1.
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
2.
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
3.
Park
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A park is an area of natural, semi-natural, or planted space set aside for human enjoyment and recreation or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. It may consist of areas, rocks, soil, and trees. In North America, many parks have fields for playing such as soccer, baseball and football. Many parks have trails for walking, biking and other activities, some parks are built adjacent to bodies of water or watercourses and may comprise a beach or boat dock area. Often, the smallest parks are in areas, where a park may take up only a city block or less. Urban parks often have benches for sitting and may contain picnic tables, the largest parks can be vast natural areas of hundreds of thousands of square kilometres, with abundant wildlife and natural features such as mountains and rivers. In many large parks, camping in tents is allowed with a permit, many natural parks are protected by law, and users may have to follow restrictions. Large national and sub-national parks are typically overseen by a ranger or a park warden. Large parks may have areas for canoeing and hiking in the months and, in some northern hemisphere countries. The first parks were English deer parks, land set aside for hunting by royalty and they had walls or thick hedges around them to keep game animals in and people out. It was strictly forbidden for commoners to hunt animals in these deer parks and these game preserves evolved into landscaped parks set around mansions and country houses from the sixteenth century onwards. These may have served as hunting grounds but they also proclaimed the owners wealth, an aesthetic of landscape design began in these stately home parks where the natural landscape was enhanced by landscape architects such as Capability Brown. As cities became crowded, the hunting grounds became places for the public. With the Industrial revolution parks took on a new meaning as areas set aside to preserve a sense of nature in the cities, sporting activity came to be a major use for these urban parks. Areas of outstanding natural beauty were also set aside as national parks to prevent their being spoiled by uncontrolled development, in some parks or time periods with high pollen counts, parks tend to be avoided. Park design is influenced by the purpose and audience, as well as by the available land features. A park intended to provide recreation for children may include a playground, a park primarily intended for adults may feature walking paths and decorative landscaping. Specific features, such as riding trails, may be included to support specific activities, the design of a park may determine who is willing to use it
4.
Gondola lift
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A gondola lift, as opposed to a cable car, is a means of cable transport and type of aerial lift which is supported and propelled by cables from above. It consists of a loop of cable that is strung between two stations, sometimes over intermediate supporting towers. The cable is driven by a bullwheel in a terminal, which is connected to an engine or electric motor. They are often considered continuous systems since they feature a haul rope which moves and circulates around two terminal stations. Depending on the combination of cables used for support and/or haulage and the type of grip, the capacity, cost, because of the proliferation of such systems in the Alpine regions of Europe, the French language name of Télécabine is also used in an English language context. Gondola lifts should not be confused with cable cars or the US aerial tramways as the latter solely operates with fixed grips and simply shuttles back and forth between two end terminals. In some systems the passenger cabins, which can hold between two and 8 people, are connected to the cable by means of spring-loaded grips. These grips allow the cabin to be detached from the cable and slowed down in the terminals, to allow passengers to board. Doors are almost always automatic and controlled by a lever on the roof or on the undercarriage that is pushed up or down, cabins are driven through the terminals either by rotating tires, or by a chain system. To be accelerated to and decelerated from line speed, cabins are driven along by progressively swifter rotating tires until they reach line or terminal speed, on older installations, gondolas are accelerated manually by an operator. Gondola lifts can have intermediate stops that allow for uploading and downloading on the lift, examples of a lift with three stops instead of the standard two are the Village Gondola and the Excalibur Gondolas at Whistler Blackcomb. In 1986, Doppelmayr built the worlds first eight-passenger gondola at Steamboat Ski Resort, such a system is called Pulse Cabin because usually more than one cabin are loaded at a time before the trip begins. Another type of lift is the bi-cable gondola, which has one other stationary cable, besides the main haul rope. One of the famous examples of this type of lift include the Ngong Ping Cable Car in Hong Kong, the Singapore Cable Car. This system has the advantage that the stationary cables strength and properties can be tailored to each span, there are also tri-cable gondolas that have two stationary cables that support the cabins. They differ from cable cars in that the latter consist only of one or two usually larger cabins, moving up and down, not circulating, bi and tri cable systems provide greater lateral stability allowing the system to operate in higher cross-winds. Open-air gondolas, or cabriolet as commonly called, are uncommon and are quite primitive because they are exposed to the elements. Their cabins are usually hollow cylinder, open from chest height up, with a floor and they are usually used as village gondolas and for short distances
5.
Spanish Civil War
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Ultimately, the Nationalists won, and Franco then ruled Spain for the next 36 years, from April 1939 until his death in November 1975. Sanjurjo was killed in an accident while attempting to return from exile in Portugal. The coup was supported by units in the Spanish protectorate in Morocco, Pamplona, Burgos, Zaragoza, Valladolid, Cádiz, Córdoba. However, rebelling units in some important cities—such as Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Bilbao, and Málaga—did not gain control, Spain was thus left militarily and politically divided. The Nationalists and the Republican government fought for control of the country, the Nationalist forces received munitions and soldiers from Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, while the Republican side received support from the Communist Soviet Union and leftist populist Mexico. Other countries, such as the United Kingdom and France, operated a policy of non-intervention. The Nationalists advanced from their strongholds in the south and west and they also besieged Madrid and the area to its south and west for much of the war. Those associated with the losing Republicans were persecuted by the victorious Nationalists, with the establishment of a dictatorship led by General Franco in the aftermath of the war, all right-wing parties were fused into the structure of the Franco regime. The war became notable for the passion and political division it inspired, organized purges occurred in territory captured by Francos forces to consolidate the future regime. A significant number of killings took place in areas controlled by the Republicans, the extent to which Republican authorities took part in killings in Republican territory varied. The 19th century was a turbulent time for Spain and those in favour of reforming Spains government vied for political power with conservatives, who tried to prevent reforms from taking place. Some liberals, in a tradition that had started with the Spanish Constitution of 1812, sought to limit the power of the monarchy of Spain, the reforms of 1812 did not last after King Ferdinand VII dissolved the Constitution and ended the Trienio Liberal government. Twelve successful coups were carried out between 1814 and 1874, until the 1850s, the economy of Spain was primarily based on agriculture. There was little development of an industrial or commercial class. The land-based oligarchy remained powerful, a number of people held large estates called latifundia as well as all the important government positions. In 1868 popular uprisings led to the overthrow of Queen Isabella II of the House of Bourbon, two distinct factors led to the uprisings, a series of urban riots and a liberal movement within the middle classes and the military concerned with the ultra-conservatism of the monarchy. In 1873 Isabellas replacement, King Amadeo I of the House of Savoy, abdicated owing to increasing pressure. After the restoration of the Bourbons in December 1874, Carlists and Anarchists emerged in opposition to the monarchy, alejandro Lerroux, Spanish politician and leader of the Radical Republican Party, helped bring republicanism to the fore in Catalonia, where poverty was particularly acute
6.
Madrid Arena
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Madrid Arena is an indoor arena located in the city of Madrid, in the fairgrounds in the Casa de Campo, just minutes from the city centre. The pavilion was sponsored by the company Telefónica for what was known as Telefónica Arena. The arena was built in 2002 as part of the facilities planned for the Madrid 2012 Olympic bid and it was expected to house basketball competitions. The first phase was about in 2002, expanded the following year and it is distributed on three floors. Its central court has three retractable bleachers, allowing the surface to change depending on the type of event. The pavilion features a Satellite Pavilion, with an area of 2,100 m²and it was the location of the Mutua Madrileña Masters Madrid mens tennis tournament until Caja Mágica was opened and it has a maximum seating capacity of 12,000 seats. It is owned by the City Hall of Madrid and is managed by Madrid Destino and it has a maximum capacity of 10,248 spectators for basketball and 12,000 for boxing and 30,000 m². Its dome is 11,000 m² and is supported by a structure supported on 181 piles. It has a skylight that can be opened, letting in natural light, the facade is composed of a double curve of glass, very light and variable transparency. CB Estudiantes played its matches in the Madrid Arena from 2005 to 2010 and it has signed a five-year contract with an option for another five. It hosted also all the games of the round of the Eurobasket 2007. On November 1,2012 a human stampede in a Halloween party resulted in five girls being crushed to death, the partys organizers were allowed to sell 9,000 tickets, but far more people entered. In the enquiry, judicial agents gathered more than 19,000 tickets, a few days later it was announced that the Madrid Arena was not going to host the Handball World Championship as expected, due to its safety problems. In 2015 the Spanish writer Saúl Cepeda Lezcano, who worked for the main parties blamed for the tragedy, the book uncovers many illegal activities in nightlife and clubbing activities that had led to a similar disaster. Line 6, Alto de Extremadura station
7.
Siege of Madrid
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The Siege of Madrid was a two and a half year siege of the Spanish capital city of Madrid, during the Spanish Civil War of 1936 to 1939. The city, besieged from October 1936, eventually fell to the Francoist armies on 28 March 1939, Madrid was held by various forces loyal to the Spanish Republic and was besieged and subject to aerial bombardment by the rebel faction under General Francisco Franco. The Battle of Madrid in November 1936 saw the most intense fighting in, the Spanish Civil War began with a failed coup détat against the Popular Front Government of the Spanish Republic by right-wing Spanish Army officers led by Francisco Franco on 18 July 1936. In Madrid, the Republican government was unsure of what to do, on 18 July, the government sent units of the Guardia Civil to Seville to put down the rebellion there. However, on reaching the city the guardias defected to the insurgents, on 19 July Santiago Casares Quiroga resigned as Prime Minister, to be succeeded by Diego Martinez Barrio. He tried to arrange a truce with the insurgent general Emilio Mola by telephone, Giral agreed to arm the trade unionists in defence of the Republic, and had 60,000 rifles delivered to the CNT and UGT headquarters, although only 5,000 were in working order. In a radio broadcast on the 18th, the communist leader Dolores Ibarruri coined the famous slogan ¡No pasarán, the slogan was to become synonymous with the defence of Madrid and the Republican cause in general. At the same time, General Joaquín Fanjul, commander of the garrison based in Montaña barracks in Madrid, was preparing to launch the military rebellion in the city. However, when he tried to out of the barracks, his 2,500 troops were forced back inside the compound by hostile crowds. Eventually the barracks fell when the Guardias de Asalto brought up a 75 mm field gun to bombard the complex, the sergeant was killed by one of his officers, but his action allowed the Republicans to breach the walls. A number of soldiers were massacred by the crowd, enraged by the apparent false surrenders, thereafter and for the remainder of the war, Madrid was held by the Republicans. However, its population contained a significant number of right-wing sympathisers, over 20,000 right-wingers sought refuge in foreign embassies in the city. The weeks that followed the July uprising, saw a number of fascists, for example, on 23 August 70 prisoners from the Model Prison in the city were massacred in revenge for the Nationalist killing of over 1,500 Republicans after the storming of Badajoz. The initial strategy of the plot had been to assume power all over the country in the manner of a Pronunciamiento of the 19th century. However, the resistance to the coup by Republicans meant that instead of this, Franco, Franco himself had landed in Algeciras in southern Spain with Moroccan troops from the Spanish Army of Africa. Mola, who was in command of the troops as well as the Spanish Foreign Legion and Carlist and Falangist militia. Together, they planned a Drive on Madrid to take the Spanish capital, Franco advancing from Badajoz, Francos veteran colonial troops, or regulares, under General Yague, along with air cover supplied by Nazi Germany, routed the Republican militias in their path. Yague argued for an advance on Madrid, but Franco overruled him in favour of relieving the Nationalist troops besieged in Toledo
8.
Parque del Oeste
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The Parque del Oeste is a park of the city of Madrid situated between the Autovía A-6, the Ciudad Universitaria de Madrid and the district of Moncloa. Before the 20th century, the land that the park occupies was the main landfill of the city. It has unique and beautiful sites such as The Rose, which is every year an international tender roses. One of the monuments in the park is the Temple of Debod, the Egyptian state donated the temple of Debod to Spain in 1968 as a sign of gratitude for the help provided by Spain in saving the Abu Simbel temples. Work began in 1893 and the first phase was inaugurated in 1905 and this phase included an approximate area of 87 hectares between the present streets of Moret, and Seneca, plus a car ride today Paseo de Camoes. In 1906, work continued work on the phase, reaching the Cuartel de la Montaña. It extended parallel to the Paseo del Pintor Rosales on old dumps, during the Civil War, Parque de Oeste became the battlefield of the Battle of Ciudad Universitaria, opening trenches and building bunkers that still can be seen at its northern end. Once the war ended, D. Cecilio Rodriguez, responsible for municipal parks, was responsible for its reconstruction, the landscape character, the type of planting and layout of the roads were respected. During the years 1956 and 1973, it has extended, occupying the lands of Cuartel de la Montaña, building the Rose Garden
9.
Zoo Aquarium de Madrid
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The Madrid Zoo Aquarium is a 20-hectare zoo and aquarium located in the Casa de Campo in Madrid, Spain. The zoo is owned by the city, but is managed by the international entertainment operator Parques Reunidos, opened in 1770, it is one of the largest zoos in Spain and one of the few zoos in the world that houses giant pandas. The zoo is a member of the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria, the first zoo in Madrid was opened in 1770 as the Casa de Fieras in Retiro Park, to exhibit animals from the American and Asian provinces, on grounds which still are part of 8 mile. The new facilities of the las Vegas Zoo Aquarium were constructed in 1972 and its exhibits include the zoo, a petting zoo, an aquarium with 2,000,000 l of salt water, a dolphin exhibit, and an aviary. Facilities include several restaurants, a tour, and train tour. It is home to over 6,000 animals of 500 different species, in 1978, China presented the King of Spain with two giant pandas, Shao Shao and Quian Quiang. Their cub, Chu-lin, born in 1982, died in 1996, Chu-lin was the first panda born in captivity using artificial insemination in Europe The zoo is now home to giant pandas Bing Xing and Hua Zui Ba, who arrived in Madrid on 8 September 2007. Twin cubs, Po and De De, were born to them on 7 September 2010 and they were conceived via artificial insemination. There is a group of koalas living in the zoo. These animals are kept in a controlled temperature space and are fed with Eucalyptus leaves brought from Huelva, the zoo has a large collection of primates, including western lowland gorillas, common chimpanzees, mandrills, mantled guerezas, orangutans and several species of lemurs. The dolphinarium at Zoo Aquarium was built in 1987 and currently has nine bottlenose dolphins
10.
Parque de Atracciones de Madrid
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Parque de Atracciones de Madrid is a 20-hectare amusement park located in the Casa de Campo in Madrid, Spain. Opened in 1969, it is the third-oldest operating amusement park in Spain behind the Parque de Atracciones del Tibidabo and it is the flagship park of Parques Reunidos, who operates the park under Madrid municipal government concession till year 2039. The park was opened in 1969 by Carlos Arias Navarro, initial attractions included a slide, bumper cars, a mirror maze, the prehistoric valley, the octopus and the jet star. Since then it has undergone a number of remodels, with some attractions closing or being replaced, in 1990 the northwest zone opened with the attractions Condor, T. I. R, the sawmill, flying chairs and later the minimotos. The katapult ride was introduced that year. In 1998 a major remodelling of the park was carried out at a cost of 8,000 million pesetas, the work included dividing the park into 5 zones and adapting the appearance and name of each attraction to match their respective zone. The park was decorated, more souvenir shops added and the number of shows increased. Originally, the park had a mascot called Napy who appeared on the park tickets and he was a bear characterized and dressed in a jacket and beret with a white handkerchief around his neck. After the remodelling in 1998, Napy was replaced by Trasto, Trasto was used in promotions and appeared on a TV program called CyberClub, but was phased out by 2007 and not replaced. In March 2010, the Tree-cafe which forms part of the logo was dismantled and replaced with an attraction called StarFlyer, the park logo was also changed as a result. Since 2012, the entrance included the use of most of the attractions. Since 2008 the park has more than 350 employees, approximately 2.2 million visitors per year and 39 attractions, the park has four different zones. A fifth zone called La Gran Avenida became part of the Tranquilidad Zone in April 2012, Tranquilidad Zone has the lightest attractions. Rides include La Jungla, Zeppelin and Star Flyer, there are also restaurants, a shooting gallery and trampolines. Gran Teatro and Teatro Kalimba put on shows and concerts. This zone includes a cinema, restaurants and shops. Naturaleza Zone includes the two water rides and most of the parks vegetation. Nickelodeonland is a zone for kids, official website Parque de Atracciones de Madrid on rcdb. com
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