1.
Economy of Spain
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Spain has the fourteenth-largest economy by nominal GDP in the world, and it is also among the largest in the world by purchasing power parity. The country is a member of the European Union, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, the Spanish economy is the fifth-largest in the European Union, and the fourth-largest in the Eurozone, based on nominal GDP statistics. In 2012, Spain was the twelfth-largest exporter in the world, Spain is listed 23rd in UN Human Development Index and 30th in GDP per capita by the World Bank, thus it is classified as a high income economy and among the countries of very high human development. According to The Economist, Spain has the worlds 10th highest quality of life, Spain has also the biggest life expectancy in Europe. Following the financial crisis of 2007–08, the Spanish economys plunged into recession, compared to the EUs and US. average, the Spanish economy entered recession later, but stayed there for longer. The economic boom of the 2000s was reversed, leaving over a quarter of Spains workforce unemployed by 2012, in aggregated terms, the Spanish GDP contracted by almost 9% during the 2009-2013 period. The economic situation started improving by 2013-2014, the country managed to reverse the record trade deficit which had built up during the boom years attaining a trade surplus in 2013 after three decades of running a trade deficit. The surplus kept strengthening during 2014 and 2015, in 2015 the Spanish GDP grew by 3. 2%, a rate not seen since 2007, before the crisis struck, such growth rate was the highest among larger EU economies that year. Strong GDP growth was registered also in 2016, with the country growing twice as fast as the eurozone average, when Spain joined the EEC in 1986 its GDP per capita was about 72% of the average of its members. Due to its own development and the EU enlargements up to 28 members, by 2007 Spain had achieved a GDP per capita of 105% of EUs average. Three regions were included in the leading EU group exceeding 125% of the GDP per capita average level, Basque Country leading with Madrid and Navarre. According to calculations by the German newspaper Die Welt, Spains economy had been on course to overtake countries like Germany in per capita income by 2011. Unemployment stood at 7. 6% in October 2006, a rate that compared favorably to many other European countries, growth during the 1997-2007 period had been led by a property boom fed by historically low interest rates, massive rates of foreign investment and an immense surge in immigration. At its peak in 2007, construction had expanded to a massive 16% of the gross domestic product of the country. Noticeable progress continued until early 2008, when the financial crisis burst Spains property bubble. A European Commission forecast had predicted Spain would enter the worlds late 2000s recession by the end of 2008, at the time, Spains Economy Minister was quoted saying, Spain is facing its deepest recession in half a century. Spains government forecast the unemployment rate would rise to 16% in 2009, the ESADE business school predicted 20%. By 2013, Spain’s GDP per capita had fallen back to 95% of EUs average, in 2011 the deficit reached a high of 8. 5%
2.
Francisco Franco
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Francisco Franco Bahamonde was a Spanish general who ruled over Spain as a military dictator for 36 years from 1939 until his death. As a conservative and a monarchist, he opposed the abolition of the monarchy, with the 1936 elections, the conservative Spanish Confederation of Autonomous Right-wing Groups lost by a narrow margin and the leftist Popular Front came to power. Intending to overthrow the republic, Franco followed other generals in attempting a coup that precipitated the Spanish Civil War. With the death of the generals, Franco quickly became his factions only leader. Leaving half a million dead, the war was won by Franco in 1939. He established a dictatorship, which he defined as a totalitarian state. Franco proclaimed himself Head of State and Government under the title El Caudillo, under Franco, Spain became a one-party state, as the various conservative and royalist factions were merged into the fascist party and other political parties were outlawed. Although Francos Spain maintained a policy of neutrality during World War II. Francos regime has been called a fascist one, Spain was isolated by the international community for nearly a decade after World War II. By the 1950s, the nature of his regime changed from being openly totalitarian, by the 1960s Spain saw incremental reforms and progressive economic development. After a 36-year rule, Franco died in 1975 and he restored the monarchy before his death, which made King Juan Carlos I his successor, who led the Spanish transition to democracy. After a referendum, a new constitution was adopted, which transformed Spain into a democracy under a constitutional monarchy. Franco was born at half past noon on December 4,1892, at 108 Calle Frutos Saavedra in Ferrol and his father was of Andalusian ancestry. His mother was María del Pilar Bahamonde y Pardo de Andrade, Francisco was to follow his father into the Navy, but as a result of the Spanish–American War the country lost much of its navy as well as most of its colonies. Not needing any more officers, the Naval Academy admitted no new entrants from 1906 to 1913, to his fathers chagrin, Francisco decided to try the Spanish Army. In 1907, he entered the Infantry Academy in Toledo, graduating in 1910 as a lieutenant, two years later, he obtained a commission to Morocco. Spanish efforts to occupy their new African protectorate provoked the protracted Rif War with native Moroccans and their tactics resulted in heavy losses among Spanish military officers, and also provided an opportunity to earn promotion through merit. It was said that officers would receive either la caja o la faja, Franco quickly gained a reputation as a good officer
3.
Opus Dei
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The majority of its membership are lay people, with secular priests under the governance of a prelate elected by specific members and appointed by the Pope. Opus Dei is Latin for Work of God, hence the organization is referred to by members and supporters as the Work. Founded in Spain in 1928 by the Catholic saint and priest Josemaría Escrivá, as of 2015, there were 93,986 members of the Prelature,91,020 lay persons and 2,094 priests. These figures do not include the diocesan priest members of Opus Deis Priestly Society of the Holy Cross, members are in more than 90 countries. Opus Dei organizes training in Catholic spirituality applied to daily life, Opus Dei was founded by a Catholic priest, Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer, on 2 October 1928 in Madrid, Spain. According to Escrivá, on that day he experienced a vision in which he saw Opus Dei. He gave the organization the name Opus Dei, which in Latin means Work of God, in order to underscore the belief that the organization was not his work, throughout his life, Escrivá held that the founding of Opus Dei had a supernatural character. Escrivá summarized Opus Deis mission as a way of helping ordinary Christians to understand that their life, is a way of holiness and evangelization. And to those who grasp this ideal of holiness, the Work offers the spiritual assistance, initially, Opus Dei was open only to men, but in 1930, Escrivá started to admit women, based on what he believed to be a communication from God. In 1936, the organization suffered a setback with the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War, as many Catholic priests and religious figures. The many atrocities committed during the war included the murder. After the civil war was won by General Francisco Franco, Escrivá was able to return to Madrid, Escriva himself recounted that it was in Spain where Opus Dei found the greatest difficulties because of traditionalists who he felt misunderstood Opus Deis ideas. Despite this, Opus Dei flourished during the years of the Franquismo, spreading first throughout Spain, in 1939, Escrivá published The Way, a collection of 999 maxims concerning spirituality for people involved in secular affairs. In 1950, Pius XII granted definitive approval to Opus Dei, thereby allowing married people to join the organization, in 1975, Escriva died and was succeeded by Álvaro del Portillo. In 1982, Opus Dei was made into a personal prelature and this means that Opus Dei is part of the universal Church, and the apostolate of the members falls under the direct jurisdiction of the Prelate of Opus Dei wherever they are. As to what the law lays down for all the ordinary faithful, under the jurisdiction of the diocesan bishop, in the words of John Paul IIs Ut Sit. In 1994, Javier Echevarria became Prelate upon the death of his predecessor, one-third of the worlds bishops sent letters petitioning for the canonization of Escrivá. Escriva was beatified in 1992 in the midst of controversy prompted by questions about Escrivas suitability for sainthood, in 2002, approximately 300,000 people gathered in St. Peters Square on the day Pope John Paul II canonized Josemaría Escrivá
4.
Japan
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Japan is a sovereign island nation in Eastern Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies off the eastern coast of the Asia Mainland and stretches from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea, the kanji that make up Japans name mean sun origin. 日 can be read as ni and means sun while 本 can be read as hon, or pon, Japan is often referred to by the famous epithet Land of the Rising Sun in reference to its Japanese name. Japan is an archipelago consisting of about 6,852 islands. The four largest are Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu and Shikoku, the country is divided into 47 prefectures in eight regions. Hokkaido being the northernmost prefecture and Okinawa being the southernmost one, the population of 127 million is the worlds tenth largest. Japanese people make up 98. 5% of Japans total population, approximately 9.1 million people live in the city of Tokyo, the capital of Japan. Archaeological research indicates that Japan was inhabited as early as the Upper Paleolithic period, the first written mention of Japan is in Chinese history texts from the 1st century AD. Influence from other regions, mainly China, followed by periods of isolation, from the 12th century until 1868, Japan was ruled by successive feudal military shoguns who ruled in the name of the Emperor. Japan entered into a period of isolation in the early 17th century. The Second Sino-Japanese War of 1937 expanded into part of World War II in 1941, which came to an end in 1945 following the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Japan is a member of the UN, the OECD, the G7, the G8, the country has the worlds third-largest economy by nominal GDP and the worlds fourth-largest economy by purchasing power parity. It is also the worlds fourth-largest exporter and fourth-largest importer, although Japan has officially renounced its right to declare war, it maintains a modern military with the worlds eighth-largest military budget, used for self-defense and peacekeeping roles. Japan is a country with a very high standard of living. Its population enjoys the highest life expectancy and the third lowest infant mortality rate in the world, in ancient China, Japan was called Wo 倭. It was mentioned in the third century Chinese historical text Records of the Three Kingdoms in the section for the Wei kingdom, Wa became disliked because it has the connotation of the character 矮, meaning dwarf. The 倭 kanji has been replaced with the homophone Wa, meaning harmony, the Japanese word for Japan is 日本, which is pronounced Nippon or Nihon and literally means the origin of the sun. The earliest record of the name Nihon appears in the Chinese historical records of the Tang dynasty, at the start of the seventh century, a delegation from Japan introduced their country as Nihon
5.
Canada
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Canada is a country in the northern half of North America. Canadas border with the United States is the worlds longest binational land border, the majority of the country has a cold or severely cold winter climate, but southerly areas are warm in summer. Canada is sparsely populated, the majority of its territory being dominated by forest and tundra. It is highly urbanized with 82 per cent of the 35.15 million people concentrated in large and medium-sized cities, One third of the population lives in the three largest cities, Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver. Its capital is Ottawa, and other urban areas include Calgary, Edmonton, Quebec City, Winnipeg. Various aboriginal peoples had inhabited what is now Canada for thousands of years prior to European colonization. Pursuant to the British North America Act, on July 1,1867, the colonies of Canada, New Brunswick and this began an accretion of provinces and territories to the mostly self-governing Dominion to the present ten provinces and three territories forming modern Canada. With the Constitution Act 1982, Canada took over authority, removing the last remaining ties of legal dependence on the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Canada is a parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy, with Queen Elizabeth II being the head of state. The country is officially bilingual at the federal level and it is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, the product of large-scale immigration from many other countries. Its advanced economy is the eleventh largest in the world, relying chiefly upon its abundant natural resources, Canadas long and complex relationship with the United States has had a significant impact on its economy and culture. Canada is a country and has the tenth highest nominal per capita income globally as well as the ninth highest ranking in the Human Development Index. It ranks among the highest in international measurements of government transparency, civil liberties, quality of life, economic freedom, Canada is an influential nation in the world, primarily due to its inclusive values, years of prosperity and stability, stable economy, and efficient military. While a variety of theories have been postulated for the origins of Canada. In 1535, indigenous inhabitants of the present-day Quebec City region used the word to direct French explorer Jacques Cartier to the village of Stadacona, from the 16th to the early 18th century Canada referred to the part of New France that lay along the St. Lawrence River. In 1791, the area became two British colonies called Upper Canada and Lower Canada collectively named The Canadas, until their union as the British Province of Canada in 1841. Upon Confederation in 1867, Canada was adopted as the name for the new country at the London Conference. The transition away from the use of Dominion was formally reflected in 1982 with the passage of the Canada Act, later that year, the name of national holiday was changed from Dominion Day to Canada Day
6.
Spanish Empire
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The Spanish Empire was one of the largest empires in history. The Spanish Empire became the foremost global power of its time and was the first to be called the empire on which the sun never sets, the Spanish Empire originated during the Age of Discovery after the voyages of Christopher Columbus. Following the Spanish–American War of 1898, Spain ceded its last colonies in the Caribbean and its last African colonies were granted independence or abandoned during Decolonisation of Africa finishing in 1976. The unity did not mean uniformity, nevertheless, some historians assert that Portugal was part of the Spanish monarchy at the time, while others draw a clear distinction between the Portuguese and Spanish empires. During the 15th century, Castile and Portugal became territorial and commercial rivals in the western Atlantic. The conquest was completed with the campaigns of the armies of the Crown of Castile between 1478 and 1496, when the islands of Gran Canaria, La Palma, and Tenerife were subjugated. The Portuguese tried in vain to keep secret their discovery of the Gold Coast in the Gulf of Guinea, chronicler Pulgar wrote that the fame of the treasures of Guinea spread around the ports of Andalusia in such way that everybody tried to go there. Worthless trinkets, Moorish textiles, and above all, shells from the Canary and Cape Verde islands were exchanged for gold, slaves, ivory and Guinea pepper. The Crown officially organized this trade with Guinea, every caravel had to get a government license, the treaty delimited the spheres of influence of the two countries, establishing the principle of the Mare clausum. It was confirmed in 1481 by the Pope Sixtus IV, in the papal bull Æterni regis, thus, the limitations imposed by the Alcáçovas treaty were overcome and a new and more balanced worlds division would be reached at Tordesillas between both emerging maritime powers. Seven months before the treaty of Alcaçovas, King John II of Aragon died, Ferdinand and Isabella drove the last Moorish king out of Granada in 1492 after a ten-year war. The Catholic Monarchs then negotiated with Christopher Columbus, a Genoese sailor attempting to reach Cipangu by sailing west, Castile was already engaged in a race of exploration with Portugal to reach the Far East by sea when Columbus made his bold proposal to Isabella. Columbus discoveries inaugurated the Spanish colonization of the Americas and these actions gave Spain exclusive rights to establish colonies in all of the New World from north to south, as well as the easternmost parts of Asia. The treaty of Tordesillas was confirmed by Pope Julius II in the bull Ea quae pro bono pacis on 24 January 1506, Spains expansion and colonization was driven by economic influences, a yearning to improve national prestige, and a desire to spread Catholicism into the New World. The Catholic Monarchs had developed a strategy of marriages for their children in order to isolate their long-time enemy, the Spanish princes married the heirs of Portugal, England and the House of Habsburg. Following the same strategy, the Catholic Monarchs decided to support the Catalan-Aragonese house of Naples against Charles VIII of France in the Italian Wars beginning in 1494. As King of Aragon, Ferdinand had been involved in the struggle against France and Venice for control of Italy, these conflicts became the center of Ferdinands foreign policy as king. Only a year later, Ferdinand became part of the Holy League against France and this war was less of a success than the war against Venice, and in 1516, France agreed to a truce that left Milan in its control and recognized Spanish control of Upper Navarre
7.
Basque Country (autonomous community)
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The Basque Country is an autonomous community of northern Spain. It includes the Basque provinces of Álava, Biscay and Gipuzkoa, the Basque Country or Basque Autonomous Community was granted the status of nationality within Spain, attributed by the Spanish Constitution of 1978. The term Basque Country may also refer to the cultural region, the home of the Basque people. The territory has three areas, which are defined by the two parallel ranges of the Basque Mountains. The main range of forms the watershed between the Atlantic and Mediterranean basins. The highest point of the range is in the Aizkorri massif, the three areas are, Formed by many valleys with short rivers that flow from the mountains to the Bay of Biscay, like the Nervión, Urola or Oria. The coast is rough, with cliffs and small inlets. The main features of the coast are the Bilbao Abra Bay and the Estuary of Bilbao, the Urdaibai estuary, between the two mountain ranges, the area is occupied mainly by a high plateau called Llanada Alavesa, where the capital Gasteiz is located. The rivers flow south from the mountains to the Ebro River, the main rivers are the Zadorra River and Bayas River. From the southern mountains to the Ebro is the so-called Rioja Alavesa, some of Spains production of Rioja wine takes place here. Precipitation average is about 1200 mm, the middle section is more influence by the continental climate, but with a varying degree of the northern oceanic climate. This gives warm, dry summers and cold, snowy winters, the Ebro valley has a pure continental climate, winters are cold and dry and summers very warm and dry, with precipitation peaking in spring and autumn. Precipitation is scarce and irregular, as low as 300 mm, almost half of the 2,155,546 inhabitants of the Basque Autonomous Community live in Greater Bilbao, Bilbaos metropolitan area. Of the ten most populous cities, six form part of Bilbaos conurbation, with 28. 2% of the Basque population born outside this region, immigration is crucial to Basque demographics. Over the 20th century most of this came from other parts of Spain, typically from Galicia or Castile. Over recent years, sizeable numbers of population have returned to their birthplaces and most immigration to the Basque country now comes from abroad. Roman Catholicism is, by far, the largest religion in Basque Country, bilbao-Bilbo Vitoria-Gasteiz San Sebastián-Donostia Barakaldo Getxo Irun Portugalete Santurtzi Basauri Errenteria Spanish and Basque are co-official in all territories of the autonomous community. The Basque-speaking areas in the autonomous community are set against the wider context of the Basque language, spoken to the east in Navarre
8.
Ferrol, Galicia
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Ferrol, is a city in the Province of A Coruña in Galicia, located on the Atlantic coast in north-western Spain. According to the 2014 census, the city has a population of 70,389 making it the 5th largest settlement in Galicia. With Eume to the south and Ortegal the north, Ferrol forms the Ferrolterra conurbation, the city has been a major naval shipbuilding centre for most of its history, being the capital of the Spanish Navys Maritime Department of the North since the time of the early Bourbons. Before that, in the 17th century, Ferrol was the most important arsenal in Europe, today, the city is also known as the home of the shipbuilding yards of Navantia. The city was the birthplace of the Spanish General and dictator Francisco Franco in 1892 and it was also the birthplace of the founder of the Spanish Socialist Workers Party, Pablo Iglesias, in 1850. In 1982 the government of Spain adopted officially Ferrol in consonance with its long history, the origin of the name comes from the legend of a Breton saint, Ferreol, who arrived here on a ship, amid a chorus of seven siren. Another tradition says that Ferrol proceeds from farol, alluding to the figure that appears on the coat of arms of the city. The existence of human settlements in this Galician city is backed up by the abundance of burial chambers, megalithic monuments as well as Petroglyphs. In Roman times, in the 1st century BC, a port existed in the bay of Ferrol. In 1568 a fire reduced to rubble the old medieval town, as a naval base, at that time the town was considered more important as a Royal Arsenal than as a safe harbour. With the arrival of the Bourbons in the 18th century, Ferrol became a leading naval centre, Ferrol was made Capital of the Maritime Department of the North, formed under Ferdinand VI and Charles III for the defence of the Spanish Colonial Empire in America. The Royal Dockyards of A Graña and Ferrol, built between 1726–1783, produced ships protected with copper sheets from the mills of Xubia. In 1772, The Spanish Royal Academy of Naval Engineers of Ferrol, Ferrol was virtually impossible to blockade in the age of sail, as strong westerly winds would take any blockading force away along the treacherous north coast of Spain where they had no safe haven. The geography of Ferrol meant that an entire Spanish fleet could slip out on a single tide, by the time the British were able to resume the blockade, the Spanish would be safely away and out to sea. The alliance with the United Kingdom during the Peninsular War of 1808–14 failed to prevent the deterioration in the town’s fortunes, the arsenals and fortresses were abandoned and they were easily occupied by the French in 1809. Under Ferdinand VII, Ferrol lost its title of capital, the second half of the 19th century brought to the Royal Dockyards of Ferrol not just plenty of work but social and political tensions which ended up in the failed republican uprising of 1872. Such was the case of the Cleopatra, carrying one of the two Cleopatra Needles, the one standing today on the Thames Embankment in London, UK and it arrived in Ferrol on 19 October 1877 after tragedy and almost sinking off the West coast of France five days earlier. There is a plaque commemorating the event and those who died to be seen at the base of the Needle in London, the arrival of the British coincided with the construction of a local electric-powered trolley streetcars line
9.
Barcelona
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Founded as a Roman city, in the Middle Ages Barcelona became the capital of the County of Barcelona. Barcelona has a cultural heritage and is today an important cultural centre. Particularly renowned are the works of Antoni Gaudí and Lluís Domènech i Montaner. The headquarters of the Union for the Mediterranean is located in Barcelona, the city is known for hosting the 1992 Summer Olympics as well as world-class conferences and expositions and also many international sport tournaments. It is a cultural and economic centre in southwestern Europe, 24th in the world. In 2008 it was the fourth most economically powerful city by GDP in the European Union, in 2012 Barcelona had a GDP of $170 billion, it is leading Spain in both employment rate and GDP per capita change. In 2009 the city was ranked Europes third and one of the worlds most successful as a city brand, since 2011 Barcelona has been a leading smart city in Europe. During the Middle Ages, the city was known as Barchinona, Barçalona, Barchelonaa. Internationally, Barcelonas name is abbreviated to Barça. However, this refers only to FC Barcelona, the football club. The common abbreviated form used by locals is Barna, another common abbreviation is BCN, which is also the IATA airport code of the Barcelona-El Prat Airport. The city is referred to as the Ciutat Comtal in Catalan. The origin of the earliest settlement at the site of present-day Barcelona is unclear, the ruins of an early settlement have been excavated in the El Raval neighbourhood, including different tombs and dwellings dating to earlier than 5000 BC. The founding of Barcelona is the subject of two different legends, the first attributes the founding of the city to the mythological Hercules. In about 15 BC, the Romans redrew the town as a castrum centred on the Mons Taber, under the Romans, it was a colony with the surname of Faventia, or, in full, Colonia Faventia Julia Augusta Pia Barcino or Colonia Julia Augusta Faventia Paterna Barcino. It enjoyed immunity from imperial burdens, the city minted its own coins, some from the era of Galba survive. Some remaining fragments of the Roman walls have incorporated into the cathedral. The cathedral, also known as the Basilica La Seu, is said to have founded in 343
10.
SEAT
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SEAT, S. A. is a Spanish automobile manufacturer with its head office in Martorell, Spain. It was founded on May 9,1950, by the Instituto Nacional de Industria and it is currently a wholly owned subsidiary of the German Volkswagen Group. The headquarters of SEAT, S. A. are located at SEATs industrial complex in Martorell near Barcelona, SEAT today is the only major Spanish car manufacturer with the ability and the infrastructure to develop its own cars in-house. The plant was opened by King Juan Carlos of Spain on February 22,1993, a rail connection between SEATs Martorell and Zona Franca complexes facilitates vehicle and parts transportation between the two sites. In Wolfsburg, Germany, in the middle of a lake inside the Autostadt, in its 60 years, there was only a short period from 1953 to 1965 when the firm produced its cars exclusively for the domestic Spanish market. Until the early 1980s, however, most SEAT exports were sold with Fiat badging, as a response to SEATs bid for independence, Fiat committed themselves to selling 200,000 SEAT-built cars a year from 1981, compared to 120,000 the year before. At the end of 1983, just after SEAT had won its legal battle with Fiat, in Europe, they were represented in West Germany, Belgium, France, Italy, Austria, and Greece. The UK, Ireland, and various Scandinavian markets were planned to be added in 1984 and this was in spite of the company only being able to export the Ronda, with the Fura to follow. Its core market remains Europe, while the most successful market outside of Europe in terms of sales for SEAT is currently Mexico, in Europe the brand has been launched in almost 40 countries across Northern, Western, Southern, Eastern Europe and Russia. In the years to come SEAT plans expanding in even more markets, SEATs further expansion plans in more markets outside of Europe have yet to be realised. In the past the company was considering a launch in the United States although this move has never been carried out. SEAT has been present in the Russian Federation since 2007, In India all Volkswagen group brands are assembled or imported except SEAT, Spain is the worlds eighth largest producer of automobiles and its car market stands among the largest in Europe. In this period there was only limited car production and only a few low volume local manufacturers catering mainly to the end of the market. The situation greatly deteriorated with the Spanish Civil War of 1936 to 1939, the lack of interest shown by the foreign firms in the weakened post civil war Spanish market opened an opportunity for local interests. The initial Banco Urquijos project aimed at running the S. I. A. T, with the rest of Europe having entered the World War II, and Spain itself in ruins from its civil war, the project was delayed but not abandoned due to its strategic importance. The favoured bidders were Germanys Volkswagen and Italys Fiat, Fiats collaboration with the French company Simca proved Fiats ability to manage complex international projects. In Italy, Fiat dominated the market for vehicles under 12 horsepower, in 1947, the Banco Urquijo group had revived the S. I. A. T. The Banco Urquijo group, although a minority share holder, looked forward to assuming a role in the future as soon as the company was privatesed
11.
Navantia
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Navantia is a Spanish state-owned shipbuilding company, which offers its services to both military and civil sector. It is the fifth largest shipbuilder in Europe, and the ninth largest in the world with all over Spain. Astilleros Españoles SA had been created in 1967 by merging the Basque shipyards of Euskalduna, La Naval de Sestao, in July 2000 it merged with the public naval shipyards, Empresa Nacional Bazán, to form IZAR. In March 2005 Sociedad Estatal de Participaciones Industriales fusioned the naval wing of IZAR into Navantia, even though its main line of activity is in the naval field, Navantia designs and manufactures systems for the Army and the Air Force. Navantia has a line of activity that goes from regular repairs to refurnishment programmes. The company has the facilities and know how for complex repairs comprising LNG’S, Navantia has Fleet Maintenance Agreements with ship-owners. It also has an important presence in the development of new technologies in the off-shore Oil and Gas, Navantia has experience in building technologically advanced ships like frigates, amphibious ships, patrol vessels, and submarines. In the last years, it has supplied ships for different navies, like Norway, Australia, Chile, Spain, India, Thailand and it has also been selected in Turkey as the designer for the LPD program. Navantia is a reference in surface warships, having been able to integrate the AEGIS LM system in a smaller platform. It has designed and built the F-100 Alvaro de Bazán class frigates for the Spanish Navy, the Australian Warfare Destroyer, currently under construction, is another Navantia design also based in Navantia F-100 frigate. At present the challenge is the F-110, the future Spanish Frigate that will have to perform new capacities, the F-310 class frigates are one of the programmes the company has executed. They have already participated in international missions, F310 in Seasquad, USA, F310 in Somalia, F311 exercised with the US Navy in 2008, F313. The Spanish offer for the design and construction of these ships, the contract included the design and construction of the ships, as well as some equipment, e. g. engines and electronic platform control systems, provided by Navantia. In March 2016 Navantia was selected as the bidder to build two logistics support ships for the Royal Australian Navy
12.
Bilbao
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Bilbao is a city in northern Spain, the largest city in the province of Biscay and in the Basque Country as a whole. Bilbao is the tenth largest city in Spain, with a population of 345,141 As of 2015, Bilbao is also the main urban area in what is defined as the Greater Basque region. Bilbao is situated in the part of Spain, some 16 kilometres south of the Bay of Biscay, where the economic social development is located. Its main urban core is surrounded by two mountain ranges with an average elevation of 400 metres. This was due to its port activity based on the export of iron extracted from the Biscayan quarries, at the same time an extraordinary population explosion prompted the annexation of several adjacent municipalities. The official name of the town is Bilbao, as known in most languages of the world, there is no consensus among historians about the origin of the name. Generally accepted accounts state that prior to the 12th century the independent rulers of the territory, the symbols of their patrimony are the tower and church used in the shield of Bilbao to this day. One possible origin was suggested by the engineer Evaristo de Churruca and he said that it was a Basque custom to name a place after its location. For Bilbao this would be the result of the union of the Basque words for river and cove, the historian José Tussel Gómez argues that it is just a natural evolution of the Spanish words bello vado, beautiful river crossing. On the other hand, according to the writer Esteban Calle Iturrino, the first, where the present Casco Viejo is located, would be called billa, which means stacking in Basque, after the configuration of the buildings. The second, on the bank, where now Bilbao La Vieja is located, would be called vaho. From the union of these two derives the name Bilbao, which was written as Bilvao and Biluao, as documented in its municipal charter. An -ao ending is present in nearby Sestao and Ugao. Titles Bilbao holds the historic category of borough, with the titles of «Very noble and very loyal and it was the Catholic Monarchs who awarded the title «Noble borough» on 20 September 1475. Philip III of Spain, via a letter in 1603 awarded the borough the titles of «Very noble, after the Siege of Bilbao, during the First Carlist War, on 25 December 1836, the title of «Unbeaten» was added. Remains of an ancient settlement were found on the top of Mount Malmasín, burial sites were also found on Mounts Avril and Artxanda, dated 6,000 years old. Some authors identify the old settlement of Bilbao as Amanun Portus, cited by Pliny the Elder, or with Flaviobriga, ancient walls, which date from around the 11th century, have been discovered below the Church of San Antón. On 21 June 1511, Queen Joanna of Castile ordered the creation of the Consulate of Bilbao and this would become the most influential institution of the borough for centuries, and would claim jurisdiction over the estuary, improving its infrastructure
