iberianature - Spanish history and culture http://iberianature.com/spain_culture Fri, 12 Mar 2010 07:23:24 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.7.1 en hourly 1 Largest towns and cities in Spain http://iberianature.com/spain_culture/2010/03/12/largest-towns-and-cities-in-spain/ http://iberianature.com/spain_culture/2010/03/12/largest-towns-and-cities-in-spain/#comments Fri, 12 Mar 2010 07:21:42 +0000 admin http://iberianature.com/spain_culture/?p=855 List of metropolitan areas in Spain by population. I was surprised to see Oviedo–Gijón–Avilés as high as it is.

From wikipedia. Estimates are from the following sources:
  • the “Functional Urban Areas” (FUAs) of the Study on Urban Functions of the European Spatial Planning Observation Network (ESPON, 2007)[1]
  • the “Larger Urban Zone” (LUZs)[2] of Urban Audit project (2004), supported by the European Union.[3] Not all cities were included in this survey.[3]
  • calculations by Francisco Ruiz from data of the Instituto Nacional de Estadística (2008 estimates).[4] As well as “metropolitan area” data,[5] Ruiz has produced larger “conurbation” data for some areas.[6] The “conurbation” figure is used where available, and is cited as such; otherwise, the “metropolitan area” figure is used.
Metropolitan area  ? ESPON  ? Urban Audit  ? Ruiz  ?
Madrid 5,263,000 &0000000005804829.0000005,804,829[7] &0000000006138056.0000006,138,056[6]
Barcelona 4,251,000 &0000000004233638.0000004,233,638[8] &0000000004542490.0000004,542,490[6]
Valencia–Sagunto 1,499,000 &0000000001564145.0000001,564,145[9] &0000000001705742.0000001,705,742[6]
Seville 1,262,000 &0000000001249346.0000001,249,346[10] &0000000001360361.0000001,360,361[6]
Bilbao 947,000 &0000000000939994.000000939,994[11] &0000000000953152.000000953,152
Málaga–Vélez-Málaga 844,000 &0000000000699916.000000699,916[12] &0000000000923104.000000923,104
Oviedo–Gijón–Avilés 844,000 &0000000000617300.000000617,300 (295,640[13] + 321,660[14]) &0000000000863050.000000863,050[6]
Alicante–Elche 793,000 &0000000000429060.000000429,060[15] &0000000000785020.000000785,020[6]
Las Palmas de Gran Canaria 640,000 &0000000000625892.000000625,892[16] &0000000000741826.000000741,826[6]
Zaragoza 639,000 &0000000000685873.000000685,873[17] &0000000000715894.000000715,894
Murcia–Orihuela 623,000 &0000000000479313.000000479,313[18] &0000000000763723.000000763,723[6]
Santa Cruz de Tenerife 581,947 &0000000000481592.000000481,592[19]
Granada 440,000 &-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1.000000— &0000000000498365.000000498,365
Palma de Mallorca 433,000 &0000000000593386.000000593,386[20] &0000000000509116.000000509,116
Vigo 413,000 &0000000000548799.000000548,799[21] &0000000000666292.000000666,292[6]
Cádiz 400,000 &-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1.000000— &0000000000425462.000000425,462
San Sebastian 393,000 &-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1.000000— &0000000000404921.000000404,921
A Coruña–Oleiros–Arteixo 376,000 &-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1.000000— &0000000000408068.000000408,068
Valladolid 369,000 &0000000000430576.000000430,576[22] &0000000000395984.000000395,984
Tarragona(–Reus) 325,000 &-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1.000000— &0000000000423360.000000423,360
Córdoba 314,000 &0000000000779870.000000779,870[23] &0000000000325453.000000325,453
Pamplona 286,000 &0000000000355577.000000355,577[24] &0000000000328511.000000328,511
Castellón de la Plana 259,000 &-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1.000000— &0000000000386906.000000386,906[6]
Santander–Torrelavega 249,000 &0000000000290785.000000290,785[25] &0000000000391293.000000391,293[6]
Alzira–Xàtiva 241,000 &-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1.000000— &0000000000348582.000000348,582[6]
Cartagena–Torre-Pacheco 231,000 &-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1.000000— &0000000000273005.000000273,005
Vitoria 226,000 &0000000000252384.000000252,384[26] &0000000000242837.000000242,837
Algeciras–La Línea de la Concepción 206,000 &-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1.000000— &0000000000230203.000000230,203
Huelva 193,000 &-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1.000000— &0000000000215530.000000215,530
Almería 192,000 &-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1.000000— &0000000000218236.000000218,236
Salamanca 192,000 &-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1.000000— &0000000000205489.000000205,489
Jerez de la Frontera 189,000 &-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1.000000— &0000000000209690.000000209,690
Leon 187,000 &-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1.000000— &0000000000201987.000000201,987
Albacete 185,000 &-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1.000000— &0000000000173457.000000173,457
Jaén–Martos 180,000 &-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1.000000— &0000000000191652.000000191,652
Burgos 176,000 &-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1.000000— &0000000000192692.000000192,692
Logroño 156,000 &0000000000171599.000000171,599[27] &0000000000186985.000000186,985
Ferrol–Narón 155,000 &-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1.000000— &0000000000156111.000000156,111
Lleida 147,000 &-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1.000000— &0000000000176543.000000176,543
Girona–Salt 144,000 &-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1.000000— &0000000000180426.000000180,426
Pontevedra–Marín 142,000 &-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1.000000— &0000000000149255.000000149,255
Badajoz 141,000 &0000000000663896.000000663,896[28] &0000000000151579.000000151,579
La Orotava–Puerto de la Cruz(–Los Realejos) 140,000 &-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1.000000— &0000000000151623.000000151,623
Santiago de Compostela 138,000 &0000000000186332.000000186,332[29] &0000000000151690.000000151,690
Ourense 137,000 &-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1.000000— &0000000000138600.000000138,600
Benidorm(–Villajoyosa) 134,000 &-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1.000000— &0000000000183253.000000183,253
Gandia(–Oliva) 132,000 &-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1.000000— &0000000000169916.000000169,916
Blanes(–Pineda de Mar–Lloret de Mar) 131,000 &-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1.000000— &0000000000182673.000000182,673
Manresa 122,000 &-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1.000000— &0000000000145215.000000145,215
Marbella 116,000 &-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1.000000— &0000000000138447.000000138,447
Torrelavega 116,000 &-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1.000000— &0000000000129509.000000129,509
Vic–Manlleu 111,000 &-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1.000000— &0000000000129994.000000129,994
Guadalajara 104,000 &-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1.000000— &0000000000144687.000000144,687
Lugo 99,000 &-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1.000000— &0000000000106066.000000106,066
Palencia 99,000 &-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1.000000— &0000000000103511.000000103,511
Toledo 95,000 &0000000000167036.000000167,036 &0000000000119368.000000119,368
]]> http://iberianature.com/spain_culture/2010/03/12/largest-towns-and-cities-in-spain/feed/ The first census of Spain http://iberianature.com/spain_culture/2010/03/12/the-first-census-of-spain/ http://iberianature.com/spain_culture/2010/03/12/the-first-census-of-spain/#comments Fri, 12 Mar 2010 07:14:03 +0000 admin http://iberianature.com/spain_culture/?p=851 Archivo:Densidades de población en España (1787).svg

The census of Floridablanca is considered the first Spanish census of population usinf modern statistics techniques. The total population counted was 10,268,110 with an average density of 22.7 hab/km2. It was produced under the reign of Charles III, between 1785 and 1787. Note, the relatively low density of Madrid and surprisingly, Pontevedra with the highest density.

Class distinctions

Curas 15.639 Hidalgos 480.589 Artesanos 270.989
Beneficiados 50.048 Abogados 5.917 Criados 280.092
Tenientes de cura 5.771 Escribanos 9.611 Empleados a sueldos del Rey 36.465
Sacristanes 10.873 Estudiantes 50.994 Con fuero militar 77.884
Acólitos 5.503 Labradores 907.197 Dependientes de Inquisición 2.705
Ordenados a título de patrimonio 13.244 Jornaleros 964.571 Síndicos de Ordenes religiosas 4.127
Ordenados a menores 10.774 Comerciantes 34.339 Dependientes de Cruzada 1.844
Fabricantes 39.750 Demandantes 7.030
]]> http://iberianature.com/spain_culture/2010/03/12/the-first-census-of-spain/feed/ A history of Mojácar http://iberianature.com/spain_culture/2010/02/26/a-history-of-mojacar/ http://iberianature.com/spain_culture/2010/02/26/a-history-of-mojacar/#comments Fri, 26 Feb 2010 23:14:43 +0000 admin http://iberianature.com/spain_culture/?p=845 I enjoyed this potted history of Mojácar:
Mojácar used to be a town of around 6,000 people in as far back as 1870. It maintained this number of inhabitants until round about 1900 when, slowly, numbers began to fall, speeding its descent in the 1930s. Through the various local vicissitudes of the drop in the local water-table, the end of the de-forestation, a peculiar plague of locusts in 1901, the end of the mines in the 1920s and the troubled times of the Civil War, the area in general eventually became depopulated with mass emigrations to Barcelona, Algeria, Germany and even Argentina, and Mojácar itself began its long descent into what was, by 1960, a moribund village of just 600 souls. Read complete post on Spanish Shilling
]]> http://iberianature.com/spain_culture/2010/02/26/a-history-of-mojacar/feed/ Collection of Spanish Civil War posters http://iberianature.com/spain_culture/2010/02/19/collection-of-spanish-civil-war-posters/ http://iberianature.com/spain_culture/2010/02/19/collection-of-spanish-civil-war-posters/#comments Fri, 19 Feb 2010 15:50:28 +0000 admin http://iberianature.com/spain_culture/?p=842 http://www.ugt.es/ugtpordentro/guerracivil/Cartel-081.jpg

The UGT have put together this great collection of posters from the Spanish Civil War. Well worth a browse. It’s probably easier to do so through their fast-loading flash page here.

]]> http://iberianature.com/spain_culture/2010/02/19/collection-of-spanish-civil-war-posters/feed/ Paddy Woodworth on the Basque Country http://iberianature.com/spain_culture/2010/02/19/paddy-woodworth-on-the-basque-country/ http://iberianature.com/spain_culture/2010/02/19/paddy-woodworth-on-the-basque-country/#comments Fri, 19 Feb 2010 15:41:07 +0000 admin http://iberianature.com/spain_culture/?p=839 Paddy Woodworth is an Irish reporter who has lived and worked in the Basque Country. His book The Basque Country: a cultural history, was described by the Irish Times as a terrific modern introduction to the Basque Country… succeeds in showing us the complexities of the Basque struggle for identity” Here’s an the introduction from his book from his website. “The Basque Country has had more than its fair share of stereotypes thrust upon it. The Basques have sometimes resisted this typecasting, but they have not been shy about making their own contributions, some as extravagant as any foreigner’s, to stock images of their homeland. Even before Victor Hugo described the Basques as “the people who sing and dance at the foot of the Pyrenees” - a cliche which makes many Basques apoplectic today-the region had become a magnet for professional and amateur seekers after exotic folklore and unique customs. As “Europe’s aboriginals”, all things Basque were seized upon as ancient and original. Basque nationalism, a relatively recent invention, has avidly cultivated some of these stereotypes, stressing those aspects of culture which made the Basques distinct from the Spanish and the French. However, archaeologists, anthropologists, folklorists and nationalists have not flourished here by accident. The Basque cultural landscape is fertile ground for their enterprises. The Basques are, indeed, one of the oldest, if not the oldest, European people. They have probably lived in their home place longer than other ethnic group on the continent. Their language, Euskera, is not only non-Indo-European, but it has no clear family relationship with any other tongue. And Basques, on both sides of the Pyrenees, have kept alive a vibrant tradition of folk costumes, folk dances, folk sports and folk music which few other European peoples can match. But some things which appear old turn out to be relatively recent innovations, and some things which appear to be quintessentially Basque have their origins elsewhere. What makes the Basque Country really fascinating is that a traditional culture persists in a heterogeneous society which today exudes a dynamic, if confusing and sometimes dangerous, post-modern energy. The reinvention of Bilbao-a project led by Basque nationalists-has become a cosmopolitan model for the twenty-first-century city ofcultural services and information technologies. The “Guggenheim effect” has sent ripples into the remotest Basque villages. In fact, the Basques have long been at the cutting edge of Iberian history, culture and commerce: Basque kings were prominent in the wars against (and in alliances with) the Islamic caliphates; the Basque Juan Sebastian de Elcano was the first captain to circumnavigate the globe; Basque iron mines kick-started the Spanish industrial revolution. Bilbao is not only the womb of Basque nationalism; it was also a midwife to Spanish socialism, and the mother of an industrial and financial oligarchy. Several of the leading writers of Spain’s literary “Generation of Ninety-Eight”, including Pio Baroja and Miguel de Unamuno, were Basques. The Basques have made less impact on France, though Henry III of Navarre, in becoming Henry IV of France, bequeathed the mixed legacy of religious peace and the Bourbon dynasty to the French nation. Yet many Basques today feel no identity with either Spain or France, and want independence, or something close to it. Many other Basques are content to be French or Spanish citizens, and some of them feel deeply threatened by Basque nationalism. The physical landscape offers similar contrasts: it ranges from moist green valleys to semi-desert badlands, from frozen sierras to warm sandy beaches and tortuous coastal cliffs, from harsh industrial landscapes to bucolic beech woods and alpine meadows. In this book I have sought to offer a variety of points of entry to this diverse and plural culture; to explore its enigmas and contradictions, and to suggest something of the rich and complex enchantment it can weave over half a life-time. There are many kinds of Basqueness, and I have made no attempt here to be comprehensive or chronological. Some big and delightful cities like San Sebastian, worthy of full-length studies in themselves, are only mentioned in passing. One small village, Asteasu, gets most of a chapter. Some writers and artists are treated in detail, others are omitted. Rather than an overall survey, I have sought to offer a series of intimate portraits, ranging from cultural, political and historical analysis to personal anecdotes. I hope that this approach, inevitably more than a little idiosyncratic, will reflect some of the pleasure, and a little of the heartbreak, that any close encounter with the Basque Country engenders.” The Basque Country by Paddy Woodworth is published by Signal Books and Oxford University Press ]]> http://iberianature.com/spain_culture/2010/02/19/paddy-woodworth-on-the-basque-country/feed/ Juxposition of the old and new in Madrid http://iberianature.com/spain_culture/2010/02/19/juxposition-of-old-and-new-in-madrid/ http://iberianature.com/spain_culture/2010/02/19/juxposition-of-old-and-new-in-madrid/#comments Fri, 19 Feb 2010 08:05:07 +0000 admin http://iberianature.com/spain_culture/?p=832

Plaza de Cibeles 1915-2009 (Click para ampliar)

These photo montages of old and new photos of Madrid merged together are remarkable. See on Kurioso

]]> http://iberianature.com/spain_culture/2010/02/19/juxposition-of-old-and-new-in-madrid/feed/ The roots of flamenco http://iberianature.com/spain_culture/2010/02/06/the-roots-of-flamenco/ http://iberianature.com/spain_culture/2010/02/06/the-roots-of-flamenco/#comments Sat, 06 Feb 2010 21:56:55 +0000 admin http://iberianature.com/spain_culture/?p=821 Read ]]> http://iberianature.com/spain_culture/2010/02/06/the-roots-of-flamenco/feed/ Welcome to Espaiñ by Jordi Bernadó http://iberianature.com/spain_culture/2010/02/06/welcome-to-espain-by-jordi-bernado/ http://iberianature.com/spain_culture/2010/02/06/welcome-to-espain-by-jordi-bernado/#comments Sat, 06 Feb 2010 21:43:04 +0000 admin http://iberianature.com/spain_culture/?p=818 http://blogs.hola.com/hongkongblues/welcome.jpg

I love the photobook by Jordi Bernadó called Welcome to Espaiñ. Bernadó paints a surreal, superficial and satirical view of Spanish landscapes, often reminicent of the American mid-west.

Humourous and audacious his images get the viewer inside an unreal, or too real, spanish landscape. Fiction becomes true and reality blurs into phantasmagorical. Bernadó’s eye and acumen reveal the anecdotical in each photograph and a non-recognizable gaze of Spain comes out. It’s a different Spain. It’s Calderón de la Barca (La vida es sueño), Goya, Cervantes, Gondry…it’s an architect’s vision and pun, a great traveller’s look on his country. After portraying the most important urban settlements worldwide and being internationally featured, Bernadó hit the mark with his homeland. Ymag

Photo gallery here on El País

]]> http://iberianature.com/spain_culture/2010/02/06/welcome-to-espain-by-jordi-bernado/feed/ The grave of Orson Welles http://iberianature.com/spain_culture/2010/01/30/the-grave-of-orson-welles/ http://iberianature.com/spain_culture/2010/01/30/the-grave-of-orson-welles/#comments Sat, 30 Jan 2010 22:03:00 +0000 admin http://iberianature.com/spain_culture/?p=805 Orson Welles

Although Orsen Welles died in California, his ashes are buried in an old well covered by flowers, within the rural property of his friend the retired bullfighter Antonio Ordonez, in Ronda, Spain, where he spent many months. Photo from here

]]> http://iberianature.com/spain_culture/2010/01/30/the-grave-of-orson-welles/feed/ The evacuation of Alicante http://iberianature.com/spain_culture/2009/04/03/the-evacuation-of-alicante/ http://iberianature.com/spain_culture/2009/04/03/the-evacuation-of-alicante/#comments Fri, 03 Apr 2009 14:35:14 +0000 admin http://iberianature.com/spain_culture/?p=781 One of the last acts of the Spanish Civil War was the evacuation from the port of Alicante of 2,683 republicans on board the British coal-ship, the Stanbrook. This was the last ship to leave Spain before the end of the Spanish Civil War, and was captained by a Welshman Archibald Dickson. Dickson was the only captain of the numerous ships in the harbour to brave the Nazi blockade. Thousands more people trying desperately to escape were left stranded. awaiting their fate at the hands of Franco’s army. The ship was dreadfully overcrowded and survivors remember the fear of the u-boats during the crossing to Oran, Algeria. When they arrived, the French authorities refused Dickson permission to moor, but had to relent when he threatened to crash into the harborside. The refugees had to wait three months before they were allowed to disembark, from where they were taken to a concentration camp (in the pre-Nazi sense of the word) where many would die. Dickson died several months after the evacuation when the Stanbrook was hit by a torpedo from a u-boat.

La Cucaracha has this graphic contemporary account of the situation in Alicante, though there is no mention of the Stanbrook.

Around 50.000 refugees, Republican soldiers and officials, leftist intellectuals, writers, artists, often with their families, are arriving in Valencia and Alicante. Rumors are that French ships, or even the Republican fleet, will take the refugees to safety.
Casado and his family are taken aboard the British battle cruiser Galeata, but most refugees are stuck in the ports.
15.000 refugees are on the pier of the port in Alicante. The pier is so crowded, that in some parts there is no place to sit down, the people standing for hours, not able to move back or forth. Italian troops occupy the city, except the port . Many refugees have lost all hope and commit suicide, some army officers point their guns to themselves and shoot, other using knifes or razor blades to open their pulse veins. One soldier cuts his own throat in the midst of the crowd.
Then a battle ship is entering the port, bringing movement into the masses on the port. The promised ships? But it is a Fascist battle ship, ordering over loudspeakers to clear the port in 30 Minutes and surrender to the waiting troops at the port entrance. Everybody still carrying weapons will be shot dead on the spot. Nobody moves. After 30 minutes the machine guns of the ship fire warning shots over the heads of the refugees. Now they move, dropping their weapons and often also their belongings into the sea. These people know they are standing on the black lists of the Fascists, that they will be most certainly killed. A second wave of suicides take place, some people jump into the water and drown. Leftist journalist Eduardo de Guzman describes later a scene he witnessed: Mariano Vinuales, commissar of the 28th Division, and Maximo Franco, commander of the 12th brigade, each others left hand in a firm grip, shoot themselves in the head. They fall slowly to the ground, still holding their hands. Somebody next to Guzman says: “Soon we will envy the dead!”.
The Fascists at the port entrance divide the refugees into three groups: men, women and children. Around 200 men are killed, the other men are brought to the concentration camp at Albatera, where torturing and more killing takes place.

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