1.
Spain
–
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
2.
Autonomous communities of Spain
–
Spain is not a federation, but a highly decentralized unitary state. Some scholars have referred to the system as a federal system in all. There are 17 autonomous communities and two cities that are collectively known as autonomies. The two autonomous cities have the right to become autonomous communities, but neither has yet used this right and this unique framework of territorial administration is known as the State of Autonomies. The autonomous communities are governed according to the constitution and their own organic laws known as Statutes of Autonomy, since devolution was intended to be asymmetrical in nature, the scope of competences vary for each community, but all have the same parliamentary structure. Spain is a country made up of different regions with varying economic and social structures, as well as different languages. While the entire Spanish territory was united under one crown by the 16th century, the constituent territories—be it crowns, kingdoms, principalities or dominions—retained much of their former institutional existence, including limited legislative, judicial or fiscal autonomy. These territories also exhibited a variety of customs, laws. From the 18th century onwards, the Bourbon kings and the government tried to establish a more centralized regime, leading figures of the Spanish Enlightenment advocated for the building of a Spanish nation beyond the internal territorial boundaries. This culminated in 1833, when Spain was divided into 49 provinces and these were the Basque Country and Catalonia. This gave rise to peripheral nationalisms along with Spanish nationalism, therefore, economic and social changes that had produced a national cultural unification in France had the opposite effect in Spain. In a response to Catalan demands, limited autonomy was granted to Catalonia in 1913 and it was granted again in 1932 during the Second Spanish Republic, when the Generalitat, Catalonias mediaeval institution of government, was restored. During General Francos dictatorial regime, centralism was most forcefully enforced as a way of preserving the unity of the Spanish nation, peripheral nationalism, along with communism and atheism were regarded by his regime as the main threats. When Franco died in 1975, Spain entered into a phase of transition towards democracy, the then Prime Minister of Spain, Adolfo Suárez, met with Josep Tarradellas, president of the Generalitat of Catalonia in exile. An agreement was made so that the Generalitat would be restored and limited competencies would be transferred while the constitution was still being written. In the end, the constitution, published and ratified in 1979, found a balance in recognizing the existence of nationalities and regions in Spain, within the indissoluble unity of the Spanish nation. The starting point in the organization of Spain was the second article of the constitution. In order to exercise this right, the established a open process whereby the nationalities
3.
Castilla-La Mancha
–
Castilla-La Mancha is a south-western European region that was part of the Kingdom of Castile. Nowadays it is established as a community of Spain. Castilla-La Mancha is bordered by Castile and León, Madrid, Aragon, Valencia, Murcia, Andalusia and it is one of the most sparsely populated of Spains autonomous communities. Albacete is the largest and most populous city and its capital city is Toledo, and its judicial capital city is Albacete. It is mostly in this region where the story of the famous Spanish novel Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes is situated, due to which La Mancha is internationally well-known. Although La Mancha is a windswept, battered plateau, it remains a symbol of Spanish culture with its vineyards, sunflowers, mushrooms, olive plantations, windmills, Manchego cheese, the history of Castilla-La Mancha has been significant. Its origin lay in the Muslim period between the 8th and 14th century, Castilla-La Mancha was the region of many historical battles between Christian crusaders and Muslim forces during the period from 1000 to the 13th century. It was also the region where the Crown of Castile and Aragon were unified in 1492 under Queen Isabel, Castilla-La Mancha is the successor to New Castile, which in turn traces back to the Muslim Taifa of Toledo, one of the taifas of Al Andalus. Alfonso VI conquered the region from the Muslims, taking Toledo in 1085, the Reconquista took Cuenca in 1177. That victory assured Castilian domination of the region and hastened the decline of the Almohad Dynasty, from the time of the Reconquista, Castilla-La Mancha formed part of the Kingdom of Castile. Four centuries later, in 1605, Cervantes Don Quixote gave the world a picture of La Mancha. In 1785, the organization by the reformer Floridablanca divided the region into the provinces of Cuenca, Guadalajara, Madrid, La Mancha. Albacete, Chinchilla, Almansa, Hellín and Yeste, however, Albacete, in turn, also incorporated parts of the territories of the old provinces of Cuenca and Murcia. Albacete was administered as part of the Region of Murcia until the 1978 configuration of autonomous regions, the Autonomous Community of Castilla-La Mancha dates from November 15,1978, as one of the many autonomous regions defined by the Spanish central government. The new, hyphenated name constituted an effort to two distinct regionalisms, that of the larger Castilla and that of the smaller onetime province of La Mancha. The Statute of Autonomy of Castilla–La Mancha was approved August 10,1982, Castilla-La Mancha is divided into 5 provinces named after their capital cities. 496 of these have less than 500 inhabitants,231 have between 501 and 2,000 inhabitants,157 between 2,000 and 10,000 inhabitants, and only 35 have more than 10,000 inhabitants. The municipalities in the north are small and numerous, while in the south they are larger and fewer and this reflects different histories of how these sub-regions were repopulated during the Reconquista
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.
Carranque
–
Carranque is a town in the Toledo province, Castile-La Mancha, Spain. It is located in the area of the province bordering the province of Madrid called the Alta Sagra, Carranque contains the site of a Roman villa that is protected as an archeological park by the Castile-La Mancha government. There are three buildings visible by above-ground remains, the ruins of a Roman mill and a modern interpretation building. It is located by the River Guadarrama, near a Roman road and it seems to be near the lost city of Titultiam The buildings date from the late fourth century and are thought to belong to a Villa of Maternus Cinigius, the uncle of Theodosius. Theodosius I, Roman emperor, who was born in Hispania, in 1983 a local peasant, Samuel López Iglesias, found a series of mosaic floors while plowing in the fields known as las Suertes de Abajo. The interpretation facility exhibits objects found during the excavations A Theodosian-era building that takes as models the governors palaces, the hall was surrounded with 32 monolithic marble columns from the emperors private quarries in Chios in Greece and Iscehisar and Afyon in Anatolia. Soon it was converted for use in Christian cult and burials, the Visigothic arrival brought some changes. It was also used during the Islamic age, the Knights Templar used it as an abbey or monastery. It appears as the hermitage of Santa María de Batres in the Relaciones de Felipe II and it was used as such until the 17th century. The head of the Roman building, as the hermitage of Santa María de Abajo and its decoration shows the power of the patron. There were plates of marble, red porphyry, and green serpentinite, wall painting, opus sectile and mosaics with glass, anecdotally, the footprints of a caliga and a dog paw are visible on the mortar. The floorplan, part of the head and some columns are now visible, only remains of the floorplan were found. Its location offers an interpretation as a cistern with a fountain. Its shape reminds of a nymphaeum and it was built with opus caementicium and opus testaceum. Remains of the Roman villa were the first found, the villa was built in the Theodosian era over earlier production facilities of an agricultural villa. The slope was compensated with a terraced construction over around 1,200 m² It is shaped around a peristylum patio, other rooms are covered with opus signinum. The cubiculum has a text in which the worker wishes Maternus prosperity. This Maternus is thought to be Maternus Cinigius, uncle of the emperor Theodosius, the mosaics depict, Portraits of Athena, Hercules and Diana
6.
Provinces of Spain
–
Spain and its autonomous communities are divided into fifty provinces. The layout of Spains provinces closely follows the pattern of the division of the country carried out in 1833. The only major change of provincial borders since that time has been the sub-division of the Canary Islands into two rather than one. Historically, the provinces served mainly as transmission belts for policies enacted in Madrid, the importance of the provinces has declined since the adoption of the system of autonomous communities in the period of the Spanish transition to democracy. They nevertheless remain electoral districts for national elections and as references, for instance in postal addresses. A small town would normally be identified as being in, say, Valladolid province rather than the community of Castile. The provinces were the building-blocks from which the communities were created. Consequently, no province is divided more than one of these communities. Only two capitals of autonomous communities—Mérida in Extremadura and Santiago de Compostela in Galicia—are not also the capitals of provinces, seven of the autonomous communities comprise no more than one province each, Asturias, Balearic Islands, Cantabria, La Rioja, Madrid, Murcia, and Navarra. These are sometimes referred to as uniprovincial communities, the table below lists the provinces of Spain. For each, the city is given, together with an indication of the autonomous community to which it belongs. The names of the provinces and their capitals are ordered according to the form in which they appear in the main Wikipedia articles describing them. Unless otherwise indicated, their Spanish-language names are the same, locally valid names in Spains other co-official languages are indicated where they differ
7.
Alameda de la Sagra
–
Alameda de la Sagra is a municipality located in the province of Toledo, Castile-La Mancha, Spain. According to the 2008 census, the municipality has a population of 3324 inhabitants, the municipality dates back to a colony established by plasterers from Cobeja who settled in the area in the 14th century due to its large gypsum deposits. The Church of Toledo owned the land since the 12th century, originally consisting of wooden shacks and farmhouses, the town gradually converted its structures into masonry starting in 1530. The municipality is located on a plateau in the comarca of La Sagra. It abuts the municipalities of Borox, Añover de Tajo, Villaseca de la Sagra, Cobeja and its main water sources are the Tagus river and the Guadalén stream, both of which cross the municipality
