1.
Instituto Cervantes
–
The Cervantes Institute is a worldwide non-profit organization created by the Spanish government in 1991. It is named after Miguel de Cervantes, the author of Don Quixote, the Cervantes Institute, a government agency, is the largest organization in the world responsible for promoting the study and the teaching of Spanish language and culture. This organization has branched out in over 20 different countries with 54 centres devoted to the Spanish and Hispanic American culture and it designs Spanish language courses, offering two kinds of courses, general and special. It offers the Diplomas of Spanish as Foreign Language examinations on behalf of the Spanish Ministry of Education and this is an official qualification certifying levels of competence in the Spanish language, and is the only certificate for non-native Spanish speakers that is officially recognised in Spain. The diplomas are subdivided into six levels, each one corresponding to a proficiency level as described by the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, A1, A2, B1, B2, C1. It improves the methods of Spanish education, sponsors lectures, book presentations, concerts, art exhibitions, The Spain Film Festival and Festival of Flamenco. Supported by other organisations and communities and it organises and promotes the program to spread the Spanish language throughout the world. The Institute works with Spains national radio and television to deliver Spanish language courses, publications, on-line bibliographies, library holdings, the hosting of major conferences on the state of the Spanish language. It also publishes the Anuario del español to analyse and report on the situation and it supports the Centro Virtual Cervantes on the internet since 1997. General language courses are offered at four different levels, elementary, intermediate, advanced, to provide different resources, including Spanish on-line, to improve the teaching. To allow the students to use any of the facilities of the Cervantes Institute around the world, to issue Spanish language diplomas and certificates The administration of the Cervantes Institute is subdivided into three parts. A commitment and interest in planning the activities and direction of the Institute are managed by a high-profile membership, Patronato, The Cervantes Institute is overseen by its governing body, the Patronato. It gives general directions for the activities of the Institute and informs on its annual activities, the Consejo de Administración is a management body and approves the general plans and projects of the Institute. It consists of representatives from the ministries of Foreign Affairs, Education, Culture and Sport, Treasury, the Director is appointed by the Council of Ministers of Spain. The Director is in charge of guiding the management of the Institute, Centro Virtual Cervantes is an online service that was created in December 1997 by the Instituto Cervantes of Spain to contribute to the diffusion of the Spanish language and Hispanic cultures. The Instituto Cervantes also has a presence in the 3D virtual world Second Life. On 13 December 2004, the Cervantes Institute formed its Centro de Formación de Profesores in its headquarters, located in Alcalá de Henares and this institution was founded to encourage the teaching of Spanish as a foreign language and to provide useful resources to its members. The Centre supports the future teachers of Spanish through its Master of Education in Spanish as a Foreign Language, the Automatic Translator Service of the Cervantes Institute, Portal de las Tecnologías Lingüisticas en España, was launched by the Cervantes Institute on 10 January 2005
2.
Felipe VI of Spain
–
Felipe VI is the King of Spain. He ascended to the throne on 19 June 2014 following the abdication of his father and he is the only son of Juan Carlos and his wife Sofía of Greece and Denmark. When Juan Carlos was chosen in 1969 to be Francisco Francos successor, Felipe became heir apparent when Juan Carlos succeeded Franco as head of state following his death in 1975. He was created Prince of Asturias in 1977, the title for the first in line. As Prince of Asturias, he worked to support philanthropic causes, in 2004, Felipe married TV presenter Letizia Ortiz with whom he has two daughters. Leonor, the elder, is his heir apparent and he succeeded his father as King of Spain when he abdicated in 2014. Felipe was born at Our Lady of Loreto Clinic in Madrid and he was baptised on 8 February 1968 at the Palace of Zarzuela by the Archbishop of Madrid, Casimiro Morcillo. His godparents were his paternal grandfather Juan and his paternal great-grandmother, shortly after his birth he was styled infante, although his father was not yet king. The ruling dictator General Francisco Franco died just over two months before Felipes eighth birthday, and Felipes father ascended the throne, in his first official appearance, Felipe attended his fathers proclamation as king on 22 November 1975. In 1977, Felipe was formally created Prince of Asturias, in May, nine-year-old Felipe was made an honorary soldier of the 1st Kings Immemorial Infantry Regiment. The occasion was marked on 28 May and was attended by the king, on 1 November the same year, he was ceremoniously paid homage as Prince of Asturias in Covadonga. In 1981 Felipe received the Collar of the Order of the Golden Fleece from his father, Felipe attended school at Santa María de los Rosales, which his daughters currently attend. As the heir to the throne, a regulated and structured plan was laid out for Felipes military training. In August 1985, a Royal Decree named Felipe as officer at the General Military Academy in Zaragoza and he began his military training there in September. He completed the first phase of his formation in October, in July 1986, he was promoted to Cadet 2nd Lieutenant. He was also named as Midshipman, on September 1986, he began his naval training at the Escuela Naval Militar in Pontevedra, joining the Third Brigade. In January 1987, he continued his training on board the training ship Juan Sebastián Elcano. In July, he was named as Student Ensign at the Academia General del Aire in Murcia, in September 1987, he began his air force training there
3.
Miguel de Cervantes
–
Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, was a Spanish writer who is highly regarded as perhaps the greatest writer in the Spanish language and one of the worlds pre-eminent novelists. His major work, Don Quixote, considered to be the first modern novel, is a classic of Western literature and his influence on the Spanish language has been so great that the language is often called la lengua de Cervantes. He has also been dubbed El príncipe de los ingenios, in 1569, in forced exile from Castile, Cervantes moved to Rome, where he worked as chamber assistant of a cardinal. He then enlisted as a soldier in a Spanish Navy infantry regiment and continued his life until 1575. In 1585, Cervantes published a novel named La Galatea. He worked as a agent for the Spanish Armada. In 1597, discrepancies in his accounts for three years previous landed him in the Crown Jail of Seville, in 1605, Cervantes was in Valladolid when the immediate success of the first part of his Don Quixote, published in Madrid, signaled his return to the literary world. In 1607, he settled in Madrid, where he lived and worked until his death and his last work, Los trabajos de Persiles y Sigismunda, was published posthumously in 1617. It is assumed that Cervantes was born in Alcalá de Henares, the probable date of his birth was determined from records in the church register, given the tradition of naming a child after the feast day of his birth. He was baptized in Alcalá de Henares on 9 October 1547 at the church of Santa María la Mayor. Witnesses, Baltasar Vázquez, Sexton, and I, who baptised him, Miguel at birth was not surnamed Cervantes Saavedra. He adopted the Saavedra name as an adult, by Spanish naming conventions his second surname was that of his mother, Cortinas. His paternal grandfather, Juan de Cervantes, was a lawyer who held several administrative positions. His uncle was mayor of Cabra for many years and his mother, Leonor de Cortinas, was a native of Arganda del Rey and the third daughter of a nobleman, who lost his fortune and had to sell his daughter into matrimony in 1543. This led to an awkward marriage and several affairs by Rodrigo. Leonor died on 19 October 1593, little is known of Cervantes early years. It seems he spent much of his moving from town to town with his family, eventually enrolling in The Imperial School. During this time, he met a young barmaid named Josefina Catalina de Parez, the couple fell madly in love and plotted to run away together
4.
Don Quixote
–
Don Quixote, fully titled The history of the valorous and wittie Knight-Errant Don-Quixote of the Mancha, is a Spanish novel by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra. Published in two volumes, in 1605 and 1615, Don Quixote is considered the most influential work of literature from the Spanish Golden Age, the story follows the adventures of an hidalgo named Mr. He recruits a simple farmer, Sancho Panza, as his squire, Don Quixote, in the first part of the book, does not see the world for what it is and prefers to imagine that he is living out a knightly story. Throughout the novel, Cervantes uses such techniques as realism, metatheatre. Arthur Schopenhauer cited Don Quixote as one of the four greatest novels written, along with Tristram Shandy, La Nouvelle Héloïse. Cervantes wrote that the first chapters were taken from The Archive of La Mancha, and this metafictional trick appears to give a greater credibility to the text, implying that Don Quixote is a real character and that the story truly occurred several decades back. However, it was common practice in that era for fictional works to make some pretense of being factual. As a result, he is given to anger and believes every word of these fictional books of chivalry to be true. Imitating the protagonists of these books, he decides to become a knight-errant in search of adventure. He spends the night holding vigil over his armor and becomes involved in a fight with muleteers who try to remove his armor from the horse trough so that they can water their mules. In a pretended ceremony, the innkeeper dubs him a knight to be rid of him, and sends him on his way. Don Quixote next frees a young boy tied to a tree and beaten by his master, and makes his master swear to treat the boy fairly, Don Quixote then encounters traders from Toledo, who insult the imaginary Dulcinea. He attacks them, only to be beaten and left on the side of the road. While Don Quixote is unconscious in his bed, his niece, the housekeeper, the parish curate, a large part of this section consists of the priest deciding which books deserve to be burned and which to be saved. This gives an occasion for many comments on books Cervantes liked and disliked, for example, Cervantes own pastoral novel La Galatea is saved, while the rather unbelievable romance Felixmarte de Hyrcania is burned. After the books are dealt with, they seal up the room contained the library. After a short period of feigning health, Don Quixote requests his neighbor, Sancho Panza, to be his squire, Sancho, who is both greedy and unintelligent, agrees to the offer and sneaks away with Don Quixote in the early dawn. It is here that their famous adventures begin, starting with Don Quixotes attack on windmills that he believes to be ferocious giants, the two next encounter a group of friars accompanying a lady in a carriage
5.
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
6.
Monarchy of Spain
–
The Monarchy of Spain, constitutionally referred to as the Crown, is a constitutional institution and historic office of Spain. It used to be called the Hispanic Monarchy. The monarchy comprises the monarch, his or her family. The Spanish monarchy is represented by King Felipe VI, his wife Queen Letizia, and their daughters Leonor, Princess of Asturias, the Spanish Constitution of 1978 reestablished a constitutional monarchy as the form of government for Spain. The 1978 constitution affirmed the role of the King of Spain as the personification and embodiment of the Spanish State, constitutionally, the king is the head-of-state and commander-in-chief of the Spanish Armed Forces. According to the constitution, the monarch is also instrumental in promoting relations with the nations of its historical community, the King of Spain serves as the president of the Ibero-American States Organization, purportedly representing over 700,000,000 people in twenty-four member nations worldwide. In 2008, Juan Carlos I was considered the most popular leader in all Ibero-America, a dynastic marriage between Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon united Spain in the 15th century. The last pretender of the Crown of the Byzantine Empire, Andreas Palaiologos, sold his title to Ferdinand II of Aragon. However, there is no evidence that any Spanish monarch has used the Byzantine imperial titles, the Spanish Empire became one of the first global powers as Isabella and Ferdinand funded Christopher Columbuss exploratory voyage across the Atlantic Ocean. This led to the discovery of America, which became the focus of Spanish colonization, in 2010, the budget for the Spanish monarchy was 7.4 million euros, one of the lowest public expenditures for the institution of monarchy in Europe. One of the earliest influential dynasties was the House of Jiménez which united much of Christian Iberia under its leadership in the 11th century. From Sancho III of Navarre until Urraca of León and Castile, the Jiménez rulers sought to bring their kingdoms into the European mainstream and often engaged in cross-Pyrenees alliances and marriages, and became patrons to Cluniac Reforms. Urracas son and heir Alfonso VII of León and Castile, the first of the Spanish branch of the Burgundy Family, was the last to claim the title of Spain. The Castilian Civil War ended with the death of King Peter at the hands of his illegitimate half-brother Henry, Henry II became the first of the House of Trastámara to rule over a Spanish kingdom. King Peters heiress, his granddaughter Catherine of Lancaster, married Henry III, reuniting the dynasties in the person of their son, each kingdom retained its basic structure. In 1492 the Catholic Monarchs conquered the Kingdom of Granada in southern Spain and this date marks the unification of Spain. The territories of the Spanish empire overseas were dependencies of the crown of Castile, in the early 16th century, the Spanish monarchy controlled several territories in Europe under the Habsburg King Charles I, son of Queen Joanna of Castile. His reign ushered in the Spanish Golden Age a period of colonial expansion
7.
Prime Minister of Spain
–
The current office is established under the Constitution of 1978. In practice, the Prime Minister is almost always the leader of the largest party in the Congress, since current constitutional practice in Spain calls for the King to act on the advice of his ministers, the Prime Minister is effectively the countrys chief executive. Mariano Rajoy Brey of the Peoples Party has been the minister since he was sworn in on December 21,2011. The Spanish head of government is known, in Spanish, as the Presidente del Gobierno, in Spain the head of the government is often called simply Presidente, meaning President. Before 1833 the figure was known as Secretario de Estado, a denomination used today for junior ministers, once a general election has been announced by the king, political parties nominate their candidates to stand for the presidency of the government-usually the party leader. Constitutionally, the Prime Minister and the cabinet are responsible to the monarch, on paper, the monarch is free to name anyone he sees fit as his prerogative to form a government. For this reason, the Prime Minister is usually the leader of the largest party in the Congress. By political custom established by Juan Carlos I since the ratification of the 1978 Constitution, however, there is no legal requirement for this. In theory, the largest party could end up not ruling if rival parties gather into a majority, the monarch is normally able to announce his nominee on the day following a general election. A simple majority confirms the nominee and his program, after the nominee is confirmed, the Speaker of the Congress formally reports to the king of the congressional confirmation. The king then appoints the candidate as the new President of the Government, the kings order of appointment is countersigned by the Speaker. If no overall majority was obtained on the first Vote of the Confidence, then the same nominee and program is resubmitted for a second vote within forty-eight hours. Following the second vote, if confidence by the Congress is still unreached, then the monarch again meets with political leaders and the Speaker, and submits a new nominee for a vote of confidence. If, within two months, no candidate has won the confidence of the Congress then the King dissolves the Cortes, the Kings royal decree is countersigned by the Speaker of the Congress. Once appointed, the President of the Government forms his government whose ministers are appointed and removed by the King on the presidents advice, conversely, nominating the party leader whose party maintains a plurality and who are already familiar with their party manifesto facilitates a smoother nomination process. In the event of coalitions, the leaders would customarily have met beforehand to hammer out a coalition agreement before their meeting with the King. Governments and the Cortes sit for a no longer than four years when the president tenders his resignation to the king and advises the king to dissolve the Cortes. It remains within the prerogative to dissolve the Cortes if, at the conclusion of the four years
8.
Second Life
–
Second Life is an online virtual world, developed and owned by the San Francisco-based firm Linden Lab and launched on June 23,2003. By 2013, Second Life had approximately 1 million regular users, the virtual world can be accessed freely via Linden Labs own client programs or via alternative Third Party Viewers. Second Life users create virtual representations of themselves, called avatars, and are able to interact with places, objects, and other avatars. They can explore the world, meet other residents, socialize, participate in individual and group activities, build, create, shop, the platform principally features 3D-based user-generated content. Second Life also has its own currency, the Linden Dollar. Second Life is intended for people aged 16 and over, with the exception of 13–15-year-old users, built into the software is a 3D modeling tool based on simple geometric shapes, that allows residents to build virtual objects. There is also a procedural scripting language, Linden Scripting Language, sculpted prims, mesh, textures for clothing or other objects, animations, and gestures can be created using external software and imported. The Second Life terms of service provide that users retain copyright for any content they create, however, Linden Lab changed their terms of service in August 2013, to be able to use user-generated content for any purpose. The new terms of service prevent users from using textures from 3rd-party texture services, in 1999, Philip Rosedale formed Linden Lab with the intention of developing computer hardware to allow people to become immersed in a virtual world. That vision changed into the software application Linden World, in which participated in task-based games. That effort eventually transformed into the known, user-centered Second Life. In 2005 and 2006, Second Life began to significant media attention, including a cover story on BusinessWeek magazine featuring the virtual world. By that time, Anshe Chung had become Second Lifes poster child, at the same time, the service saw a period of exponential growth of its user base. On December 11,2007, Cory Ondrejka, who helped program Second Life, was forced to resign as chief technology officer. In January 2008, residents spent a total of 28,274,505 hours inworld, Rosedale announced Mark Kingdon as the new CEO effective May 15,2008. In 2010, Kingdon was replaced by Rosedale, who took over as Interim CEO, after four months Rosedale abruptly stepped down from the Interim CEO position. It was announced in October 2010, that Bob Komin, Linden Labs chief financial officer and chief operating officer, in 2008, Second Life was honored at the 59th Annual Technology & Engineering Emmy Awards for advancing the development of online sites with user-generated content. In May 2009, concurrent users averaged about 62,000, as of May 2010, concurrent users averaged about 54,000
9.
Spanish literature
–
Spanish literature generally refers to literature written in the Spanish language within the territory that presently constitutes the state of Spain. The literature of Spanish America is an important branch of Spanish literature, the Roman conquest and occupation of the Iberian peninsula beginning in the 3rd century BC brought a Latin culture to Spanish territories. The arrival of Muslim invaders in 711 CE brought the cultures of the Middle, in Medieval Spanish literature, the earliest recorded examples of a vernacular Romance-based literature mix Muslim, Jewish, and Christian culture. One of the works is the epic poem Cantar de Mio Cid. Spanish prose gained popularity in the mid-thirteenth century, lyric poetry in the Middle Ages includes popular poems and the courtly poetry of the nobles. During the 15th century the pre-Renaissance occurred and literary production increased greatly, in the Renaissance important topics were poetry, religious literature, and prose. In the Baroque era of the 17th century important works were the prose of Francisco de Quevedo, a notable author was Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, famous for his masterpiece Don Quixote de la Mancha. In Romanticism important topics are, the poetry of José de Espronceda and other poets, prose, the theater, with Ángel de Saavedra, José Zorrilla, in Modernism several currents appear, Parnasianism, Symbolism, Futurism, and Creationism. The destruction of Spains fleet in Cuba by the U. S. in 1898 provoked a crisis in Spain, a group of younger writers, among them Miguel de Unamuno, Pío Baroja, and José Martínez Ruiz, made changes to literatures form and content. Poets were closely tied to formal academia, Novelists such as Benjamín Jarnés, Rosa Chacel, Francisco Ayala, and Ramón J. Sender were equally experimental and academic. The Spanish Civil War had a impact on Spanish writing. Among the handful of war poets and writers, Miguel Hernández stands out. During the early dictatorship, literature followed dictator Francisco Francos reactionary vision of a second Spanish golden age, by the mid-1950s, just as with the novel, a new generation which had only experienced the Spanish civil war in childhood was coming of age. By the early 1960s, Spanish authors moved towards a restless literary experimentation, when Franco died in 1975, the important work of establishing democracy had an immediate impact on Spanish letters. Originally, these songs would have been closely associated with fertility rites. Later, primitive love ballads and heroic tales would have arisen and these popular, vernacular forms would have rarely if ever been written down. The Roman conquest and occupation of the peninsula, spanning from the 3rd century BC to the year 409 A. D, the Roman philosopher Seneca was born in Spain as were the poets Martial, Quintilian, and Lucan. While the invasion of Germanic tribes in the fifth century A. D, outstanding amongst the works produced is Saint Isidore of Seville’s Etymologiae, an attempted summa of all classical knowledge
10.
RTVE
–
RTVE is the largest audiovisual group in Spain broadcasting in the Spanish language. Since January 2010 it is financed exclusively by public subsidies, in the exercise of its public service function, among the obligations of the RTVE Corporation are, Promote dissemination and awareness of constitutional principles and civic values. Guarantee the objectivity and truthfulness of the information provided, while ensuring that a range of views is presented. Facilitate democratic debate and the expression of opinion. Promote the territorial cohesion and linguistic and cultural diversity of Spain, to serve the widest audience, ensuring maximum continuity and geographical and social coverage, with a commitment to quality, diversity, innovation, and high ethical standards. RTVE throughout its history has undergone numerous restructurings and reorganisations, and has assumed numerous identities, the history of RTVE begins in 1937 with the first broadcasts by Radio Nacional de España from the city of Salamanca. In these early years, RNE served as a tool for the Nationalist forces during the Spanish Civil War. Further consolidations followed in 1977, at which time RTVE became an autonomous organization, in 1979 TVE, RNE were joined by RCE an old radio service which, unlike RNE, could broadcast commercials. In 1980, RTVE was configured, by statute, as a public entity with its own jurisdiction. The former cinema newsreels service NO-DO was merged into RTVE to be dismantled in 1981, since then, the NO-DO archives are property of RTVE and its conservation is on their hands and Filmoteca Nacionals. In 1989, RCE was dismantled and its service was merged into RNE. This change in the law put Corporación RTVE in control of Spains public radio, in 2012 the PP began staffing RTVE with party veterans. Considerable controversy was caused when Ana Pastor was fired, on 11 June 2013, RTVE was one of the few known European broadcasters to condemn and criticize the closure of Greeces state broadcaster ERT. Pursuant to the 2006 Law of State Radio and television, management of the public service is entrusted to Corporación RTVE. The Administrative Council of the RTVE is the body of RTVE, and appoints the executive officers of RTVE and its companies, approves its organization. The President has operational control of operations, in order to execute the decisions. The President is appointed by, and may be dismissed by, before the 2006 Act, this position was filled by the role of the Director General, which had a de facto total control of RTVE. In practice, the Director General had been chosen by the Government for their political profile, the News Council is an internal supervisory body composed of RTVE journalists with the aim of safeguarding RTVEs independence