The Spain Portal (Bienvenido al portal español)
Spain (Spanish: España, [esˈpaɲa] (listen)), or the Kingdom of Spain (Reino de España), is a transcontinental country predominantly located in southwestern Europe with parts of territory in the Atlantic Ocean and across the Mediterranean Sea. The largest part of Spain is situated on the Iberian Peninsula; its territory also includes the Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean, the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean Sea, and the autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla in Africa. The country's mainland is bordered to the south by Gibraltar; to the south and east by the Mediterranean Sea; to the north by France, Andorra and the Bay of Biscay; and to the west by Portugal and the Atlantic Ocean. With an area of 505,990 km2 (195,360 sq mi), Spain is the second-largest country in the European Union (EU) and, with a population exceeding 47.4 million, the fourth-most populous EU member state. Spain's capital and largest city is Madrid; other major urban areas include Barcelona, Valencia, Seville, Zaragoza, Málaga, Murcia, Palma de Mallorca, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and Bilbao.
Anatomically modern humans first arrived in the Iberian Peninsula around 42,000 years ago. Pre-Roman peoples dwelled in the territory, in addition to the development of coastal trading colonies by Phoenicians and Ancient Greeks and the brief Carthaginian rule over the Mediterranean coastline. The Roman conquest and colonization of the peninsula (Hispania) ensued, bringing a Roman acculturation of the population. Hispania remained under Roman rule until the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the fourth century, which ushered in the migration of Germanic peoples and the Alans into the peninsula. Eventually, the Visigoths emerged as the dominant power in the peninsula by the fifth century. In the early eighth century, most of the peninsula was conquered by the Umayyad Caliphate and during early Islamic rule, Al-Andalus became the dominant peninsular power, centered in Córdoba. Several Christian kingdoms emerged in Northern Iberia, chief among them León, Castile, Aragón, Portugal, and Navarre and over the next seven centuries, an intermittent southward expansion of these kingdoms, known as Reconquista, culminated with the Christian seizure of the Emirate of Granada in 1492. Jews and Muslims were forced to choose between conversion to Catholicism or expulsion and the Morisco converts were eventually expelled. The dynastic union of the Crown of Castile and the Crown of Aragon was followed by the annexation of Navarre and the 1580 incorporation of Portugal (which ended in 1640). In the wake of the Spanish colonization of the Americas after 1492, the Crown came to hold a large overseas empire, which underpinned the emergence of a global trading system primarily fuelled by the precious metals extracted in the New World. Centralisation of the administration and further State-building in mainland Spain ensued in the 18th and 19th centuries, during which the Crown saw the loss of the bulk of its American colonies a few years after of the Peninsular War. The country veered between different political regimes; monarchy and republic, and following a 1936–39 devastating civil war, a fascist dictatorship that lasted until 1975. (Full article...)
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- Image 1Muhammad II (Arabic: محمد الثاني) (also known by the epithet al-Faqih, "the canon-lawyer", c. 1235 – 8 April 1302; reigned from 1273 until his death) was the second Nasrid ruler of the Emirate of Granada in Al-Andalus on the Iberian Peninsula, succeeding his father, Muhammad I. Already experienced in matters of state when he ascended the throne, he continued his father's policy of maintaining independence in the face of Granada's larger neighbours, the Christian kingdom of Castile and the Muslim Marinid state of Morocco, as well as an internal rebellion by his family's former allies, the Banu Ashqilula. (Full article...)
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Abu Abdullah Muhammad ibn Yusuf ibn Nasr (Arabic: أبو عبد الله محمد بن يوسف بن نصر; 1195 – 22 January 1273), also known as Ibn al-Aḥmar (Arabic: ابن الأحمر, "the Red") and by his honorific al-Ghalib billah (Arabic: الغالب بالله, "The Victor by the Grace of God"), was the first ruler of the Emirate of Granada, the last independent Muslim state on the Iberian Peninsula, and the founder of its ruling Nasrid dynasty. He lived during a time when Iberia's Christian kingdoms—especially Portugal, Castile and Aragon—were expanding at the expense of the Islamic territory in Iberia, called Al-Andalus. Muhammad ibn Yusuf took power in his native Arjona in 1232 when he rebelled against the de facto leader of Al-Andalus, Ibn Hud. During this rebellion, he was able to take control of Córdoba and Seville briefly, before he lost both cities to Ibn Hud. Forced to acknowledge Ibn Hud's suzerainty, Muhammad was able to retain Arjona and Jaén. In 1236, he betrayed Ibn Hud by helping Ferdinand III of Castile take Córdoba. In the years that followed, Muhammad was able to gain control over southern cities, including Granada (1237), Almería (1238), and Málaga (1239). In 1244, he lost Arjona to Castile. Two years later, in 1246, he agreed to surrender Jaén and accept Ferdinand's overlordship in exchange for a 20-year truce. (Full article...) - Image 3Abu Abdullah Muhammad ibn Ismail (Arabic: أبو عبد الله محمد الرابع), known as Muhammad IV, (14 April 1315 – 25 August 1333) was the ruler of the Emirate of Granada on the Iberian Peninsula from 1325 to 1333. He was the sixth sultan of the Nasrid dynasty, succeeding to the throne at ten years old when his father, Ismail I (r. 1314–1325), was assassinated. (Full article...)
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Domḗnikos Theotokópoulos (Greek: Δομήνικος Θεοτοκόπουλος [ðoˈminikos θeotoˈkopulos]; 1 October 1541 – 7 April 1614), most widely known as El Greco ("The Greek"), was a Greek painter, sculptor and architect of the Spanish Renaissance. "El Greco" was a nickname, and the artist normally signed his paintings with his full birth name in Greek letters, Δομήνικος Θεοτοκόπουλος (Domḗnikos Theotokópoulos), often adding the word Κρής (Krḗs), which means Cretan. (Full article...) - Image 5
The Leopardo 2E or Leopard 2A6E (E stands for España, Spanish for Spain) is a variant of the German Leopard 2 main battle tank (specifically the Leopard 2A6 variant), tailored to the requirements of the Spanish army, which acquired it as part of an armament modernization program named Programa Coraza, or Program Cuirass. The acquisition program for the Leopard 2E began in 1994, five years after the cancellation of the Lince tank program that culminated in an agreement to transfer 108 Leopard 2A4s to the Spanish army in 1998 and started the local production of the Leopard 2E in December 2003. Despite postponement of production owing to the 2003 merger between Santa Bárbara Sistemas and General Dynamics, and continued fabrication issues between 2006 and 2007, 219 Leopard 2Es have been delivered to the Spanish army. (Full article...) - Image 6
Joseph Anton Lopez SJ (born José Antonio López; October 4, 1779 – October 5, 1841) was a Mexican Catholic priest and Jesuit. Born in Michoacán, he studied canon law at the Colegio de San Nicolás and the Royal and Pontifical University of Mexico. He became acquainted with the future Empress consort Ana María Huarte and was made chaplain to the future imperial family. He was later put in charge of the education of all the princes in Mexico. Lopez was a close ally of Emperor Agustín de Iturbide, residing in Madrid for four years as his attorney and political informant, and accompanying him during his exile to Italy and England. (Full article...) - Image 7
Las Meninas (pronounced [laz meˈninas]; Spanish for 'The Ladies-in-waiting') is a 1656 painting in the Museo del Prado in Madrid, by Diego Velázquez, the leading artist of the Spanish Golden Age. It has been regarded as one of the most widely analyzed works in Western painting, due to the way its complex and enigmatic composition raises questions about reality and illusion, and the uncertain relationship it creates between the viewer and the figures depicted. (Full article...) - Image 8
Santa María de Óvila is a former Cistercian monastery built in Spain beginning in 1181 on the Tagus River near Trillo, Guadalajara, about 90 miles (140 km) northeast of Madrid. During prosperous times over the next four centuries, construction projects expanded and improved the small monastery. Its fortunes declined significantly in the 18th century, and in 1835 it was confiscated by the Spanish government and sold to private owners who used its buildings to shelter farm animals. (Full article...) - Image 9
The Battle of Barrosa (Chiclana, 5 March 1811, also known as the Battle of Chiclana or Battle of Cerro del Puerco) was part of an unsuccessful manoeuvre by an Anglo-Iberian force to break the French siege of Cádiz during the Peninsular War. During the battle, a single British division defeated two French divisions and captured a regimental eagle. (Full article...) - Image 10
The Spanish conquest of Petén was the last stage of the conquest of Guatemala, a prolonged conflict during the Spanish colonisation of the Americas. A wide lowland plain covered with dense rainforest, Petén contains a central drainage basin with a series of lakes and areas of savannah. It is crossed by several ranges of low karstic hills and rises to the south as it nears the Guatemalan Highlands. The conquest of Petén, a region now incorporated into the modern republic of Guatemala, climaxed in 1697 with the capture of Nojpetén, the island capital of the Itza kingdom, by Martín de Ursúa y Arizmendi. With the defeat of the Itza, the last independent and unconquered native kingdom in the Americas fell to European colonisers. (Full article...) - Image 11
Verdeja was the name of a series of light tanks developed in Spain between 1938 and 1954 in an attempt to replace German Panzer I and Soviet T-26 tanks in Spanish service. (Full article...) - Image 12
The Rokeby Venus (/ˈroʊkbi/; also known as The Toilet of Venus, Venus at her Mirror, Venus and Cupid, or La Venus del espejo) is a painting by Diego Velázquez, the leading artist of the Spanish Golden Age. Completed between 1647 and 1651, and probably painted during the artist's visit to Italy, the work depicts the goddess Venus in a sensual pose, lying on a bed and looking into a mirror held by the Roman god of physical love, her son Cupid. The painting is in the National Gallery, London. (Full article...) - Image 13
The Battle of Bicocca or La Bicocca (Italian: Battaglia della Bicocca) was fought on 27 April 1522, during the Italian War of 1521–26. A combined French and Venetian force under Odet de Foix, Vicomte de Lautrec, was decisively defeated by an Imperial–Spanish and Papal army under the overall command of Prospero Colonna. Lautrec then withdrew from Lombardy, leaving the Duchy of Milan in Imperial hands. (Full article...) - Image 14Muhammad III (Arabic: محمد الثالث; 15 August 1257 – 21 January 1314) was the ruler of the Emirate of Granada in Al-Andalus on the Iberian Peninsula from 8 April 1302 until 14 March 1309, and a member of the Nasrid dynasty. He ascended the Granadan sultan's throne after the death of his father Muhammad II, which according to rumours was caused by Muhammad III poisoning him. He had the reputation of being both cultured and cruel. Later in his life, he became visually handicapped, which caused him to be absent from many government activities and to rely on high officials, especially the powerful Vizier Ibn al-Hakim al-Rundi. (Full article...)
- Image 15The Colossus of Rhodes is a 1954 oil painting by the Spanish surrealist, Salvador Dalí. It is one of a series of seven paintings he created for the 1956 film Seven Wonders of the World, each depicting one of the wonders. The work shows the Colossus of Rhodes, the ancient statue of the Greek titan-god of the sun, Helios. The painting was not used for the film and was donated to the Kunstmuseum Bern in 1981, where it remains. (Full article...)
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The Mercenary War, also known as the Truceless War, was a mutiny by troops that were employed by Carthage at the end of the First Punic War (264–241 BC), supported by uprisings of African settlements revolting against Carthaginian control. It lasted from 241 to late 238 or early 237 BC and ended with Carthage suppressing both the mutiny and the revolt. (Full article...) - Image 17Abu'l-Walid Ismail I ibn Faraj (Arabic: أبو الوليد إسماعيل الأول بن فرج, 3 March 1279 – 8 July 1325) was the fifth Nasrid ruler of the Emirate of Granada on the Iberian Peninsula from 1314 to 1325. A grandson of Muhammad II on the side of his mother Fatima, he was the first of the lineage of sultans now known as the al-dawla al-isma'iliyya al-nasriyya (the Nasrid dynasty of Ismail). Historians characterise him as an effective ruler who improved the emirate's position with military victories during his reign. (Full article...)
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The First Punic War (264–241 BC) was the first of three wars fought between Rome and Carthage, the two main powers of the western Mediterranean in the early 3rd century BC. For 23 years, in the longest continuous conflict and greatest naval war of antiquity, the two powers struggled for supremacy. The war was fought primarily on the Mediterranean island of Sicily and its surrounding waters, and also in North Africa. After immense losses on both sides, the Carthaginians were defeated. (Full article...) - Image 19
Alfonso XIII was the second of three España-class dreadnought battleships built in the 1910s for the Spanish Navy. Named after King Alfonso XIII of Spain, the ship was not completed until 1915 owing to a shortage of materials that resulted from the start of World War I the previous year. The España class was ordered as part of a naval construction program to rebuild the fleet after the losses of the Spanish–American War; the program began in the context of closer Spanish relations with Britain and France. The ships were armed with a main battery of eight 305 mm (12 in) guns and were intended to support the French Navy in the event of a major European war. (Full article...) - Image 20
Hurricane Leslie (known as Storm Leslie or Cyclone Leslie), while extratropical, was the strongest cyclone of tropical origin to strike the Iberian Peninsula since 1842. A large, long-lived, and very erratic tropical cyclone, Leslie was the twelfth named storm and sixth hurricane of the 2018 Atlantic hurricane season.[1] The storm had a non-tropical origin, developing from an extratropical cyclone that was situated over the northern Atlantic on 22 September. The low quickly acquired subtropical characteristics and was classified as Subtropical Storm Leslie on the following day. The cyclone meandered over the northern Atlantic and gradually weakened, before merging with a frontal system on 25 September, which later intensified into a powerful hurricane-force extratropical low over the northern Atlantic. (Full article...) - Image 21
The Battle of the Gebora was a battle of the Peninsular War between Spanish and French armies. It took place on 19 February 1811, northwest of Badajoz, Spain, where an outnumbered French force routed and nearly destroyed the Spanish Army of Extremadura. (Full article...) - Image 22
Boletus aereus, the dark cep or bronze bolete, is a highly prized and much sought-after edible mushroom in the family Boletaceae. The bolete is widely consumed in Spain (Basque Country and Navarre), France, Italy, Greece, and generally throughout the Mediterranean. Described in 1789 by French mycologist Pierre Bulliard, it is closely related to several other European boletes, including B. reticulatus, B. pinophilus, and the popular B. edulis. Some populations in North Africa have in the past been classified as a separate species, B. mamorensis, but have been shown to be phylogenetically conspecific to B. aereus and this taxon is now regarded as a synonym. (Full article...) - Image 23The Nyon Conference was a diplomatic conference held in Nyon, Switzerland, in September 1937 to address attacks on international shipping in the Mediterranean Sea during the Spanish Civil War. The conference was convened in part because Italy had been carrying out unrestricted submarine warfare, although the final conference agreement did not accuse Italy directly; instead, the attacks were referred to as "piracy" by an unidentified body. Italy was not officially at war, nor did any submarine identify itself. The conference was designed to strengthen non-intervention in the Spanish Civil War. The United Kingdom and France led the conference, which was also attended by Bulgaria, Egypt, Greece, Romania, Turkey, the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia. (Full article...)
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In a protracted conflict during the Spanish colonization of the Americas, Spanish colonisers gradually incorporated the territory that became the modern country of Guatemala into the colonial Viceroyalty of New Spain. Before the conquest, this territory contained a number of competing Mesoamerican kingdoms, the majority of which were Maya. Many conquistadors viewed the Maya as "infidels" who needed to be forcefully converted and pacified, disregarding the achievements of their civilization. The first contact between the Maya and European explorers came in the early 16th century when a Spanish ship sailing from Panama to Santo Domingo was wrecked on the east coast of the Yucatán Peninsula in 1511. Several Spanish expeditions followed in 1517 and 1519, making landfall on various parts of the Yucatán coast. The Spanish conquest of the Maya was a prolonged affair; the Maya kingdoms resisted integration into the Spanish Empire with such tenacity that their defeat took almost two centuries. (Full article...) - Image 25
The 2015 Vuelta a España was a three-week Grand Tour cycling race. The race was the 70th edition of the Vuelta a España and took place principally in Spain, although two stages took place partly or wholly in Andorra, and was the 22nd race in the 2015 UCI World Tour. The 3,358.1-kilometre (2,086.6 mi) race included 21 stages, beginning in Marbella on 22 August 2015 and finishing in Madrid on 13 September. It was won by Fabio Aru (Astana Pro Team), with Joaquim Rodríguez (Team Katusha) second and Rafał Majka (Tinkoff–Saxo) third. (Full article...)
Selected biography
Pedro Almodóvar Caballero (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈpeð̞ɾo almoˈð̞oβ̞aɾ kaβ̞aˈʝeɾo]) (born September 24, 1949 in Calzada de Calatrava, Spain) is a Spanish film director, screenwriter and producer. Almodóvar is the most successful and internationally known Spanish filmmaker of his generation. His films, marked by complex narratives, employ the codes of melodrama and use elements of pop culture, popular songs, irreverent humor, strong colors and glossy décor. He never judges his character's actions, whatever they do, but he presents them as they are in all their complexity. Desire, passion, family and identity are the director's favorite themes. Almodóvar’s films enjoy a worldwide following and he has become a major figure on the stage of world cinema.
Pedro Almodóvar Caballero was born on September 24, 1949 in Calzada de Calatrava, a rural small town of Ciudad Real, a province of Castile-La Mancha in the administrative district of Almagro. La Mancha is the windswept region of flat lands made famous by Don Quijote. He was born as one of four children (two boys, two girls) in a large and impoverished family of peasant stock. His father, Antonio Almodóvar, who could barely read or write worked most of his life hauling barrels of wine by mule. Almodóvar's mother, Francisca Caballero, turned her son into a part time teacher of literacy in the village and also a letter reader and transcriber for the neighbors. When Pedro was eight years old, the family sent him to study at a religious boarding school in the city of Cáceres, Extremadura, in the west of the country, with the hope that he might someday become a priest.
Selected picture
- Image 1Credit: Ary Scheffer
An artists portrayal of the Battle of Ravenna (1512). This artwork also shows the death of Gaston de Foix, as well as the general scene during the time of battle.
- Image 2Architecture credit: José Grases Riera; photographed by Carlos DelgadoThe Monument to Alfonso XII is located in Buen Retiro Park (El Retiro) in Madrid, Spain. Measuring 30 m (98 ft) high, 86 m (282 ft) long, and 58 m (190 ft) wide, it has at its center an equestrian statue of King Alfonso XII, cast in bronze by the Spanish sculptor Mariano Benlliure in 1904. The monument is situated on the eastern edge of an artificial lake near the center of the park and was inaugurated on 6 June 1922.
- Image 3Photograph: Diego DelsoThe Assut de l'Or Bridge is a white single-pylon cable-stayed bridge in the City of Arts and Sciences, Valencia, Spain. Completed in 2008, it was designed by Valencian architect and civil engineer Santiago Calatrava as a variant of his cantilever spar cable-stayed bridge in Seville.
- Image 4Painting: Francisco GoyaThe Third of May 1808 is a painting completed in 1814 by the Spanish master Francisco Goya, now in the Museo del Prado, Madrid. Along with its companion piece of the same size, The Second of May 1808 (or The Charge of the Mamelukes), it was commissioned by the provisional government of Spain at Goya's suggestion. Goya sought to commemorate Spanish resistance to Napoleon's armies during the Peninsular War.
- Image 5Credit: Yummifruitbat
Timanfaya National Park (Spanish: Parque Nacional de Timanfaya) is a national park, covering the southern area of Tinajo, Las Palmas and the northern area of Yaiza, Las Palmas. The parkland is made up of volcanic soil, with the strongest recorded eruptions occurring between 1730 and 1736.
- Image 7Credit: Lofor
The Barcelona Free Port or Zona franca de Barcelona is a tariff-free industrial park that has developed within the Port of Barcelona, across the flat land of the Llobregat delta between the city of Barcelona and Barcelona International Airport to the south.
- Image 8Photo credit: David IliffThe Queen Sofia Palace of the Arts (Valencian: Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía) is an opera house located in Valencia, Spain. The last to be completed of the City of Arts and Sciences complex, it was designed by architect Santiago Calatrava. The 14-story structure opened on 8 October 2005.
- Image 9Photograph credit: Biblioteca Nacional de EspañaAna Santos Aramburo (born 1957) has been the director of the National Library of Spain since February 2013. Having received a degree in geography and history from the University of Zaragoza in Spain, she has spent much of her career working at the Complutense University of Madrid, first at the library of the Faculty of Economics and Business Sciences, and later serving as deputy director of the university library. Later she served as Director of the Historical Library Marquis of Valdecilla, General Director of Libraries and Archives of the City of Madrid, and Director of Cultural Action at the National Library. This photograph of Santos shows her at the headquarters of the National Library of Spain in Madrid.
- Image 10Photo credit: David IliffThe Tagus River, seen here passing through the World Heritage listed city of Toledo, Spain. It is the longest river on the Iberian Peninsula at 1,038 kilometres (645 mi). It begins its journey in the Albarracín mountains in Spain, and follows a very constricted course for much of its length before reaching the Atlantic Ocean in Portugal.
- Image 11Smoke coming from Madrid Barajas International Airport after the 2006 Madrid Barajas International Airport bombing. The terrorist incident occurred on the morning of December 30, 2006, when an explosion took place in the carpark building attached to Terminal 4 of the airport.
- Image 12Photograph: Diego DelsoMoros is a municipality in the province of Zaragoza, Spain. Located in the Sistema Ibérico mountain range, the village lies on a hill, with the church and former town hall at the top, the residences in the middle, and the sheep pens at the bottom. The population of Moros has been steadily decreasing in recent decades, and was 478 in 2006.
- Image 14Credit: TyreniusPablo Picasso (October 25, 1881 — April 8, 1973) was an artist and sculptor. Picasso was born in Málaga, Spain. This image was taken of him in 1962, eleven years before his death.
- Image 15Coin design credit: Duchy of ParmaThe doubloon was a Spanish gold coin worth two escudos or 32 reales weighing 6.867 grams (0.221 troy ounces), introduced in 1537. It became the model for several other gold coins issued in Europe, including this 1626 two-doppie gold coin issued in Piacenza in northern Italy by the Duchy of Parma, depicting Odoardo Farnese, Duke of Parma, on the obverse. The coin is part of the National Numismatic Collection at the National Museum of American History.
- Image 16Image: Royal Household of Spain; Restoration: Lise BroerA Grant of Arms by Philip II of Spain to Alonso de Mesa and Hernando de Mesa, signed 25 November 1566. In Spanish heraldry, coats of arms were granted based almost entirely on military service, which made it possible for commoners to join the ranks of the Spanish nobility. Also unique to Spain was that titles could be inherited through females and via illegitimacy.
- Image 17Painting: Marià FortunyThe Spanish Wedding is an oil on panel painting by Marià Fortuny completed over a two-year period ending in 1870. It depicts the signing of a wedding contract in 18th century Spain and was influenced heavily by the works of Francisco Goya, whom the artist admired. It is currently exhibited at the National Art Museum of Catalonia.
- Image 18Gaspar de Guzmán, Count-Duke of Olivares (1587–1645) was a Spanish royal favourite of Philip IV and minister. As prime minister from 1621 to 1643, he over-exerted Spain in foreign affairs and unsuccessfully attempted domestic reform. His policies of committing Spain to recapture the Dutch Republic led to his major involvement in the Thirty Years War. This portrait was completed in 1634, with its composition referring to Olivares' military leadership in the service of King Philip.
- Image 20Photograph: Benny TrappThe Spanish painted frog (Discoglossus jeanneae) is a species of frog in the family Alytidae. Endemic to Spain, it mostly lives in open areas, pine groves and shrublands. It feeds mostly on insects and worms.
- Image 21Photo: David IliffThe Giralda is a 104.5 m (343 ft) tall bell tower for the Seville Cathedral in Seville, Andalusia, Spain. It was originally constructed as a minaret in 1198, when Seville was ruled by the Almohad Caliphate. After the city was taken by the Christians in the Reconquista, the city's mosque was converted to a church. The upper third of the structure was completed during the Spanish Renaissance.
- Image 22Photo credit: David IliffThe Casa Milà, a 1912 work by Catalán architect Antoni Gaudi, in the Eixample district of Barcelona, Spain. Gaudí's fascination with trencadís-influenced decoration and curves (predating biomorphism by almost 20 years) can be seen here.
Did you know...
- ... that at one point in its political history, the Philippines was represented in the Spanish Cortes Generales?
- ... that after Williams won the 2012 Spanish Grand Prix a conspiracy theory emerged which argued that the team had been given special tyres?
- ... that Sofía Sanchez loved soccer and she played for a leading Spanish side, but her mother said "study" and she now sits in Ecuador's National Assembly?
- ... that Japanese voice actress and singer Sora Amamiya's song "Jōnetsu no Te Amo" was heavily influenced by Latin music, including the use of a Spanish guitar?
- ... that the Spanish city of Oviedo only repairs Woody Allen's glasses once a year?
- ... that the city of Madrid has had five successive sets of walls, from the first built by the Moors in 860 to the ones built by Philip IV in 1625?
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- Image 1Ciutat Morta (Dead City) is a 2013 Catalan documentary about the 4F case, directed by Xavier Artigas and Xapo Ortega. The film covers the repercussions of the events of February 4, 2006, when a Guàrdia Urbana officer in Barcelona was grievously injured and several people were arrested. This resulted in a long court-case and ultimately four people were convicted and imprisoned, one of whom committed suicide. (Full article...)
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The 1997 European Grand Prix (formally the XLII European Grand Prix) was a Formula One motor race held on 26 October 1997 at the Circuito Permanente de Jerez, Spain. Originally scheduled as the Grand Prix of Portugal at the Estoril circuit, it was moved when Estoril's management had financial difficulties. It was the 17th and final race of the 1997 FIA Formula One World Championship. The 69-lap race was won by Mika Häkkinen in a McLaren, his first Formula One race victory. His teammate David Coulthard finished second and Williams driver Jacques Villeneuve took third, which was sufficient for him to win the World Championship. (Full article...) - Image 3
The twelfth siege of Gibraltar was fought between September 1704 and May 1705 during the War of the Spanish Succession. It followed the capture in August 1704 of the fortified town of Gibraltar, at the southern tip of Spain, by an Anglo–Dutch naval force led by Sir George Rooke and Prince George of Hesse-Darmstadt. The members of the Grand Alliance, the Holy Roman Empire, England, the Netherlands, Pro-Habsburg Spain, Portugal and Savoy, had allied to prevent the unification of the French and Spanish thrones by supporting the claim of the Habsburg pretender Archduke Charles VI of Austria as Charles III of Spain. They were opposed by the rival claimant, the Bourbon Philip, Duke of Anjou, ruling as Philip V of Spain, and his patron and ally, Louis XIV of France. The war began in northern Europe and was largely contained there until 1703, when Portugal joined the confederate powers. From then, English naval attentions were focused on mounting a campaign in the Mediterranean to distract the French navy and disrupt French and Bourbon Spanish shipping or capture a port for use as a naval base. The capture of Gibraltar was the outcome of that initial stage of the Mediterranean campaign. (Full article...) - Image 4
The Mediterranean campaign of 1798 was a series of major naval operations surrounding a French expeditionary force sent to Egypt under Napoleon Bonaparte during the French Revolutionary Wars. The French Republic sought to capture Egypt as the first stage in an effort to threaten British India and support Tipu Sultan, and thus force Great Britain to make peace. Departing Toulon in May 1798 with over 40,000 troops and hundreds of ships, Bonaparte's fleet sailed southeastwards across the Mediterranean Sea. They were followed by a small British squadron under Rear-Admiral Sir Horatio Nelson, later reinforced to 13 ships of the line, whose pursuit was hampered by a lack of scouting frigates and reliable information. Bonaparte's first target was the island of Malta, which was under the government of the Knights of St. John and theoretically granted its owner control of the Central Mediterranean. Bonaparte's forces landed on the island and rapidly overwhelmed the defenders, securing the port city of Valletta before continuing to Egypt. When Nelson learned of the French capture of the island, he guessed the French target to be Egypt and sailed for Alexandria, but passed the French during the night of 22 June without discovering them and arrived off Egypt first. (Full article...) - Image 5
The Spanish conquest of Honduras was a 16th-century conflict during the Spanish colonization of the Americas in which the territory that now comprises the Republic of Honduras, one of the seven states of Central America, was incorporated into the Spanish Empire. In 1502, the territory was claimed for the king of Spain by Christopher Columbus on his fourth and final trip to the New World. The territory that now comprises Honduras was inhabited by a mix of indigenous peoples straddling a transitional cultural zone between Mesoamerica to the northwest, and the Intermediate Area to the southeast. Indigenous groups included Maya, Lenca, Pech, Miskitu, Mayangna (Sumu), Jicaque, Pipil and Chorotega. Two indigenous leaders are particularly notable for their resistance against the Spanish; the Maya leader Sicumba, and the Lenca ruler referred to as Lempira (a title meaning "Lord of the Mountain"). (Full article...) - Image 6
Francisco Sánchez Gómez (21 December 1947 – 25 February 2014), known as Paco de Lucía (/ˈpɑːkoʊ dɛ luːˈtʃiːə/;IPA: [ˈpako ðe luˈθi.a]), was a Spanish virtuoso flamenco guitarist, composer, and record producer. A leading proponent of the new flamenco style, he was one of the first flamenco guitarists to branch into classical and jazz. Richard Chapman and Eric Clapton, authors of Guitar: Music, History, Players, describe de Lucía as a "titanic figure in the world of flamenco guitar", and Dennis Koster, author of Guitar Atlas, Flamenco, has referred to de Lucía as "one of history's greatest guitarists". (Full article...) - Image 7
Fernando José Torres Sanz (Spanish pronunciation: [feɾˈnando ˈtores]; born 20 March 1984) is a Spanish football manager and former player who played as a striker. He is the current manager of Atlético Madrid Juvenil A. Due to his consistent goalscoring rate as a young player, Torres came to be nicknamed El Niño ('The Kid'). In his prime, he was praised for his pace, accurate finishing, and proficiency in heading. In 2008, he finished third for the Ballon d'Or and in 2008 and 2009 he was named in the FIFA World XI. (Full article...) - Image 8
Josep "Pep" Guardiola Sala (Catalan pronunciation: [ʒuˈzɛb ɡwəɾðiˈɔlə]; born 18 January 1971) is a Spanish professional football manager and former player, who is the current manager of Premier League club Manchester City. He is considered one of the greatest managers of all time and holds the records for the most consecutive league games won in La Liga, the Bundesliga and the Premier League. (Full article...) - Image 9The North Korean Embassy in Madrid incident is an event that occurred on 22 February 2019 at the North Korean embassy in Madrid, Spain. The political group Free Joseon, which is opposed to the incumbent Kim Jong-un government of North Korea, is alleged to have attacked and raided the embassy, while the group maintains that they were invited in to facilitate a high-level defection. A group of individuals stole mobile telephones, two pen drives and a hard drive from the embassy and handed them to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in the United States. The event took place after the Singapore summit between North Korea (DPRK) and the United States and prior to the approach of the Hanoi summit. As of early April 2019, one person had been arrested in connection with the incident and two international arrest warrants had been issued by the Spanish Audiencia Nacional. The suspected perpetrators are citizens of Mexico, the US and South Korea, although the latter two governments denied any connection with the incident. (Full article...)
- Image 10The Reina Victoria Eugenia class was a class of three battleships of the Spanish Navy authorized as the Plan de la Segunda Escuadra under the Navy Law of 1913. The class, as well as the lead ship, were named for King Alfonso XIII's English queen consort, Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg. The other two ships were classified as "B" and "C". It was supposed to be designed by Vickers-Armstrongs, and built by John Brown. The ships were never built due to Britain's involvement in World War I, which halted all foreign projects being constructed in British yards. (Full article...)
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The Revolt of the Comuneros (Spanish: Guerra de las Comunidades de Castilla, "War of the Communities of Castile") was an uprising by citizens of Castile against the rule of Charles I and his administration between 1520 and 1521. At its height, the rebels controlled the heart of Castile, ruling the cities of Valladolid, Tordesillas, and Toledo. (Full article...) - Image 12
Pau Gasol Sáez (Catalan: [ˈpaw ɣəˈzɔl], Spanish: [ˈpaw ɣaˈsol]; born July 6, 1980) is a Spanish former professional basketball player. He was a six-time NBA All-Star and a four-time All-NBA team selection, twice on the second team and twice on the third team. Gasol won two NBA championships, both with the Los Angeles Lakers back-to-back in 2009 and 2010. He was the NBA Rookie of the Year in 2002 with the Memphis Grizzlies, being the first non-American player to have won that award. He is regarded as one of the greatest power forwards of all time and is also considered as one of the greatest European players of all time. He is the older brother of fellow NBA player Marc Gasol. (Full article...) - Image 13
Subtropical Storm Alpha was the first subtropical or tropical cyclone ever observed to make landfall in mainland Portugal. The twenty-second tropical or subtropical cyclone and twenty-first named storm of the extremely active and record-breaking 2020 Atlantic hurricane season, Alpha originated from a large non-tropical low that was first monitored by the National Hurricane Center on 15 September. Initially not anticipated to transition into a tropical cyclone, the low gradually tracked south-southeastward for several days with little development. By early on 17 September, the low had separated from its frontal features and exhibited sufficient organization to be classified as a subtropical cyclone, as it approached the Iberian Peninsula, becoming a subtropical storm around that time. Alpha then made landfall just south of Figueira da Foz, Portugal during the evening of 18 September, then rapidly weakened as it moved over the mountainous terrain of Northeastern Portugal. The system degenerated into a remnant low on 19 September, when it was last noted. (Full article...) - Image 14
The 4F case concerns the events of 4 February 2006 in Barcelona, in which a policeman patrolling outside a rave was paralyzed after being hit by a falling object and nine people were arrested in consequence. At a trial two years later, seven people were convicted, one of whom was then pardoned. On appeal to the Supreme Court, the sentences were lengthened and one person committed suicide. (Full article...) - Image 15Muhammad VII (Arabic: محمد السابع) (c. 1370 – 13 May 1408; reigned 3 October 1392 – 13 May 1408) was the twelfth Nasrid ruler of the Muslim Emirate of Granada in Al-Andalus on the Iberian Peninsula. He was the son of Yusuf II (reigned 1391–1392) and grandson of Muhammad V (reigned 1354–1359 and 1362–1391). He came to the throne upon the death of his father. In 1394, he defeated an invasion by the Order of Alcántara. This nearly escalated to a wider war, but Muhammad VII and Henry III of Castile were able to restore peace. (Full article...)
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The Battle of Noordhorn, fought on 30 September 1581, was a pitched battle of the Dutch Revolt, fought between a Spanish army commanded by Colonel Francisco Verdugo – consisting of Walloon, German, Spanish, and Albanian soldiers – and a Dutch States rebel army under the Englishman John Norreys – comprising English, Scottish, Dutch, and Walloon troops – in the province of Groningen. In 1580, the Dutch stadtholder of Groningen, George van Lalaing, Count of Rennenberg, had shifted its allegiance from the Dutch to the Spanish side. This opened a new front at the back door of the Dutch Republic, forcing the States-General to dispatch forces to the north. That year the Dutch, under the leadership of John Norreys, succeeded in relieving the town of Steenwijk. In July 1581, Rennenberg died and was replaced by the Spaniard Francisco Verdugo, whose arrival in Groningen with reinforcements changed the situation. On 30 September Verdugo forced Norreys to give battle using a strategy of attrition. (Full article...) - Image 17Image 18
Léon Joseph Marie Ignace Degrelle (French: [dəgʁɛl]; 15 June 1906 – 31 March 1994) was a Belgian Walloon politician and Nazi collaborator. He rose to prominence in Belgium in the 1930s as the leader of the Rexist Party (Rex). During the German occupation of Belgium during World War II, he enlisted in the German army and fought in the Walloon Legion on the Eastern Front. After the collapse of the Nazi regime, Degrelle escaped and went into exile in Francoist Spain, where he remained a prominent figure in neo-Nazi politics. (Full article...)Image 19The 2011 season for Euskaltel–Euskadi began in January at the Tour Down Under and ended in October at the Giro di Lombardia. It was the team's eighteenth season as a professional cycling team, and its eleventh with UCI ProTeam – Trade Team 1 between 2001 and 2004 – status. As a UCI ProTeam, they were automatically invited and obligated to send a squad to every event on the UCI World Tour calendar. For the second year in a row, the traditionally all-Basque team added a French rider. This year, it was second-year professional Pierre Cazaux, who rode for FDJ in 2010. (Full article...)Image 20The 2015 Clásica de San Sebastián was a one-day cycling classic that took place in the Basque Country in Spain on 1 August 2015. It was the 35th edition of the Clásica de San Sebastián and was the nineteenth race of the 2015 UCI World Tour. The defending champion was Alejandro Valverde (Movistar Team), who won a solo victory in the 2014 race. (Full article...)Image 21
Jaime I was a Spanish dreadnought battleship, the third and final member of the España class, which included two other ships: España and Alfonso XIII. Named after King James I of Aragon, Jaime I was built in the early 1910s, though her completion was delayed until 1921 owing to a shortage of materials that resulted from the start of World War I the previous year. The class was ordered as part of a naval construction program to rebuild the fleet after the losses of the Spanish–American War in the context of closer Spanish relations with Britain and France. The ships were armed with a main battery of eight 305 mm (12 in) guns and were intended to support the French Navy in the event of a major European war. (Full article...)Image 22The 1977 Atocha massacre was an attack by right-wing extremists in the center of Madrid on January 24, 1977, which saw the assassination of five labor activists from the Communist Party of Spain (PCE) and the workers' federation Comisiones Obreras (CC.OO). The act occurred within the wider context of far-right reaction to Spain's transition to constitutional democracy following the death of dictator Francisco Franco. Intended to provoke a violent left-wing response that would provide legitimacy for a subsequent right-wing counter coup d'état, the massacre had an immediate opposite effect; generating mass popular revulsion of the far-right and accelerating the legalization of the long-banned Communist Party. (Full article...)Image 23
The grey heron (Ardea cinerea) is a long-legged wading bird of the heron family, Ardeidae, native throughout temperate Europe and Asia and also parts of Africa. It is resident in much of its range, but some populations from the more northern parts migrate southwards in autumn. A bird of wetland areas, it can be seen around lakes, rivers, ponds, marshes and on the sea coast. It feeds mostly on aquatic creatures which it catches after standing stationary beside or in the water or stalking its prey through the shallows. (Full article...)Image 24
Berengaria (Castilian: Berenguela; nicknamed the Great (Castilian: la Grande); 1179 or 1180 – 8 November 1246) was reigning Queen of Castile for a brief time in 1217, and Queen of León from 1197 to 1204 as the second wife of King Alfonso IX. As the eldest child and heir presumptive of Alfonso VIII of Castile, she was a sought after bride, and was engaged to Conrad, the son of Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa. After his death, she married her cousin, Alfonso IX of León, to secure the peace between him and her father. She had five children with him before their marriage was voided by Pope Innocent III. (Full article...)Image 25
Nahikari García Pérez (born 10 March 1997) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a forward for Primera División side Real Madrid and the Spain women's national football team. (Full article...)General images
The following are images from various Spain-related articles on Wikipedia.Image 1The library of El Escorial (from Spanish Golden Age)
Image 2Proclamation of the Spanish Republic in Madrid (from History of Spain)
Image 3Entombment by Juan de Juni (from Spanish Golden Age)
Image 4Episode of the 1854 Spanish Revolution in the Puerta del Sol, by Eugenio Lucas Velázquez. (from History of Spain)
Image 5Christopher Columbus leads expedition to the New World, 1492, sponsored by Spanish crown (from History of Spain)
Image 6Visigothic church, San Pedro de la Nave. Zamora. Spain (from History of Spain)
Image 7In ictu oculi ("In the blink of an eye"), a vanitas by Juan de Valdés Leal (from Spanish Golden Age)
Image 8The Virgin of the Rosary (1675–80) by Bartolomé Esteban Murillo (from Spanish Golden Age)
Image 9Visigothic King Roderic haranguing his troops before the Battle of Guadalete (from History of Spain)
Image 10Battle of St. Quentin (from History of Spain)
Image 11Battle of the First Carlist War, by Francisco de Paula Van Halen (from History of Spain)
Image 12Recognition of the Duke of Anjou as King of Spain, under the name of Philip V , November 16, 1700 (from History of Spain)
Image 13The Iberian Peninsula in the 3rd century BC. (from History of Spain)
Image 14Autonomous University of Madrid (from Culture of Spain)
Image 15The Burgos Cathedral is a work of Spanish Gothic architecture. (from Culture of Spain)
Image 16Members of the provisional government after the 1868 Glorious Revolution, by Jean Laurent. (from History of Spain)
Image 17Toledo by El Greco (from Spanish Golden Age)
Image 18Illustration depicting the (now lost) Luzaga's Bronze, an example of the Celtiberian script. (from History of Spain)
Image 19Autonomous University of Barcelona (from Culture of Spain)
Image 20Charles I of Spain (better known in the English-speaking world as the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V) was the most powerful European monarch of his day. (from History of Spain)
Image 21Jamón ibérico (from Culture of Spain)
Image 22The Third of May 1808, Napoleon's troops shoot hostages. Goya (from History of Spain)
Image 23A map of Europe in 1648, after the Peace of Westphalia (from History of Spain)
Image 24View of Toledo by El Greco, between 1596 and 1600 (from History of Spain)
Image 25Cathedral of Saint Mary of the See in Sevilla. (from Culture of Spain)
Image 26People's militias attacking on a Rebel position in Somosierra in the early stages of the war. (from History of Spain)
Image 27al-Andalus at its greatest extent, 720 (from History of Spain)
Image 28Roman Empire, 3rd century (from History of Spain)
Image 29Ruins of Guernica (from History of Spain)
Image 30Execution of Torrijos and his men in 1831. Ferdinand VII took repressive measures against the liberal forces in his country. (from History of Spain)
Image 31Inner view of the cathedral (from Spanish Golden Age)
Image 32The Christian kingdoms of Hispania and the Islamic Almohad empire c. 1210
Image 33Advance of Italian tankettes during the Battle of Guadalajara. (from History of Spain)
Image 34Paella mixta (from Culture of Spain)
Image 35An 18th-century map of the Iberian Peninsula (from History of Spain)
Image 36The successful 1925 Alhucemas landing turned the luck in the Rif War towards Spain's favour. (from History of Spain)
Image 37The greatest extent of the Visigothic Kingdom of Toulouse, c. 500, showing Territory lost after Vouillé in light orange (from History of Spain)
Image 38Ethnology of the Iberian Peninsula c. 200 BC (from History of Spain)
Image 39El paseo de las Delicias, a 1784-1785 painting by Ramón Bayeu depicting a meeting of members of the aristocracy in the aforementioned location. (from History of Spain)
Image 401894 satirical cartoon depicting the tacit accord for seamless government change (turnismo) between the leaders of two dynastic parties (Sagasta and Cánovas del Castillo), with the country being lied in an allegorical fashion. (from History of Spain)
Image 41The Conquest of Tenochtitlán (from History of Spain)
Image 42Louis XIV of France and Philip IV of Spain at the Meeting on the Isle of Pheasants in June 1660, part of the process to put an end to the Franco-Spanish War (1635–59). (from History of Spain)
Image 43Visigothic Hispania and its regional divisions in 700, prior to the Muslim conquest (from History of Spain)
Image 44Felipe González signing the treaty of accession to the European Economic Community on 12 June 1985. (from History of Spain)
Image 45The Battle of Cape Passaro, 11 August 1718 (from History of Spain)
Image 46Universidad Pompeu Fabra (from Culture of Spain)
Image 47The explosion of the USS Maine launched the Spanish–American War in April 1898 (from History of Spain)
Image 48Francisco Franco and his appointed successor Prince Juan Carlos de Borbón. (from History of Spain)
Image 49The title page of the Gramática de la lengua castellana (1492), the first grammar of a modern European language to be published. (from History of Spain)
Image 50Franco visiting Tolosa in 1948 (from History of Spain)
Image 51Real Madrid vs. Real Betis (from Culture of Spain)
Image 52Detail of the votive crown of Recceswinth from the Treasure of Guarrazar, (Toledo-Spain) hanging in Madrid. The hanging letters spell [R]ECCESVINTHVS REX OFFERET [King R. offers this]. (from History of Spain)
Image 53The Second of May 1808 was the beginning of the popular Spanish resistance against Napoleon. (from History of Spain)
Image 54The pro-independence forces delivered a crushing defeat to the royalists and secured the independence of Peru in the 1824 battle of Ayacucho. (from History of Spain)
Image 55Two women and a man during the siege of the Alcázar (from History of Spain)
Image 56The Port of Seville in the late 16th century. Seville became one of the most populous and cosmopolitan European cities after the expeditions to the New World. (from History of Spain)
Image 57Celebrations of the proclamation of the 2nd Republic in Barcelona. (from History of Spain)
Image 58Cabeza de Luis Buñuel, sculptor's work by Iñaki, in the center Buñuel Calanda. (from Culture of Spain)
Image 59The promulgation of the Constitution of 1812, oil painting by Salvador Viniegra. (from History of Spain)
Image 60Las Meninas (1656, English: The Maids of Honour) by Diego Velázquez (from Spanish Golden Age)
Image 61A battle of the Reconquista from the Cantigas de Santa Maria (from History of Spain)
Image 62University of Barcelona (from Culture of Spain)
- Image 63The realms of Philip II of SpainTerritories administered by the Council of CastileTerritories administered by the Council of AragonTerritories administered by the Council of PortugalTerritories administered by the Council of ItalyTerritories administered by the Council of the IndiesTerritories appointed to the Council of Flanders(from Spanish Golden Age)
Image 64Wedding portrait of the Catholic Monarchs (from History of Spain)
Image 65Anachronous map of the Spanish Empire (from History of Spain)
Image 66Taking of Oran by Francisco Jiménez de Cisneros in 1509. (from History of Spain)
Image 67Universidad de Valencia (from Culture of Spain)
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