Spanish Australians (Spanish: Españoles Australianos) are Australians with ancestry from the European country of Spain. There are approximately 58,271 Australians of Spanish full or partial descent, most of which reside within the major cities of Sydney and Melbourne, with lesser numbers in Brisbane and Perth. Of these, according to the 2006 Australian census, 12,276 were born in Spain.
Immigration to Australia from Spain was minimal during the 1850s and 1860s resulting from the social disruption of the Carlist civil wars. Larger numbers of Spanish immigrants entered the country in the first quarter of the twentieth century due to the same circumstances of rural poverty and urban congestion that led other Europeans to emigrate in that period, as well as unpopular wars. Many immigrants moved either back to Spain or to another country.
Enrique "Ricky" Martín Morales (born December 24, 1971), better known as Ricky Martin, is a Puerto Rican pop singer and actor who achieved prominence, first as a member of the Puerto Rican boy band Menudo, then as a solo artist since 1991. Throughout his career, he has sold more than 60 million albums worldwide. He is the founder of the Ricky Martin Foundation (in Spanish Fundación Ricky Martin), a non-profit charity organization aimed at human trafficking.
Martin got his start at age twelve with the all-boy pop group Menudo; after five years with the group, he released his Spanish-language solo album, Ricky Martin, in 1991. He also acted on stage and on TV in Mexico, becoming a modest star in the country. In 1994 he starred on the American TV soap opera General Hospital, playing a Puerto Rican singer. In 1999, after several albums in Spanish, he released his first English-language album (also titled Ricky Martin), which included "Livin' la Vida Loca". The album sold 22 million copies and brought Martin international fame. His other studio albums include: Me Amarás (1993), A Medio Vivir (1995), Vuelve (1998), Sound Loaded (2000), Almas del Silencio (2003), Life (2005), and Música + Alma + Sexo (2011).
Saina Nehwal (Hindi: साइना नेहवाल ; Telugu : సైనా నెహ్వాల్) (born March 17, 1990) is an Indian Khel Ratna badminton player currently ranked 5 in the world by Badminton World Federation. Saina is supported by the Olympic Gold Quest. Saina is the first Indian woman to reach the singles quarterfinals at the Olympics and the first Indian to win the World Junior Badminton Championships. Saina Nehwal made history on June 21, 2009, becoming the first Indian to win a Super Series tournament, by clinching the Indonesia Open with a victory over higher-ranked Chinese Wang Lin in Jakarta.
Saina won her second career Super Series title by winning the Singapore Open title on June 20, 2010. She completed a hat-trick in the same year by winning the Indonesian Open on June 27, 2010. This win resulted in her rise to 3rd ranking and subsequently to No. 2. Later in the same year she also won Hong Kong Super Series on December 12, 2010. After experiencing a poor 2011 season, Saina become the first Indian singles player to reach the summit stage of year-ending Super Series Finals defeating two-time All England champion and World No. 5 Tine Baun in the semi-finals.
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".
Pastor Rafael Maldonado Motta (born March 10, 1985 in Maracay) is a Venezuelan Formula One driver, currently with the Williams team. Before making his Formula One debut in 2011, he won the 2010 GP2 championship. He became the first Venezuelan to win a Formula One Grand Prix when he won the 2012 Spanish Grand Prix from his first pole position.
Maldonado's first experience of formula racing began in Italy in 2003. He competed in the Italian Formula Renault Championship with Cram Competition, and was classified seventh in the drivers' championship. His notable results included three podium finishes and one pole position. Cram Competition also entered one round of the German Formula Renault Championship at Oschersleben.
In 2004, Maldonado ran a dual programme in Italian and European Formula Renault with Cram Competition. He won the Italian title, with eight wins and six pole positions from seventeen starts. In the European championship, he was classified eighth overall, with two wins. Maldonado also found the time to enter one round of the now defunct Formula Renault V6 Eurocup at Spa-Francorchamps, with a best finish of fifth place.