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Spain

Community of Madrid

The Community of Madrid is one of the seventeen autonomous communities of Spain. It is located in the centre of the country, of the Iberian Peninsula, and of the Castilian Central Plateau . Its capital is the city of Madrid, which is also the national capital of Spain. Several failed proposals have been made to alleviate the concentration of institutions in Madrid city by transferring the Community's capital to other towns, such as Alcalá de Henares, in the 1980s, and more recently, Getafe The Community of Madrid is bounded to the south and east by Castile–La Mancha and to the north and west by Castile and León. While Madrid is indeed at the heart of the historical region of Castile, the other provinces of the community of Castile–La Mancha expressed fears of inequality if Madrid were associated with them. The Congress of Deputies then excluded Madrid from the requirement of having a distinct historical identity to form a community, and thus the Community of Madrid was created in 1983 as conterminous with the province of Madrid. The Community of Madrid is the third most populous in Spain with 6,369,167 inhabitants mostly concentrated in the metropolitan area of Madrid. Madrid's economy is of roughly equal size to Catalonia's, which remains Spain's largest. Madrid thus has the highest GDP per capita in the country.

Catalonia

Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain and designated a "historical nationality" by its Statute of Autonomy. Catalonia comprises four provinces: Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona. The capital and largest city is Barcelona, the second-largest city in Spain, and the centre of one of the largest metropolitan areas in Europe. Catalonia comprises most of the territory of the former Principality of Catalonia, with the remainder now part of Frances Pyrénées-Orientales. It is bordered by France and Andorra to the north, the Mediterranean Sea to the east, and the Spanish regions of Aragon to the west and the Valencian Community to the south. The official languages are Catalan, Spanish and the Aranese dialect of Occitan. In the 10th century the eastern counties of the March of Gothia and the Marca Hispanica became independent from Francia, uniting as vassals of Barcelona. In 1137 Barcelona and Aragon formed the Crown of Aragon, and Catalonia became a maritime power and the main base for the Crown of Aragons naval power and expansionism in the Mediterranean. Medieval 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 Catalan Revolt, Catalonia rebelled against the presence of the Castillian army in its territory, becoming a republic under French protection. Under the terms of the Treaty of the Pyrenees in 1659, which ended the wider Franco-Spanish war, Castile agreed with France to cede it the northern parts of Catalonia, mostly incorporated in the county of Roussillon. During the War of the Spanish Succession the Crown of Aragon sided against Philip V of Spain, whose subsequent victory led to the abolition of non-Castilian institutions in all of Spain and the replacement of Latin and other languages with Spanish in legal documents. Despite the Napoleonic and Carlist Wars, Catalonia experienced economic growth and industrialisation. During the second half of the 19th century, the region saw a cultural renaissance coupled with incipient nationalism, while several workers movements appeared. In 1913, the four Catalan provinces formed a Commonwealth, and with the advent of democracy during the Second Spanish Republic, the Generalitat of Catalonia, was restored. After the Spanish Civil War, the Francoist dictatorship enacted repressive measures, abolishing Catalan institutions and banning the official use of the Catalan language again. During the 1950s and 1960s, Catalonia saw significant economic growth and became an important tourist destination, drawing many workers from across Spain and making Barcelona one of Europes largest industrial metropolitan areas. Since the Spanish transition to democracy Catalonia has gained some political and cultural autonomy and is now one of the most economically dynamic communities of Spain.

Andalusia

Andalusia is a south-western European region established as an autonomous community of the Kingdom of Spain. It is the most populated and the second largest in area of the autonomous communities in Spain. The Andalusian autonomous community is officially recognized as a nationality of Spain. The territory is divided into eight provinces: Almería, Cádiz, Córdoba, Granada, Huelva, Jaén, Málaga and Seville. Its capital is the city of Seville . Andalusia is in the south of the Iberian peninsula, immediately south of the autonomous communities of Extremadura and Castile–La Mancha; west of the autonomous community of Murcia and the Mediterranean Sea; east of Portugal and the Atlantic Ocean; and north of the Mediterranean Sea and the Strait of Gibraltar. Andalusia is the only European region with both Mediterranean and Atlantic coastlines. The small British overseas territory of Gibraltar shares a three-quarter-mile land border with the Andalusian province of Cádiz at the eastern end of the Strait of Gibraltar. The main mountain ranges of Andalusia are the Sierra Morena and the Baetic System, consisting of the Subbaetic and Penibaetic Mountains, separated by the Intrabaetic Basin. In the north, the Sierra Morena separates Andalusia from the plains of Extremadura and Castile–La Mancha on Spains Meseta Central. To the south the geographic subregion of Upper Andalusia lies mostly within the Baetic System, while Lower Andalusia is in the Baetic Depression of the valley of the Guadalquivir. The name "Andalusia" is derived from the Arabic word Al-Andalus and this term derives in turn from an older word: Vandalusia or land of the Vandals. As well as Muslim and Romani influences, the regions history and culture have been influenced by the earlier Iberians, Carthaginians/Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans, Vandals, Visigoths, Byzantines, all of whom preceded the Muslims, as well as the Castilian and other Christian North Iberian nationalities who regained and repopulated the area in the latter phases of the Reconquista. Andalusia has been a traditionally agricultural region, compared to the rest of Spain and the rest of Europe. However, the growth of the community especially in the sectors of industry and services was above average in Spain and higher than many communities in the eurozone. The region has, however, a rich culture and a strong cultural identity. Many cultural phenomena that are seen internationally as distinctively Spanish are largely or entirely Andalusian in origin. These include flamenco, bullfighting, and certain Moorish-influenced architectural styles. Andalusias interior is the hottest area of Europe, with cities like Córdoba and Seville averaging above 36 °C in summer high temperatures. Late evening temperatures can sometimes stay around 35 °C up close to midnight, with daytime highs of over 40 °C common. Seville also has the highest average annual temperature in mainland Spain .

Castilla and Leon

Castile and León is an autonomous community in north-western Spain. It was constituted in 1983, although it existed for the first time during the First Spanish Republic in the 19th century. León first appeared as a Kingdom in 910, whilst the Kingdom of Castile gained an independent identity in 1065 and was intermittently held in personal union with León before merging with it permanently in 1230. It is the largest autonomous community in Spain and the third largest region of the European Union, covering an area of 94,223 square kilometres with an official population of around 2.5 million . The organic law of Castile and León, under the Spanish Constitution of 1978, is the bi-regions Statute of Autonomy. The statute lays out the basic laws of the region and defines a series of essential values and symbols of the inhabitants of Castile and León, such as their linguistic patrimony, as well as their historic, artistic, and natural patrimony . Other symbols alluded to are the coat of arms, flag, and banner; there is also allusion to a regional anthem, though as of 2013 none has been adopted. It is the region of the world with the most World Heritage Sites, 8 in total. April 23 is designated Castile and León Day, commemorating the defeat of the comuneros at the Battle of Villalar during the Revolt of the Comuneros, in 1521.

Valencian Community

The Valencian Community, or the Valencian Country is an autonomous community of Spain. It is the fourth most populated after Andalusia, Catalonia and Madrid with more than 5.1 million inhabitants. It is often homonymously identified with its capital Valencia, which is the third largest city of Spain. It is located along the Mediterranean coast in the south-east of the Iberian peninsula. It borders with Catalonia to the north, Aragon and Castile–La Mancha to the west, and Murcia to the south. It is formed by the provinces of Castellón, Valencia and Alicante. According to its Statute of Autonomy, the Valencian people are a historical nationality. Their origins date back to Catalan-Aragonese colonization of the Moorish Taifa of Valencia, after it was taken by James I of Aragon in 1238 during the Reconquista. The newly founded Kingdom of Valencia was granted wide self-government under the Crown of Aragon with the promulgation of its Furs in 1261. Valencia experienced its golden age in the 15th Century, becoming the economic and cultural centre of the Crown and contributing with the most important works of Catalan medieval literature. Self-government continued after the unification of the Spanish Kingdom, but was eventually suspended in 1707 by Phillip V of Spain and the Nova Planta decrees as a result of the Spanish War of Succession. Valencian nationalism resurged towards the end of the 19th Century, giving way to the modern conception of the Valencian Country. Self-government under the Generalitat Valenciana was finally reestablished in 1982 after Spanish transition to democracy. The Valencian people speak a variety of Catalan called Valencian, accounting for a third of all Catalan speakers. Historically, Valencian has suffered from political repression and an ongoing diglossia that favours Spanish. Since it regained official status in 1982, Valencian has been implemented in public administration and the education system, leading to an exponential increase in knowledge of its formal standard. However, its social use continues to be threatened by Spanish due to migration from other parts of Spain, especially in the cities of Valencia and Alicante. Furthermore, the linguistic conflict continues to be pressing, with some groups opposing the official standard based on Catalan orthography.

Principality of Asturias

Asturias, officially the Principality of Asturias, is an autonomous community in north-west Spain. It is coextensive with the province of Asturias, and contains some of the territory that was part of the larger Kingdom of Asturias in the Middle Ages. Divided into eight comarcas, the autonomous community of Asturias is bordered by Cantabria to the east, by Castile and León to the south, by Galicia to the west, and by the Bay of Biscay to the north. The most important cities are the communal capital, Oviedo, the seaport and largest city Gijón, and the industrial town of Avilés. Other municipalities in Asturias include Cangas de Onís, Cangas del Narcea, Gozón, Grado, Langreo, Llanera, Laviana, Lena, Llanes, Mieres, Siero, Valdés, Vegadeo and Villaviciosa . Asturias is also home to the Prince of Asturias Awards.

Canary Islands

The Canary Islands, also known as the Canaries, are a Spanish archipelago located just off the southern coast of Morocco, 100 kilometres west of its southern border. The Canaries constitute one of Spains 17 autonomous communities and are among the outermost regions of the European Union proper. The main islands are Tenerife, Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote, La Palma, La Gomera and El Hierro. The archipelago also includes a number of islets: La Graciosa, Alegranza, Isla de Lobos, Montaña Clara, Roque del Oeste and Roque del Este. The archipelagos beaches, climate and important natural attractions, especially Maspalomas in Gran Canaria and Teide National Park and Mount Teide in Tenerife, make it a major tourist destination with over 12 million visitors per year, especially Tenerife, Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria and Lanzarote. The islands have a subtropical climate, with long warm summers and moderately warm winters. Due to their location above the temperature inversion layer, the high mountains of these islands are ideal for astronomical observation. For this reason, two professional observatories, Teide Observatory on the island of Tenerife and Roque de los Muchachos Observatory on the island of La Palma, have been built on the islands. The capital of the Autonomous Community is shared by the cities of Santa Cruz de Tenerife and Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, which in turn are the capitals of the provinces of Santa Cruz de Tenerife and Province of Las Palmas. Las Palmas de Gran Canaria has been the largest city in the Canaries since 1768, except for a brief period in 1910. Between the 1833 territorial division of Spain and 1927 Santa Cruz de Tenerife was the sole capital of the Canary Islands. In 1927 a decree ordered that the capital of the Canary Islands be shared, as it remains at present. The third largest city of the Canary Islands is San Cristóbal de La Laguna on Tenerife. This city is also home to the Consejo Consultivo de Canarias, which is the supreme consultative body of the Canary Islands. During the times of the Spanish Empire the Canaries were the main stopover for Spanish galleons on their way to the Americas because of the prevailing winds from the northeast.

Castile-La Mancha

Castilla-La Mancha is a south-western European region that was part of the Kingdom of Castile. Nowadays it is established as an autonomous community of Spain. Castilla-La Mancha is bordered by Castilla y León, Madrid, Aragon, Valencia, Murcia, Andalusia, and Extremadura. It is one of the most sparsely populated of Spain's autonomous communities. Albacete is the largest and most populous city. Its capital city is Toledo, and its judicial capital city is Albacete. Castilla-La Mancha was formerly grouped with the province of Madrid into New Castile , but with the advent of the modern Spanish system of autonomous regions (Estado de las autonomías), it was separated due to great demographic disparity between the capital and the remaining New-Castilian provinces. Also, distinct from the former New Castile, Castilla-La Mancha added the province of Albacete, which had been part of Murcia; adding Albacete placed all of the historic region of La Mancha within this single region. 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, and Don Quixote.

Aragon

Aragon is an autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. Located in northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces : Huesca, Zaragoza, and Teruel. Its capital is Zaragoza . The current Statute of Autonomy declares Aragon a nationality of Spain. Aragons northern province of Huesca borders France and is positioned in the middle of the Pyrenees. Within Spain, the community is flanked by Catalonia on the east, Valencia and Castile–La Mancha to the south, and Castile and León, La Rioja, and Navarre to the west. Covering an area of 47,719 km2, the regions terrain ranges diversely from permanent glaciers to verdant valleys, rich pasture lands and orchards, through to the arid steppe plains of the central lowlands. Aragon is home to many rivers—most notably, the river Ebro, Spains largest river in volume, which runs west-east across the entire region through the province of Zaragoza. It is also home to the Aneto, the highest mountain in the Pyrenees. As of 2012, the population of Aragon was 1,349,467, with slightly more than half of it living in Zaragoza, its capital city. The economy of Aragon generates a GDP of €33,252 million which represents 5% of Spains national GDP, and is currently 5th in per capita production behind Basque Country, Madrid, Navarre and Catalonia. In addition to its three provinces, Aragon is subdivided into 33 comarcas or counties; all with a rich geopolitical and cultural history from its pre-Roman, Celtic and Roman days; and from the four centuries of Islamic period as Marca Superior of Al-Andalus or kingdom of Saraqustah, and as lands that once belonged to the Frankish Marca Hispanica; and counties that later formed the Kingdom of Aragon and eventually the empire or Crown of Aragon.

Balearic Islands

The Balearic Islands are an archipelago of Spain in the western Mediterranean Sea, near the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. The four largest islands are Majorca, Minorca, Ibiza and Formentera. There are many minor islands and islets in close proximity to the larger islands, including Cabrera, Dragonera and S'Espalmador. The islands have a Mediterranean Climate, and the four major islands are all popular tourist destinations. The islands' culture and cuisine are similar to that of the rest of the Catalan Countries. The archipelago forms an autonomous community and a province of Spain, with Palma de Mallorca as the capital. The co-official languages in the Balearic Islands are Catalan and Spanish. The current Statute of Autonomy declares the Balearic Islands as one nationality of Spain. Though currently a part of Spain, throughout history the Balearic Islands have been under the rule of number of different kingdoms and countries. The official name of the Balearic Islands in Catalan is Illes Balears, while in Spanish they are known as the Islas Baleares. The term "Balearic" derives from Greek . In Latin . Of the various theories on the origins of the two ancient Greek and Latin names for the islands—Gymnasiae and Baleares—classical sources provide two. According to the Lycophron's Alexandra verses, the islands were called Γυμνησίαι/Gymnesiae because its inhabitants were often nude, probably because of the year-round benevolent climate. The Greek and Roman writers generally derive the name of the people from their skill as slingers , although Strabo regards the name as of Phoenician origin. He observed it was the Phoenician equivalent for lightly armoured soldiers the Greeks would have called γυμνῆτας/gymnetas. The root bal does point to a Phoenician origin; perhaps the islands were sacred to the god Baal and the resemblance to the Greek root ΒΑΛ is accidental. Indeed, it was usual Greek practice to assimilate local names into their own language. But the common Greek name of the islands is not Βαλεαρεῖς/Baleareis, but Γυμνησίαι/Gymnesiai. The former was the name used by the natives, as well as by the Carthaginians and Romans, while the latter probably derives from the light equipment of the Balearic troops γυμνῆται/gymnetae. The main islands of the autonomous community are Majorca , Minorca , Ibiza and Formentera, all popular tourist destinations. Among the minor islands is Cabrera, the location of the Parc Nacional de l'Arxipèlag de Cabrera.

Basque Country

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 autonomous community is based on the Statute of Autonomy of the Basque Country, a foundational legal document providing the framework for the development of the Basque people on Spanish soil, although the territory of Navarre was left out and made into a separate autonomous community. Currently there is no official capital in the autonomous community, but the city that holds the Basque Parliament, the headquarters of the Basque Government and the Basque Autonomous Communitys Presidents residency is Vitoria-Gasteiz, located in the province of Álava. Whilst Vitoria-Gasteiz is the largest municipality in area, with 277 km2, Bilbao is the largest in population, with 353,187 people, located in the province of Biscay within a conurbation of 875,552 people. The term Basque Country may also refer to the larger cultural region, the home of the Basque people, which includes the autonomous community.

Galicia

Galicia is an autonomous community in northwest Spain, with the official status of a historic nationality. It comprises the provinces of A Coruña, Lugo, Ourense and Pontevedra, being bordered by Portugal to the south, the Spanish autonomous communities of Castile and León and Asturias to the east, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west and the north. It had a population of 2,765,940 in 2013 and has a total area of 29,574 km2 . Galicia has over 1,660 km of coastline, including its offshore islands and islets, among them Cíes Islands, Ons, Sálvora, Cortegada, and—the largest and most populated—A Illa de Arousa. The area now called Galicia was first inhabited by humans during the Middle Paleolithic period, and it takes its name from the Gallaeci, the Celtic peoples living north of the Douro river during the last millennium BC, in a region largely coincidental with that of the Iron Age local Castro culture. Galicia was incorporated into the Roman Empire at the end of the Cantabrian Wars in 19 BC, being turned into a Roman province in the 3rd century AD. In 410, the Germanic Suebi established a kingdom with its capital in Braga which was incorporated into that of the Visigoths in 585. In 711, the Arabs invaded the Iberian Peninsula, taking the Visigoth kingdom, but soon in 740 Galicia was incorporated into the Christian kingdom of Asturias. During the Middle Ages, the kingdom of Galicia was occasionally ruled by its own kings, but most of the time it was leagued to the kingdom of Leon and later to that of Castile, while maintaining its own legal and customary practices and personality. From the 13th century on, the kings of Castile, as kings of Galicia, appointed an Adiantado-mór, whose attributions passed to the Governor and Captain General of the Kingdom of Galiza from the last years of the 15th century. The Governor also presided the Real Audiencia do Reino de Galicia, a royal tribunal and government body. From the 16th century, the representation and voice of the kingdom was held by an assembly of deputies and representatives of the cities of the kingdom, the Cortes or Junta of the Kingdom of Galicia, an institution which was forcibly discontinued in 1833 when the kingdom was divided into four administrative provinces with no legal mutual links. During the 19th and 20th centuries, demand grew for self-government and for the recognition of the personality of Galicia, a demand which led to the frustrated Statute of Autonomy of 1936, and to the Statute of Autonomy of 1981, currently in force. The interior of Galicia is characterized by its hilly landscape, although mountain ranges rise to 2,000 m in the east and south. The coastal areas are mostly an alternate series of rías and cliffs. The climate of Galicia is temperate and rainy, but it is also markedly drier in the summer, being usually classified as Oceanic in the west and north, and Mediterranean in the southeast. Its topographic and climatic conditions have made animal husbandry and farming the primary source of Galicias wealth for most of its history. With the exception of shipbuilding and food processing, Galicia was largely a semi-subsistence farming and fishing economy and did not experience significant industrialization until after the mid-twentieth century. In 2012, the gross domestic product at purchasing power parity was €56,000 million, with a nominal GDP per capita of €20,700. The population is largely concentrated in two coastal areas: from Ferrol to A Coruña in the northwest and from Pontevedra to Vigo in the southwest. To a lesser extent, there are smaller populations around the interior cities of Lugo, Ourense and Santiago de Compostela. The political capital is Santiago de Compostela, in the province of A Coruña. Vigo, in the province of Pontevedra, is the most populous municipality with 294,997, while A Coruña is the most populous city with 215.227 . Two languages are official and widely used today in Galicia: the native Galician, a Romance language closely related to Portuguese with which it shares Galician-Portuguese medieval literature, and the Spanish language, usually known locally as Castilian. 56% of the Galician population speak more in Galician than in Castilian, while 43% speak more in Castilian.

Autonomous City of Ceuta

Ceuta is an 18.5-square-kilometre Spanish city located on the north coast of Africa, sharing a western border with Morocco. Separated from the Iberian peninsula by the Strait of Gibraltar, Ceuta lies along the boundary between the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. Ceuta, along with the Spanish exclave Melilla, is one of two permanently inhabited Spanish territories in mainland Africa. It was part of Cádiz province until 14 March 1995 when the citys Statute of Autonomy was passed. Ceuta, like Melilla, was a free port before Spain joined the European Union. As of 2011, it has a population of 82,376. Its population consists of Christians, Muslims, and small minorities of Jews and Indian Hindus. Spanish is the official language. The majority of the citys population are ethnic Spanish who are opposed to the idea of being ruled by Morocco.

La Rioja

La Rioja is an autonomous community and a province in Spain, located in the north of the Iberian Peninsula. Its capital is Logroño. Other cities and towns in the province include Calahorra, Arnedo, Alfaro, Haro, Santo Domingo de la Calzada, and Nájera. It has an estimated population of 322,415 inhabitants . It covers part of the Ebro valley towards its north and the Iberian Range in the south. The community is a single province, so there is no County Council and it is organized into 174 municipalities. It borders the Basque Country to the north, Navarre to the northeast, Aragón to the southeast, and Castilla y León to the west and south . The area was once occupied by pre-Roman Berones, Pelendones and Basques. After partial recapture from the Muslims in the early tenth century, the region became part of the Kingdom of Pamplona, later being incorporated into Castile after a century and a half of disputes. From the eighteenth century the Rioja region remained divided between the provinces of Burgos and Soria, until in 1833 the province of Logroño was created, changing the name of the province to La Rioja in 1980 as a prelude to its constitution under a single provincial autonomous community following the adoption of the Estatuto de San Millán in 1982. The first written reference in which the name Rioja appears is in the Miranda de Ebro forum in 1099. The region is well known for its wines under the brand Denominación de Origen Calificada Rioja.

Cantabria

Cantabria is a Spanish historical community and autonomous community with Santander as its capital city. It is bordered on the east by the Basque Autonomous Community , on the south by Castile and León (provinces of León, Palencia and Burgos), on the west by the Principality of Asturias, and on the north by the Cantabrian Sea (Bay of Biscay). Cantabria belongs to Green Spain, the name given to the strip of land between the Bay of Biscay and the Cantabrian Mountains, so called because of its particularly lush vegetation, due to the wet and moderate oceanic climate. The climate is strongly influenced by Atlantic Ocean winds trapped by the mountains; the average annual precipitation is about 1,200 mm (47 inches). Cantabria has archaeological sites from the Upper Paleolithic period, although the first signs of human occupation date from the Lower Paleolithic. The most significant site for cave paintings is that in the cave of Altamira, dating from about 37,000 BC and declared, along with nine other Cantabrian caves, as World Heritage Sites by UNESCO. The modern Province of Cantabria was constituted on 28 July 1778 at Bárcena la Puente, Reocín. The Organic Law of the Autonomy Statute of Cantabria was approved on 30 December 1981, giving the region its own institutions of self-government.

Melilla

Melilla is a Spanish autonomous city located on the north coast of Africa, sharing a border with Morocco, with an area of 12.3 km2 (4.7 sq mi). Melilla, along with Ceuta, is one of two permanently inhabited Spanish cities in mainland Africa. It was part of the Province of Málaga until 14 March 1995, when the city's Statute of Autonomy was passed. Melilla, like Ceuta, was a free port before Spain joined the European Union. In 2011 it had a population of 78,476, made up of Catholics of Iberian origin (primarily from Andalusia and Catalonia), ethnic Riffian Berbers and a small number of Sephardic Jews and Sindhi Hindus. Spanish and Riffian-Berber are the two most widely spoken languages, with Spanish as the only official language. Melilla is officially claimed by Morocco, which considers it "occupied territory". The current Berber name of Melilla is Mřič or Mlilt, which means the "white one". Melilla was an ancient Berber village and a Phoenician and later Punic trade establishment under the name of Rusadir (Rusaddir for the Romans and Russadeiron (Ancient Greek: Ῥυσσάδειρον) for the Greeks). Later it became a part of the Roman province of Mauretania Tingitana. Rusaddir is mentioned by Ptolemy (IV, 1) and Pliny (V, 18) who call it "oppidum et portus", also cited by Mela (I, 33) as Rusicada, and by the Itinerarium Antonini. Rusaddir was supposed to have once been the seat of a bishop, but there is no record of any bishop of the supposed see, which is not included in the Catholic Church's list of titular sees. As centuries passed, it went through Vandal, Byzantine and Hispano-Visigothic hands. The political history is similar to that of towns in the region of the Moroccan Rif and southern Spain. Local rule passed through Amazigh, Phoenician, Punic, Roman, Umayyad, Idrisid, Almoravid, Almohad, Marinid, and then Wattasid rulers. During the Middle Ages, it was the Berber city of Mlila. It was part of the Kingdom of Fez when the Catholic Monarchs, Queen Isabella I of Castile and King Ferdinand II of Aragon requested Juan Alfonso Pérez de Guzmán, 3rd Duke of Medina Sidonia, to take the city. In the Conquest of Melilla, the duke sent Pedro Estopiñán, who conquered the city virtually without a fight in 1497, a few years after Castile had taken control of the Nasrid Kingdom of Granada, the last remnant of Al-Andalus, in 1492. Melilla was immediately threatened with reconquest and was besieged during 1694–1696 and 1774–1775. One Spanish officer reflected, "an hour in Melilla, from the point of view of merit, was worth more than thirty years of service to Spain." The current limits of the Spanish territory around the fortress were fixed by treaties with Morocco in 1859, 1860, 1861, and 1894. In the late 19th century, as Spanish influence expanded, Melilla became the only authorized centre of trade on the Rif coast between Tetuan and the Algerian frontier. The value of trade increased, goat skins, eggs and beeswax being the principal exports, and cotton goods, tea, sugar and candles being the chief imports. In 1893, the Rif Berbers launched the First Melillan campaign and 25,000 Spanish soldiers had to be dispatched against them. The conflict was also known as the Margallo War, after the Governor of Melilla and Spanish General Juan García y Margallo, who was killed in the battle. In 1908 two companies, under the protection of Bou Hmara, a chieftain then ruling the Rif region, started mining lead and iron some 20 kilometers (12.4 miles) from Melilla. A railway to the mines was begun. In October of that year the Bou Hmara's vassals revolted against him and raided the mines, which remained closed until June 1909. By July the workmen were again attacked and several of them killed. Severe fighting between the Spaniards and the tribesmen followed, in the Second Melillan campaign. In 1910, with the Rif having submitted, the Spaniards restarted the mines and undertook harbor works at Mar Chica, but hostilities broke out again in 1911. In 1921 the Berbers under the leadership of Abd el Krim inflicted a grave defeat on the Spanish (see Battle of Annual), and were not defeated until 1926, when the Spanish Protectorate finally managed to control the area again. General Francisco Franco used the city as one of his staging grounds for his Nationalist rebellion in 1936, starting the Spanish Civil War. A statue of him – the last statue of Franco in Spain – is still prominently featured. On 6 November 2007, King Juan Carlos I and Queen Sofia visited the city, which caused a massive demonstration of support. The visit also sparked protests from the Moroccan government. It was the first time a Spanish monarch had visited Melilla in 80 years. Melilla (and Ceuta) have declared the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha or Feast of the Sacrifice, as an official public holiday from 2010 onward. It is the first time a non-Christian religious festival is officially celebrated in Spain since the Reconquista.

Región de Murcia

The Region of Murcia is an autonomous community of Spain located in the southeast of the state, between Andalusia and Valencian Community, on the Mediterranean coast. The autonomous community consists of a single province, unlike most autonomous communities, which have several provinces within the same territory. Because of this, the autonomous community and the province are operated as one unit of government. The city of Murcia is the capital of the region and seat of government organs, except for the parliament, the Regional Assembly of Murcia, which is located in Cartagena. The autonomous community and province is subdivided into municipalities. The Region of Murcia is bordered by Andalusia (the provinces of Almería and Granada); Castile-La Mancha (the province of Albacete, which was historically connected to Murcia until 1980); the Valencian Community (province of Alicante); and the Mediterranean Sea. The community measures 11,313 km² and has a population of 1.4 million, of whom one-third live in the capital. The highest mountain is Los Obispos (2,015 m). The region is a major producer of fruits, vegetables, and flowers for the rest of Spain and Europe. Wineries have developed near the towns of Bullas, Yecla, and Jumilla, as well as olive oil near Moratalla. Murcia is mainly a warm region which has made it very suitable for agriculture. However the precipitation level is low and water supply is a hot subject today since, in addition to the traditional water demand for crops, there is now also a demand of water for the booming tourist developments. Water is supplied by the Segura River and, since the 1970s, by the Tajo transvasement, a major civil engineering project which, under some environmental and sustainability restraints, brings water from the Tajo into the Segura.
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Where is this?

GuRoute likes to place attractions inside other attractions. So, maybe it's in a city, or maybe it's inside a particular park in that city. Maybe your attraction is a huge park that spans half the county, or multiple counties.

Determining where this attraction is gives it context - if it's in a park, you'll be able to see it alongside all the other attractions in that park. And that helps define the park.

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Next Stop Instructions

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If you're visiting an existing attraction, open it and add it to your timeline. If there is no attraction for the place you are visiting...

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Either for yourself or someone else...

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It also makes a great souvenir of your trip

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Create a home page for a collection of attractions

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  • Start adding content
    Add existing attractions to your collection or create new attractions of your own
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    • Public (Anyone can add attractions to your collection)
    • Shared (Only yourself and Gurus you nominate can add content)
    • Private (The collection will only be visible to yourself)

Uses

  • Local business or hotel
    Showcase local attractions that you endorse
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    Showcase attractions that members have created (eg. local historical society)
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    If GuRoute does not have a category for your special interest you add your attractions to your own collection instead

Examples

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A guided tour where GuRoute will direct you from stop to stop and narrate a description of each attraction you arrive at

  • GuRoute uses your phone's GPS to guide you from stop to stop
  • GuRoute automatically detects when you arrive at the next tour-stop and narrates the description of the attraction (Chrome Only)
  • It then sends you on to the next stop

Tours are great to attract people to your town. Even places with no significant points of interest can be lots of fun when part of a tour


Cater tours to your Audience

  • Kid-friendly Tours
    • Focus on what will keep kids interested
    • Instead of parents having to drag their kids around they'll be struggling to keep up
    • Let the kids navigate and they'll get more fun out of finding that historical plaque than they ever would from reading it
  • Accessible tours
  • Short and long tours of the same location

What you need to do...

  1. Click 'Go...'
    Enter a title, description and location for the tour
  2. Add existing attractions OR create new ones and add them to the tour
  3. For existing attractions you can add more information specific to the theme of the tour
  4. You can also add instructions on what to do or see en-route to the next tour-stop
  5. Try out your tour and see how it works...

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Create a series of clues to show people around a city, neighborhood or whatever place you like...

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  • Take as long or as you like and explore each location at your leisure

Scavenger Hunt

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Create a Scavenger Hunt

Create a series of questions that people have to answer. The answers can all be discovered by walking aroung the area, looking for clues.

  • How many beers are on tap at Michael Collin's Irish Bar?
  • What's the name of the oldest building on main streeet?
  • Show a picture of some public art and ask them what it is called
  • Clues can have numeric or multiple choice answers