1.
Autonomous communities of Spain
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Spain is not a federation, but a highly decentralized unitary state. Some scholars have referred to the system as a federal system in all. There are 17 autonomous communities and two cities that are collectively known as autonomies. The two autonomous cities have the right to become autonomous communities, but neither has yet used this right and this unique framework of territorial administration is known as the State of Autonomies. The autonomous communities are governed according to the constitution and their own organic laws known as Statutes of Autonomy, since devolution was intended to be asymmetrical in nature, the scope of competences vary for each community, but all have the same parliamentary structure. Spain is a country made up of different regions with varying economic and social structures, as well as different languages. While the entire Spanish territory was united under one crown by the 16th century, the constituent territories—be it crowns, kingdoms, principalities or dominions—retained much of their former institutional existence, including limited legislative, judicial or fiscal autonomy. These territories also exhibited a variety of customs, laws. From the 18th century onwards, the Bourbon kings and the government tried to establish a more centralized regime, leading figures of the Spanish Enlightenment advocated for the building of a Spanish nation beyond the internal territorial boundaries. This culminated in 1833, when Spain was divided into 49 provinces and these were the Basque Country and Catalonia. This gave rise to peripheral nationalisms along with Spanish nationalism, therefore, economic and social changes that had produced a national cultural unification in France had the opposite effect in Spain. In a response to Catalan demands, limited autonomy was granted to Catalonia in 1913 and it was granted again in 1932 during the Second Spanish Republic, when the Generalitat, Catalonias mediaeval institution of government, was restored. During General Francos dictatorial regime, centralism was most forcefully enforced as a way of preserving the unity of the Spanish nation, peripheral nationalism, along with communism and atheism were regarded by his regime as the main threats. When Franco died in 1975, Spain entered into a phase of transition towards democracy, the then Prime Minister of Spain, Adolfo Suárez, met with Josep Tarradellas, president of the Generalitat of Catalonia in exile. An agreement was made so that the Generalitat would be restored and limited competencies would be transferred while the constitution was still being written. In the end, the constitution, published and ratified in 1979, found a balance in recognizing the existence of nationalities and regions in Spain, within the indissoluble unity of the Spanish nation. The starting point in the organization of Spain was the second article of the constitution. In order to exercise this right, the established a open process whereby the nationalities
2.
People's Party (Spain)
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The Peoples Party is a conservative and Christian democratic political party in Spain. It is one of the four parties of modern Spanish politics. The new party combined the conservative AP with several small Christian democratic, in 2002, Manuel Fraga received the honorary title of Founding Chairman. The PP was until November 2011 the largest opposition party in the Congress of Deputies, with 153 out of 350 deputies, and its youth organization is New Generations of the Peoples Party of Spain. In the elections of November 2011, the PP won a majority, the PP is a member of the center-right European Peoples Party, and in the European Parliament its 16 MEPs sit in the EPP Group. The PP is also a member of the Centrist Democrat International, the PP was also one of the founding organizations of the Budapest-based Robert Schuman Institute for Developing Democracy in Central and Eastern Europe. The party has its roots in the Peoples Alliance founded on 9 October 1976 by former Francoist minister Manuel Fraga, although Fraga was a member of the reformist faction of the Franco regime, he supported an extremely gradual transition to democracy. However, he underestimated the publics distaste for Francoism. Additionally, while he attempted to convey a reformist image, the number of former Francoists in the party led the public to perceive it as both reactionary and authoritarian. In the June 1977 general election, the AP garnered only 8.3 percent of the vote, in the months following the 1977 elections, dissent erupted within the AP over constitutional issues that arose as the draft document was being formulated. Fragas wing won the struggle, prompting most of the disenchanted reactionaries to leave the party, the AP then joined with other moderate conservatives to form the Democratic Coalition. In the March 1979 general election, however, the CD received 6.1 percent of the vote, at the APs Second Party Congress in December 1979, party leaders re-assessed their involvement in the CD. Many felt that the creation of the coalition had merely confused the voters, Fraga resumed control of the party, and the political resolutions adopted by the party congress reaffirmed the conservative orientation of the AP. In the early 1980s, Fraga succeeded in rallying the various components of the right around his leadership and he was aided in his efforts to revive the AP by the increasing disintegration of the UCD. In the general held in October 1982, the AP gained votes both from previous UCD supporters and from the far right. It became the opposition party to the Spanish Socialist Workers Party. Whereas the APs parliamentary representation had dropped to 9 seats in 1979, the increased strength of the AP was further evidenced in the municipal and regional elections held in May 1983, when the party drew 26 percent of the vote. A significant portion of the electorate appeared to support the APs emphasis on law, subsequent political developments belied the partys aspirations to continue increasing its base of support
3.
Douro
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The Douro is one of the major rivers of the Iberian Peninsula, flowing from its source near Duruelo de la Sierra in Soria Province across northern-central Spain and Portugal to its outlet at Porto. The Latinized name Durius, likely came from the Celtic tribes that inhabited the area before Roman times, in modern Welsh, dŵr is water, as well as dour in modern Breton with cognate dobhar in Irish. In Roman times, the river was personified as a god, the Douro vinhateiro, an area of the Douro Valley in Portugal long devoted to vineyards, has been designated by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. Traditionally, the wine was taken down river in boats called rabelos, to be stored in barrels in cellars in Vila Nova de Gaia. In the 1950s and 1960s, dams were built along the river, now Port wine is transported in tanker trucks. In 1998, Portugal and Spain signed the Albufeira Convention, an agreement on the sharing of trans-boundary rivers to include the Douro, Tagus, the convention superseded an original agreement on the Douro, signed in 1927, that was expanded in 1964 and 1968 to include tributaries. It is the third-longest river in the Iberian Peninsula after the Tagus and its total length is 897 kilometres, of which only sections of the Portuguese extension below the fall line are navigable, by light rivercraft. In this region, there are few tributaries of the Douro, the most important are the Pisuerga, passing through Valladolid, and the Esla, which passes through Zamora. This region is generally semi-arid plains, with wheat and in places, especially near Aranda de Duero, with vineyards. Sheep rearing is still important. For 112 kilometres, the forms part of the national border line between Spain and Portugal, in a region of narrow canyons. It formed a barrier to invasions, creating a cultural/linguistic divide. In these isolated areas, in which the Aldeadávila Dam impounds the river, there are protected areas, the International Douro Natural Park and the Arribes del Duero Natural Park. The Douro fully enters Portuguese territory just after the confluence with the Águeda River, once the Douro enters Portugal, except for Porto and Vila Nova de Gaia at the river mouth, the only population centres of any note are Foz do Tua, Pinhão and Peso da Régua. Tributaries here are small, merging into the Douro along the canyons, the most important are Côa, Tua, Sabor, Corgo, Tavora, Paiva, Tâmega, none of these small, fast-flowing rivers is navigable. The most populous cities along the Douro River are Valladolid and Zamora in Spain, the latter two are located at the mouth of the Douro at the Atlantic Ocean. In Portugal, the Douro flows through the districts of Bragança, Guarda, Viseu, Vila Real, Aveiro, Porto is the main hub city in northern Portugal. Its historic centre has designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site because of its significant architecture
4.
Spain
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By population, Spain is the sixth largest in Europe and the fifth in the European Union. Spains capital and largest city is Madrid, other urban areas include Barcelona, Valencia, Seville, Bilbao. Modern humans first arrived in the Iberian Peninsula around 35,000 years ago, in the Middle Ages, the area was conquered by Germanic tribes and later by the Moors. Spain is a democracy organised in the form of a government under a constitutional monarchy. It is a power and a major developed country with the worlds fourteenth largest economy by nominal GDP. Jesús Luis Cunchillos argues that the root of the span is the Phoenician word spy. Therefore, i-spn-ya would mean the land where metals are forged, two 15th-century Spanish Jewish scholars, Don Isaac Abravanel and Solomon ibn Verga, gave an explanation now considered folkloric. Both men wrote in two different published works that the first Jews to reach Spain were brought by ship by Phiros who was confederate with the king of Babylon when he laid siege to Jerusalem. This man was a Grecian by birth, but who had given a kingdom in Spain. He became related by marriage to Espan, the nephew of king Heracles, Heracles later renounced his throne in preference for his native Greece, leaving his kingdom to his nephew, Espan, from whom the country of España took its name. Based upon their testimonies, this eponym would have already been in use in Spain by c.350 BCE, Iberia enters written records as a land populated largely by the Iberians, Basques and Celts. Early on its coastal areas were settled by Phoenicians who founded Western Europe´s most ancient cities Cadiz, Phoenician influence expanded as much of the Peninsula was eventually incorporated into the Carthaginian Empire, becoming a major theater of the Punic Wars against the expanding Roman Empire. After an arduous conquest, the peninsula came fully under Roman Rule, during the early Middle Ages it came under Germanic rule but later, much of it was conquered by Moorish invaders from North Africa. In a process took centuries, the small Christian kingdoms in the north gradually regained control of the peninsula. The last Moorish kingdom fell in the same year Columbus reached the Americas, a global empire began which saw Spain become the strongest kingdom in Europe, the leading world power for a century and a half, and the largest overseas empire for three centuries. Continued wars and other problems led to a diminished status. The Napoleonic invasions of Spain led to chaos, triggering independence movements that tore apart most of the empire, eventually democracy was peacefully restored in the form of a parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Spain joined the European Union, experiencing a renaissance and steady economic growth
5.
Ribera del Duero
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Ribera del Duero is a Spanish Denominación de Origen located in the countrys northern plateau and is one of eleven quality wine regions within the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is also one of several recognised wine-producing regions to be found along the course of the Duero river, Ribera del Duero was named Wine Region of the Year 2012 by the prestigious Wine Enthusiast Magazine. Ribera del Duero wine making goes back over 2,000 years as evidenced by the 66-meter mosaic of Bacchus, the god of wine that was unearthed relatively recently at Baños de Valdearados. Reports that it was set to be upgraded to Denominación de Origen Calificada status in 2008 proved to be unfounded and, as at 2011, it remains a DO and has no plans to change. Ribero del Duero wines are enjoying greater popularity, thanks largely to the considerable interest shown in the area by experienced growers from other regions. The Ribera del Duero is located on the extensive, elevated plateau of the Iberian Peninsula. It occupies the plains of the province of Burgos, extends west into Valladolid and includes parts of Segovia and Soria provinces to the south and east. As its name suggests, the region follows the course of the Duero river for approximately 115 km upstream from Valladolid and is around 35 km at its widest. Geologically, tertiary sediments, consisting of gently lenticular layers of silty or clayey sand, alternate layers of limestone, marl. The Duero valley, formed during the Miocene period, has a flat, rocky, gently undulating terrain, the national highway N122 follows the river valley. There are also marked variations in temperature within each season, the climate is continental and Mediterranean, with more than 2,400 hours of annual sunlight. Vineyards occupy around 120 km² of the region, most of which are situated in the province of Burgos, wines produced in the Ribera del Duero DO derive almost exclusively from red grapes. The Albillo grape is the white variety grown, white wines being mostly destined for local consumption. The vast majority of production is dedicated to Tinto Fino, the dominant red varietal in the half of the Spanish peninsula. There are other similarities between Rioja and Ribera del Duero, wines are classified as much for their longevity as their grape quality, and Ribera del Duero produces some extremely well-aging wines. The aging requirements for Ribera del Duero are the used in Rioja. Wines labelled as Crianza must age two years with 12 months in oak, Reserva wines must be aged at least three years with at least 12 months in oak. The Gran Reserva labelled wines must spend 5 years aging prior to release, the town of Pesquera is particularly noted for its wines and the area around La Horra is respected by locals for its consistent quality
6.
Madrid
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Madrid is the capital city of the Kingdom of Spain and the largest municipality in both the Community of Madrid and Spain as a whole. The city has a population of almost 3.2 million with an area population of approximately 6.5 million. It is the third-largest city in the European Union after London and Berlin, the municipality itself covers an area of 604.3 km2. Madrid lies on the River Manzanares in the centre of both the country and the Community of Madrid, this community is bordered by the communities of Castile and León. As the capital city of Spain, seat of government, and residence of the Spanish monarch, Madrid is also the political, economic, the current mayor is Manuela Carmena from Ahora Madrid. Madrid is home to two football clubs, Real Madrid and Atlético de Madrid. Madrid is the 17th most liveable city in the according to Monocle magazine. Madrid organises fairs such as FITUR, ARCO, SIMO TCI, while Madrid possesses modern infrastructure, it has preserved the look and feel of many of its historic neighbourhoods and streets. Cibeles Palace and Fountain have become one of the monument symbols of the city, the first documented reference of the city originates in Andalusan times as the Arabic مجريط Majrīṭ, which was retained in Medieval Spanish as Magerit. A wider number of theories have been formulated on possible earlier origins, according to legend, Madrid was founded by Ocno Bianor and was named Metragirta or Mantua Carpetana. The most ancient recorded name of the city Magerit comes from the name of a built on the Manzanares River in the 9th century AD. Nevertheless, it is speculated that the origin of the current name of the city comes from the 2nd century BC. The Roman Empire established a settlement on the banks of the Manzanares river, the name of this first village was Matrice. In the 8th century, the Islamic conquest of the Iberian Peninsula saw the changed to Mayrit, from the Arabic term ميرا Mayra. The modern Madrid evolved from the Mozarabic Matrit, which is still in the Madrilenian gentilic, after the disintegration of the Caliphate of Córdoba, Madrid was integrated in the Taifa of Toledo. With the surrender of Toledo to Alfonso VI of León and Castile, the city was conquered by Christians in 1085, Christians replaced Muslims in the occupation of the centre of the city, while Muslims and Jews settled in the suburbs. The city was thriving and was given the title of Villa, since 1188, Madrid won the right to be a city with representation in the courts of Castile. In 1202, King Alfonso VIII of Castile gave Madrid its first charter to regulate the municipal council, which was expanded in 1222 by Ferdinand III of Castile
7.
Portugal
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Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. It is the westernmost country of mainland Europe, to the west and south it is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean and to the east and north by Spain. The Portugal–Spain border is 1,214 kilometres long and considered the longest uninterrupted border within the European Union, the republic also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of the Azores and Madeira, both autonomous regions with their own regional governments. The territory of modern Portugal has been settled, invaded. The Pre-Celts, Celts, Carthaginians and the Romans were followed by the invasions of the Visigothic, in 711 the Iberian Peninsula was invaded by the Moors, making Portugal part of Muslim Al Andalus. Portugal was born as result of the Christian Reconquista, and in 1139, Afonso Henriques was proclaimed King of Portugal, in the 15th and 16th centuries, Portugal established the first global empire, becoming one of the worlds major economic, political and military powers. Portugal monopolized the trade during this time, and the Portuguese Empire expanded with military campaigns led in Asia. After the 1910 revolution deposed the monarchy, the democratic but unstable Portuguese First Republic was established, democracy was restored after the Portuguese Colonial War and the Carnation Revolution in 1974. Shortly after, independence was granted to almost all its overseas territories, Portugal has left a profound cultural and architectural influence across the globe and a legacy of over 250 million Portuguese speakers today. Portugal is a country with a high-income advanced economy and a high living standard. It is the 5th most peaceful country in the world, maintaining a unitary semi-presidential republican form of government and it has the 18th highest Social Progress in the world, putting it ahead of other Western European countries like France, Spain and Italy. Portugal is a pioneer when it comes to drug decriminalization, as the nation decriminalized the possession of all drugs for use in 2001. The early history of Portugal is shared with the rest of the Iberian Peninsula located in South Western Europe, the name of Portugal derives from the joined Romano-Celtic name Portus Cale. Other influences include some 5th-century vestiges of Alan settlements, which were found in Alenquer, Coimbra, the region of present-day Portugal was inhabited by Neanderthals and then by Homo sapiens, who roamed the border-less region of the northern Iberian peninsula. These were subsistence societies that, although they did not establish prosperous settlements, neolithic Portugal experimented with domestication of herding animals, the raising of some cereal crops and fluvial or marine fishing. Chief among these tribes were the Calaicians or Gallaeci of Northern Portugal, the Lusitanians of central Portugal, the Celtici of Alentejo, a few small, semi-permanent, commercial coastal settlements were also founded in the Algarve region by Phoenicians-Carthaginians. Romans first invaded the Iberian Peninsula in 219 BC, during the last days of Julius Caesar, almost the entire peninsula had been annexed to the Roman Republic. The Carthaginians, Romes adversary in the Punic Wars, were expelled from their coastal colonies and it suffered a severe setback in 150 BC, when a rebellion began in the north
8.
Michelin
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Michelin is a French tire manufacturer based in Clermont-Ferrand in the Auvergne région of France. It is one of the four largest tire manufacturers in the world along with Goodyear, Continental, in addition to the Michelin brand, it also owns the BFGoodrich, Kleber, Tigar, Riken, Kormoran and Uniroyal tire brands. Michelins numerous inventions include the removable tire, the pneurail and the radial tire, Michelin manufactures tires for space shuttles, aircraft, automobiles, heavy equipment, motorcycles, and bicycles. In 2012, the Group produced 166 million tires at 69 facilities located in 18 countries, in 1889 two brothers, Édouard Michelin and André Michelin, ran a rubber factory in Clermont-Ferrand, France. One day, a cyclist whose pneumatic tire needed repair turned up at the factory, the tire was glued to the rim, and it took over three hours to remove and repair the tire, which then needed to be left overnight to dry. The next day, Édouard Michelin took the repaired bicycle into the yard to test. After only a few hundred metres, the tire failed, despite the setback, Édouard was enthusiastic about the pneumatic tire, and he and his brother worked on creating their own version, one that did not need to be glued to the rim. Michelin was incorporated on 28 May 1889, in 1891 Michelin took out its first patent for a removable pneumatic tire which was used by Charles Terront to win the worlds first long distance cycle race, the 1891 Paris–Brest–Paris. In the 1920s and 1930s, Michelin operated large rubber plantations in Vietnam, conditions at these plantations led to the famous labour movement Phu Rieng Do. In 1934, Michelin introduced a tire which, if punctured, would run on a special foam lining, the radial was initially marketed as the X tire. It was developed with the front-wheel-drive Citroën Traction Avant and Citroën 2CV in mind, Michelin had bought the then-bankrupt Citroën in the 1930s. Because of its superiority in handling and fuel economy, use of this quickly spread throughout Europe. In the U. S. the outdated bias-ply tire persisted, also in 1968, Consumer Reports, an influential American magazine, acknowledged the superiority of the radial construction, setting off a rapid decline in Michelins competitor technology. In the U. S. the radial tire now has a share of 100%. In 1989, Michelin acquired the recently merged tire and rubber manufacturing divisions of the American firms B. F. Goodrich Company and Uniroyal, Uniroyal Australia had already been bought by Bridgestone in 1980. This purchase included the Norwood, North Carolina manufacturing plant which supplied tires to the U. S, Michelin also controls 90% of Taurus Tire in Hungary, as well as Kormoran, a Polish brand. As of 1 September 2008, Michelin is again the worlds largest tire manufacturer after spending two years as number two behind Bridgestone. Michelin produces tires in France, Spain, Germany, the USA, on 15 January 2010, Michelin announced the closing of its Ota, Japan plant, which employs 380 workers and makes the Michelin X-Ice tire
9.
GlaxoSmithKline
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GlaxoSmithKline plc is a British pharmaceutical company headquartered in Brentford, London. Andrew Witty has been the executive officer since 2008. Emma Walmsley became CEO on 31 March 2017 and is the first female CEO of the company, the company has a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE100 Index. As of August 2016 it had a capitalisation of £81 billion. It has a listing on the New York Stock Exchange. GSKs drugs and vaccines earned £21.3 billion in 2013 and its top-selling products that year were Advair, Avodart, Flovent, Augmentin, Lovaza and Lamictal. GSKs consumer products, which earned £5, the company developed the first malaria vaccine, RTS, S, which it said in 2014 it would make available for five percent above cost. Legacy products developed at GSK include several listed in the World Health Organization Model List of Essential Medicines, such as amoxicillin, Glaxo was founded in the 1850s as a general trading company in Bunnythorpe, New Zealand, by a Londoner, Joseph Edward Nathan. In 1904 it began producing baby food, first known as Defiance, then as Glaxo. The Glaxo Laboratories sign is visible on what is now a car repair shop on the main street of Bunnythorpe. The companys first pharmaceutical product, produced in 1920, was vitamin D, Glaxo Laboratories opened new units in London in 1935. The company bought two companies, Joseph Nathan and Allen & Hanburys in 1947 and 1958 respectively, the Scottish pharmacologist David Jack was working for Allen & Hanburys when Glaxo took it over, he went on to lead the companys R&D until 1987. After the company bought Meyer Laboratories in 1978, it began to play an important role in the US market, in 1983 the American arm, Glaxo Inc. moved to Research Triangle Park and Zebulon in North Carolina. Burroughs Wellcome & Company was founded in 1880 in London by the American pharmacists Henry Wellcome, the Wellcome Tropical Research Laboratories opened in 1902. The Nobel Prize winning scientists Gertrude B, elion and George H. Hitchings worked there and invented drugs still used many years later, such as mercaptopurine. In 1959 the Wellcome Company bought Cooper, McDougall & Robertson Inc to become active in animal health. Glaxo and Burroughs Wellcome merged in 1995 to form Glaxo Wellcome, Glaxo restructured its R&D operation that year, cutting 10,000 jobs worldwide, closing its R&D facility in Beckenham, Kent, and opening a Medicines Research Centre in Stevenage, Hertfordshire. Also that year, Glaxo Wellcome acquired the California-based Affymax, a leader in the field of combinatorial chemistry, by 1999 Glaxo Wellcome had become the worlds third-largest pharmaceutical company by revenues, with a global market share of around 4 per cent
10.
Fireworks
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Fireworks are a class of low explosive pyrotechnic devices used for aesthetic and entertainment purposes. The most common use of a firework is as part of a fireworks display, Fireworks competitions are also regularly held at a number of places. Fireworks take many forms to produce the four primary effects, noise, light, smoke and they may be designed to burn with colored flames and sparks including red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, and silver. Displays are common throughout the world and are the point of many cultural. Fireworks were invented in ancient China in the 7th century to scare evil spirits. Such important events and festivities as Chinese New Year and the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival were, China is the largest manufacturer and exporter of fireworks in the world. Fireworks are generally classified as to where they perform, either as a ground or aerial firework, in the latter case they may provide their own propulsion or be shot into the air by a mortar. The most common feature of fireworks is a paper or pasteboard tube or casing filled with the combustible material, a number of these tubes or cases are often combined so as to make, when kindled, a great variety of sparkling shapes, often variously colored. The skyrocket is a form of firework, although the first skyrockets were used in war. The aerial shell, however, is the backbone of todays commercial aerial display, such rocket technology has also been used for the delivery of mail by rocket and is used as propulsion for most model rockets. The earliest documentation of fireworks dates back to 7th century China, the fireworks were used to accompany many festivities. It is thus a part of the culture of China and had its origin there, the art and science of firework making has developed into an independent profession. In China, pyrotechnicians were respected for their knowledge of techniques in mounting firework displays. Chinese people originally believed that the fireworks could expel evil spirits and bring about luck, during the Song Dynasty, many of the common people could purchase various kinds of fireworks from market vendors, and grand displays of fireworks were also known to be held. In 1110, a fireworks display in a martial demonstration was held to entertain Emperor Huizong of Song. A record from 1264 states that a rocket-propelled firework went off near the Empress Dowager Gong Sheng, rocket propulsion was common in warfare, as evidenced by the Huolongjing compiled by Liu Bowen and Jiao Yu. In 1240 the Arabs acquired knowledge of gunpowder and its uses from China, with the development of chinoiserie in Europe, Chinese fireworks began to gain popularity around the mid-17th century. Lev Izmailov, ambassador of Peter the Great, once reported from China and his writings would be translated in 1765, resulting in the popularization of fireworks and further attempts to uncover the secrets of Chinese fireworks
Castile and León
Burgos
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Miranda do Douro, Portugal
Salon-de-Provence, France
Langen, Germany
Roseburg, Oregon, United States
Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "article name needed". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton. [1]
