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• 
  

• 
  Al Andalus
  Al-Andalus (Arabic: الأندلس‎, trans. al-ʼAndalus; Spanish: Al-Ándalus; Portuguese: Al-Andalus; Catalan: Al-Àndalus), also known as Moorish Iberia, was a medieval Muslim state in parts of what are today Spain, Portugal, and France. The name more generally describes parts of the Iberian Peninsula and Septimania governed by Muslims (given the generic name of Moors), at various times between 711 and 1492 CE, though the boundaries changed constantly in wars with Christian kingdoms.
  Following the Muslim conquest of Hispania, Al-Andalus was divided into five administrative units, corresponding roughly to modern Andalusia, Galicia and Portugal, Castile and León, Aragon and Catalonia, and Septimania. As a political domain, it successively constituted a province of the Umayyad Caliphate, initiated by the Caliph Al-Walid I (711–750); the Emirate of Córdoba (c. 750–929); the Caliphate of Córdoba (929–1031); and the Caliphate of Córdoba's taifa (successor) kingdoms. Rule under these kingdoms saw a rise in cultural exchange and cooperation between Muslims and Christians. Under the Caliphate of Córdoba, al-Andalus was a beacon of learning, and the city of Córdoba became one of the leading cultural and economic centres in both the Mediterranean Basin and the Islamic world.
  
  wn.com/Al_Andalus
• 
  Al-Andalus
  Al-Andalus (Arabic: الأندلس‎, trans. al-ʼAndalus; Spanish: Al-Ándalus; Portuguese: Al-Andalus; Catalan: Al-Àndalus), also known as Moorish Iberia, was a medieval Muslim state in parts of what are today Spain, Portugal, and France. The name more generally describes parts of the Iberian Peninsula and Septimania governed by Muslims (given the generic name of Moors), at various times between 711 and 1492 CE, though the boundaries changed constantly in wars with Christian kingdoms.
  Following the Muslim conquest of Hispania, Al-Andalus was divided into five administrative units, corresponding roughly to modern Andalusia, Galicia and Portugal, Castile and León, Aragon and Catalonia, and Septimania. As a political domain, it successively constituted a province of the Umayyad Caliphate, initiated by the Caliph Al-Walid I (711–750); the Emirate of Córdoba (c. 750–929); the Caliphate of Córdoba (929–1031); and the Caliphate of Córdoba's taifa (successor) kingdoms. Rule under these kingdoms saw a rise in cultural exchange and cooperation between Muslims and Christians. Under the Caliphate of Córdoba, al-Andalus was a beacon of learning, and the city of Córdoba became one of the leading cultural and economic centres in both the Mediterranean Basin and the Islamic world.
  
  wn.com/Al-Andalus
• 
  Albaicin
  El Albayzín (also Albaicín or El Albaicín) is a district of present day Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain, that retains the narrow winding streets of its Medieval Moorish past. It was declared a world heritage site in 1984, along with the more famous Alhambra.
  It rises on a hill facing the Alhambra and many tourists journey into the Albayzin primarily for the spectactular views of the Alhambra from the viewing point by the church of San Nicolas.
  Highlights within the area include the remains of an Arab bath complex, Granada's archeological museum, and the church of San Salvador, built on the remains of a Moorish mosque. The Albayzin also contains some original Moorish houses and a wide-range of restaurants, including several streets whose eateries are inspired by North Africa.
  
  
  The Alhambra seen from across the Albayzín
  Houses in the Albayzín
  Typical house façade in Cuesta de Alhacaba
  Calderería street
  Church of San Nicolas and Albayzín from Alhambra palace
  Coordinates: 37°10′36″N 3°35′40″W / 37.17667°N 3.59444°W / 37.17667; -3.59444
  
  wn.com/Albaicin
• 
  Albaicín
  El Albayzín (also Albaicín or El Albaicín) is a district of present day Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain, that retains the narrow winding streets of its Medieval Moorish past. It was declared a world heritage site in 1984, along with the more famous Alhambra.
  It rises on a hill facing the Alhambra and many tourists journey into the Albayzin primarily for the spectactular views of the Alhambra from the viewing point by the church of San Nicolas.
  Highlights within the area include the remains of an Arab bath complex, Granada's archeological museum, and the church of San Salvador, built on the remains of a Moorish mosque. The Albayzin also contains some original Moorish houses and a wide-range of restaurants, including several streets whose eateries are inspired by North Africa.
  
  
  The Alhambra seen from across the Albayzín
  Houses in the Albayzín
  Typical house façade in Cuesta de Alhacaba
  Calderería street
  Church of San Nicolas and Albayzín from Alhambra palace
  Coordinates: 37°10′36″N 3°35′40″W / 37.17667°N 3.59444°W / 37.17667; -3.59444
  
  wn.com/Albaicín
• 
  Albayzín
  El Albayzín (also Albaicín or El Albaicín) is a district of present day Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain, that retains the narrow winding streets of its Medieval Moorish past. It was declared a world heritage site in 1984, along with the more famous Alhambra.
  It rises on a hill facing the Alhambra and many tourists journey into the Albayzin primarily for the spectactular views of the Alhambra from the viewing point by the church of San Nicolas.
  Highlights within the area include the remains of an Arab bath complex, Granada's archeological museum, and the church of San Salvador, built on the remains of a Moorish mosque. The Albayzin also contains some original Moorish houses and a wide-range of restaurants, including several streets whose eateries are inspired by North Africa.
  
  
  The Alhambra seen from across the Albayzín
  Houses in the Albayzín
  Typical house façade in Cuesta de Alhacaba
  Calderería street
  Church of San Nicolas and Albayzín from Alhambra palace
  Coordinates: 37°10′36″N 3°35′40″W / 37.17667°N 3.59444°W / 37.17667; -3.59444
  
  wn.com/Albayzín
• 
  Alcalá de Henares
  Alcalá de Henares (Spanish pronunciation: [alkaˈla ðe eˈnaɾes]), meaning Citadel on the river Henares, is a Spanish city whose historical centre is one of UNESCO's World Heritage Sites, and one of the first bishoprics founded in Spain. Located in the Autonomous Community of Madrid, 35 km northeast of the city of Madrid, at an altitude of 588 metres (1929 ft) above sea level, it has a population of around 200,000, the second largest of the region after the Spanish capital itself. The city is generally known simply as "Alcalá", but "de Henares" is often appended to differentiate it from a dozen cities sharing the name Alcalá (from the Arabic word al-qal'a القلعة for fortification or citadel). The Latin name, Complutum, is sometimes used also and the city is capital of its namesake region, Comarca de Alcalá.
  The centre of the city remains essentially medieval, with many winding cobbled streets, and many historic buildings. The city centre surrounds Cervantes Square (the famous Plaza de Cervantes) and is traversed by a long pedestrian main street, the Calle Mayor. The city includes the Moorish quarter, the Jewish quarter, and the Christian quarter. These distinct neighborhoods have given Alcalá the reputation of "the city of three cultures."
  
  wn.com/Alcalá_de_Henares
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  Alcazaba
  An alcazaba (Spanish: [alkaˈθaβa], Galician: [alkaˈθaβa]), alcáçova (Portuguese: [ɐɫˈkasuvɐ]) or alcassaba (Catalan: [əɫkəˈsaβə]) is a Moorish fortification in Spain and Portugal. The word derives from the Arabic word القصبة (al-qasbah), a walled-fortification in a city.
  Alcazabas are present in Badajoz (the largest), Almería, Antequera, Granada, Guadix, Málaga, Mérida, Molina de Aragón and Alcalá la Real. The alcazaba in Granada constitutes the oldest portion of the Alhambra palace.
  The word alcazaba should not be confused with alcázar (Spanish) and alcácer (Portuguese), which have their etymology in the Arabic al-qasr, which in turn derives from the Latin 'castrum', and denotes a fort or castle.
  Coordinates: 36°43′16″N 4°24′58″W / 36.721°N 4.416°W / 36.721; -4.416
  
  
  
  wn.com/Alcazaba
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  Alcázar of Seville
  The Alcázar of Seville (Spanish "Reales Alcázares de Sevilla" or "Royal Alcazars of Seville", Spanish pronunciation: [alˈkaθar])) is a royal palace in Seville, Spain, originally a Moorish fort.
  The Almohades were the first to build a palace, which was called Al-Muwarak, on the site of the modern day Alcázar. The palace is one of the best remaining examples of mudéjar architecture. Subsequent monarchs have added their own additions to the Alcázar. The upper levels of the Alcázar are still used by the royal family as the official Seville residence and are administered by the Patrimonio Nacional.
  The name, meaning "The Courtyard of the Maidens", refers to the legend that the Moors demanded 100 virgins every year as tribute from Christian kingdoms in Iberia. The story of the tribute was used as a myth to bolster the Reconquista movement.
  The lower level of the Patio was built for King Peter I and includes inscriptions describing Peter as a "sultan". Various lavish reception rooms are located on the sides of the Patio. In the center is a large, rectangular reflecting pool with sunken gardens on either side. For many years, the courtyard was entirely paved in marble with a fountain in the center. However, historical evidence showed the gardens and the reflecting pool were the original design and this arrangement was restored. However, soon after this restoration, the courtyard was temporarily paved with marble once again at the request of movie director Ridley Scott. Scott used the paved courtyard as the set for the court of the King of Jerusalem in his movie Kingdom of Heaven. The courtyard arrangement was converted once more after the movie's production.
  
  wn.com/Alcázar_of_Seville
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  Andalusia
  Andalusia (English /ˌændəˈluːʒə/, /ˌændəˈluːziə/; Spanish: Andalucía [andaluˈθi.a] or [andaluˈsi.a]) is the most populous and the second largest in area of the autonomous communities in Spain. The Andalusian autonomous community is officially recognised 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 (Spanish: Sevilla).
  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, which separates Spain from Morocco, and the Atlantic Ocean. 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.
  Andalusia has three major geographic subregions. In the north, the mountainous Sierra Morena separates Andalusia from the plains of Extremadura and Castile–La Mancha on Spain's Meseta Central. South of that, one can distinguish Upper Andalusia, generally the Baetic System, from Lower Andalusia with its Baetic Depression of the valley of the Guadalquivir.
  
  wn.com/Andalusia
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  Aqueduct of Segovia
  The Aqueduct of Segovia (or more precisely, the aqueduct bridge) is a Roman aqueduct and one of the most significant and best-preserved ancient monuments left on the Iberian Peninsula. It is the foremost symbol of Segovia, as evidenced by its presence on the city's coat of arms.
  As the aqueduct lacks a legible inscription (one was apparently located in the structure's attic, or top portion), the date of construction cannot be definitively determined. Researchers have placed it between the second half of the 1st Century AD and the early years of the 2nd Century—during the reign of either Emperor Vespasian or Nerva. The beginnings of Segovia itself are likewise not definitively known. The people called Vaccaei are known to have populated the area before the Romans conquered the city. Roman troops sent to control the area, which fell within the jurisdiction of the Roman provincial court (Latin conventus iuridici, Spanish convento jurídico) located in Clunia, stayed behind to settle there.
  The aqueduct transports waters from Fuente Fría river, situated in the nearby mountains, some 17 km (11 mi) from the city in a region known as La Acebeda. It runs another 15 km (9.3 mi) before arriving in the city.
  
  wn.com/Aqueduct_of_Segovia
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  Baeza
  Baeza is a town of approximately 16,200 inhabitants in Andalusia, Spain, in the province of Jaén, perched on a cliff in the Loma de Baeza, a mountain range between the river Guadalquivir on the south and its tributary the Guadalimar on the north. It is chiefly known today as having many of the best-preserved examples of Italian Renaissance architecture in Spain. UNESCO added Baeza and Úbeda to the World Heritage Sites list in 2003.
  The town has existed since Roman times, when it was called Beatia.
  In the Middle Ages Baeza was a flourishing Moorish city, said to contain 50,000 inhabitants, but it fell to the forces of Ferdinand III of Castile in 1227. The Córdoba and Úbeda gates, and the arch of Baeza, are among the remains of its Moorish fortifications.
  In the 16th century, Baeza and nearby Úbeda grew rich from the production of textiles, and local nobles hired important architects, such as Andrés de Vandelvira, to design new palaces, churches and public squares in the fashionable Italian style. The economy collapsed in the 17th century, which had the fortunate side effect of preserving Baeza's Renaissance architectural legacy, because few newer structures were built.
  
  wn.com/Baeza
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  Barcelona
  Barcelona (English /bɑrsɨˈloʊnə/, Catalan: [bərsəˈɫonə], Spanish: [barθeˈlona]) is the capital of Catalonia and the second largest city in Spain, after Madrid, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of 101.4 km² (39 sq mi). The urban area of Barcelona extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of between 4,200,000 and 4,500,000 within an area of 803 km² (310 sq mi), being the sixth-most populous urban area in the European Union after Paris, London, the Ruhr, Madrid and Milan. About five million people live in the Barcelona metropolitan area. It is also Europe's largest metropolis on the Mediterranean Sea. It is the main component of an administrative area of Greater Barcelona, with a population of 3,218,071 in an area of 636 km² (density 5,060 hab/km²). It is located on the Mediterranean coast between the mouths of the rivers Llobregat and Besòs and is bounded to the west by the Serra de Collserola ridge (512 m/1,680 ft).
  Founded as a Roman city, Barcelona became the capital of the County of Barcelona. After merging with the Kingdom of Aragon, Barcelona became one of the most important cities of the Crown of Aragon. Besieged several times during its history, Barcelona has a rich cultural heritage and is today an important cultural centre and a major tourist destination. Particularly renowned are the architectural works of Antoni Gaudí and Lluís Domènech i Montaner, which have been designated UNESCO World Heritage Sites. 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, including the 1888 Exposición Universal de Barcelona, the 1929 Barcelona International Exposition (Expo 1929), the 2004 Universal Forum of Cultures, and the 2004 World Urban Forum.
  
  wn.com/Barcelona
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  Canary Islands
  The Canary Islands (English /kəˈnɛəri ˈaɪləndz/; Spanish: Islas Canarias [ˈizlas kaˈnaɾjas, ˈihlah kaˈnaɾjas]), also known as the Canaries (Spanish: Canarias), is a Spanish archipelago located just off the northwest coast of mainland Africa, 100 km west of the border between Morocco and the Western Sahara. The Canaries are a Spanish autonomous community and an outermost region of the European Union. The islands include (from largest to smallest): Tenerife, Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote, La Palma, La Gomera, El Hierro, La Graciosa, Alegranza, Isla de Lobos, Montaña Clara, Roque del Este and Roque del Oeste. The Canary Islands are legally recognized as a nationality of Spain. Geographically it is a part of the African Continent.^{[citation needed]}
  The archipelago's beaches, climate and important natural attractions, especially Teide National Park and Mount Teide (the third tallest volcano in the world measured from its base on the ocean floor), make it a major tourist destination, with over 12 million visitors per year, especially Tenerife, 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, 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.
  
  wn.com/Canary_Islands
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  Cave of Altamira
  Altamira (Spanish for 'high views') is a cave in Spain famous for its Upper Paleolithic cave paintings featuring drawings and polychrome rock paintings of wild mammals and human hands.
  Its special relevance comes from the fact that it was the first cave in which prehistoric cave paintings were discovered. When the discovery was first made public in 1880, it led to a bitter public controversy between experts which continued into the early 20th century, as many of them did not believe prehistoric man had the intellectual capacity to produce any kind of artistic expression. The acknowledgement of the authenticity of the paintings, which finally came in 1902, changed forever the perception of prehistoric human beings.
  It is located near the town of Santillana del Mar in Cantabria, Spain, 30 km west of the city of Santander. The cave with its paintings has been declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.
  The cave is 270 meters long and consists of a series of twisting passages and chambers. The main passage varies from two to six meters in height. The cave was formed through collapses following early karstic phenomena in the calcerous rock of Mount Vispieres.
  
  wn.com/Cave_of_Altamira
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  Community of Madrid
  The Community of Madrid (English /kɵˈmjuːnɨti əv məˈdrɪd/; Spanish: Comunidad de Madrid [komuniˈðað ðe maˈðɾið]) is one of the seventeen autonomous communities (regions) of Spain. It is located at the centre of the country, the Iberian Peninsula, and the Castilian Central Plateau (Meseta Central). It is conterminous with the province of Madrid, making it "uniprovincial," or a community with only one province. Its capital is the city of Madrid, which is also the national capital of Spain. It is bounded to the south and east by Castile–La Mancha and to the north and west by Castile and León. It has a population of 6,369,167 (2011) mostly concentrated at the metropolitan area of Madrid.
  
  wn.com/Community_of_Madrid
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  Cáceres, Spain
  Cáceres (pronounced: [ˈkaθeɾes]) is the capital of the same name province, in the autonomous community of Extremadura, Spain. As of 2009^[update], its population was 91,131 inhabitants. The municipio has a land area of 1,750.33 km², and is the second largest in geographical extension in Spain.
  There have been settlements near Cáceres since prehistoric times. Evidence of this can be found in the caves of Maltravieso and El Conejar. The city was founded by the Romans in 25 BC.
  The old town (Ciudad Monumental) still has its ancient walls; this part of town is also well known for its multitude of storks' nests. The walls contain a medieval town setting with no outward signs of modernity, which is why many films have been shot there. The Universidad de Extremadura, and two astronomical observatories are situated in Cáceres. The city is also a seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Coria-Cáceres.
  Cáceres was declared a World Heritage City by UNESCO in 1986 because of the city's blend of Roman, Moorish, Northern Gothic and Italian Renaissance architecture. Thirty towers from the Islamic period still stand in Cáceres, of which the Torre del Bujaco is the most famous.
  
  wn.com/Cáceres,_Spain
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  Córdoba, Spain
  Córdoba (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈkorðoβa]), also called Cordova in English, is a city in Andalusia, southern Spain, and the capital of the province of Córdoba. An Iberian and Roman city in ancient times, in the Middle Ages it became the capital of an Islamic caliphate.
  The old town contains numerous architectural reminders of when Corduba was the capital of Hispania Ulterior during the Roman Republic and capital of Hispania Baetica during the Roman Empire; and when Qurṭuba (قرطبة) was the capital of the Islamic Caliphate of Córdoba, including most of the Iberian Peninsula.
  It has been estimated that in the 10th century and beginning of the 11th century, Córdoba was the most populous city in the world, and during these centuries became the intellectual center of Europe. Today it is a moderately-sized modern city; its population in 2011 was 330,033.
  The first trace of human presence in the area are remains of a Neanderthal Man, dating to c. 32,000 BC.^{[citation needed]} In the 8th century BC, during the ancient Tartessos period, a pre-urban settlement existed. The population gradually learned copper and silver metallurgy. The first historical mention of a settlement dates, however, to the Carthaginian expansion across the Guadalquivir, when the general Hamilcar Barca renamed it Kartuba, from Kart-Juba, meaning "the City of Juba", the latter being a Numidian commander who had died in a battle nearby. Córdoba was conquered by the Romans in 206 BC. In 169 the Roman consul Marcus Claudius Marcellus founded a Latin colony alongside the pre-existing Iberian settlement. Between 143 and 141 BC the town was besieged by Viriatus. A Roman Forum is known to have existed in the city in 113 BC.
  
  wn.com/Córdoba,_Spain
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  Darro (river)
  The Darro is a river of the province of Granada, Spain. It is a tributary of the Genil. The river was originally named after the Roman word for gold (aurus) because people used to pan for gold on its banks. This name was then changed by the Arabs to Hadarro and after being renamed Dauro by the Christians, it finally became known as Darro. Darro is also the name of a local town.
  There are five bridges crossing the Darro: Puente del Aljibillo (Bridge of the Cistern), Puente de las Chirimias (Bridge of the Pipers), Puente de Cabrera (16th century), Puente de Espinosa (16th century). The Darro river supplied water to the Alhambra through a system of aqueducts called 'Acequia Real'.
  
  Coordinates: 37°21′N 3°18′W / 37.35°N 3.3°W / 37.35; -3.3
  
  wn.com/Darro_(river)
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  Emerita Augusta
  The Archaeological Ensemble of Mérida is one of the largest and most extensive archaeological sites in Spain. It mainly consists of Emerita Augusta, ancient capital of Lusitania (current city of Mérida). It was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1993.
  The theatre was built from 15 to 16 BC and dedicated by the consul Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa. It was renovated in the late 1st or early 2nd century AD, possibly by the emperor Trajan, and again between 330 and 340 during Constantine's reign, when a walkway and new decorative elements were added. With the advent of Christianity as Rome's sole state religion, theatrical performances were officially declared immoral: the theatre was abandoned and most of its fabric was covered with earth, leaving only its upper tiers of seats (summa cavea). In Spanish tradition, these were known as "The Seven Chairs" in which several Moorish kings held court to decide the fate of the city.
  The amphitheatre was dedicated in 8 BC, for use in gladiatorial contests and staged beast-hunts. It has an elliptical arena, surrounded by tiered seating for around 15,000 spectators, divided according to the requirements of Augustan ideology; the lowest seats were reserved for the highest status spectators. Only these lowest tiers survive. Once the games had fallen into disuse, the stone of the upper tiers was quarried for use elsewhere.
  
  wn.com/Emerita_Augusta
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  Emirate of Granada
  The Emirate of Granada (Arabic: إمارة غرﻧﺎﻃﺔ‎, trans. Imarat Gharnāṭah), also known as the Nasrid Kingdom of Granada (Spanish: Reino nazarí de Granada), was an emirate established in 1238 following the defeat of Muhammad an-Nasir of the Almohad dynasty by an alliance of Christian kingdoms at the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa in 1212. After prince Idris left Iberia to take the Almohad leadership, the ambitious Mohammed I ibn Nasr established the last Muslim dynasty on the Iberian peninsula - the Nasrids. The Nasrid emirs were responsible for building the Alhambra palace complex. Arabic was the official language and mother tongue of the majority of the population.
  With the Reconquista in full swing after the conquest of Córdoba in June 1236, Mohammed I ibn Nasr aligned Granada with Ferdinand III of Castile in 1238, thereby creating a tributary state, or taifa, under the Crown of Castile. Granada remained a tributary state for the next 250 years, with Nasrid emirs paying tribute to Castilian kings mostly in the form of gold from present-day Mali and Burkina Faso that was carried to Iberia through the merchant routes in the Sahara. The Nasrids also provided military assistance to Castile for its conquest of areas under Muslim control, most notably Seville in November 1248 and the Taifa of Niebla in 1262.
  
  wn.com/Emirate_of_Granada
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  Generalife
  The Palacio de Generalife (Arabic: جَنَّة الْعَرِيف‎ Jannat al-‘Arīf, literally, "Architect's Garden") was the summer palace and country estate of the Nasrid Emirs (Kings) of the Emirate of Granada in Al-Andalus, now beside the city of Granada in the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain.
  The palace and gardens were built during the reign of Muhammad III (1302–1309) and redecorated shortly after by Abu I-Walid Isma'il (1313–1324).
  The complex consists of the Patio de la Acequia (Court of the Water Channel or Water-Garden Courtyard), which has a long pool framed by flowerbeds, fountains, colonnades and pavilions, and the Jardín de la Sultana (Sultana's Garden or Courtyard of the Cypress). The former is thought to best preserve the style of the medieval Persian garden in Al-Andalus.
  Originally the palace was linked to the Alhambra by a covered walkway across the ravine that now divides them. The Generalife is one of the oldest surviving Moorish gardens.
  The present-day gardens were started in 1931 and completed by Francisco Prieto Moreno in 1951. The walkways are paved in traditional Granadian style with a mosaic of pebbles: white ones from the River Darro and black ones from the River Genil.
  
  wn.com/Generalife
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  Granada
  Granada (Spanish pronunciation: [ɡɾaˈnaða]) is a city and the capital of the province of Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalucia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence of three rivers, the Beiro, the Darro and the Genil. It sits at an elevation of 738 metres above sea level, yet is only one hour from the Mediterranean coast, the Costa Tropical. Nearby is the Sierra Nevada Ski Station, where the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 1996 were held.
  In the 2005 national census, the population of the city of Granada proper was 236,982, and the population of the entire urban area was estimated to be 472,638, ranking as the 13th-largest urban area of Spain. About 3.3% of the population did not hold Spanish citizenship, the largest number of these people (31%) coming from South America. Its nearest airport is Federico García Lorca Airport Granada-Jaén Airport.
  The Alhambra, a Moorish citadel and palace, is in Granada. It is the most renowned building of the Andalusian Islamic historical legacy with its many cultural attractions that make Granada a popular destination among the touristic cities of Spain. The Almohad influence on architecture is preserved in the area of the city called the Albaicín with its fine examples of Moorish and Morisco construction. Granada is also well-known within Spain for the prestigious University of Granada which has about 80,000 students spread over five different campuses in the city. The pomegranate (in Spanish, granada) is the heraldic device of Granada.
  
  wn.com/Granada
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  Hospital de Sant Pau
  The former Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau (Catalan pronunciation: [uspiˈtaɫ də ɫə ˈsantə ˈkɾɛw i ˈsam ˈpaw], English: Hospital of the Holy Cross and Saint Paul) in the neighborhood of El Guinardó, Barcelona, Catalonia (Spain), is a complex built between 1901 and 1930, designed by the Catalan modernist architect Lluís Domènech i Montaner. Together with Palau de la Música Catalana, it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It was a fully functioning hospital until June 2009, it is currently undergoing restoration for use as a museum and cultural center. As of December 2009 there are still tours of the hospital being given several times a day.
  Although the hospital's current buildings date from the 20th century, the Hospital de Sant Pau was founded in 1401 when six small medieval hospitals merged. The hospital's former buildings near the center of Barcelona date from the 15th century, and now house an art school (Escola Massana) and Biblioteca de Catalunya (National Library of Catalonia). Even though there is an ambulance in the picture it is no longer a hospital as it was closed in 2009.
  
  wn.com/Hospital_de_Sant_Pau
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  Iberia
  The Iberian Peninsula (Asturian, Galician, Leonese, Mirandese, Portuguese and Spanish: Península Ibérica, Catalan: Península Ibèrica, Aragonese and Occitan: Peninsula Iberica, French: Péninsule Ibérique, Basque: Iberiar Penintsula), sometimes called Iberia, is a peninsula located in the extreme southwest of Europe and includes the modern-day sovereign states of Spain, Portugal and Andorra, as well as the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar. It is the westernmost of the three major southern European peninsulas—the Iberian, Italian, and Balkan peninsulas. It is bordered on the southeast and east by the Mediterranean Sea, and on the north, west and southwest by the Atlantic Ocean. The Pyrenees form the northeast edge of the peninsula, separating it from the rest of Europe. In the south, it approaches the northern coast of Africa. It is the second-largest peninsula in Europe, with an area of approximately 582,000 km² (225,000 sq mi).
  The English word Iberia was adapted from the use of the Ancient Greek word Ιβηρία (Ibēría) by the Greek geographers under the Roman Empire to refer to what is known today in English as the Iberian Peninsula. At that time the name did not describe a single political entity or a distinct population of people. Strabo's Iberia was delineated from Keltikē by the Pyrenees and included the entire land mass south-west (he named it "west") of there.
  
  wn.com/Iberia
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  Irvine, California
  Irvine ( /ˈɜrvaɪn/ UR-vyn) is a suburban incorporated city in Orange County, California, United States. It is a planned city, mainly developed by the Irvine Company since the 1960s. Formally incorporated on December 28, 1971, the 66 square miles (170 km²) city has a population of 212,375 as of the 2010 census. However, the California Department of Finance estimates its 2012 population to be 223,729. It has annexed in the past an undeveloped area to the north, and has also annexed the former El Toro Marine Corps Air Station, most of which is planned to be converted into the Orange County Great Park.
  Because of its good schools, jobs, and housing, the city was chosen in 2008 by CNNMoney.com as the fourth best place to live in the United States; in September 2011, Businessweek listed Irvine as the 5th best city in the US. In June 2010, the Federal Bureau of Investigation reported that Irvine had the lowest violent crime rate among cities in the United States with populations of more than 100,000, and in August 2008 the Census Bureau ranked Irvine as having the seventh highest median income among cities in the United States with populations of more than 65,000.
  
  wn.com/Irvine,_California
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  Jaén, Spain
  Jaén (Spanish: [xaˈen]) is a city in south-central Spain. The name is derived from the Arabic word jayyan, (crossroads of caravans). It is the capital of the province of Jaén. It is located in the autonomous community of Andalusia. The inhabitants of the city are known as Jiennenses. Its population is 117,540 (2006), about one-sixth of the population of the province. In the last years Jaén has had a great increase in cultural tourism. Jaén is also known as the World Capital of Olive Oil, because it is the biggest producer of this liquid gold (as the locals refer to it). The layout of Jaén is determined by its position in the hills of the Santa Catalina mountains, with steep, narrow streets, in the historical central city district. The city of Jaén is the administrative and industrial centre for the province. Industrial establishments in the city include chemical works, tanneries, distilleries, cookies factories and textile factories. On April 1, 1937, the city was bombed by the Nazis.
  The motto of the city is: (Spanish) "Muy Noble y muy Leal Ciudad de Jaén, Guarda y Defendimiento de los Reinos de Castilla", (English) "Very Noble and very Loyal City of Jaen, Guard and Defense of the Kingdoms of Castile". This title was given by king Henry II of Castile to the city of Jaen, due to the privileges that the city had, and to the role that the city was playing in the defense of the kingdom of Castile against the Moors.
  
  wn.com/Jaén,_Spain
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  Las Médulas
  Las Médulas (As Médulas or As Meduas in Galician language) is a historical site near the town of Ponferrada in the region of El Bierzo (province of León, Castile and León, Spain), which 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.
  The spectacular landscape of Las Médulas resulted from the ruina montium, a Roman mining technique described by Pliny the Elder in 77 AD. The technique employed was a type of hydraulic mining which involved undermining a mountain with large quantities of water. The water was supplied by interbasin transfer. At least seven long aqueducts tapped the streams of the La Cabrera district (where the rainfall in the mountains is relatively high) at a range of altitudes. The same aqueducts were used to wash the extensive gold deposits.
  The area Hispania Tarraconensis had been invaded in 25 BC by the emperor Augustus. Prior to the Roman conquest the indigenous inhabitants obtained gold from alluvial deposits. Large-scale production did not begin until the second half of the 1st century AD.
  
  wn.com/Las_Médulas
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  Palace of Charles V
  The Palace of Charles V is a Renacentist construction in Granada, southern Spain, located on the top of the hill of the Assabica, inside the Nasrid fortification of the Alhambra. It was commanded by Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, who wished to establish his residence close to the Alhambra palaces. Although the Catholic Monarchs had already altered some rooms of the Alhambra after the conquest of the city in 1492, Charles V intended to construct a permanent residence befitting an emperor. The project was given to Pedro Machuca, an architect whose biography and influences are poorly understood. At the time, Spanish architecture was immersed in the Plateresque style, still with traces of Gothic origin. Machuca built a palace corresponding stylistically to Mannerism, a mode still in its infancy in Italy. The exterior of the building uses a typically Renaissance combination of rustication on the lower level and ashlar on the upper. Even if accounts that place Machuca in the atelier of Michelangelo are accepted, at the time of the construction of the palace in 1527 the latter had yet to design the majority of his architectural works.
  
  wn.com/Palace_of_Charles_V
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  Palacio da Bolsa
  The Palácio da Bolsa (Stock Exchange Palace) is a historical building in Porto, Portugal. The palace was built in the 19th century by the city's Commercial Association (Associação Comercial) in Neoclassical style. It is located in the Infante D. Henrique Square in the historical centre of Porto, designated World Heritage Site by UNESCO.
  The Palácio da Bolsa is located beside the St Francis Church of Porto, which was once part of the St Francis Convent, founded in the 13th century. In 1832, during the Liberal Wars, a fire destroyed the cloisters of the convent, sparing the church. In 1841, Queen Mary II donated the convent ruins to the merchants of the city, who decided to use the spot to build the seat of the Commercial Association.
  Building work began in 1842 following the plans of Porto architect Joaquim da Costa Lima Júnior, who designed a Neoclassical palace of Palladian influence, inspired by previous structures built in the city. Most of the palace was finished by 1850, but the decoration of the interior was only completed in 1910 and involved several different artists.
  
  wn.com/Palacio_da_Bolsa
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  Palmeral of Elche
  Coordinates: 38°16′10″N 0°41′54″W / 38.26944°N 0.69833°W / 38.26944; -0.69833
  The Palmeral of Elche (Spanish: Palmeral de Elche, Valencian: Palmerar d'Elx) is a plantation of palm trees in the Spanish province of Alicante. It is the largest palm grove (Spanish: palmeral) in Europe and one of the largest in the world, surpassed in size only by some in Arab countries.^{[clarification needed]}
  The Palmeral includes the Parque Municipal and many other orchards (huertos), covering over 3.5 km² (1.4 sq mi), including 1.5 km² (0.58 sq mi) within the city of Elche (Elx). It contains more than 11,000 palm trees, mostly date palms (Phoenix dactylifera), with individual specimens up to 300 years old. At its peak, in the 18th century, it may have covered an area twice as large, with up to 200,000 trees. The dates are harvested in December. A famous date palm is the "Imperial Palm" (Palmera Imperial), with 7 stems in the shape of a candelabra, named after Elisabeth, known as Sissi, the Empress consort of Franz Joseph, who visited the plantation in 1894.
  
  wn.com/Palmeral_of_Elche
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  Poblet Monastery
  The Royal Abbey of Santa Maria de Poblet (Catalan: Reial Monestir de Santa Maria de Poblet) is a Cistercian monastery, founded in 1151, located at the feet of the Prades Mountains, in the comarca of Conca de Barberà, in Catalonia (Spain). It was founded by Cistercian monks from France on lands conquered from the Moors. The main architect was Arnau Bargués.
  This monastery was the first of three sister monasteries, known as the Cistercian triangle, that helped consolidate power in Catalonia in the 12th century. (The other two are Vallbona de les Monges and Santes Creus)
  Poblet was the royal pantheon of the kings of the Crown of Aragon since James I of Aragon. Some of the most important royal sepulchres have alabaster statues that lie over the tomb. The kings have lion sculptures at their feet, while the queens have dogs.
  Peter III of Aragon (1239 – 1285) made it a condition, under solemn oath at the moment of crowning, that all the Aragonese-Catalan kings be buried there. Only Ferdinand II of Aragon broke the oath, after his kingdom had been merged with the Kingdom of Castile, and was buried in Granada.
  
  wn.com/Poblet_Monastery
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  Salamanca
  Salamanca is a city in western Spain, in the community of Castile and León. Because it is known for its beautiful buildings and urban environment, the Old City was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1988. It is the most important university city in Spain and supplies 16% of Spain's market for the teaching of the Spanish language. Salamanca attracts thousands of international students, generating a diverse, multicultural environment.
  It is situated approximately 200 km (120 mi) west of Madrid and 80 km (50 mi) east of the Portuguese border. The University of Salamanca, which was founded in 1218, is the oldest university in Spain and the third oldest western university. With its 30,000 students, the university is, together with tourism, the economic engine of the city.
  Salamanca is the capital of the province of Salamanca, which belongs to the autonomous community of Castile and León (Castilla y León). With a metropolitan population around 192,000 it is the second most populated urban area in Castile and León, after Valladolid (369,000), and closely followed by Leon (187,000) and Burgos (176,000).
  
  wn.com/Salamanca
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  Santimamiñe
  Santimamiñe cave, Kortezubi, Biscay, Basque Country, Spain, is one of the most important archaeological sites of the Basque Country, including a nearly complete sequence from the Middle Paleolithic to the Iron Age.
  Its complete sequence includes the following cultures:
  Plus unclassified remains of the Neolithic, Chalcolithic, Bronze and Iron ages.
  It is best known for its mural paintings of the Magdalenian period, depicting bisons, horses, goats and deers.
  Its excellent location over the Urdaibai estuary was probably most important in its continued habitation, first by Neanderthals and later by Homo sapiens.
  Coordinates: 43°20′48″N 2°38′12″W / 43.34667°N 2.63667°W / 43.34667; -2.63667
  
  
  
  wn.com/Santimamiñe
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  Segovia
  Segovia is a city in Spain, the capital of Segovia Province in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is situated north of Madrid, 30 minutes by high speed train. The municipality counts some 55,500 inhabitants.
  The name of Segovia is of Celtiberian origin. The first inhabitants named the city Segobriga." This name comes from two terms of celtiberian origin, language of the celtic Indo-European branch. Comes from the term Sego, which means «victory» (prefix also present in other cities such as Segeda and Segontia) and the suffix -briga, which would mean «city» or «strength». So it might be translated as "City of the victory" or "Victorious city".
  Under the Romans and Arabs, the city was called Segovia (Σεγουβία, Ptolomeo ii. 6. § 56) and Šiqūbiyyah (Arabic شقوبية) respectively.
  Segovia is located within the Iberian Peninsula, near Valladolid and the Spanish capital, Madrid.
  The province of Segovia is one of nine cities that make up the Autonomous Community of Castile and León. It is neighbored by Burgos and Valladolid to the north, Ávila to the west, Madrid and Guadalajara to the south and Soria to the east. The altitude of the province varies from 750 meters in the extreme northwest to a maximum of 2,430 meters at Peñalara peak.
  
  wn.com/Segovia
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  Seville
  Seville ( /səˈvɪl/; Spanish: Sevilla, IPA: [seˈβiʎa], locally: [seˈβiʝa]; see also different names) is the capital of the autonomous community of Andalusia and of the province of Seville, Spain. It is situated on the plain of the River Guadalquivir, with an average elevation of 7 metres (23 ft) above sea level. The inhabitants of the city are known as sevillanos (feminine form: sevillanas) or hispalenses, following the Roman name of the city, Hispalis.
  Seville is the fourth largest city of Spain with a municipal population of about 703 thousand as of 2011, and a metropolitan population (including satellite towns) of about 1.5 million, making it the 31st most populous municipality in the European Union. Its old town is the largest in Spain (covering almost four square kilometers), and is one of the three largest in Europe along with Venice and Genoa. The Seville harbor, located about 80 km from the Atlantic Ocean, is the only river port in Spain.
  The University of Seville was founded in 1505. Recently ranked the third university in Spain (and 190th in the world), it currently has over 50,000 students.^{[citation needed]}
  
  wn.com/Seville
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  Spain
  Spain (ⁱ/ˈspeɪn/ SPAYN; Spanish: España, pronounced: [esˈpaɲa] ( listen)), officially the Kingdom of Spain (Spanish: Reino de España), is a sovereign state and a member of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Its mainland is bordered to the south and east by the Mediterranean Sea except for a small land boundary with the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar; to the north and north east by France, Andorra, and the Bay of Biscay; and to the northwest and west by the Atlantic Ocean and Portugal.
  Spanish territory also includes the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean, the Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean off the African coast, and two autonomous cities in North Africa, Ceuta and Melilla, that border Morocco. Furthermore, the town of Llívia is a Spanish exclave situated inside French territory. With an area of 504,030 square kilometres (194,610 sq mi), it is the second largest country in Western Europe and the European Union after France, and the fourth largest country in Europe after Russia, Ukraine and France.
  
  wn.com/Spain
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  Tarragona
  Tarragona (Catalan: [tərəˈɣonə], Spanish: [taraˈɣona]; Phoenician: טַרְקוֹן, Tarqon; Latin: Tarraco) is a city located in the south of Catalonia on the north-east of Spain, by the Mediterranean. It is the capital of the Spanish province of the same name and the capital of the Catalan comarca Tarragonès. In the medieval and modern times it was the capital of the Vegueria of Tarragona. As of the 2009 census, the city had a population of 130,323.^{[citation needed]}
  One Catalonian legend holds it was named for Tarraho, eldest son of Tubal in c. 2407 BC; another (derived from Strabo and Megasthenes) attributes the name to 'Tearcon the Ethiopian', a 7th century BC pharaoh who supposedly campaigned in Spain. The real founding date of Tarragona is unknown.
  In Roman times, the city was named Tarraco and was capital of the province of Hispania Tarraconensis (after being capital of Hispania Citerior in the Republican era). The Roman colony founded at Tarraco had the full name of Colonia Iulia Urbs Triumphalis Tarraco.
  
  wn.com/Tarragona
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  Teide National Park
  Teide National Park (Parque Nacional del Teide in Spanish) is a national park located in Tenerife (Canary Islands, Spain). It is centered around 3718m Mount Teide, the highest mountain of Spain and the islands of the Atlantic (it is the third largest volcano in the world from its base). It was declared a National Park on 22 January 1954, making it one of the oldest national parks in Spain. It is also the largest National Park in Spain and an important part of the Canary Islands. Another volcano located in the park (next to the Teide) is the Pico Viejo. It is the second largest volcano in the Canary Islands with its 3,135 m peak.
  The park has an area of 18,990 hectares and was named a World Heritage Site by UNESCO on June 29, 2007. Since the end of 2007, it has also been one of the 12 Treasures of Spain. Midway up the mountain are the telescopes of the Observatorio del Teide. Territorially, it belongs to the municipality of La Orotava.
  Teide is the most visited National Park in Spain, with a total of 2.8 million visitors, according to the Instituto Canario de Estadística (ISTAC). The Teide in 2010 became the most visited national park in Europe.^{[dubious – discuss]} The Teide is the most famous natural icon not only of Tenerife but also of all the Canary Islands.
  
  wn.com/Teide_National_Park
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  Toledo, Spain
  Toledo (pronounced: [toˈleðo]; Latin: Toletum, Arabic: طليطلة‎, DIN: Ṭulayṭulah) is a municipality located in central Spain, 70 km south of Madrid. It is the capital of the province of Toledo. It is also the capital of autonomous community of Castile–La Mancha. It was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1986 for its extensive cultural and monumental heritage as one of the former capitals of the Spanish Empire and place of coexistence of Christian, Jewish and Muslim cultures, as well as the place where harsh religious persecutions were held against the Jews by the Visigoths.
  Many famous people and artists were born or lived in Toledo, including Al-Zarqali, Garcilaso de la Vega, Eleanor of Toledo, Alfonso X and El Greco. It was also the place of important historic events such as the Visigothic Councils of Toledo. As of 2010^[update], the city has a population of 82,489 and an area of 232.1 km² (89.6 sq mi).
  Having been populated since the Bronze Age, Toledo (Toletum in Latin) grew in importance during Roman times, being a main commercial and administrative centre in the Roman province of Tarraconensis. After the fall of the Roman Empire, Toledo served as the capital city of Visigothic Spain, beginning with Liuvigild (Leovigild), and was the capital of Spain until the Moors conquered Iberia in the 8th century.
  
  wn.com/Toledo,_Spain
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  Vizcaya Bridge
  The Vizcaya Bridge (Bizkaiko Zubia in Basque, Puente de Vizcaya in Spanish), is a transporter bridge that links the towns of Portugalete and Las Arenas (part of Getxo) in the Biscay province of Spain, crossing the mouth of the Nervion River.
  People in the area, and even the official website, commonly call it the Puente Colgante (literally "hanging bridge", used for suspension bridge in Spanish), although its structure is quite different from a suspension bridge.
  It is the world's oldest transporter bridge and was built in 1893, designed by Alberto Palacio, one of Gustave Eiffel's disciples. It was the solution given by the engineer to the problem of connecting the two towns without disrupting the maritime traffic of the Port of Bilbao and without having to build a massive structure with long ramps.
  The service was only interrupted once, for four years, during the Spanish Civil War, when the upper section was dynamited. From his house in Portugalete, Palacio saw his masterwork partially destroyed just before his own death.
  
  wn.com/Vizcaya_Bridge
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  Way of St. James
  The Way of St. James or St. James' Way (Spanish: El Camino de Santiago, Galician: O Camiño de Santiago, French: Chemins de Saint-Jacques-de-Compostelle, German: Jakobsweg, Basque: Done Jakue bidea) is the pilgrimage route to the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia in northwestern Spain, where tradition has it that the remains of the apostle Saint James are buried.
  The Way of St. James has existed for over a thousand years. It was one of the most important Christian pilgrimages during medieval times, together with Rome and Jerusalem, and a pilgrimage route on which a plenary indulgence could be earned; other major pilgrimage routes include the Via Francigena to Rome and the pilgrimage to Jerusalem.
  Legend holds that St. James's remains were carried by boat from Jerusalem to northern Spain where he was buried on the site of what is now the city of Santiago de Compostela.
  The Way can take one of any number of pilgrimage routes to Santiago de Compostela. Traditionally, as with most pilgrimages, the Way of Saint James began at one's home and ended at the pilgrimage site. However a few of the routes are considered main ones. During the Middle Ages, the route was highly traveled. However, the Black Death, the Protestant Reformation and political unrest in 16th-century Europe led to its decline. By the 1980s, only a few pilgrims arrived in Santiago annually. Since then however the route has attracted a growing number of modern-day pilgrims from around the globe. The route was declared the first European Cultural Route by the Council of Europe in October 1987; it was also named one of UNESCO's World Heritage Sites.
  
  wn.com/Way_of_St._James
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  Ávila, Spain
  Ávila (Latin: Abila and Obila) is a Spanish city located in the autonomous community of Castile and León, capital of the province of the same name.
  "Ávila de los Caballeros" is an honorific title of the city and others are "Ávila del Rey" and "Ávila de los Leales" which are all present in the flag of the city.
  The city is notable for having complete medieval city walls which were built in the Romanesque style. It is also one of the cities with the highest number of Romanesque churches, Gothic churches and catering establishments in relation to the number of its inhabitants.
  It is known by many as the city of «Pebbles and Saints». The writer José Martínez Ruiz Azorín, after writing The Castilian Soul, said it was "perhaps the most 16th century city of Spain".
  The city is 1131 meters (3665 feet) above sea level, the highest provincial capital in Spain. It is built on the flat summit of a rocky hill, which rises abruptly in the midst of a veritable wilderness: a brown, arid, treeless table-land, strewn with immense grey boulders, and shut in by lofty mountains. This results in an extreme climate, with very hard and long winters, and short summers.
  
  wn.com/Ávila,_Spain
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  Úbeda
  Úbeda (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈuβeða]; from Arabic Ubbada al-`Arab) is a town in the province of Jaén in Spain's autonomous community of Andalusia, with some 36,025 inhabitants. Both this city and the neighboring city of Baeza benefited from extensive patronage in the early 16th century resulting in the construction of a series of Renaissance style palaces and churches, which have been preserved ever since. In 2003, UNESCO declared the historic cores and monuments of these two towns a World Heritage Site.
  Recent archaeological findings indicate a pre-Roman settlement at Úbeda. Romans and later Visigoths occupied the site as a settlement. This area became an important city in the Muslim conquest of the Iberia. It was refounded by Abd ar-Rahman II (822–852), who called it أُبَّدَة الْعَرَب (Ubbadat-Al-Arab). It was included in the area of Jaén. In this period, its territory extended to more than 35,000 hectares.
  During the Reconquista, in 1233, king Ferdinand III was able to wrest the town from the Muslim rulers. After that, the Muslim, Christian and Jewish cultures coexisted for a long time.
  
  wn.com/Úbeda

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  Ali Smith
  Ali Smith (born 1962 in Inverness) is a British writer.
  She was born to working-class parents, raised in a council house in Inverness and now lives in Cambridge. She studied at the University of Aberdeen and then at Newnham College, Cambridge, for a PhD that was never finished. She worked as a lecturer at University of Strathclyde until she fell ill with CFS/ME. Following this she became a full-time writer and now writes for The Guardian, The Scotsman, and the Times Literary Supplement. Openly gay, she lives in Cambridge with her partner Sarah Wood.
  In 2007 she was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature
  In 2009, she donated the short story Last (previously published in the Manchester Review Online) to Oxfam's 'Ox-Tales' project, four collections of UK stories written by 38 authors. Her story was published in the 'Fire' collection.
  
  wn.com/Ali_Smith
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  Andrés Segovia
  Andrés Segovia Torres, 1st Marquis of Salobreña (pronounced: [anˈdɾes seˈɣoβja ˈtores]) (February 21, 1893 – June 2, 1987), known as Andrés Segovia, was a virtuoso Spanish classical guitarist from Linares, Jaén, Andalucia, Spain. He is widely considered to be one of the best known and most influential classical guitar personalities of the 20th century, having a considerable influence on later guitarists, particularly because of important guitar works that were dedicated to him by composers such as Federico Moreno Torroba.
  Segovia is credited for his modern-romantic repertoire, mainly through works dedicated to him by modern composers, but he also created his own transcriptions of classical works that were originally for other instruments. He is remembered for his expressive performances: his wide palette of tone, and his distinctive (often instantly recognizable) musical personality in tone, phrasing and style.
  Segovia stated that he began to play the guitar at the age of six.Angelo Gilardino, who has worked at the Fundación Andrés Segovia in Spain, noted: "Though it is not yet completely documented, it seems clear that, since his tender childhood, [Segovia] learnt playing as a flamenco guitarist. The first guitar he owned had formerly been played by Paco de Lucena who died when Segovia was five years old. Since then, Segovia was given some instruction by Agustinillo, an amateur flamenco player who was a fan of Paco de Lucena." Nevertheless, Segovia did not really play flamenco. Instead he preferred expressive art-music such as that by Federico Moreno Torroba, and revived interest in the instrument as an expressive medium for the performance of classical art-music.
  
  wn.com/Andrés_Segovia
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  Arabs
  Arab people, also known as Arabs (Arabic: عرب‎, ʿarab), are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing an important part of Arab identity.
  The word "Arab" has had several different, but overlapping, meanings over the centuries (and sometimes even today). In addition to including all Arabized people of the world (with language tending to be the acid test), it has also at times been used exclusively for bedouin (Arab nomads [although a related word, "`a-RAB," with the Arabic letter "alif" in the second syllable, once was sometimes used when this specific meaning was intended] and their now almost entirely settled descendants). It is sometimes used that way colloquially even today in some places. Townspeople once were sometimes called "sons of the Arabs." As in the case of other ethnicities or nations, people identify themselves (or are identified by others) as "Arabs" to varying degrees. This may not be one's primary identity (it tends to compete with country, religion, sect, etc.), and whether it is emphasized may depend upon one's audience.
  
  wn.com/Arabs
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  Basque people
  The Basques (Basque: euskaldunak, Spanish: vascos, French: basques) as an ethnic group, primarily inhabit an area traditionally known as the Basque Country (Basque: Euskal Herria), a region that is located around the western end of the Pyrenees on the coast of the Bay of Biscay and straddles parts of north-central Spain and south-western France.
  The Basques are known in the local languages as:
  The English word Basque comes from French Basque (pronounced /bask/), which itself comes from Gascon Basco (pronounced /ˈbasku/) and Spanish Vasco^{[citation needed]} (pronounced /ˈbasko/). These, in turn, come from Latin Vasco (pronounced /wasko/), plural Vascones (see History section below). The Latin labial-velar approximant /w/ generally evolved into the bilabials /b/ and /β̞/ in Gascon and Spanish, probably under the influence of Basque and Aquitanian, a language related to old Basque and spoken in Gascony in Antiquity (similarly the Latin /w/ evolved into /v/ in French, Italian and other languages).
  
  wn.com/Basque_people
• Ben Lerner
  Benjamin S. Lerner (born February 4, 1979 in Topeka, Kansas) is an American poet, novelist, and critic. He was awarded the Hayden Carruth prize for his cycle of fifty-two sonnets, The Lichtenberg Figures. In 2004, Library Journal named it one of the year's twelve best books of poetry. The Lichtenberg Figures appeared in a German translation in 2010, for which it received the "Preis der Stadt Münster für internationale Poesie" in 2011, making Lerner the first American to receive this honor.
  Born and raised in Topeka, which figures in each of his books of poetry, Lerner is a 1997 graduate of Topeka High School. At Brown University he earned a B.A. in Political Theory and an MFA in Poetry. He traveled on a Fulbright Scholarship to Madrid, Spain in 2003 where he wrote his second book, Angle of Yaw, which was published in 2006 and was subsequently named a finalist for the National Book Award, and was selected by Brian Foley as one of the "25 important books of poetry of the 00s (2000-2009)". Lerner's third full-length poetry collection, Mean Free Path, was published in 2010.
  
  wn.com/Ben_Lerner
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  Berbers
  Berbers (Berber: ⵉⵎⴰⵣⵉⵖⴻⵏ Imazighen / Imaziɣen) are the indigenous ethnic group of North Africa west of the Nile Valley. They are continuously distributed from the Atlantic to the Siwa oasis, in Egypt, and from the Mediterranean to the Niger River. Historically they spoke the Berber language or varieties of it, which together form a branch of the Afro-Asiatic linguistic family. Today, varieties of Maghrebi colloquial Arabic are spoken by a large portion of Berbers besides the Berber language itself. Foreign languages like French are used by the educated in Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria. Spanish is also known by some Berbers in Morocco and in the annexed Western Sahara and Italian in Libya. This presence of European languages was due to Europe's occupation and colonization of the Berber world. Today, most Berber-speaking people live in Morocco and Algeria, smaller Berber-speaking populations are scattered throughout Tunisia, Libya, Mauritania, Mali and Niger, as well as various diasporas living in Europe.
  
  wn.com/Berbers
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  Catholic Monarchs
  The Catholic Monarchs (Spanish: Reyes Católicos) is the joint title used in history for Queen Isabella I of Castile and King Ferdinand II of Aragon. They were both from the House of Trastámara and were second cousins, being both descended from John I of Castile; they were given a papal dispensation to deal with consanguinity by Sixtus IV. The title of "Catholic King and Queen" was bestowed on them by the Pope Alexander VI in 1496, for defending Catholic dogmas within their realms. They married on October 19, 1469, in the city of Valladolid; Isabella was eighteen years old and Ferdinand a year younger. Their marriage united both crowns under the same family. John Elliot and many other historians consider that the unification of Spain can essentially be traced back to the marriage of Ferdinand and Isabella, but newer historical opinions recognize that under their rule Spain was still a composite monarchy. Castile and Aragon remained largely separate entities for decades to come. The court of Ferdinand and Isabella was constantly on the move, in order to bolster local support for the crown from local feudal lords.
  
  wn.com/Catholic_Monarchs
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  Christopher Columbus
  Christopher Columbus (before 31 October 1451 – 20 May 1506) was an explorer, colonizer, and navigator, born in the Republic of Genoa, in what is today northwestern Italy. Under the auspices of the Catholic Monarchs of Spain, he completed four voyages across the Atlantic Ocean that led to general European awareness of the American continents. Those voyages, and his efforts to establish permanent settlements in the island of Hispaniola, initiated the process of Spanish colonization, which foreshadowed the general European colonization of what became known as the "New World".
  In the context of emerging western imperialism and economic competition between European kingdoms seeking wealth through the establishment of trade routes and colonies, Columbus's speculative proposal to reach the East Indies by sailing westward received the support of the Spanish crown, which saw in it a promise, however remote, of gaining the upper hand over rival powers in the contest for the lucrative spice trade with Asia. During his first voyage in 1492, instead of reaching Japan as he had intended, Columbus landed in the Bahamas archipelago, at a locale he named San Salvador. Over the course of three more voyages, Columbus visited the Greater and Lesser Antilles, as well as the Caribbean coast of Venezuela and Central America, claiming them for the Spanish Empire.
  
  wn.com/Christopher_Columbus
• Christopher Nupen
  Christopher Nupen is a South African-born filmmaker based in the United Kingdom specialising in biographical documentaries of musicians.
  Nupen was born in South Africa to a family of Norwegian descent — his father, E. P. "Buster" Nupen (1902–1977), was a Test cricketer.
  After studying law at university he moved to Britain to work in banking, then trained as a sound engineer with the BBC.
  In 1962 he made High Festival In Siena about the summer music school at the Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Siena for BBC Radio Three and was subsequently invited by Huw Weldon to make films for the BBC. Using newly-developed silent 16mm film cameras he created a new, intimate style of biographical film beginning with Double Concerto in 1966, featuring the collaboration of Vladimir Ashkenazy and Daniel Barenboim.
  In 1968 he co-founded Allegro Films, one of the earliest independent television production companies in the UK. He went on to work on over 80 film and television productions based around music.
  The Trout, his film of a performance of Schubert’s Trout quintet by Jacqueline du Pré, Daniel Barenboim, Itzhak Perlman, Pinchas Zuckerman and Zubin Mehta on August 30th 1969 at Queen Elizabeth Hall in London, became a benchmark of classical music broadcasting. His close friendships with many of his subjects enabled him to communicate the spirit of the artists' work, such as in Jacqueline Du Pré In Portrait.
  
  wn.com/Christopher_Nupen
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  Claude Debussy
  Claude-Achille Debussy (French pronunciation: [klod aʃil dəbysi]) (22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. Along with Maurice Ravel, he was one of the most prominent figures working within the field of impressionist music, though he himself intensely disliked the term when applied to his compositions. In France, he was made Chevalier of the Legion of Honour in 1903. A crucial figure in the transition to the modern era in Western music, he remains one of the most famous and influential of all composers.
  His music is noted for its sensory component and for not often forming around one key or pitch. Often Debussy's work reflected the activities or turbulence in his own life. In French literary circles, the style of this period was known as symbolism, a movement that directly inspired Debussy both as a composer and as an active cultural participant.
  
  wn.com/Claude_Debussy
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  Count Sebastiani
  Horace François Bastien Sébastiani de La Porta (Corsican: Oraziu Francescu Bastianu Sebastiani De A Porta; 11 November 1771 – 20 July 1851) was a French soldier, diplomat, and politician, who served as Naval Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Minister of State under the July Monarchy. Joining the French Revolutionary Army in his youth, he rose in its ranks and became a supporter of Napoleon Bonaparte. Sébastiani was the French Consulate's emissary to the Levant, notably drafting plans to reconquer Ottoman Egypt, and later served as the Empire's Ambassador to the Porte. In the latter capacity, he attempted to increase French influence and signaled pro-Russian activities in the Danubian Principalities, thus provoking the War of 1806–1812. In 1807, Sébastiani organized the defense of Constantinople during the Dardanelles Operation. Recalled on British pressures after the deposition of Selim III, he served in the Peninsular War and resided in the Alhambra, took part in the unsuccessful invasion of Russia, and defended the Champagne region in front of the Sixth Coalition.
  
  wn.com/Count_Sebastiani
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  Isaac Albéniz
  Isaac Manuel Francisco Albéniz y Pascual (Spanish pronunciation: [iˈsak alˈβeniθ]) (29 May 1860, Camprodon – 18 May 1909, Cambo-les-Bains) was a Spanish pianist and composer best known for his piano works based on folk music idioms. However, many of his works have been transcribed by Miguel Llobet and others for guitar, and many of his pieces such as Asturias (Leyenda), Granada, Sevilla, Cadiz, Cordoba, Cataluña, and the Tango in D are amongst the most important pieces for classical guitar.
  Born in Camprodon, province of Girona, to Ángel Albéniz (a customs official) and his wife Dolors Pascual, Albéniz was a child prodigy who first performed at the age of four. At age seven, after apparently taking lessons from Antoine François Marmontel, he passed the entrance examination for piano at the Paris Conservatoire, but he was refused admission because he was believed to be too young.
  
  wn.com/Isaac_Albéniz
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  José Contreras
  José Ariel Contreras Camejo (born December 6, 1971 in Las Martinas, Pinar del Río, Cuba) is a right-handed Major League Baseball pitcher who is currently with the Philadelphia Phillies. He previously played for the New York Yankees (2003–04), the Chicago White Sox (2004–09), the Colorado Rockies (2009), and the Philadelphia Phillies (2010), as well as the Cuban national team.
  In addition to his time with the Cuban national team, Contreras pitched for the Pinar del Río Vegueros of Cuba's Cuban National Series. In his last season in Cuba (2001–2002), he went 13–4 with a 1.76 ERA and 149 strikeouts. Contreras was named Cuban Athlete of the Year on three separate occasions.
  In March 1999 José Contreras pitched for the Cuban national team against the Baltimore Orioles in front of his countrymen at Estadio Latinoamericano in Havana. Contreras pitched eight shutout innings and struck out ten. It was then that Major League scouts took notice of the Cuban pitcher.^{[citation needed]}
  Contreras defected from Cuba in October 2002 while pitching for the Cuban national team during the Americas Series in Saltillo, Coahuila, Mexico, leading the Yankees to sign him to a four year deal on December 26, 2002.
  
  wn.com/José_Contreras
• Julian Anderson
  Julian Anderson (born 6 April 1967) is a British composer and teacher of composition.
  Anderson was born in London. He studied at Westminster School, then with John Lambert at the Royal College of Music, with Alexander Goehr at Cambridge University, privately with Tristan Murail in Paris, and on courses given by Olivier Messiaen, Per Nørgård and György Ligeti.
  From 2000 to 2004 he was Head of Composition at the Royal College of Music, and from 2004 to 2007 Fanny P. Mason Professor of Music at Harvard University. He is currently Professor of Composition and Composer in Residence at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. He was Composer-in-Association with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra from 2001 to 2005 and Daniel R. Lewis Fellowship Composer with The Cleveland Orchestra from 2005 to 2007. From 2002 to the end of the 2010-11 concert season, he was artistic director of the 'Music of Today' concert series run by the Philharmonia Orchestra in London. In autumn 2011 his appointment as the next Composer in Residence at the Wigmore Hall was announced.
  
  wn.com/Julian_Anderson
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  Loreena McKennitt
  Loreena Isabel Irene McKennitt, CM, OM (born February 17, 1957) is a Canadian singer, composer, harpist, accordionist and pianist who writes, records and performs world music with Celtic and Middle Eastern themes. McKennitt is known for her refined, clear soprano vocals. She has sold more than 14 million records worldwide.
  McKennitt was born in Morden, Manitoba of Irish and Scottish descent to parents Jack (died 1992; a livestock dealer) and Irene McKennitt (1931-2011; a nurse). She moved to Stratford, Ontario in 1981, where she still resides.
  When Loreena was young she wanted to become a veterinarian but she found that music chose her rather than she it. Developing a passion for Celtic music, she learned to play the Celtic harp and began busking at various places, including St. Lawrence Market in Toronto in order to earn money to record her first album.
  McKennitt's first album, Elemental, was released in 1985, followed by To Drive the Cold Winter Away (1987), Parallel Dreams (1989), The Visit (1991), The Mask and Mirror (1994), A Winter Garden (1995), The Book of Secrets (1997), An Ancient Muse (2006), A Midwinter Night’s Dream (2008), and The Wind That Shakes the Barley (2010). All of her work is released under her own label, Quinlan Road.
  
  wn.com/Loreena_McKennitt
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  Los Reyes Católicos
  The Catholic Monarchs (Spanish: Reyes Católicos) is the joint title used in history for Queen Isabella I of Castile and King Ferdinand II of Aragon. They were both from the House of Trastámara and were second cousins, being both descended from John I of Castile; they were given a papal dispensation to deal with consanguinity by Sixtus IV. The title of "Catholic King and Queen" was bestowed on them by the Pope Alexander VI in 1496, for defending Catholic dogmas within their realms. They married on October 19, 1469, in the city of Valladolid; Isabella was eighteen years old and Ferdinand a year younger. Their marriage united both crowns under the same family. John Elliot and many other historians consider that the unification of Spain can essentially be traced back to the marriage of Ferdinand and Isabella, but newer historical opinions recognize that under their rule Spain was still a composite monarchy. Castile and Aragon remained largely separate entities for decades to come. The court of Ferdinand and Isabella was constantly on the move, in order to bolster local support for the crown from local feudal lords.
  
  wn.com/Los_Reyes_Católicos
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  M. C. Escher
  Maurits Cornelis Escher ( /ˈɛʃər/, Dutch: [ˈmʌurɪts kɔrˈneːlɪs ˈɛʃər] ( listen); 17 June 1898 – 27 March 1972), usually referred to as M. C. Escher, was a Dutch graphic artist. He is known for his often mathematically inspired woodcuts, lithographs, and mezzotints. These feature impossible constructions, explorations of infinity, architecture, and tessellations.
  Maurits Cornelis, nicknamed "Mauk", was born in Leeuwarden, The Netherlands, in a house that forms part of the Princessehof Ceramics Museum today. He was the youngest son of civil engineer George Arnold Escher and his second wife, Sara Gleichman. In 1903, the family moved to Arnhem, where he attended primary school and secondary school until 1918.
  He was a sickly child, and was placed in a special school at the age of seven and failed the second grade. Though he excelled at drawing, his grades were generally poor. He also took carpentry and piano lessons until he was thirteen years old. In 1919, Escher attended the Haarlem School of Architecture and Decorative Arts. He briefly studied architecture, but he failed a number of subjects (partly due to a persistent skin infection) and switched to decorative arts. Here he studied under Samuel Jessurun de Mesquita, with whom he would remain friends for years. In 1922 Escher left the school, having gained experience in drawing and making woodcuts.
  
  wn.com/M._C._Escher
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  Manuel de Falla
  Manuel de Falla y Matheu (23 November 1876 – 14 November 1946) was a Spanish Andalusian composer. With Isaac Albéniz, Enrique Granados and Joaquín Turina he is one of Spain's most important musicians of the first half of the 20th century.
  Falla was born as Manuel María de los Dolores Falla y Matheu in Cádiz. He was the son of José María Falla y Franco and María Jesús Matheu y Zabal. His early teachers in music were his mother and grandfather; at the age of nine he was introduced to his first piano professor, Eloísa Galluzo. Little is known of that period of his life, but his relationship with his teacher was soon ended after she decided to then enter in a convent, Sisters of Charity, to become a nun. In 1889 he continued his piano lessons with Alejandro Odero and learned the techniques of harmony and counterpoint from Enrique Broca. At age 15 he became interested in literature and journalism and founded the literary magazines El Burlón and El Cascabel. In 1893 he was inspired by a concert of Edvard Grieg's works, later saying that at the time he felt that "my definitive vocation is music".
  
  wn.com/Manuel_de_Falla
• Mohammed ibn Alhamar
  Mohammed I ibn Nasr (Arabic: محمد ابن الأحمر‎ Muḥammad ibn al-’Aḥmar) was a Nasrid ruler of the Moorish Emirate of Granada in Al-Andalus on the Iberian Peninsula, and founder of the last Muslim dynasty in Spain in 1238.
  The Nasrid dynasty lasted until Muhammad XII of Granada—Boabdil surrendered the to the 'Catholic Monarchs' after the 1492 Reconquista of Granada. The Nasrids constructed the Alhambra palaces in Granada.
  Mohammed ibn Nasr was born in the Arjona region of the Andalusian province of Jaén in 1191.
  In 1212 a united army of Spanish and European soldiers defeated the Almohad army at the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa.
  In 1231, Mohammed ibn Nasr seized the governorship of Arjona and, one year later, began a quest for control of other Spanish territories. He captured Guadix in 1232, Granada (soon to be his capital) in 1237, Almería in 1238 and Málaga in 1239. He had at least three brothers, Yusuf and Faraj and Isma`il, the latter of whom became the governor of Málaga during Mohammed's reign (until 1257). He also enjoyed the support of a powerful Andalusian family who later became political rivals, the Ashqilula. Abu'l-Hasan 'Ali ibn Ashqilula al-Tujibi assisted Mohammed's rise to power in Arjona in 1232. Mohammed forged this alliance through marriage, by becoming either the father in law or brother in law of the Ashqilula chieftain. The alliance continued with other marriages: Abu'l-Hasan 'Ali's daughter Fatima married Yusuf ibn Nasr, a brother of Mohammed, while Abu'l-Hasan 'Ali's son Abu Ishaq Ibrahim married the Nasrid princess Mu'mina, one of Mohammed's daughters.
  
  wn.com/Mohammed_ibn_Alhamar
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  Moors
  The description Moors has referred to several historic and modern populations of Berber, Black African and Arab descent from Northern Africa, who came to conquer, occupy and rule the Iberian Peninsula for nearly 800 years.^{[citation needed]} At that time they were Muslim, although earlier the people had followed other religions. They called the territory Al Andalus, comprising most of what is now Spain and Portugal.
  " Moors" are not a distinct or self-defined people. Medieval and early modern Europeans applied the name primarily to Berbers, but also at various times to Arabs, Muslim Iberians and West Africans from Mali and Niger who had been absorbed into the Almoravid dynasty. Mainstream scholars observed in 1911 that "The term 'Moors' has no real ethnological value."
  The Andalusian Moors of the late Medieval era inhabited the Iberian Peninsula after the Moorish conquests of the Rashidun and Umayyad Caliphates, and the final Umayyad conquest of Hispania.^{[citation needed]} The Moors' rule stretched at times as far as modern-day Mauritania, West African countries, and the Senegal River. Earlier, the Classical Romans interacted with (and later conquered) parts of Mauretania, a state that covered northern portions of modern Morocco and much of north western and central Algeria during the classical period. The people of the region were noted in Classical literature as the Mauri.
  
  wn.com/Moors
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  Paulo Coelho
  Paulo Coelho (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈpawlu koˈeʎu]; born August 24, 1947) is a Brazilian lyricist and novelist. He has become one of the most widely read authors in the world today. The recipient of numerous prestigious international awards, amongst them the Crystal Award by the World Economic Forum and France's Legion d'Honneur.
  Paulo Coelho was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He attended a Jesuit school. As a teenager, Coelho wanted to become a writer. Upon telling his mother this, she responded with "My dear, your father is an engineer. He's a logical, reasonable man with a very clear vision of the world. Do you actually know what it means to be a writer?" After researching, Coelho concluded that a writer "always wears glasses and never combs his hair" and has a "duty and an obligation never to be understood by his own generation," amongst other things. At 16, Coelho's introversion and opposition to following a traditional path led to his parents committing him to a mental institution from which he escaped three times before being released at the age of 20. Coelho later remarked that "It wasn't that they wanted to hurt me, but they didn't know what to do... They did not do that to destroy me, they did that to save me."
  
  wn.com/Paulo_Coelho
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  Philip V of Spain
  Philip V (Spanish: Felipe V; French: Philippe de France; 19 December 1683 – 9 July 1746) was King of Spain from 1 November 1700 to 15 January 1724, when he abdicated in favor of his son Louis, and from 6 September 1724, when he assumed the throne again upon his son's death, to his death.
  Before his reign, Philip occupied an exalted place in the royal family of France as a grandson of King Louis XIV. His father, Louis, the Grand Dauphin, had the strongest genealogical claim to the throne of Spain when it became vacant in 1700. However, since the Grand Dauphin and Philip's older brother, Louis, Duke of Burgundy, could not be displaced from their place in the succession to the French throne, King Charles II of Spain named Philip as his heir in his will. It was well-known that the union of France and Spain under one monarch would upset the balance of power in Europe, such that other European powers would take steps to prevent it. Philip was the first member of the House of Bourbon to rule as king of Spain. The sum of his two reigns, 45 years and 21 days, is the longest in modern Spanish history.
  
  wn.com/Philip_V_of_Spain
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  Philippa Gregory
  Philippa Gregory (Kenya, 9 January 1954) is an English writer of historical novels. Her best known work is The Other Boleyn Girl (2001).
  Philippa Gregory was born in Kenya. When she was two years old, her family moved to England. She was a "rebel" at school, but managed to attend the University of Sussex. She worked in BBC radio for two years before attending the University of Edinburgh, where she earned her doctorate in 18th-century literature. Gregory has taught at the University of Durham, University of Teesside, and the Open University, and was made a Fellow of Kingston University in 1994.
  She has written novels set in several different historical periods, though primarily the Tudor period and the 16th century. Reading a number of novels set in the 17th century led her to write the bestselling Lacey trilogy — Wideacre, which is a story about the love of land and incest, The Favoured Child and Meridon. This was followed by The Wise Woman. A Respectable Trade, a novel of slave trade in England, set in 18th-century Bristol, was adapted by Gregory for a four-part drama series for BBC television. Gregory's script was nominated for a BAFTA, won an award from the Committee for Racial Equality, and the film was shown worldwide.
  
  wn.com/Philippa_Gregory
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  Ruperto Chapí
  Ruperto Chapí y Lorente (27 March 1851 - 25 March 1909) was a Spanish composer, and co-founder of the Sociedad General de Autores y Editores.
  Chapí was born at Villena, the son of a Valencian barber. He trained in his home town and Madrid. He wrote a large number of symphonic, band, choral and chamber works, as well as zarzuelas and operas, becoming, alongside Tomás Bretón, a fellow pupil of Emilio Arrieta at the Madrid Conservatory. He was one of the most popular and important composers of his time. He wrote zarzuelas in all shapes and sizes, including the 3-act zarzuela grande and the one-act género chico forms. His most celebrated work is La revoltosa, written in the latter style. Many of the preludes to his zarzuelas (including those to El tambor de granaderos and La patria chica) have remained staple items in Spanish orchestral concerts.
  He died in Madrid in 1909.
  
  
  
  wn.com/Ruperto_Chapí
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  Salman Rushdie
  Sir Ahmed Salman Rushdie (Hindi: अहमद सलमान रुशदी (Devanagari), احمد سلمان رشدی (Nastaʿlīq);  /sælˈmɑːn ˈrʊʃdi/; born 19 June 1947) is a British Indian novelist and essayist. His second novel, Midnight's Children (1981), won the Booker Prize in 1981. Much of his fiction is set on the Indian subcontinent. He is said to combine magical realism with historical fiction; his work is concerned with the many connections, disruptions and migrations between East and West.
  His fourth novel, The Satanic Verses (1988), was the centre of a major controversy, provoking protests from Muslims in several countries, some violent. Death threats were made against him, including a fatwā issued by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the Supreme Leader of Iran, on 14 February 1989.
  Rushdie was appointed Commandeur dans Ordre des Arts et des Lettres of France in January 1999. In June 2007, Queen Elizabeth II dubbed him Knight Bachelor for his services to literature. In 2008, The Times ranked him thirteenth on its list of the fifty greatest British writers since 1945.
  
  wn.com/Salman_Rushdie
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  Tomás Bretón
  Tomás Bretón (29 December 1850 – 2 December 1923) was a Spanish musician and composer.
  Tomás Bretón was born in Salamanca.
  He gained renown as a result of the success of his zarzuela La verbena de la Paloma, although other were well-received works, included his operas Los amantes de Teruel, based on the eponymous legend, and La Dolores. After his death, his extensive output was a generally forgotten. His career spanned the majority of the musical areas of the period of the Restoration (1875-1923): Conservatorium Director, reputed orchestral conductor, composer of óperas, zarzuelas, symphonic and chamber music.
  He aimed to create a Spanish ópera, which would form a basis for a national music. He not only expressed these ideas in his many writings, but also through a series of works he composed throughout his career, from Guzmán el bueno (1876) to Tabaré (1913). His series of nine óperas, two of them in only one act, are an ambitious body of work for Spanish composers of his time. After a long polemic which delayed its première, Los amantes de Teruel (1889) amounted to its definitive consolidation, and was followed by proposals along very different lines, such as the Wagnerian in Garín (1892) for the Barcelona Liceo and the veristic in La Dolores (1894) for the Madrilenian Teatro de la Zarzuela. His last works, despite being tied to a strong nineteenth-century tradition, contain undeniable interest, such as Raquel (1900), based on the famous romantic drama, Farinelli (1902), composed for the failed Teatro Lírico project, Tabaré (1913), set in America, and Don Gil de las calzas verdes (1914), based on a comedy by Tirso de Molina.
  
  wn.com/Tomás_Bretón
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  Washington Irving
  Washington Irving (April 3, 1783 – November 28, 1859) was an American author, essayist, biographer and historian of the early 19th century. He is best known for his short stories "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" and "Rip Van Winkle", both of which appear in his book The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. His historical works include biographies of George Washington, Oliver Goldsmith and Muhammad, and several histories of 15th-century Spain dealing with subjects such as Christopher Columbus, the Moors, and the Alhambra. Irving also served as the U.S. ambassador to Spain from 1842 to 1846.
  He made his literary debut in 1802 with a series of observational letters to the Morning Chronicle, written under the pseudonym Jonathan Oldstyle. After moving to England for the family business in 1815, he achieved international fame with the publication of The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. in 1819. He continued to publish regularly—and almost always successfully—throughout his life, and completed a five-volume biography of George Washington just eight months before his death, at age 76, in Tarrytown, New York.
  
  wn.com/Washington_Irving
• Yusuf I
  
  Yusuf I, Sultan of Granada (June 29, 1318 – October 19, 1354) was the seventh Nasrid ruler of the Moorish Emirate of Granada in Al-Andalus on the Iberian Peninsula. He was Sultan between 1333 and 1354.
  A detailed portrait of Yusuf indicates "he was white-skinned, naturally strong, had a fine figure and an even finer character. His teeth sparkled, he had large eyes and dark straight hair, a thick beard, a handsome face and a clear voice that was a pleasure to hear. His figure and beauty made him stand out among other people. God endowed him with an extraordinary intelligence, good judgment and sound opinions. He was ingenious and thoughtful and could foresee the future. By nature pacific, he tried to maintain friendship with all the other monarchs of his day. He loved art and was especially fascinated by architecture. He liked to dress with elegance, was a collector of arms and adornments and had some mechanical ability." Like his brother and predecessor Muhammed IV, he lived under the influence of the courtiers and his paternal grandmother, Fatima. As a minor, Moorish chroniclers noted his authority "was limited to choosing the food he wished to eat from the dishes that were placed before him."
  
  wn.com/Yusuf_I

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