Cienfuegos

Cienfuegos (Spanish pronunciation: [sjemˈfweɣos]), capital of Cienfuegos Province, is a city on the southern coast of Cuba. It is located about 250 km (160 mi) from Havana and has a population of 150,000. The city is dubbed La Perla del Sur (Pearl of the South). Cienfuegos literally translates to "one hundred fires"—cien meaning "one hundred", fuegos meaning "fires".

History

The area where the city lies was identified as Cacicazgo de Jagua by early Spanish conquistadors. It was originally settled by Taino indigenous people. Cacicazgo translates from the Taino language as "chiefdom". Cacicazgo de Jagua was therefore the chiefdom of Chief Jagua.

The city was later settled by French immigrants from Bordeaux and Louisiana led by Don Louis de Clouet on April 22, 1819. The settlers named the city Fernardina de Jagua in honor of King Ferdinand VII of Spain. The settlement successively became a town (Spanish: villa) in 1829 and a city in 1880. The city was subsequently named Cienfuegos after the Captain General of the island at the time with the same name. Many of the streets in old town reflect French origins in their names: Bouyón, D'Clouet, Hourruitiner, Gacel, and Griffo, for instance.

La Unión

La Union or La Unión (in Spanish for The Union) may refer to:

Places

Argentina

Chile

Colombia

Costa Rica

Cuba

El Salvador

Honduras

Mexico

Peru

Philippines

Spain

United States

Other uses

See also

La Union

La Union (Ilocano: Probinsya ti La Union; Tagalog: Probinsya ng La Union; Pangasinan: Luyag na La Union), is a province in the Philippines located in the Ilocos Region in the island of Luzon. Its capital is the city of San Fernando.

The province is bordered by Ilocos Sur to the north, Benguet to the east, Pangasinan to the south, and to the west by the shores of the South China Sea.

History

La Unión, "The Union" in Spanish, was formed in 1850 when the Spanish colonial government of Governor-General Antonio Maria Blanco merged the three southern towns of Ilocos Sur province, the nine northern towns of Pangasinan, and the western towns of Benguet to the east (Eastern Pais del Igorotes in the Cordilleras). Pangasinenses were the majority in the new province because most towns had been in the Province of Pangasinan.

On October 29, 1849, Governor General Claveria issued a "promovido" to fuse the Pangasinan-Ilokos-Cordillera areas into "La Union". On March 2, 1850, Governor General Antonio Maria Blanco signed the Superior Decreto of La Union (34th province from Cebu-1565), with Captain Toribio Ruiz de la Escalera as the first Gobernador Military y Politico. Isabella II of Spain decreed the province's creation on April 18, 1854. In 1661, Andres Malong (Pangasinan) failed to recover La Union from the Spaniards after the Battle of Agoo. In 1896, the people of La Union began a revolt against the Spanish, who had called La Union “Una Provincia Modelo", ed by Manuel Tinio Y Bondoc under Emilio Aguinaldo. The Americans collaborated with the Filipinos to end the Spanish.

Havana

Havana (/həˈvænə/; Spanish: La Habana, [la aˈβana]) is the capital city, largest city, province, major port, and leading commercial centre of Cuba. The city proper has a population of 2.1 million inhabitants, and it spans a total of 728.26 km² (281.18 sq mi) – making it the largest city by area, the most populous city, and the third largest metropolitan area in the Caribbean region. The city extends mostly westward and southward from the bay, which is entered through a narrow inlet and which divides into three main harbours: Marimelena, Guanabacoa and Atarés. The sluggish Almendares River traverses the city from south to north, entering the Straits of Florida a few miles west of the bay.

The city of Havana was founded by the Spanish in the 16th century and due to its strategic location it served as a springboard for the Spanish conquest of the continent becoming a stopping point for the treasure-laden Spanish galleons on the crossing between the New World and the Old World. King Philip II of Spain granted Havana the title of City in 1592. Walls as well as forts were built to protect the old city. The sinking of the U.S. battleship Maine in Havana's harbor in 1898 was the immediate cause of the Spanish–American War.

Hotel

A hotel is an establishment that provides lodging paid on a short-term basis. Facilities provided may range from a basic bed and storage for clothing, to luxury features like en-suite bathrooms. Larger hotels may provide additional guest facilities such as a swimming pool, business centre, childcare, conference facilities and social function services. Hotel rooms are usually numbered (or named in some smaller hotels and B&Bs) to allow guests to identify their room. Some hotels offer meals as part of a room and board arrangement. In the United Kingdom, a hotel is required by law to serve food and drinks to all guests within certain stated hours. In Japan, capsule hotels provide a minimized amount of room space and shared facilities.

The precursor to the modern hotel was the inn of medieval Europe. For a period of about 200 years from the mid-17th century, coaching inns served as a place for lodging for coach travelers. Inns began to cater for richer clients in the mid-18th century. One of the first hotels in a modern sense was opened in Exeter in 1768. Hotels proliferated throughout Western Europe and North America in the 19th century, and luxury hotels began to spring up in the later part of the century.