Portal:Spain
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Spain (Spanish: España), officially the Kingdom of Spain (Reino de España), is a country in southern Europe. It is located on the Iberian Peninsula in southwestern Europe. The country consists of Peninsular Spain which is located between the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, two archipelagos, one in each sea, and two autonomous cities in North Africa. The mainland area of Spain is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the southern and eastern areas, the Cantabric Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west. Spain is organised as a parliamentary democracy and is a constitutional monarchy. Spain has been a member of the European Union since 1986 and is a developed country, with the ninth largest economy in the world and fifth largest in the EU. With an area of 504,030 km², Spain is the second largest country in Western Europe (behind France).
Spain flourished under the Roman empire Hispania, thus becoming one of the Empire's most important regions at the time. During the times of the Middle Ages, Spain was under Germanic rule, only later to come under the rule of the Islamic caliphate. Spain emerged as a unified country in the 15th century, following the completion of the reconquest of the Iberian peninsula in 1492. It has been an important source of influence to other regions, chiefly during the Modern Era, when it became a global empire that has left a legacy of over 500 million Spanish speakers today, making it the world's second most spoken first language.
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Rockdelux is a popular music magazine published monthly in Spain. Rockdelux was first published in November 1984, and since then has accumulated over 200 editions, celebrating its 200th in October 2002, when it released a list of the 200 greatest international albums of all time, according to the magazine's staff. Rockdelux's brief is to serve a specific section of the public who are passionate about music, and its focus has been to concentrate on new and more alternative artists from both Spain and the outside world (termed "international").
It has an extensive review section, covering mainly new musical releases and re-releases, but also covers other music-related subjects such as live concerts and videos and features reviews of new books and graphic novels. Unlike many other review sections in popular magazines, it eschews the trend of giving a numerical value to each review, which are purely composed of written text summing up the release's values. During its tenure within the industry, Rockdelux has been the recipient of various awards for music publication of the year from such organisations as Radio 3, Cadena SER and Iberpop amongst others.
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Las Médulas, located near the town of Ponferrada in León province, Spain, used to be the most important gold mine in the Roman Empire. Las Médulas Cultural Landscape is listed by the UNESCO as one of the World Heritage Sites.
- May 28: Nadal withdraws from French Open 2016, suffers from wrist injury
- May 19: Sevilla wins third consecutive Europa League title, beating Liverpool 3-1
- May 7: Real Madrid edge Manchester City to reach fourteenth European Cup Final
- April 18: Nadal defeats Monfils to claim his ninth Monte Carlo Masters title
Selected biography
Sebastián Julián Gayarre Garjón (born January 9, 1844 in Roncal, Navarre — January 2, 1890 in Madrid), better known as Julián Gayarre, was a Spanish opera singer who created the role of Marcello in Donizetti's Il Duca d'Alba and Enzo in Ponchielli's La Gioconda. He was one of the leading tenors of his day, and regarded by many contemporary critics as the supreme tenor of his day.
Garjón was born and raised in the small Pyrenean town of Roncal. The third child of Mariano Gayarre and Maria Ramona Garjón, a couple of modest means, he left school at 13 to work as a shepherd. When he was 15, his father sent him to Pamplona to work in a small store. It was there that he had his first contact with music. It was a passion that would cost him his job when he was fired for leaving the store to follow a band that was parading in the street outside. He then worked as a blacksmith in the village of Lumbier and later in Pamplona at the Pinaqui foundry. One of his fellow workers, who heard him singing as he worked, encouraged him to join the Orfeón Pamplonés, the city's newly formed choir directed by Joaquin Maya. Maya took him on as first tenor and introduced him to the celebrated music teacher and composer, Hilarión Eslava. Eslava, struck by the beautiful timbre of the yet untrained voice, arranged a scholarship for Gayarre to study at the Madrid Conservatory.
Did you know?
- ...that Spanish politician Javier Solana (pictured) serves as the current European Union's High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy?
- ...that Spain's gross domestic product (GDP) at purchasing power parity (PPP) per capita is higher than that of Italy or Greece according to lists by international organizations?
- ...that Spanish sculptor Francisco Salzillo (1707 - 1783) was the most representative Spanish image-maker of the 18th century?
Selected quote
“ | In Spain, the dead are more alive than the dead of any other country in the world. | ” |
Battle of Bicocca • Battle of Ceresole • El Greco • Italian War of 1521–1526 • Lince (tank) • Salvador Dalí • Same-sex marriage in Spain • T-26 • War of the League of Cambrai • Verdeja (tank) • War of the Spanish Succession Template:/box-footer
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