1.
Madrid
–
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
2.
Badajoz
–
Badajoz is the capital of the Province of Badajoz in the autonomous community of Extremadura, Spain. It is situated close to the Portuguese border, on the bank of the river Guadiana. The population in 2011 was 151,565, conquered by the Moors in the 8th century, Badajoz became a Moorish kingdom, the Taifa of Badajoz. Spanish history is reflected in the town. Badajoz is the see of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Mérida-Badajoz, prior to the merger of the Diocese of Mérida and the Diocese of Badajoz, Badajoz was the see of the Diocese of Badajoz from the bishoprics inception in 1255. The architecture of Badajoz is indicative of its tempestuous history, even the Badajoz Cathedral, built in 1238, resembles a fortress, Badajoz is home to the CD Badajoz and AD Cerro de Reyes football clubs and the AB Pacense basketball club. It is served by Badajoz Railway Station and Badajoz Airport, Archaeological finds unearthed in the Badajoz area have been dated to the Bronze Age. Megalithic tombs are dated as far back as 4000 BC, while many of the steles found are from the Late Bronze Age, other finds include weapons such as axes and swords, everyday items of pottery and utensils, and various items of jewellery such as bracelets. Archaeological excavations have revealed remnants from the Lower Paleolithic period, artifacts have also been found at the Roman town of Colonia Civitas Pacensis in the Badajoz area, although a significant number of larger artifacts were found in Mérida. Badajoz attained importance during the reign of Moorish rulers such as the Umayyad caliphs of Córdoba, from the 8th century, the Umayyad dynasty controlled the region until the early 11th century. The official foundation of Badajoz was laid by the Muladi nobleman Ibn Marwan, around 875, under Ibn Marwan, the city was the seat of an effective autonomous rebel state which was quenched only in the 10th century. In 1021, it became the capital of a small Muslim kingdom, Badajoz was known as Baṭalyaws during Muslim rule. The invasion of Badajoz by Christian rulers in 1086 under Alfonso VI of Castile, in addition to an invasion by the Almoravids of Morocco in 1067, Badajoz was later invaded by the Almohads in 1147. Badajoz was captured by Alfonso IX of León on 19 March 1230, shortly after its conquest, in the time of Alfonso X the Wise of Castile, a bishopric see was established and work was initiated on the Cathedral of San Juan Bautista. In 1336, during the reign of Alfonso XI of Castile and their victory forced the king of Portugal to desert the city and it fell into neglect. They temporarily lost Barcarrota after a tiff with the Portuguese but soon regained control, fernán Sánchezs grandson of the same name, son of Garci Sánchez de Badajoz, was both lord of Barcarrota and Mayor of Badajoz in 1434. The first hospital was founded in the town by Bishop Fray Pedro de Silva in 1485 and those affected by the plague epidemic were treated here in 1506. With reason to assert their rights to the Portuguese Crown, Philip II of Spain briefly moved his court to Badajoz in August 1580, queen Anne of Austria died in the city two months later, and on 5 December 1580, Philip moved out of the city
3.
Portugal
–
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
4.
Talavera de la Reina
–
Talavera de la Reina is a city and municipality in the western part of the province of Toledo, which in turn is part of the autonomous community of Castile–La Mancha, Spain. It is the second-largest population center in Castile–La Mancha and its population of 83,793 makes it larger than the city of Toledo, although the latter remains the provincial capital. The city is settled along the river Tagus at a broad bank, there are two islands in the center of the city called Isla Grande and Chamelo Island. The city is surrounded by two ranges of mountains, in the north the Sierra de San Vicente, and in the south Montes de Toledo, the city is divided in two by the river Tagus. The northern part is the larger and more populated, both parts are connected by three bridges, one of them built in the Middle Ages, overall the climate is slightly warmer than Madrid. The area is fertile with Mediterranean forests, elms, olive trees. The city is known for its ceramics, which Philip II of Spain used as tiled revetments in many of his works. The nickname of Talavera de la Reina is The City of Pottery, mexicos famous Talavera pottery was named after the city. There are remnants of prehistoric cultures in the area, the village was founded by the Celts as a ford of the Tagus. The first mention of the city occurs in Livys description of a battle between the Romans and the Carpetanoi, a Celtiberian tribe and its modern name is derived from Talabayra, the Muslim rendering of this Visigothic name. The city was conquered by Muslim forces in 713 and conquered by Christian forces under Alfonso VI of Castile in 1083, Talavera de la Reina was founded at the confluence of the rivers Alberche and Tagus. This area of great wealth was the settlement of Celtic people who built the most ancient ruins of the area. During the time of the Roman Empire the name of the city was Caesarobriga, the leader Viriato, in his war against the Romans, lived in this territory between 145 and 139 BCE. In this period Talavera de la Reina was a city with cattle markets. Christianity came early to the city, and with the fall of the Western Roman Empire the Visigoths established in the city, Talavera was known then as or. In honour of the goddess Ceres, Talaverian Romans celebrated the festival called Mondas. The Muslims conquered Talavera in 712 and they built new walls and a castle in Talavera. They also brought the use of fountains, water mills and new products brought from Africa, the fertile soil produced quality vegetables, fruits and grass for animal feed
5.
Controlled-access highway
–
A controlled-access highway is a type of highway which has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow and ingress/egress regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway and expressway, other similar terms include Interstate and parkway. Some of which may be limited-access highways, although this term can refer to a class of highway with somewhat less isolation from other traffic. In countries following Vienna convention, the motorway qualification implies they are forbidden for walking or parking, a controlled-access highway provides an unhindered flow of traffic, with no traffic signals, intersections or property access. They are free of any at-grade crossings with roads, railways, or pedestrian paths. Entrances and exits to the highway are provided at interchanges by slip roads, on the controlled-access highway, opposing directions of travel are generally separated by a median strip or central reservation containing a traffic barrier or grass. Elimination of conflicts with other directions of traffic dramatically improves safety and capacity, controlled-access highways evolved during the first half of the 20th century. Italy opened its first autostrada in 1924 connecting Milan to Varese, Germany began to build its first 30-kilometre autobahn controlled-access highway without speed limits in 1932 between Cologne and Bonn. It then rapidly constructed a system of such roads in anticipation of their use in the Second World War. The first North American freeways opened in the New York City area in the 1920s, Britain, heavily influenced by the railways, did not build its first motorway, the Preston By-pass, until 1958. Most technologically advanced nations feature a network of freeways or motorways to provide high-capacity urban travel, or high-speed rural travel. Many have a national-level or even international-level system of route numbering, exit is marked with another symbol. The definitions of motorway from the OECD and PIARC are almost identical, british Standards Motorway, Limited-access dual carriageway road, not crossed on the same level by other traffic lanes, for the exclusive use of certain classes of motor vehicle. ITE Freeway, A divided major roadway with full control of access and this definition applies to toll as well as toll-free roads. Freeway A, This designates roadways with greater complexity and high traffic volumes. Usually this type of freeway will be found in areas in or near the central core. Freeway B, This designates all other divided roadways with full control of access where lighting is needed, principal arterials may cross through urban areas, serving suburban movements. The traffic is characterized by high speeds and full or partial access control, other roads leading to a principal arterial are connected to it through side collector roads
6.
Highways in Spain
–
The Spanish motorway network is the eleventh largest in the world by length. As of 2013, there are 16,583 km of High Capacity Roads in the country, there are two main types of such roads, autopistas and autovías, which historically differed in the strictness of the standards they are held up to. The distinction between two kinds of high capacity roads is mainly a historical one, seldom with practical consequences for most, both kinds are divided highways with full access control and at least two lanes per direction. General speed limits for both are mandated by the Spanish Traffic Law as 60–120 km/h, though there are groups that ask for the latter to be raised to 140 km/h, specific limits may be imposed based on road, meteorologic or traffic conditions. Autopistas are specifically reserved for travel, so all vehicles not able to sustain at least 60 km/h are banned from them. Thus, they may not be an upgrade to an older road, many, but not all, autopistas are toll roads, which also mandates an alternate toll-free route under the Spanish laws. An example is the AP-2 toll autopista, which links Zaragoza with Barcelona through the Monegros desert, in this case, the alternative is the N-II, the national road that preceded the A-2 autovía. On the other hand, autovías are usually upgrades from older roads, in general, slow vehicles like bicycles and agricultural machinery are allowed under certain restrictions so as to not disrupt the traffic excessively or cause any danger. Furthermore, an autovía will most likely follow the road very closely, only deviating from it to avoid direct penetration into towns. Thus, the road usually serves as the base for one of the two directions of the new autovía, which means the turns can be steeper than in autopistas. All in all, an autovía, Allows traffic banned from an autopista, however, if the autovía is built as a new road instead of an upgrade to an older one, this traffic may be banned too. May have little to no shoulders, which are marked with a solid line instead of the broken line of a transitable shoulder. May have acceleration and deceleration lanes that are shorter than those of autopistas. May have tighter turns and steeper gradients than an autopista is allowed, if space-constrained, it may even have bus stops on a service lane in the autovía itself, as opposed to requiring them to be placed on a service lane physically separated from the main road. In those cases, the freeway would make a semi-loop called a variante around the town, new autovías usually have perfectly normal acceleration and deceleration lanes, very safe turns and transitable shoulders. Usually, the DGC manages all road maintenance, but in the case of the tolled autopistas, for example, the M-50 is further from the city of Madrid than the M-40. City access motorways are named similarly to beltways, like TO-21 for a leaving the A-40 towards Toledo. Tolled roads add a P before the dash, and must be identified as such in road signs
