1.
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
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Autonomous communities of Spain
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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.
Catalonia
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Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, located on the northeastern extremity of the Iberian Peninsula. It is designated as a nationality by its Statute of Autonomy, Catalonia consists of four provinces, Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona. The capital and largest city is Barcelona, the second-most populated municipality in Spain, Catalonia comprises most of the territory of the former Principality of Catalonia. It is bordered by France and Andorra to the north, the Mediterranean Sea to the east, the official languages are Catalan, Spanish, and the Aranese dialect of Occitan. The eastern counties of these marches were united under the rule of the Frankish vassal the Count of Barcelona, in the later Middle Ages Catalan literature flourished. Between 1469 and 1516, the King of Aragon and the Queen of Castile married and ruled their kingdoms together, retaining all their distinct institutions, Courts, and constitutions. During the Franco-Spanish War, Catalonia revolted against a large and burdensome presence of the Royal army in its territory, within a brief period France took full control of Catalonia, at a high economic cost for Catalonia, until it was largely reconquered by the Spanish army. In the nineteenth century, Catalonia was severely affected by the Napoleonic, in the second half of the century Catalonia experienced industrialisation. As wealth from the industrial expansion grew, Catalonia saw a cultural renaissance coupled with incipient nationalism while several workers movements appeared. In 1914, the four Catalan provinces formed a Commonwealth, and with the return of democracy during the Second Spanish Republic, after the Spanish Civil War, the Francoist dictatorship enacted repressive measures, abolishing Catalan institutions and banning the official use of the Catalan language again. Since the Spanish transition to democracy, Catalonia has regained some political and cultural autonomy and is now one of the most economically dynamic communities of Spain, the origin of the name Catalunya is subject to diverse interpretations because of a lack of evidence. During the Middle Ages, Byzantine chroniclers claimed that Catalania derives from the medley of Goths with Alans. Other less plausible theories suggest, Catalunya derives from the land of castles, having evolved from the term castlà or castlan. This theory therefore suggests that the names Catalunya and Castile have a common root, the source is of Celtic origin, meaning chiefs of battle. Although the area is not known to have been occupied by Celts, the Lacetani, an Iberian tribe that lived in the area and whose name, due to the Roman influence, could have evolved by metathesis to Katelans and then Catalans. In English, Catalonia is pronounced /kætəˈloʊniə/, the native name, Catalunya, is pronounced in Central Catalan, the most widely spoken variety whose pronunciation is considered standard. The Spanish name is Cataluña, and the Aranese name is Catalonha, the first known human settlements in what is now Catalonia were at the beginning of the Middle Palaeolithic. From the next era, the Epipaleolithic or Mesolithic, important remains survive
4.
Sabadell
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Sabadell is the second largest city in the comarca of the Vallès Occidental in Catalonia, Spain. It is in the south of the comarca, on the River Ripoll,20 km north of Barcelona, Sabadell is located 190 m above sea level and is the co-capital of the comarca. Sabadell pioneered the Industrial Revolution in Catalonia with its textile mills, thus, in the mid 19th century, it became the most important wool city in Spain, being nicknamed the Catalan Manchester. Even today many mills from that period can still be seen, nowadays Sabadell is basically a commercial and industrial city, there are no significant agricultural activities. Sabadell is an important communications point, a railroad line crosses the city and another one terminates in the city. In Roman times a village called Arragone existed near where the church of La Salut now stands. This grew into the town called Arraona or Arrahona in the Middle Ages, another little village was built just on the other side of the river. This second village, called Sabadell, located on a plain, began to grow, Sabadell was enclosed by a wall, but due to population growth in the 16th century, some houses were built outside the wall. At that time the first textile industries appeared in the town, the woolen industry grew over the next centuries, and in 1800 the towns population was about 2000 people. The 19th century brought two important developments to the town, in 1856 the railroad arrived, and in 1877 the town was dubbed a city, in the 1897 census the population of the city was 23,044 people. The city had become the most important producer of clothing in Spain. In the early 20th century and alongside Terrassa, Sabadell was the textile city par excellence, the population was multiplied by eight, its industry boosted, particularly textiles and metals, and its economy was modernized in the service sector. Nowadays, still there are popular sayings, Sabadell mala pell. The victory of the Fascist faction in the war was a step backwards for the city, industries needed workers, and many people came from Andalusia, Murcia, Extremadura, Castile and other parts of Spain to work in the textile and metal industry. Again, a new workers’ and Catalanist movement emerged, this time against Francisco Franco’s regime, the 1973 oil crisis and Francos death in 1975 meant an important change in Spain and, of course, in Sabadell. The economic crisis compelled the city to diversify its economic activities, new commercial and leisure areas appeared next to the traditional industries, leading to important economic development for the city. It borders with Castellar del Vallès, Sentmenat, Polinyà, Santa Perpètua de Mogoda, Barberà del Vallès, Badia del Vallès, Cerdanyola del Vallès, Sant Quirze del Vallès and Terrassa. The city covers an area of 37.79 km2 and its density is 5,337. 57/km2 as of 2007
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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
6.
Montserrat (mountain)
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Montserrat is a multi-peaked rocky range located near the city of Barcelona, in Catalonia, Spain. It is part of the Catalan Pre-Coastal Range, the main peaks are Sant Jeroni, Montgrós and Miranda de les Agulles. Montserrat literally means saw mountain in Catalan and it describes its peculiar aspect with multitude of rock formations which are visible from a great distance. The mountain is composed of strikingly pink conglomerate, a form of sedimentary rock, Montserrat is Spains first National Park. In 1493, Christopher Columbus named the Caribbean island of Montserrat Santa Maria de Montserrate, the Benedictine Abbey can be reached by road, by the Aeri de Montserrat cable car, or by the Montserrat Rack Railway. The lower stations of both the railway and the cable car can be reached by Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya train from Barcelonas Plaça dEspanya station. The highest summit of Montserrat is called Sant Jeroni and stands at 1,236 meters above sea-level and it is accessible by hiking trails which connect from the top entrance to the Sant Joan funicular, the monastery, or the base of the mountain. The Cavall Bernat 1,111 meters is an important rock feature popular with climbers, LARSA Montserrat Montserrat General Information Gallery of oblique aerial photos of Montserrat, by Doc Searls Getting to Montserrat from Barcelona city
7.
Europe
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Europe is a continent that comprises the westernmost part of Eurasia. Europe is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, yet the non-oceanic borders of Europe—a concept dating back to classical antiquity—are arbitrary. Europe covers about 10,180,000 square kilometres, or 2% of the Earths surface, politically, Europe is divided into about fifty sovereign states of which the Russian Federation is the largest and most populous, spanning 39% of the continent and comprising 15% of its population. Europe had a population of about 740 million as of 2015. Further from the sea, seasonal differences are more noticeable than close to the coast, Europe, in particular ancient Greece, was the birthplace of Western civilization. The fall of the Western Roman Empire, during the period, marked the end of ancient history. Renaissance humanism, exploration, art, and science led to the modern era, from the Age of Discovery onwards, Europe played a predominant role in global affairs. Between the 16th and 20th centuries, European powers controlled at times the Americas, most of Africa, Oceania. The Industrial Revolution, which began in Great Britain at the end of the 18th century, gave rise to economic, cultural, and social change in Western Europe. During the Cold War, Europe was divided along the Iron Curtain between NATO in the west and the Warsaw Pact in the east, until the revolutions of 1989 and fall of the Berlin Wall. In 1955, the Council of Europe was formed following a speech by Sir Winston Churchill and it includes all states except for Belarus, Kazakhstan and Vatican City. Further European integration by some states led to the formation of the European Union, the EU originated in Western Europe but has been expanding eastward since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. The European Anthem is Ode to Joy and states celebrate peace, in classical Greek mythology, Europa is the name of either a Phoenician princess or of a queen of Crete. The name contains the elements εὐρύς, wide, broad and ὤψ eye, broad has been an epithet of Earth herself in the reconstructed Proto-Indo-European religion and the poetry devoted to it. For the second part also the divine attributes of grey-eyed Athena or ox-eyed Hera. The same naming motive according to cartographic convention appears in Greek Ανατολή, Martin Litchfield West stated that phonologically, the match between Europas name and any form of the Semitic word is very poor. Next to these there is also a Proto-Indo-European root *h1regʷos, meaning darkness. Most major world languages use words derived from Eurṓpē or Europa to refer to the continent, in some Turkic languages the originally Persian name Frangistan is used casually in referring to much of Europe, besides official names such as Avrupa or Evropa
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Iberians
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The Iberians were a set of peoples that Greek and Roman sources identified with that name in the eastern and southern coasts of the Iberian peninsula, at least from the 6th century BC. The Roman sources also use the term Hispani to refer to the Iberians, the term Iberian, as used by the ancient authors, had two distinct meanings. One, more general, referred to all the populations of the Iberian peninsula without regard to ethnic differences and this non-Indo-European cultural group spoke the Iberian language from the 7th to the 1st century BC. Other peoples possibly related to the Iberians are the Vascones, though related to the Aquitani than to the Iberians. The Iberian culture developed from the 6th century BC, and perhaps as early as the fifth to the third millennium BC in the eastern and southern coasts of the Iberian peninsula, the Iberians lived in villages and oppida and their communities were based on a tribal organization. The Iberians in the Spanish Levant, were more urbanized than their neighbors in the central, the peoples in the central and northwest regions were mostly Celtic, semi-pastoral and lived in scattered villages, though they also had a few fortified towns like Numantia. They had a knowledge of writing, metalworking, including bronze, in the centuries preceding Carthaginian and Roman conquest, Iberian settlements grew in social complexity, exhibiting evidence of social stratification and urbanization. This process was aided by trading contacts with the Phoenicians, Greeks. The settlement of Castellet de Banyoles in Tivissa was one of the most important ancient Iberian settlements in Catalonia that was discovered in 1912, also, the Treasure of Tivissa, a unique collection of silver Iberian votive offerings was found here in 1927. Lucentum was another ancient Iberian settlement, as well as Castelldefels Castle, mausoleum of Pozo Moro near the town of Chinchilla de Monte-Aragón in Castile-La Mancha seems to mark the location of another big settlement. Sagunto is the location of an ancient Iberian and later Roman city of Saguntum, Greek colonists made the first historical reference to the Iberians in the 6th century BC. They defined Iberians as non-Celtic peoples south of the Ebro river, the Greeks also dubbed as Iberians another people in the Caucasus region, currently known as Caucasian Iberians. It is not known if there had any type of connection between the two peoples. The Iberians traded extensively with other Mediterranean cultures, Iberian pottery and metalwork has been found in France, Italy, and North Africa. The Iberians had extensive contact with Greek colonists in the Spanish colonies of Emporion, Rhode, Zakynthos, the Iberians may have adopted some of the Greeks artistic techniques. Statues such as the Lady of Baza and the Lady of Elx are thought to have made by Iberians relatively well acquainted with Greek art. Thucydides stated that one of the three tribes of Sicily, the Sicani, were of Iberian origin, though Iberian at the time could have included what we think of as Gaul. The Iberians also had contacts with the Phoenicians, who had established colonies in southern Andalucia
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Carthusians
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The Carthusian Order, also called the Order of Saint Bruno, is a Catholic religious order of enclosed monastics. The order was founded by Saint Bruno of Cologne in 1084, the order has its own Rule, called the Statutes, rather than the Rule of Saint Benedict, and combines eremitical and cenobitic life. The name Carthusian is derived from the Chartreuse Mountains, Saint Bruno built his first hermitage in the valley of these mountains in the French Alps, the word charterhouse, which is the English name for a Carthusian monastery, is derived from the same source. The same mountain range lends its name to the alcoholic cordial Chartreuse produced by the monks since 1737 which itself gives rise to the name of the colour. The motto of the Carthusians is Stat crux dum volvitur orbis, in 1084 Bishop Hugh of Grenoble offered Bruno, the former Chancellor of the Diocese of Reims, a solitary site in the mountains of his diocese, in the valley of Chartreuse. Six years later, Brunos former pupil, Pope Urban II requested his services. He would only live in Rome for a few months however, before leaving to establish a new hermitage in the forests of Calabria, in the south of Italy. He died there on 6 October 1101, in 1132, an avalanche destroyed the first hermitage, killing 7 monks under the snow. The fifth prior of Chartreuse, Guiges, rebuilt the hermitage, there were twelve Carthusian monasteries in the British Isles before the Reformation. The first was founded by Henry II in 1181 at Witham Friary, Hugh of Lincoln was its first prior. The third Charterhouse built in Britain was Beauvale Charterhouse remains of which can still be seen in Beauvale, Greasley parish, the Carthusians, as with all Catholic religious orders, were variously persecuted and banned during the Protestant Reformation. The abolition of their priories, which were sources of charity in England and this was followed by the French Revolution which had a similar effect in France. A few fragments remain of the Charterhouse in Coventry, mostly dating from the 15th century, the area, about a mile from the centre of the city, is a conservation area, but the buildings are in use as part of a local college. Inside the building is a wall painting, alongside many carvings. Nearby is the river Sherbourne that runs underneath the centre of the city, the best preserved remains of a medieval Charterhouse in the UK are at Mount Grace Priory near Osmotherley, North Yorkshire. One of the cells has been reconstructed to illustrate how different the lay-out is to monasteries of most other Christian orders, which are normally designed with communal living in mind. The London Charterhouse gave its name to a square and several streets in the City of London, as well as to the Charterhouse School which used part of its site before moving out to Godalming, Surrey. Perth Charterhouse, the single Carthusian Priory founded in Scotland during the Middle Ages, was located in Perth and it stood just west of the medieval town and was founded by James I in the early 15th century
10.
Count of Barcelona
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The Count of Barcelona was the ruler of Catalonia for much of Catalan history, from the 9th until the 15th century. The County of Barcelona was created by Charlemagne after he had conquered lands north of the river Ebro, as the county became hereditary in one family, the bond of the counts to their Frankish overlords loosened, especially after the Capetian dynasty supplanted the Carolingians. In the 12th century the Counts formed a union with the Kingdom of Aragon. In 1258, the king of France relinquished his authority over the County in the Treaty of Corbeil. Catalonia maintained its own laws, institutions, taxes and privileges until they were removed after the War of the Spanish Succession in the 18th century, Count of Barcelona remained one of the many hereditary titles of the Spanish monarchy. In the 20th century, the title regained some prominence when Juan de Borbón, in 1977, after Juan Carlos had become King upon Francos death in 1975, he officially awarded the title of Count of Barcelona to his father, who had renounced his rights to the throne. Juan held that title until his death in 1993, when it reverted to the King who has held it ever since, Juan de Borbóns widow used the title Countess of Barcelona until her death in 2000. The succession of Ramon Berenguer IV and Petronilla led to the creation of the Crown of Aragon, martin was the last direct descendant of Wilfred the Hairy to rule, died without legitimate heirs. By the Compromise of Caspe of 1412 the County of Barcelona, in Barcelona this was promulgated in 1716, and the title of Count of Barcelona became one of the many unused hereditary titles of the modern Spanish monarchy. List of Aragonese monarchs List of Spanish monarchs List of Viscounts of Barcelona
11.
Modernisme
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Modernisme, also known as Catalan modernism, is the historiographic denomination given to an art and literature movement. Modernisme was also a literary movement, although it was part of a general trend that emerged in Europe around the turn of the 20th century, in Catalonia the style acquired its own unique personality. Notable painters include Santiago Rusiñol, Ramon Casas, Isidre Nonell, Hermen Anglada Camarasa, Joaquim Mir, Eliseu Meifrèn, Lluïsa Vidal, notable sculptors are Josep Llimona, Eusebi Arnau and Miquel Blai. Such ideas can be seen in some of Rusiñols plays against the Spanish army, Modernistes largely rejected bourgeois values, which they thought to be the opposite of art. It is a search for a style for Catalonia drawing on Medieval. The textile factory which is now home to the Catalan national technical museum MNACTEC is an outstanding example, early 20th century architecture in Valencia was strongly influenced by Modernisme. The Central Market in Valencia, one of the largest in Europe, covers more than 8,000 square metres, over two floors, with a predominantly eclectic pre-Modernist style. Its unusual roof comprises original domes and sloping sections at different heights, while the interior seems to be lined in a range of such as iron, wood, ceramics. The beauty of the building stands out especially on account of the light enters through the roof at various points. The North Station is the railway station in Valencia, Spain located in the city centre next to the Plaza de Toros de Valencia. It was declared Good of Cultural Heritage in 1987, the Mercado de Colón is an old market located in the center of the city of Valencia, Spain. Its building was designed by architect Francisco Mora Berenguer between 1914 and 1916 and this is a clear example of Modernist architecture of the early century. It was declared a national monument and it impresses with its extraordinary facade and lavish decor. Antoni Gaudí is the architect of this movement. Other influential architects were Lluís Domènech i Montaner and Josep Puig i Cadafalch, in literature, Modernisme stood out the most in narrative. Those writers often, though not always, show influences from Russian literature of the 19th Century, in poetry, Modernisme closely follows Symbolist and Parnassian poetry, with poets frequently crossing the line between both tendencies or alternating between them. Another important strain of Modernista poetry is Joan Maragalls Paraula viva school, although poetry was very popular with the Modernistes and there were lots of poets involved in the movement, Maragall is the only Modernista poet who is still widely read today. Modernista theatre was important, as it smashed the insubstantial regional plays that were popular in 19th century Catalonia
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Catalonia
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