him greater international recognition outside of the world of opera, Domingo participated in “The Three Tenors” concert on the eve of the 1990 FIFA World Cup Final in Rome with José Carreras and Luciano Pavarotti. The event was originally conceived to raise money for the José Carreras International Leukemia Foundation and was later repeated a number of times, including at the three subsequent World Cup finals: 1994 in Los Angeles, 1998 in Paris, and 2002 in Yokohama. The recording of their first appearance together, Carreras, Domingo and Pavarotti in Concert, went multi-platinum with sales in excess of three million in the United States alone, eventually outselling every previous classical album worldwide. Domingo and his colleagues won the Grammy Award for Best Classical Vocal Solo for the album. Four years after their first successful concert, around 1,3 billion viewers worldwide watched their televised second World Cup performance at Dodger Stadium. The recording of that event, “The Three Tenors in Concert” 1994, went platinum and multi-platinum in many countries, even reaching the number one spot on the UK Albums Chart. Without Pavarotti and Carreras, Domingo made an appearance at the final of the 2006 World Cup in Berlin, along with rising stars, Anna Netrebko and Rolando Villazón. Before the 2014 World Cup final, he performed in Rio de Janeiro with pianist Lang Lang and soprano Ana María Martínez, a winner of his Operalia competition and a frequent singing partner of his. In addition to these large-scale concerts, Domingo recorded the official song for the 1982 World Cup in Spain, “El Mundial”.

Placido Domingo in Budapest, Hungary (2016)

francisco franco

Francisco Franco (b. 4 December 1892 in Ferrol, Galicia, Spain - d. 20 November 1975 in Madrid, Spain) was a Spanish general and the Caudillo of Spain from 1939 until his death in 1975. Coming from a military family background, he became the youngest general in Spain and one of the youngest generals in Europe in the 1920’s. As a conservative monarchist, he rejected the removal of the monarchy and its replacement with a republic in 1931. With the 1936 elections, the conservative Spanish Confederation of Autonomous Right-wing Groups lost by a narrow margin and the leftist Popular Front came to power. Looking to overthrow the republic, Franco and other generals staged a partially successful coup, which started the Spanish Civil War. With the death of the other generals, Franco quickly became his faction’s only leader.

Francisco Paulino Hermenegildo Teódulo Franco y Bahamonde Salgado-Araujo y Pardo de Andrade was the second of five children (in addition to him, Nicolás, Pilaz, Paz, who died in 1903 at the age of 5

years old, and Ramón) born from the unhappy marriage between Nicolás Franco y Salgado-Araujo, a naval officer administrator with libertine tendencies, and Maria del Pilar Bahamonde y Pardo de Andrade, a very religious and conservative daughter of a commissioner for naval supplies. Ferrol, a strategic port in the far north-west of Spain, located in a characteristic Galician Ria, was in a time a town of about 20.000 inhabitants, whose economic life revolved around the naval base, created in 1726. The Franco family was part of the little bourgeoisie of administrative officials, which in the rigid social hierarchy of provincial towns was second to the families of boarded naval officers. While the two extroverted brothers, Nicolás (the eldest and favorite) and Ramón ended up looking like their father in terms of personality, despite the fact that they tried grudge against him, Francisco was since his childhood an introverted and reserved person. Unable to win the affection of his father, who was very severe with the children and often absent, he was very much tied to his mother, from which he inherited a great love for the Catholic Church.

The mother, however, was a central figure for all the children and instilled in them the desire to get ahead in life and to rise above their petty bourgeois origins,

Francisco Franco (in the center, with moustache)

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Franco and U.S. President, Dwight Eisenhower in 1959 in Madrid

witnessing the personal success which Nicolás reached independently as a naval engineer and then collaborator of Francisco, while Ramón became an aviator and adventurer. The fact that Francisco wasn’t his father’s favourite father was the fact that at a later date, in 1926, when Franco was now a public figure and the youngest general in Spain, then he later became the head of the state, whenever Francisco’s father was asking questions on the “son”, he was referring to Nicolás, or at most Ramón. Due to the limited number of people accepted to the naval academy, young Franco directed his efforts to pass the entrance exams at the Military Academy of Toledo in July 1907. Shortly after, his father took a job in Madrid and left the family for good. Without even divorcing his wife, he joined Agustina Aldana years after in a secular ceremony, with which he coexisted until his death in 1942.

On 29 August 1907, Franco entered the academy, where he met many future comrades. It was not an easy period for him: separated from his mother figure and from the environment in which he grew up, he had to suffer the occasional harassment and hazing 84

of his companions, due to his skinny look and reserved attitude. Franco engaged assiduously in the study of subjects such as topography and military history and expressed total adherence to the principles that the academy purposed to instill in cadets: obedience, heroism, courage and sense of duty. Many decades later, he talked about those years as a “tough ordeal.”

Three years later, he was awarded the rank of second lieutenant of infantry. In 1912, he graduated from the Military Academy and left immediately for Morocco, where the war was raging. In separate clashes, he behaved with honour an great valour and the descriptions of his exploits in the Spanish newspapers began to give him a certain fame at home. In 1914, aged only 21 years old, he was promoted to the rank of captain for merit. Francisco Franco became known not only for his decisiveness on the battlefield, but also for his organizational skills. On 29 June 1916, Franco suffered the only serious reported injury, in the abdomen, in a fight near El Biutz. According to an article which appeared in “El Mundo”, signed by the writer José María Zavala, this injury caused him the loss of a

Francisco Franco with his wife, Carmen Polo

testicle and subsequent infertility. The quoted source of Zavala’s news has been urologist Ana Puigvert, nice of Franco’s personal urologist, Antonio Puigvert, to which he reported a grandfather’s confidence.

The following year, Francisco was promoted to major, retroactively to the day of injury. Since there were no vacancies for this position, he was sent to Oviedo.

There, he met at a country fair, 15 years old, Maria del Carmen Polo y Martinez Valdes. Franco was impressed by the girl and he started a regular, albeit timid, distant courtship, although he faced some opposition from Carmen’s family, who was part of the provincial aristocracy. In 1920, he entered in the ranks of the newly formed Spanish Foreign Legion, to which he was one of the founding officers, and was known for his toughness and iron discipline. He returned to Spain for a short stay, where he married Carmen Polo. Then, he returned to North Africa, where he continued his military career until he became colonel in 1925 and brigadier general in the following year. At 33 years old, he was the youngest general in Europe. In 1926, his wife gave birth to his only daughter, Carmen Franco. He returned again in Spain during the dictatorship of General Miguel Primo de Rivera, due to misunderstandings about the African

Franco with Heinrich Himmler and Karl Wolff

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Francisco Franco and Carlos Arias Navarro in 1975

issues. Thus, he was appointed general director of the Military Academy of Zaragoza. On 14 April 1931, with the fall of the monarchy and the proclamation of the Second Republic, however, Franco was sent as a military commander to the Balearic Islands. In 1934, beaten in the elections, the Left-wing tried a rematch through an open rebellion. Franco was chosen, along with Goded, to quell the revolt in Asturias. Of all the generals, he appeared to be the least dangerous to the institutions. The revolt was quelled in a pool of blood. In reward, Franco was promoted by Christian Democrat, Gil Robles, as the new Minister of War, then he was promoted to Chief of Staff.

Franco was a nationalist and anti-communist, with a rigid and conservative conception of religion and a clear vision of the history of Spain. According to his interpretation of the past centuries, they were dominated by the perennial struggle between conventional, religious and patriotic forces and antinational groups linked to Freemasonry. Following the electoral success of the Popular Front, from 19 February 1936, Franco was removed from the country and sent 86

to the Canary Islands. On 23 June, from the Canaries, General Franco sent to the president of council, Santiago Casares Quiroga, a letter in which he protested against the treatment of the army officials considered supporters of the right wing that had been replaced with other officials with Republican tendencies. The letter got no response from Quiroga, who simply ignored her.

Franco, who until then had wavered, had definitely sided with the future insurgents. When José Calvo Sotelo was assassinated on 13 July by a commando of “Asaltos”, Franco then joined a group of generals, led by Emilio Mola and José Sanjurjo, which prepared the Alzamiento of 18 July 1936. Franco was leading the rebel armies who entered in Spain from Morocco. On 24 July, he was appointed member of the National Defence Council and became commander of the nationalist forces of the South. On 29 September, Franco was officially declared “Generalísimo de los ejércitos de Tierra, Mar y Aire” and head of the state, and since 30 January 1938, he was also head of the government (Junta Técnica del Estado). A bloody civil war, which was supported by Nazi Germany and fascist Italy went on for three years,

was won in April 1939. The Generalísimo assumed the ultimate leadership of Spain, establishing a dictatorial apparatus that firmly repressed all opposition to the regime, extolling the values of national Catholicism (God, country and Justice). Franco was not aligned with other fascist regimes and wasn’t anti-Semitic. He has taken in a large number of Jews fleeing the invaded Europe by the Germans.

In 1940 Franco met with Hitler in Hendaye and the following year he met with Mussolini in Bordighera, but despite pressures of the Germans and Italians, he chose to keep Spain neutral and only decided to send volunteers against the Soviet Union (the so-called “División Azul”). In 1942, at the request of the German dictator, Franco decided to change the time zone of Spain, adjusting to that of neighbouring France: since then, the Iberians are one hour ahead of the solar time in winter and two hours ahead in summer. Being a sincere, devout Catholic and rigid anti-communist, Pope Pius XII gave Franco in 1953 the Supreme Order of Christ, the highest honour of the Vatican.

At the end of the conflict, he came close to the Western countries, and taking advantage of the Cold War, emerged as a supporter and an opponent of anti-communism and of the anarchic “spectrum”. In September 1953, he concluded an economic agreement with the United States of America and, in 1957, he restructured the government to lift the country from the complex economic situation, appointing some qualified and professionally trained “technocrats” ministers. The year before, Francisco Franco had founded the RTVE, launching thus television in the Iberian country, which after a few years, will be financed directly by the State.

He entrusted the administration of the country to Admiral Luis Carrero Blanco, who was appointed the prime minister and named some of the few ministers from the ACNP (Asociación Católica Nacional de Propagandistas) and from Opus Dei (the Ministry of Finance, Mariano Navarro Rubio and the Ministry of Trade, Alberto Ullastres. Then, he chose another two: Gregorio Lopez Bravo, Minister of Industry, and Laureano Lopez Rodo, General Commissioner of the economic development plan. In 1947, he restored the monarchy, of which he proclaimed himself regent, and in 1969 he appointed his successor: Prince Juan Carlos of Bourbon, who at his death, was crowned King of Spain.

After leading 12 governments, on 8 June 1973 he left the position of prime minister to Luis Carrero Blanco, but was killed in an attack of the separatist

terrorist group ETA, in the next December, on the date of 20. In its place, Franco appointed Carlos Arias Navarro. Franco suffered of Parkinson’s disease in his old age, which accompanied him until his death on 20 November 1975, exactly 39 years after the death of Jose Antonio Primo de Rivera. Historian Ricardo de la Cierva, however, claimed to have been informed of his death on the evening of 19 November. He is buried in the Valley of the Fallen, not far from El Escorial, Madrid.

Francisco Franco is revered as a saint by schismatic Palmarian Catholic Church.

Francisco Franco in 1930

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Ignatius of Loyola

Ignatius of Loyola (b. 23 October 1491 in Loyola, Gipuzkoa, Basque Country, Kingdom of Castille, Spain - d. 31 July 1556 in Rome, Papal States, now Italy) was a Spanish knight from a local Basque noble family, hermit, priest since 1537, and theologian, who founded the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) and, on 19 April 1541, became its first Superior General. Ignatius emerged as a religious leader during the CounterReformation. Loyola’s devotion to the Catholic Church was characterized by absolute obedience to the Pope.

Don Íñigo López was born at Loyola (today in the town of Azpeitia) around the year 1491 and was member of the large family (thirteen children) of Don Yanez and his wife, Marina Sáenz. His father had been a soldier in the service of Henry IV, of the Catholic Kings and of John II. Alongside Fernando the Catholic, he led the siege against the town of Toro, Burgos, Loja, won on 29 May 1486 and Vélez-Málaga. For his loyalty to the crown, he received awards from the king, who named him his vassal and granted the ancient privileges to his family: the annuity of two thousand maravedis from the ironworks of Barrenola and Aranaz and the right of patronage over the parish of Azpeitia. His mother was the daughter of Dr. Don Martín García de Licona, a high-born figure, a courtier of the King of Castile, and adviser of the Catholic Kings, who possessed the domain and the primogeniture of the Balda house. As for the other children, we know that there were eight males and five females, of which Íñigo was the youngest.

The first-born Juan Pérez, fell in battle, in Naples, against the troops of Charles VIII of France.

Martín García de Ofiaz, who grew up at the court of Castile, together with his wife Magdalena Araoz, were instrumental in the future growth of the founder of the Society of Jesus, who soon lost his mother. About his other relatives there aren’t any notorious news, most of them seem to have fallen in battle, as Beltran did, who died during the war of Naples or Juan Beltrán, who embarked for the Americas and died in modern Panama.

One of the eight boys, Pero Lopez, born shortly before Inigo, had been the only one to pursue an ecclesiastical career, in the parish of Azpeitia, patronaged by his own family. We know only the names of his sisters (mostly derived from the brothers wills): Juaniza, Magdalena, Sancha, Petronila, Maria Beltrán.

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Saint Ignatius of Loyola experiencing visions

As for Íñigo, according to a tradition of dubious historicity on 1 November 1491, he was baptized in the parish church of Azpeitia and received the name of Íñigo and the patronymic Lopez, as his father’s surname, according to traditional custom. While studying in Paris, he changed his name to Ignatius, probably because of his special devotion to Saint Ignatius of Antioch.

Ignatius grew up under the care of his brother, Don Martín and sister Donna Magdalena, although proper education never applied to him and instead of studying he preferred entertainment such as dance, he loved to participate in folk dances, and to sing. In 1506, because he had a courtesan training, he was sent by his brother to Arévalo, together with the finance minister of the kingdom, the powerful Juan Velázquez, whose married woman, María de Velasco was a relative of the deceased mother.

Thanks to his protector, Íñigo knew the royal court and the great persons of the kingdom, he met Queen Germaine de Foix, nephew of Louis XII of France, and the second wife of Fernando the Catholic, attended the banquet organized in his honor by friend María de Velasco, an event where undoubtedly the

Ignatius of Loyola

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Íñigo Loyola in armour

young pageboy of Loyola attended. He stayed in the home of Velázquez for eleven years, until 1517 and spent a comfortable life, participated to banquets, music events, reading romances and poetic composition. With the death of King Fernando, the situation of Velazquez’s household has fallen quickly. Queen Germaine urged the new king, Charles I, to grant him the towns of Arévalo and Olmedo, owned by the finance minister.

Antonio Manrique, loyal to the King, was one of the leaders who fought against the rebels alongside with his children and Ignatius, who had lent his sword to the patron. It is certain that with these, he fought and won the siege of the rebellious city of Najera. Don Manrique also had a special mission for the faithful Ignatius: to pacify the province of Guipuzcoa, a mission that he solved in the best way possible. Under the Duke’s leadership, he participated in many battles without injury. But when a French-Navarrese army supporting the Navarrese monarchy, expelled in 1512, stormed Pamplona’s fortress on 20 May 1521, a cannonball wounded one of his legs and broke the other. Heavily injured, Íñigo was returned to the castle of his father. He was very concerned about the injuries and had several surgical operations, which must have been very painful 90

in the days before anaesthetics.

After 15 days in hospital in Pamplona, he was carried on a stretcher to his father’s house. His condition was severe and sometimes he feared for his life. Only after painful operations and agony he could re-establish himself without being able to hold up well on the leg, due to which he had to limp for the rest of life. In those days he was forced to exasperating immobility, as a result he stayed in his bed reading. “When he thought about the things of the world, he felt very happy, but when he was tired, he felt empty and discontent. When he thought of going to Jerusalem barefoot, eating only herbs and do all the other hard things he saw the saints had made, not only he consoled himself when he was thinking about this, but even after he left these thoughts, he remained happy and cheerful”. In him something was changing, his religious conversion process had begun.

Slowly, he began to spend time in prayer, reading sacred texts, meditating during his period of hospitalization, beginning to write down some notes that would later give birth to his exercises. He dreamed of starting a pilgrimage to Jerusalem and to achieve this desire.

When restored, Íñigo decided to start a pilgrimage to the Marian shrines of Spain, making a special stop at the famous shrine of Montserrat.

He went to the Holy Land. After a short time, he was forced to return to Spain. In that period, he elaborated his method of prayer and contemplation, based on the “discernment.” These experiences have actually originated from a passage from the Second Letter to the Corinthians of Paul of Tarsus. He described a series of meditations which will then have to be follow by the future Jesuits. This work has influenced profoundly subsequent methods of evangelization of the Catholic Church. He also had the opportunity to visit the Benedictine Monastery of Montserrat on 25 March 1522, where he hung his military vestments before an image of the Virgin Mary, in a real military vigil dedicated to Our Lady. He entered the monastery of Manresa, in Catalonia where he practiced the most rigorous asceticism. The Virgin became the object of his chivalrous devotion. His military imagery always played an important part in his life and in his religious contemplations.

In 1528 he entered the University of Paris, where he remained for seven years, extending his literary and theological education and trying to persuade other students to learn the “Spiritual Exercises”. By 1534, he had six “followers”: Pierre Faber (France), Francis Xavier, Diego Laínez, Alfonso Salmerón, Nicholas

Bobadilla (Spanish) and Simão Rodrigues (Portugal).

On 15 August 1534, Íñigo and the other six students met in Montmartre, near Paris, binding each other with a vow of poverty and chastity and founding the Society of Jesus, in order to carry out missionary and hospitality work in Jerusalem or to go unconditionally wherever the Pope had ordered them to go. In 1537 they traveled to Italy to seek papal approval for their order. Pope Paul III praised them and allowed them to be ordained as priests. They were ordained at Venice by the bishop of Arbe (now Rab, Croatia) on 24 June.

They devoted themselves to prayer and charitable work in Italy because the new conflict between the emperor of Venice, the Pope and the Ottoman Empire made impossible any journey to Jerusalem. Together with Faber and Lainez, Ignatius made his way to Rome in October 1538 to obtain the approval of the Pope for the establishment of the new order. A congregation of cardinals reported favorably to the text prepared by Ignatius and Pope Paul III confirmed the order through the bull of “Regimini militantis Ecclesiae” on 27 September 1540, but limited the number of its members to sixty. This limitation was removed with a subsequent bubble, “Iniunctum nobis”, on 14 March 1543. The last and final approval of the Society of Jesus was given in 1550 with “Exposcit debitum” bubble of Pope Julius III.

Ignatius was chosen as the first superior general of the Society of Jesus. He sent his companions as missionaries around the world to create schools, colleges, and seminaries. In 1548, the “Spiritual Exercises” were printed for the first time, for which he was brought before the Inquisition, but was released. Also in 1548, Íñigo founded in Messina the first Jesuit College in the world, the famous “Primum ac Prototypum Collegium ovvero Messanense Collegium Prototypum Societatis”, the first one and, then, the prototype of all the other Jesuit teaching colleges merged with success in teaching the distinctive brand of the order. Ignatius wrote the “Jesuit Constitutions”, adopted in 1554, which created a monarchical organization and asked for self-denial and absolute obedience to the Pope and to the superiors (“like a corpse” as Ignatius wrote). The rule of Ignatius became the unofficial motto of the Jesuits: “Ad Maiorem Dei Gloriam”. The Jesuits have made a vital contribution to the success of the Counter-Reformation. Between 1553 and 1555, Íñigo de Loyola dictated to his secretary, Father Gonçalves da Câmara, the story of his life. This autobiography, which is essential for the understanding of his spiritual exercises, however, remained secret for over 150 years in the archives of the order, until the text

was published in the “Acta Sanctorum”.

He died in Rome in 1556 and was canonized on 12 March 1622. On 23 July 1637, his body was placed in gilded bronze ossuary, in the Chapel of Saint Ignatius Church of Jesus in Rome. The statue of the saint, made from silver, is the work of Pierre Legros. The religious festival in honour of Ignatius of Loyola is celebrated on 31 July, the day of his death.

However, there are some theories and people who accuse Ignatius of Loyola as being an imposter, charlatan and evil person. Saint Ignatius of Loyola, is the man who founded the Jesuits, known for his spiritual exercises, which Catholics would consider holy but when it gets right down to it are based in vain imaginations, false visions, sorcery and witchcraft. Also, it is being said that he was seen levitating. Other theories claim that he used to drink the blood of living sacrificed children.

Íñigo Loyola portrayed as having a vision of Christ and God the Father

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julio iglesias

Julio Iglesias (b. 23 September 1943 in Madrid, Spain) is a Spanish singer and songwriter who has sold over 300 million records worldwide in 14 languages, has released over 80 albums, and has more than 2.600 gold and platinum records certified, making him one of the best selling artists of all time and the best selling Latin artist in history.

Julio Iglesias was born in the old Madrilenian maternity located on the Meson de Paredes Street.

He is the eldest son of Doctor Julio Iglesias Puga and Maria del Rosario de la Cueva y Perignat. He spent his childhood with his brother, Carlos. His paternal relatives are originally from Galicia, a region located in northern Spain. His father, Dr. Iglesias was born in Orense and his paternal grandparents were called Manuela and Ulpiano. Regarding his maternal grandfather, Jose de la Cueva, he was a famous Andalusian journalist, and his grandmother’s name was Dolores of Perignat Orejuela of Camporedondo. Julio Iglesias was an excellent sportsman, being the main goalkeeper in the youth team at Real Madrid. His desire was to become a professional footballer, but he has never given the Studio for this. He studied Law at the University Complutense of Madrid.

At the age of 20 years old, on the night of 22 September 1962, while returning from Majadahonda to Madrid accompanied by several friends, of which Enrique Clemente Criado, Tito Arroyo and Pedro Luis Iglesias, at 02.00 AM, Julio suffered a serious road accident, which left him semi-paralyzed for more than a year and a half. It was highly unlikely that he can still walk again. The doctor who took care of him, Eladio Magdaleno, gave him a guitar. Julio spent hours listening to the radio and writing poems. They were sad, romantic lyrics in which he wondered what is the purpose of human life. Back then, he didn’t even know that he was to become a singer.

He began playing the guitar in order to overcome the moments of nostalgia and sadness that encompassed him when he thought that from a promising athlete he had become a bedridden man. He gradually learned to play the guitar, so that he could put lyrics to his music.

His efforts, desire to live and the support of his family, especially his father, who gave up even professional activity for more than a year to be near him during the recovery, made possible a true miracle: Julio began to 92

Julio Iglesias

walk again. For this, he needed months of recovery on the beaches of La Carihuela in Torremolinos, Malaga and Benidorm, Alicante, where Julio began his medical exercises in the morning, early on, accompanied by his father. After was healed, he resumed his studies and went to London to learn English, first in Ramsgate and then at Bell’s Language School in Cambridge. Sometimes on weekends, he used to sing in a pub (Airport Pub) famous songs of the time of Tom Jones, Engelbert Humperdinck or The Beatles. There, at Cambridge, he met Gwendolyne Bollote, who would become his girlfriend, and who inspired one of his most famous songs, “Gwendolyne”.

Julio continued to compose and, in one day, he decided to appeal to a label, which he had provided with one of the songs he had composed, to be given to an interpreter. The manager, after listening to the song on a tape Julio recorded on, having a musical accompaniment only his guitar, asked him: “Why don’t you sing it yourself?”. Julio said, “Because I am not a singer”, but eventually the manager convinced him and

thus, he was presented at the well-known Music Festival in Benidorm, Spain. On 17 July 1968, Julio wins the contest with his famous song “La Vida Sigue Igual” (Life follows its course) and signed a contract with Discos Columbia. In February 1969, he participated in the “Golden Stag Festival” in Brasov, Romania. In the same year, he held his first American tour, was presented at the Festival of Viña del Mar in Chile and made his first film, “La Vida Sigue Igual” (Life follows its course). Julio Iglesias married on 20 February 1971 in Toledo with Isabel Preysler Arrastria (born in Manila on 18 February 1951), spending their honeymoon in Gran Canaria.

They have three children: María Isabel - “Chabeli” (born on 3 September 1971 in Madrid), Jose Julio (born on 25 February 1973 in Madrid) and Enrique Miguel (born on 8 May 1975 in Madrid). In 1978, however, they split, and a year later they got divorced.

Julio Iglesias participated in 1971, at the Eurovision Song Contest and many other musical events, becoming number one worldwide, from Mexico to Argentina and from Spain to Japan. Also in 1971, he recorded the song “Como el camino Álamo” (Loyal to your love) in Japanese, with the title “Anatamo Uramo”.

A year later, he recorded his first album in German.

In 1975, Julio’s first album in Portuguese appeared and in 1978, he signed a contract with CBS Records Internacional and made his first albums in French and Italian. He has also been invited to join the jury of the Miss Universe contest in Australia.

In 1983 in Paris, Julio Iglesias was awarded the first and only Diamond Record ever given to a singer by the Guinness World Records for the merit of the singer who sold the highest number of albums recorded in the highest number of foreign languages in music history (German, English, French, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Tagalo, the language spoken by tens of millions of inhabitants of the Philippines and underlying the Philippine language and Japanese).

Since 1985, Julio Iglesias has a celebrity star that bears his name in Hollywood, being one of the few Hispanic artists immortalized on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

This star is located in the south of the Hollywood Boulevard, between Orange and Sycamore streets. Julio was also honored by the residents of Miami, a city in which Menno Schmidt lived a long time. They offered him a place of honor on the legendary Latin stars Alley, Street no. 8 in Miami. Julio Iglesias has a star dedicated to him in the Netherlands since 28 January 1991.

In 1988, he won the Grammy award for Best Latin Artist of the Year 1987, due to his album “Un

Julio Iglesias at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1970

hombre solo” (A lonely man). He also won the prize Aplauso’92 and was voted Artist of the Year. In 1992, in Florida, Julio was named “Universal Spanish” and in Spain, he was named Ambassador of Galicia in the world. In 1997, Julio was awarded the Monaco Prize for music, being considered the Best Latin Artist. He was also the first foreign artist in the history of China whom he was awarded the prestigious Golden Record Award in 1995. Julio Iglesias is the most popular singer in the world. Throughout his remarkable career, he has sold over 250 million albums and won more than 2.600 platinum and gold awards. For Julio, every detail, no matter how insignificant it may seem, is particularly important. In the studio, he prepares his songs note by note, he studies each word, until he obtains the desired effect, until he hears what probably only he can hear, but 93

we all can feel: the sound of the soul that vibrates and lets itself worn by the thrill of emotion, a sound that can only be achieved thanks to an iron discipline.

On 7 September 1997, his fourth son was born, Miguel Alejandro, at Mount Sinai Hospital in Miami Beach. Julio’s boy is the fruit of his relationship with Miranda (Miranda Johanna Maria Rinjsburger, born on 5 October 1965 in Leimuiden, Netherlands), a beautiful top model of Dutch origin, which he has met in Jakarta, Indonesia, on 5 December 1990. Julio will not forget too easily the date of 8 September 1997 when he won the “ASCAP” Prize (American Society of Composers, Authors and Publicists), when Latin composer Emilio Estefan handed the producer the ASCAP Pied Piper Award, the highest award of the Association of Art. Julio is the first Latin artist to whom was awarded this award, also won by celebrities such as Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald and Barbra Streisand, among others. In addition, Miami Mayor, Joe Carollo, decreed the Day of Julio Iglesias in town. On 3 April 1999, the second child of Julio and Miranda, named Rodrigo. Two years later, in May, the couple had twins Victoria and Cristina.

Julio’s mother, Rosario de la Cueva, who always

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helped those in need in the parish of Corpus Christi of Miami, passed away on 14 March 2002, after much suffering. A month later, Julio and his brother, Carlos presented a project to build a social center in the memory of their mother. That same year, on 4 November, the Social Services Center of Rosario Iglesias de la Cueva was opened, under the guidance of the Corpus Christi parish, to help the people in needs. On 18 May 2004, when Julio was 61 years old, Jaime Iglesias was born, the second brother of Julio and son of Dr. Iglesias and Ronna Keitt. Just days after announcing that he expects the second child with Ronna, Dr. Iglesias Puga died suddenly on the morning of 19 December 2005, at 90 years old. He was a man of exuberant vitality and great sympathy. He was spoiled as “Papuchi” and was very loved by everyone, especially the media.

On 26 July 2006, the day his father, Dr. Iglesias would have turned 91 years old, Julio’s sister, Ruth was born. Julio continues to delight his fans everywhere.

Every 30 seconds a song of Julio Iglesias is broadcasted at any radio station somewhere in the world, he offers concerts in many countries, and his albums set new record sales worldwide.

Julio Iglesias during a concert in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, in 2013

rafael nadal

Rafael Nadal (b. 3 June 1986 in Manacor, Balearic Islands, Spain) is a Spanish professional tennis player currently ranked world No. 5. He is widely regarded as the greatest clay court player in history, and due to his dominance and success on the surface, he has been titled “The King of Clay”. His evolution into an all court threat has established him as one of the greatest players in tennis history, with some considering Nadal to be the greatest player of all time.

Rafael Nadal was born in Manacor, Mallorca, his parents being Sebastián Nadal and Ana Maria Parera (now divorced). He has a younger sister named María Isabel. His uncle, Miguel Ángel Nadal, is a former professional football player who played for teams like RCD Mallorca, FC Barcelona and the Spanish national team. Nadal is a fan of football teams Real Madrid and RCD Mallorca. On the other hand, his other uncle, Toni Nadal, is a former professional tennis player, who recognized his talent and initiated him in the mysteries of tennis at the age of 3 years old. Toni Nadal is the only coach Rafael had so far. At the age of 8 years old, Rafael Nadal won a regional tennis championship for children under 12 years, but was also a promising football player. Toni Nadal encouraged his nephew to play with his left hand, a great advantage in tennis, and to do the short forehand with both hands. When he was 12 years old, Nadal won the Spanish and European tennis championships in his age group. He regularly went to tennis workouts courts, as well as football pitches. At some point, his father made him choose between tennis and football so that his studies won’t be abandoned.

Rafael chose tennis.

At the age of 14 years old, Spanish Tennis Federation asked the boy to leave Mallorca for Barcelona to continue his training and to increase his performance in tennis. Nadal’s family refused this request. They feared that such a change might affect his education, but also because Toni Nadal said: “You don’t have to go to America or elsewhere to become a good athlete. You can do this at home.” The decision to stay in Mallorca costed him. Rafael received less support from the Federation and his father was forced to bear the costs.

In May 2001, he defeated former winner of a Grand Slam tournament, Pat Cash in a friendly match on clay.

At the age of 16 years old, Nadal entered the world

Rafael Nadal

ranking of the best 50 players. In 2003 he was awarded the prize for the best new player to enter the circuit. In 2004, Nadal played his first match against world No.1, Roger Federer at the Miami Masters, defeating him in a minimum number of sets. He misses the entire clay season however, including the French Open because of a left ankle fracture. Aged 18 years and 6 months, Nadal became the youngest player to get a win and conquer the title in a Davis Cup final. Defeating world No.2, Andy Roddick, he helped Spain get a 3-2 victory against the United States. He finished the year ranked 51.

At the 2005 Australian Open, Nadal lost in the fourth round in front of Australian, Lleyton Hewitt. Two months later, Rafa qualified for the finals of the Miami Masters and despite the fact that he was two points away from a victory in three sets, Nadal is defeated in five sets by the world No.1, Roger Federer. Both performances were considered tremendous progress for Nadal. Nadal dominated during the spring clay season. He broke the record of Andre Agassi from 1988 of 23 consecutive matches won by a teenager, managing to win 24 matches. Nadal won the tournament Conde de Godo in Barcelona, as well as the Monte Carlo Masters in 2005 and the Masters of Rome that same year, defeating Roland Garros finalist of 2004, Guillermo Coria. 2008 is one of the best years of Nadal. He won the French Open 95

Rafael Nadal in 2006

and Wimbledon, where he beat rival Roger Federer in a match which is considered by some experts the best tennis match of all time. 2010 is undoubtedly the best year of Rafael Nadal, when he won three grand-slam tournaments (Roland Garros, Wimbledon, US Open) and 4 other Masters Series tournaments, regaining its world leadership.

Rafael Nadal started the year 2011 with a win in the tournament of Abu Dhabi, managing to defeat his rival, Roger Federer in the final. In the first Grand Slam tournament of the year, Australian Open, Nadal managed to reach the quarterfinals where he was defeated in three sets by countryman David Ferrer.

It was mentioned that the Spaniard was injured in that game and he could not perform at his maximum potential. Spanish tennis player Rafael Nadal, No.5 ATP in 2016, won the demonstrative match in Abu Dhabi (UAE), for the third time in his career. In the final, the Spaniard defeated Canadian, Milos Raonic (No.4 ATP).

Thus, Nadal won for the third time in his career the demonstrative competition trophy in Abu Dhabi, after those won in 2010 and 2011.

Many critics consider the rivalry between Rafael 96

Nadal and Roger Federer to be the biggest in the history of tennis. Nine of the 13 victories of Nadal over Federer took place on clay, Rafa’s favourite surface. He leads overall with the score of 13-7 (9-2 on clay for Nadal, Federer leads with 2-1 on grass and there is a tie, 3-3 on hard surface). Nadal is one of the few players on the circuit which has a positive record against Federer.

They hold most consecutive wins on the surface of the Open Era, Federer has 65 wins on grass and 56 on hard surface, while Nadal has 81 victories on clay. These statistics have led to the organization of a match called “Battle of Surfaces” on a land half covered with grass and half with clay, which took place on 2 May 2007, Nadal beating Federer in 2 sets: 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (10).

Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic have met in 47 matches, Rafa having a positive record of 25-22. Nadal leads with 2-1 on grass and 14-4 on clay, but Djokovic has a lead of 17-9 on hard surface. The rivalry of the two is considered by the ATP as the 3rd among the biggest rivalries in tennis of the last decade. In the finals of grandslam tournaments they met 7 times, Nadal leading with 4-3. In his career, Rafael Nadal won 1 Australian Open (2009), 10 French Opens (2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2017), 2 Wimbledons (2008, 2010) and 3 US Opens (2010,2013,2017), as well as 2 Olympic Games (Individual in 2008 and Doubles in 2016) and 4 Davis Cups (2004, 2008, 2009, 2011).

Nadal at the Australian Open in 2009

Rafael Nadal in Doha, Qatar in 2012

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Spain Cuisine

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Steps:

Spanish Paella Ingredients: • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

1 red bell pepper 1 large onion (chopped) 2 cloves of garlic 1 cup of frozen peas 3 fresh tomatoes or a can of tinned tomatoes 500g frozen mussels 1 chicken breast 1 kg seafood (octopus, squid and fish) 300g cups of rice 500g fresh shrimps or prawns Fresh parsley Salt and pepper Saffron Vegeta Water Oil

1. Put in a wok the chicken breast chopped into cubes and seasoned with salt and pepper.

2. Meanwhile, chop the onion, garlic and red pepper.

Once the chicken is ready, lightly roast the seafood, put some spices over and then place them with the chicken.

3. ry the onion, garlic and pepper, then add the tomatoes.

4. After the vegetables are well done, add the chicken, seafood and mussels inside.

5. Add the peas, vegeta, rice and 5 cups of warm water.

To obtain the specific colour, put some saffron. Let them boil until the water has been absorbed or evaporated and formed a crust on the surface of the container in which you cooked.

6. Place the prawns (or shrimps) on top and to be sure that they will get well done, cover the pan.

7. Meanwhile, chop the parsley and sprinkle it on top when the shrimps (or prawns) are done. Let the paella boil for 3 more minutes and then is ready!

Spanish Paella

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Gazpacho Ingredients:

Empanadas (with beef and chorizo) Ingredients:

For the dough: • 400g flour • Olive oil (4 tablespoons) • 50-150g warm water • 1/4 tablespoons of Salt • 2 small yolks For the filling: • 1 onion • 50g chorizo • 50g smoked ham • 100g ground beef • 40g cheese Steps: 1. Put the tomato juice, half of the tomatoes, the • Salt, black pepper cucumbers, the bell pepper and onion in a blender. • 1 small red chili 2. Add vinegar, garlic, oil and a pinch of salt and • 4 tablespoons oil • 1 egg yolk pepper.

3. Blend until you obtain an almost smooth • Sesame or flax seeds composition. Pour the mixture into a bowl.Add the remaining vegetables and tomato juice. Cover the Steps: bowl with a lid and put it in the freezer for at least 1. Heat some oil in a pan and throw the red chili in it. two hours. Add parsley before serving!

Walk it through the pan to flavour the oil.

• • • • • • • • • •

4 cups tomato juice 3 large tomatoes (peeled, seeded and chopped) 1 large cucumber (peeled) 1 green bell pepper (chopped) Half a chopped onion A quarter cup wine vinegar 2 tablespoons olive oil 3 garlic cloves (minced) Salt, pepper Parsley

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Gazpacho

9. If you fry them in hot oil then drain them on absorbent paper towels.

10. Serve them with avocado or tomato sauces and spicy peppers.

tortilla Empanadas

2. Add the chopped onion, chopped chorizo, chopped ham and shredded beef. Stir and add salt, black pepper and spices.

3. Take the composition off the heat and when it is a little bit cool, add grated cheese.

4. Preparing the dough is very easy. In a capacious bowl, knead the flour with warm water and salt, adding olive oil and egg yolk.

5. Make a yellow ball of dough and stretch it on a piece of cling film, then split it into small balls, which will flatten until it forms a perfect and thin circle.

6. Put in the middle of the dough a teaspoon of the composition and then gently close the crescentshaped dough.

7. Take off the plastic wrap and press the edges with a fork so that the composition won’t slip when fried.

Brush them with an egg yolk.

8. The already formed Empanadas are either fried in hot oil and in this case you don’t need to brush them with egg yolk and sprinkle them with flax or sesame seeds or you can bake them in a heated oven on a tray covered with baking paper.

Ingredients: • • • • • •

350-400g potatoes (chopped like French fries) 1 large onion (you can ignore it if you want) 6 large eggs Olive Oil for frying Salt and pepper Handful flat-leaf parsley

Steps:

1. Put some oil in a pan and cook the onion until soft.

2. Add the potatoes and cook over low heat until they get a golden colour.

3. Remove the potatoes and onion using a strainer to drain the oil.

4. In a bowl, beat the eggs well, add the onions and potatoes drained of oil and mix well with the help of a fork.

5. Season with salt and pepper.

6. Add the hot mixture into a heated pan and leave it on low heat to fry on one side for about 5 minutes then turn on the other side with the help of a lid or a plate as big as the pan and leave it 5 minutes again.

7. Add chopped parsley on the tortilla.

Tortilla

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Churros 3.

Ingredients: • • • • • • • • •

65g granulated sugar Half tablespoon granulated sugar Half teaspoon cinnamon powder 250 ml water 1/2 teaspoon salt 2 tablespoons oil (+oil for frying) 200g flour 100g dark chocolate crumbs 170g cooking cream

Steps:

4.

5.

6.

7.

1. Combine in a bowl the 65g of granulated sugar with the cinnamon. Prepare a plate with paper towels on it.

8.

2. In a medium saucepan at a medium heat, mix water

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with the remaining sugar, salt and 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil. Bring mixture to a boil and take it off the fire.

Add flour and stir until it gets off the edges and it forms a round dough.

In a deep saucepan, which you usually use for frying, pour oil and gird it. Transfer the dough formed earlier in a plate. Pour the dough into hot oil.

To determine the length of each churro in part, you can cut the dough with scissors. Put maximum 3 churros in each series. Fry until it turns golden and becomes ripen inside.

Transfer the fried pieces on paper napkins and leave them to drain for about 2 minutes and roll them through the sugar and cinnamon mix. Repeat the process until all churros are finished.

Cut small pieces of chocolate and put it in a bowl.

Heat the whip cream on fire without bringing it to a boil.

Pour the whip cream into a bowl, leave it for 1 minute and then mix with a spatula until homogenous.

Churros

Crema Catalana

Crema Catalana Ingredients: • • • • • • • • •

500 ml of milk Zest from 1/2 lemon Zest of 1/2 orange 1 stick cinnamon (about 5 cm) 4 egg yolks 100g sugar 20g starch 2 tablespoons sugar (for caramel) Caramel

Steps:

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

1. Put the milk on fire together with the cinnamon and peeled lemon and orange. Heat it on low heat until it begins foaming on the sidelines.

2. Take off the saucepan from the heat, cover with a lid 9.

and leave to infuse for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, whip the yolks with sugar until you obtain a pale yellow cream. Add starch and stir.

Strain the milk. Pour the hot infused milk over the yolks, stirring constantly with a whisk.

Put the mixture into a saucepan. Place it over low heat and stir constantly with a whisk until you feel that it becomes slightly viscous (it takes about 10-15 minutes to reach at the desired consistency) This is the most important step. Upon it, depends the consistency/softness of the cream, so let the heat on low, stir constantly and have patience to make the cream.

Take off the saucepan from the heat and quickly stir for 1 minute.

Pour the cream into 4 ceramic bowls/cups/jars. Let them cool to room temperature. Then put the dishes in the fridge until you serve them (at least a few hours so they have enough time to clot).

Sprinkle a thin layer of sugar over and caramelize it.

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Rioja Chicken Balls Ingredients: • • • • • • • • • •

500g minced pork or beef 1 onion (finely minced) 4 cloves of garlic (crushed) 1 tablespoon of chopped parsley 60g bread crumbs 3 eggs 1 red chili (chopped) Salt and pepper Flour Oil for frying.

Rioja Chichen Balls

2. Do the same with the bacon if overly salty or smoked.

3. Portion the bacon and sausages.

Steps: 4. Clean and chop the onion.

1. Mix well all the ingredients (obviously, except for 5. Place the bacon in a pot that has thick wall and let it the flour and oil). Allow the obtained paste to rest simmer a few minutes until it leaves a little fat. for half an hour in order to homogenize the flavours.

6. Remove the bacon and set it aside.

2. Form small and round meatballs of about 2-3 cm 7. Add the onion and sauté. diameter (nearly 40-50).

8. Add paprika, beans and water to cover it a few 3. Wallow in flour and fry them in hot oil at medium fingers. heat, turning them halfway through.

9. Let the beans boil.

4. Drain them well and place them on absorbent paper 10. After 20 minutes add the chorizo, bay leaves and a to get rid of the fat excess. tablespoon of salt.

11. When the beans are almost cooked add the blood sausage and garlic. Fill with hot water, if necessary.

12. Let it boil 10 more minutes.

13. Cover and let the flavours penetrate.

Fabada Asturiana

Ingredients: • • • • • • • • • • •

600g white beans with large grain 300g chorizo 200g blood sausage 400g smoked bacon 1 large onion 4 cloves of garlic A few strands of saffron (traditional, but could do without) 1 tablespoon paprika (preferably smoked) 2 bay leaves Salt Pepper

Steps:

1. Wash the beans and let them soak overnight in cold water.

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Fabada Asturiana

Galician Octopus Ingredients: • • • • • • •

1 kg Octopus 500g Potatoes Olive oil (necessarily) Hot Chili Sweet Boya Pepper Salt

Steps:

1. The octopus is best to be frozen in order not to toughen when you boil it. You can buy a readycooked, cut and frozen octopus and all you need is just to warm it up well before seasoning and serve.

2. f it is not boiled, let it in the refrigerator to thaw then boil in cold water without salt.

3. Boil it for an hour and a half then remove it and cut the tentacles into slices of about 5mm thick and the top part into equal pieces.

4. Put it on a shallow dish and pour over olive oil, spicy and sweet paprika, pepper and salt. It should be well salted and spicy enough.

5. Boil the potatoes for about 15 minutes.

6. Serve with fresh bread.

Galician Octopus

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Pedro Ximenez jelly Ingredients:

• 500 ml of Pedro Ximenez sherry ( Pedro Ximénez is a type of sweet Spanish sherry) • 4½ leaves titanium strength gelatine • 50g raisins • 190g shortbread biscuits • 50g unsalted butter (melted) • Toasted flaked almonds (to serve) Chocolate custard • 250 ml milk • 250 ml thickened cream • 3 egg yolks • 90g caster sugar • 1 tablespoon arrowroot (Arrowroot is a starch used as a thickening agent mainly for desserts.)

• 125g dark chocolate (chopped) • 1 tablespoon good quality cocoa Caramel cream • 300 ml thickened cream • 200g dulce de leche (Dulce de leche is a Spanish caramel that is prepared by heating sweetened milk. It is available from delis and specialist food shops.)

Steps:

1. Put 125ml sherry in a small saucepan over medium heat and bring to a simmer.

2. Soak the gelatine leaves in cold water for about 5 minutes, squeeze out the water excess, then add to the warm sherry.

3. Stir to dissolve and strain into a trifle dish. Stir in the raisins and the remaining 375ml sherry.

4. Cover it with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 4 hours.

5. To make the custard put the milk and the cream in a saucepan over medium heat and bring it just below the boiling point.

6. Whisk the egg yolks and sugar in a heatproof bowl to combine. Whisk constantly, then pour in the hot milk mixture very slowly.

7. Transfer it to a clean saucepan and cook over medium heat, keeping in mind to stir constantly with the help of a wooden spoon until it coats back of spoon.

Remove from the heat.

8. Put the arrowroot in a jug with 80ml custard and stir it until smooth.

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Pedro Ximenez jelly with chocolate and caramel layers

9. Add chocolate and cocoa to the custard in pan. Put the ingredients over medium heat and whisk until very thick and the chocolate has melted (about 5-7 minutes).

10. Strain into a bowl through a fine sieve. Cover the surface with plastic wrap, cool to room temperature, then chill for almost 1 hour.

11. Pulse the shortbread in a food processor until it resembles the coarse crumbs.

12. Add the melted butter and pulse to combine. Spoon over jelly.

13. In order to make the caramel cream, whisk the cream in a bowl until lightly thickened.

14. Pour the dulce de leche in a separate bowl and gradually stir in the cream in 3 batches. Stir well every time you add more.

15. Spoon over the shortbread and smooth the surface.

16. Spoon the chocolate custard over the caramel cream and smooth the surface.

17. Serve immediately or cover and chill until you are ready to serve.

18. Sprinkle with almonds just before serving.

sangria

Sangria

Sangria Souvenirs

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Spain Travel

108

Madrid

Santiago Bernabeu Stadium

109

Museo Nacional del Prado

Parque Buen Retiro

110

Templo de Debod

Goya Frescoes at Ermita de San Antonio de la Florida

Museo Lazaro Galdiano

111

Plaza de Cibeles

Puerta del Sol

112

Plaza Mayor

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113

Reina Sofia Museum

Thyssen Bornemisza Museum

Gran Via Panorama

Joaquin Sorolla Museum

Palace of San Lorenzo de El Escorial

114

Royal Palace of Madrid

Gran Via

115

Barcelona

Sagrada Familia Cathedral

116

Palau Nacional

Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya

Tomb of Saint Eulalia

Aerial view of the Venetian Columns

Cathedral of the Holy Cross and Saint Eulalia

117

Casa Mila (Gaudi’s work)

Casa Battlo (Gaudi’s work)

118

Parc de la Ciutadella

Passeig de Gracia

Park Guell

Montserrat

Museu Picasso

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Palau de la Musica Catalana

Carrer del Bisbe

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120

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MontjuĂŻc Magic Fountain and Venetian Towers

La Rambla Market

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Valencia

La Lonja de la Seda

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City of Arts and Science

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Palacio del MarquĂŠs de Dos Aguas

Valencia Cathedral

124

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125

Sevilla

Parque de MarĂ­a Luisa

126

Alcázar Royal Palace of Seville

Plaza de España

127

Ayuntamiento de Sevilla

Casa de Pilatos

128

Semana Santa

La Giralda and Plaza Virgen de los Reyes

Cathedral of Saint Mary

129

Bilbao

Casco Viejo of Bilbao

130

Guggenheim Museum

Basilica de BegoĂąa

131

Parque DoĂąa Casilda de Iturrizar

Palacio Euskalduna

132

Mercado de la Ribera

Toledo

Sinagoga del Transito

133

Toledo Cathedral

Museo El Greco

134

El Puente de Alcรกntara

Alcazar de Toledo

135

Monasterio de San Juan de los Reyes

Toledo Cathedral of Saint Mary

136

Granada

Palace of Generalife

137

Granada Cathedral

Gypsy Quarter of Sacromonte

138

Albaicin (Old Town)

Alhambra’s Interior Hall of Abencerrajes

139

Alhambra, Moorish Complex

Capilla Real

140

Malaga

Castillo de Gibralfaro

La Manquita

141

Malaga Cathedral

142

Alcazaba de Malaga

Malaga Panorama

143

Other Places

Playa del Monsul beach in Almeria

144

Aqueduct of Segovia

Basilica del Pilar in Zaragoza

145

Santiago de Compostela Cathedral

Ponte Vela Roman Bridge in Ourense

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Pamplona Corridas

Plaza de Toros in Pamplona

147

Costa Brava

Puente Nuevo in Ronda

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Interior of the Cordoba Mosque

Palma de Mallorca

Calo des Moro in Mallorca

Costa Dorada

Mallorca Cathedral at night

Palma de Mallorca Cathedral

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Gran Canaria

Rias Baixas, Galicia

Cordoba Mosque

150

Loro Parque, Tenerife

Siam Park, Tenerife

Costa del Sol

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Old town of San Sebastian

152

Torre de Hercules in La Coruña

Cathedral Square in Almeria

Dolphins at Loro Parque in Tenerife

Pico d’Aneto peak in the Pyrenees

Iglesia Magistral de Nuestra SeĂąora del Pilar in Zaragoza

Salamanca Cathedral

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Ayuntamiento de La CoruĂąa

Girona

154

Gijon

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San Anton Castle

Plaza de Italia in Santander

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Aqueduct of Segovia

Teide National Park

156

Ordes National Park

Plaza Mayor de Valladolid

Cadiz Quay and Cathedral

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