Dénia
Dénia, is a historical coastal city in the province of Alicante, Spain, on the Costa Blanca halfway between Alicante and Valencia, the capital and judicial seat of the comarca of Marina Alta. Denia's historical heritage has been influenced by Iberian, Roman, Islamic and Christian civilizations; as of 2014, it had a population of 41,672, although this is more than doubled by tourism during the summer months. There is evidence of human habitation in the area since prehistoric times and there are significant Iberian ruins on the hillsides nearby. In the 4th century BC it was a Greek colony of Marseille or Empúries, being mentioned by Strabo as Hemeroscòpion, known as Hemeroscòpium, it was an ally of Rome during the Punic Wars, was absorbed into the Roman Empire under the name of Dianum. In the 1st century BC Quintus Sertorius established a Roman naval base here. In 636-696 AD, during the Visigothic Kingdom of Iberia, it was the seat of a bishop from Toledo. After the Muslim conquest of Iberia and the dissolution of the Caliphate of Córdoba, Dénia became the capital of a taifa kingdom that reigned over part of the Valencian coast and Ibiza.
The Slavic Muslim slaves, saqālibah, led by Muyahid ibn Yusuf ibn Ali their leader, who could take profit from the progressive crumbling of the Caliphate's superstructure to gain control over the province of Dénia. The Saqaliba managed to free themselves and run the Taifa of Dénia which extended its reach as far as the islands of Majorca and its capital Madinah Mayurqah; the Saqaliba Taifa lost its independence in 1076, when it was captured by Ahmad al-Muqtadir, lord of Zaragoza, under which it remained until the Almoravid invasion in 1091. The Muslim Arabs built the castle fortress, the French, who occupied the city for four years during the Peninsular War, re-built it in the early 19th century; the town was reconquered by the Christians in 1244. This caused a decline for the city, which remained nearly uninhabited after the exile of most of the Muslim population, it was repopulated by the Valencian government. Created a fief in 1298, it was held by the de Sandoval family from 1431, although the city itself was returned to Aragonese crown in 1455.
A marquisate from 1487, Dénia gained many privileges thanks to Francisco Gómez de Sandoval y Rojas, Duke of Lerma, a favourite of Philip III of Spain. It suffered a further period of decay after the decree of Expulsion of the Moriscos, by which 25,000 people left the marquisate, leaving the local economy in a dismal state. During the War of the Spanish Succession Dénia was besieged by 9,000 French troops in June 1707, who broke down several sections of the town walls using cannon, but their attacks in July were repulsed by the small garrison with great loss of life to the attackers resulting in the siege being raised after 27 days. Dénia, fell to the French forces that November. In 1713 the Treaty of Utrecht recognised Louis XIV's grandson Philip, Duke of Anjou, as King of Spain, so returning Dénia to Spanish rule, it was reacquired by the Spanish crown in 1803, after which Denia gained an important role as a trading port. A community of English raisin traders lived in Denia from 1800 until the time of the Spanish Civil War in the late 1930s.
Dénia is home to large Moorish castle on a rocky crag overlooking the city. It was built in the 11th and 12th century and offers views around the sea, the city and the surrounding area. Located in the castle is the Palau del Governador and its corresponding museum. Dénia has the Museu Etnològic with further details on the history and culture of the city. Route of the Valencian classics Dénia has a Mediterranean climate, with mild and short winters and hot and long summers; the mean temperature of the coldest month is 12.3 °C, while the mean of the hottest month is 26.8 °C. The city enjoys around 3,000 sunshine hours per year; the ferry to Ibiza and the other Balearic Islands departs daily. Until 2005, the city served as the northern terminus for a 1,000 mm metre gauge railway line through the mountains from Alicante, run by FGV; this was not a specific tourist railway. Efforts have been made to re-open the line, so far without success; the bonfire festival is celebrated each March. Huge papier maché statues, called fallas are set up throughout the town, set ablaze.
The Bous a la Mar is held in July. The highlight of this week-long festival is watching bulls run down the main street Marqués de Campo, only to be chased into the Mediterranean sea by those daring enough to enter a makeshift bull ring with them. Since 1974 it has been home to sculptor Joan Castejón; the town honored him as Adoptive Son of Dénia in 1999. Abu al-Salt, Andalusian polymath Dénia's local football team is called Club Deportivo Dénia, plays in Spain's Third Division. Cholet, France Taifa of Dénia Festivals Media related to Dénia at Wikimedia Commons Dénia travel guide from Wikivoyage
Province of Alicante
Alicante, or Alacant, is a province of eastern Spain, in the southern part of the Valencian Community. The second and third biggest cities in the Valencian Community are located in this province. Alicante is bordered by the provinces of Murcia on the southwest, Albacete on the west, Valencia on the north, the Mediterranean Sea on the east; the province is named after the city of Alicante. According to the 2018 population data, Alicante ranks as the 4th most populous province in Spain, with 1,838,819 inhabitants. Cities with more than 50,000 inhabitants in the province are Alicante, Torrevieja, Benidorm, Alcoy and San Vicente del Raspeig; the province has the largest ratio of foreigner population among all Spanish provinces. The total of 446,368 foreigners are registered in the province, which represents 23.6 percent of the total population. Out of 141 municipalities that make up the province, foreign population is above 25% in 54 municipalities, above 50% in 19 municipalities; the latter include San Fulgencio, Benitatxell, Algorfa, Llíber, Daya Vieja.
From the 50 provinces of Spain, Alicante is the only one with three metropolitan areas—Alicante–Elche, Elda–Petrer and Benidorm—even though only one of them is ranked within the Spanish top ten metropolitan areas. It has an area of 5.816,5 km², so it has a population density of 313.8 hab/km². The province is mountainous in the north and west, whereas it is flat to the south, in the Vega Baja del Segura area. All of these peaks are a part of the Subbaetic Range; the coast extends from the cape, Cap de la Nau, in the north to reaching the Mar Menor in the south. With regard to water sources, due to the dry rain regime there are no major rivers, but ramblas, which fill in with water when torrential rains occur; the only remarkable streams are the Vinalopó, the river Segura. Other minor seasonal creeks are Girona, Algar and Ebo. There are saline wetlands and marshlands along the coast such El Fondo and the former wetlands and now salt evaporation ponds in Santa Pola and Torrevieja. All of them are key Ramsar Sites which make the Alicante province of high relevance for both migratory and resident seabirds and waterbirds.
Important coastal dunes are present in the Guardamar area which were planted with thousands of pine trees during the 19th century in order to protect the ville from the dunes advancing, which has created now an area of remarkable ecologic value. The climate is strikingly diverse for such a reduced area. Three major areas can be cited, it goes along the coastal plain from La Vila Joiosa through the southernmost border. Summers are long, hot to hot and dry, winters are cool to mild and its most prominent feature is scarce precipitation below 300mm. Per year and most to happen during spring and autumn; the reasons for this lack of precipitation is the marked rain shadow effect caused by hills to the west of the Alicante province. Most of its few rainy days happen during Spring; the predominant vegetation in this part of the province is Matorral Scrublands including thyme, esparto and the like. Proper Mediterranean climate is present in the northeastern areas around Cap de la Nau to its North but to its South, in diminishing grades until disappearing north of Benidorm.
It goes along the coastal plain from the northern border of the province through the Benidorm area. The north slopes of the mountains in the Marina Alta have a remarkably wetter microclimate with an average of up to 900mm of precipitation due to orographic lift, with most of the precipitation occurring in Autumn and Spring; the precipitation in this area is an average four times the one of the semiarid South, with this big precipitation gap occurring in a matter of just 100 km. The vegetation of this part is an enriched version of the Matorral shrubland and Mediterranean pine woods; the Alicante province has a dry Mediterranean to Continental Mediterranean climate. These are the innermost part of some closer to the sea but at a higher elevation. Here winters are cool to cold and a few days of snow are not unusual; the innermost part of this domain is more quite dry while the mountainous part reach higher precipitation figures which allow Kermes Oak woods to thrive, such as the one in La Carrasqueta or in the Mariola range, both near Alcoy.
The Iberians were the oldest documented people living in. Belonging to these there are several archaeologi
Castell de Castells
Castell de Castells is a municipality high in the mountains of the Marina Alta on the Costa Blanca in southeastern Spain. The village is at the source of the Rio Jalón and surrounded by mountains, it is 12 kilometres from the nearest village of Benigembla, 20 kilometres from Jalón, the nearest large town. It is one hour's drive to the beaches, the Fuentes de Algar, Terra Mítica theme park. In the area are the caves of Vall d'Ebo and Benidoleig; the highest peak of the Serrella mountain range, Malla de Llop, is over 1,300 metres high. The remains of an Arabic castle, Penya Castellet, many trails are found in the area, popular for walking and mountain biking; the area has a rich history with three settlements around the village: Pla de Petracos and Pla d'Alt. The ruins of these settlements are now being rebuilt as modern homes. Five kilometres outside the village in the area known as Pla de Petracos are ancient cave paintings said to have been painted over 5000 years ago. Caves at the archaeological site have a viewing platform, the paintings are explained on six interpretive panels.
Three kilometres outside the village is Els Arcs. San Vicente Ferrer: Celebrated at Easter time. Week of Culture: This event will be held 18 July to 26 July 2010, with poetry readings at the Font d'la Bota, music concerts in the square performed by the village band "La Primitiva", traditional dancing with entertainment for young and old. Saturday 24 July is International Day in the village, with a variety of international events organised by the ex-pats living in and around the village. Santa Ana: The 26 July is the day of Santa Ana, patron saint of Castell de Castells; this is a day of great celebration in the village with a candlelit procession though the streets in the evening. Summer Fiesta: Starts on 14 August, with one week of celebrations with events morning and night. A typical Spanish fiesta is noisy and tends to go on late at night, so siestas are important in the afternoon, when it is hot. Pla de Petracos: Saturday 11th and 12 September the village holds a great fiesta under the old trees in the ancient settlement of Petracos.
Trees are lit with fairy lights music and dancing goes on through the night. On Sunday morning the Saint is carried from the village church to Petracos, about 5 km down the mountain. Mass is held under the trees. Afterwards families gather for an aperitif before cooking their paellas in the open air and continuing with the weekend fiesta. Plants and animals in the area include Narcissus assonanus, Narcissus dubious, Bee Orchids, Ophrys speculum, Venus' Mirror Orchid, Man Orchid, Aceras anthropophorum, Sombre Bee, Ophrys fusca Sawfly, Phrys tenthredinifera and Woodcock, Ophrys scolopax the Yellow Bee Orchid Ophrys lutea, the rare Orchis italica, Fritillaria hispanica, Dictamnus. Tulips include Tulipa australis. Castell de Castells Town Hall web site
People's Party (Spain)
The People's Party is a conservative, liberal-conservative and Christian-democratic political party in Spain. The People's Party was a re-foundation in 1989 of the People's Alliance, a party led and founded by Manuel Fraga Iribarne, a former Minister of the Interior and Minister of Tourism during Francisco Franco's dictatorship; the new party combined the conservative AP with several small Christian democratic and liberal parties. In 2002, Manuel Fraga received the honorary title of "Founding Chairman"; the party's youth organization is New Generations of the People's Party of Spain. The PP is a member of the center-right European People's Party, in the European Parliament its 16 MEPs sit in the EPP Group; the PP is a member of the Centrist Democrat International and the International Democrat Union. The PP was one of the founding organizations of the Budapest-based Robert Schuman Institute for Developing Democracy in Central and Eastern Europe. On 24 May 2018, the National Court found that the PP profited from the illegal kickbacks-for-contracts scheme of the Gürtel case, confirming the existence of an illegal accounting and financing structure that ran in parallel with the party's official one since the party's foundation in 1989 and ruling that the PP helped establish "a genuine and effective system of institutional corruption through the manipulation of central and local public procurement".
This prompted a no confidence vote on Mariano Rajoy's government, brought down on 1 June 2018 in the first successful motion since the Spanish transition to democracy. On 5 June 2018, Rajoy announced his resignation as PP leader; the party has its roots in the People's 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 gradual transition to democracy. However, he badly underestimated the public's distaste for Francoism. Additionally, while he attempted to convey a reformist image, the large 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, putting it in fourth place. In the months following the 1977 elections, dissent erupted within the AP over constitutional issues that arose as the draft document was being formulated. Fraga had wanted from the beginning to brand the party as a traditional European conservative party, wanted to move the AP toward the political centre in order to form a larger centre-right party.
Fraga's wing won the struggle. The AP joined with other moderate conservatives to form the Democratic Coalition, it was hoped that this new coalition would capture the support of those who had voted for the Union of the Democratic Centre in 1977, but who had become disenchanted with the Adolfo Suárez government. In the March 1979 general election, the CD received 6.1 percent of the vote, again finishing a distant fourth. At the AP's Second Party Congress in December 1979, party leaders re-assessed their involvement in the CD. Many felt that the creation of the coalition had confused the voters, they sought to emphasise the AP's independent identity. Fraga resumed control of the party, 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, he was aided in his efforts to revive the AP by the increasing disintegration of the UCD. In the general elections held in October 1982, the AP gained votes both from previous UCD supporters and from the far right.
It became the major opposition party to the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party, securing 25.4 percent of the popular vote. Whereas the AP's parliamentary representation had dropped to 9 seats in 1979, the party allied itself with the small Christian democratic People's Democratic Party and won 106 seats in 1982; 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 AP's emphasis on law and order as well as its pro-business policies. Subsequent political developments belied the party's aspirations to continue increasing its base of support. Prior to the June 1986 elections, the AP joined forces with the PDP and the Liberal Party to form the People's Coalition, in another attempt to expand its constituency to include the centre of the political spectrum; the coalition called for stronger measures against terrorism, for more privatisation, for a reduction in public spending and in taxes.
The CP failed to increase its share of the vote in the 1986 elections, it soon began to disintegrate. When regional elections in late 1986 resulted in further losses for the coalition, Fraga resigned as AP chairman, although he retained his parliamentary seat. At the party congress in February 1987, Antonio Hernández Mancha was chosen to head the AP, declaring that under his leadership the AP would become a "modern right-wing European party", but Hernández Mancha lacked political experience at the national level, the party continued to decline. When support for the AP plummeted in the municipal and regional elections held in June 1987, it was clear that it would be overtaken as major opposition party by Suarez's Democratic and Social Centre. After the resignation of Manuel Fraga and the success
Tormos
Tormos is a municipality in the province of Alicante and autonomous community of Valencia, Spain. The municipality covers an area of 5.3 square kilometres and as of 2011 had a population of 383 people. José Perelló Torrens was a Republican politician in Spain and the Mayor of Tormos during the 1930s
L'Atzúbia
L'Atzúbia or Adsubia is a municipality in the comarca of Marina Alta in the north of the province of Alicante, in the Valencian Community, Spain. It is enclaved in the Pego Valley; the neighbouring municipalities are: Vilallonga and Oliva to the north and Pego to the east, La Vall de Gallinera and Vilallonga to the west. Diputació d'Alacant - Unidad de Documentación
Comarcas of Spain
In Spain traditionally and some autonomous communities are divided into comarcas. Some comarcas have a defined status, are regulated by law and their comarcal councils have some power. In some other cases their legal status is not formal for they correspond to natural areas, like valleys, river basins and mountainous areas, or to historical regions overlapping different provinces and ancient kingdoms. In such comarcas or natural regions municipalities have resorted to organizing themselves in mancomunidad, like the Taula del Sénia, the only legal formula that has allowed those comarcas to manage their public municipal resources meaningfully. There is a comarca, the Cerdanya, divided between two states, the southwestern half being counted as a comarca of Spain, while the northeastern half is part of France. In English, a comarca is equivalent to a district, area or zone. Alto Almanzora Poniente Almeriense Níjar Los Vélez Levante Almería Bahía de Cádiz Bajo Guadalquivir called Costa Noroeste Campo de Gibraltar La Janda Campiña de Jerez called Marco de Jerez Sierra de Cádiz Alto Guadalquivir Campiña de Baena Campiña Este - Guadajoz Campiña Sur Los Pedroches Subbetica Valle del Guadiato Valle Medio del Guadalquivir Granadin Alpujarra Comarca de Alhama Comarca de Baza Comarca de Guadix Comarca de Huéscar Comarca de Loja Granadin Coast Los Montes Lecrin Valley Vega de Granada Andévalo Condado de Huelva Cuenca Minera de Huelva Costa Occidental de Huelva Huelva Sierra de Huelva Alto Guadalquivir - Cazorla La Campiña El Condado Área Metropolitana de Jaén La Loma Las Villas Norte Sierra Mágina Sierra de Segura Sierra Sur de Jaén Antequera Axarquía Costa del Sol Occidental Málaga Serranía de Ronda Valle del Guadalhorce Aljarafe Bajo Guadalquivir Campiña Estepa Marisma Sierra Norte Sierra Sur La Vega Alto Gállego Bajo Cinca called Baix Cinca Cinca Medio Hoya de Huesca called Plana de Uesca Jacetania La Litera called La Llitera Monegros Ribagorza Sobrarbe Somontano de Barbastro Bajo Martín Jiloca Cuencas Mineras Andorra-Sierra de Arcos Bajo Aragón Comunidad de Teruel Maestrazgo Sierra de Albarracín Comarca, named after the Sierra de Albarracín mountain range Gúdar-Javalambre Matarraña called Matarranya Aranda Bajo Aragón-Caspe called Baix Aragó-Casp Campo de Belchite Campo de Borja Campo de Cariñena Campo de Daroca Cinco Villas Comunidad de Calatayud Ribera Alta del Ebro Ribera Baja del Ebro Tarazona y el Moncayo Valdejalón Zaragoza Avilés Caudal Eo-Navia Gijón / Xixón Nalón Narcea Oriente Oviedo / Uviéu Serra de Tramuntana Es Raiguer Es Pla Migjorn Llevant Menorca Eivissa Formentera Añana Aiara / Ayala Agurain / Salvatierra Vitoria-Gasteiz Zuia Arabako Mendialdea / Montaña Alavesa Arabako Errioxa / Rioja Alavesa Arratia-Nerbioi Busturialdea Durangaldea Enkarterri Greater Bilbao Lea-Artibai Uribe Bidasoa-Txingudi Debabarrena Debagoiena Goierri Donostialdea Tolosaldea Urola Kosta Fuerteventura Lanzarote Las Palmas El Hierro La Gomera La Palma Tenerife Valle de Güímar Valle de la Orotava Icod Daute Isla Baja Isora-Teno Tenerife Sur Tenerife Sur Acentejo Metropolitana-Anaga Comarca de Santander Besaya Saja-Nansa Costa occidental Costa oriental Trasmiera Pas-Miera Asón-Agüera Liébana Campoo-Los Valles Alt Penedès Anoia Bages Baix Llobregat Barcelonès Berguedà Garraf Maresme Moianès Osona Vallès Occidental Vallès Oriental Alt Empordà Baix Empordà Baixa Cerdanya Garrotxa Gironès Osona Pla de l'Estany Ripollès Selva Alt Urgell Alta Ribagorça Baixa Cerdanya Garrigues Noguera Pallars Jussà Pallars Sobirà Pla d'Urgell Segarra Segrià Solsonès Urgell Val d'Aran Alt Camp Baix Camp Baix Ebre Baix Penedès Conca de Barberà Montsià Priorat Ribera d'Ebre Tarragonès Terra Alta Llanos de Albacete Campos de Hellín La Mancha del Júcar-Centro La Manchuela Monte Ibérico–Corredor de Almansa Sierra de Alcaraz y Campo de Montiel Sierra del Segura Campo de Montiel.
Alcarria conquense. La Mancha de Cuenca. Manchuela conquense. Serranía Alta. Serranía Baja. Serranía Media-Campichuelo. Campiña de Guadalajara Campiña del Henares La Alcarria La Serranía Señorío de Molina-Alto Tajo Campo de San Juan La Jara La Campana de Oropesa Mancha Alta de Toledo Mesa de Ocaña Montes de Toledo La Sagra Sierra de San Vicente Tierras de Talavera Torrijos La Moraña Comarca de Ávila Comarca de El Barco de Ávila - Piedrahíta Comarca de Burgohondo - El Tiemblo - Cebreros Comarca de Arenas de San Pedro Merindades Páramos La Bureba Ebro Odra-Pisuerga Alfoz de Burgos Montes de Oca Arlanza Sierra de la Demanda Ribera del Duero La Montaña de Luna La Montaña de Riaño La Cabrera Astorga El Bierzo Tierras de León La Bañeza El Páramo Esla-Campos Sahagún Cerrato Palentino Montaña Palentina Páramos Valles Tierra de Campos Comarca de Vitigudino Comarca de Ciudad Rodrigo La Armuña Las Villas Tierra de Peñaranda Tierra de Cantalapiedra Tierra de Ledesma Comarca de Guijuelo Tierra de Alba Sierra de Béjar Sierra de Francia Campo de Salamanca An official classification establishes three comarcas: Segovia.
Cuéllar. Sepúlveda.or sometimes four: Tierra de Pinares. Segovia. Sepúlveda. Tierra de Ayllón. However, historic approaches establish six comarcas: Tierra de Pinares. Tierra de Ayllón. Tierras de Cantalejo y
Spain
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