Reus is the capital of the
comarca of
Baix CampBaix Camp is a comarca of Catalonia in northeastern Spain. It is one of the three comarques into which Camp de Tarragona was divided in the comarcal division of 1936....
, in the province of
TarragonaTarragona is a city located in the south of Catalonia and east of Spain, by the Mediterranean Sea. It is the capital of the Spanish province of the same name and the capital of the Catalan comarca Tarragonès...
, in
CataloniaCatalonia is an Autonomous Community in northeast Spain. The capital city is Barcelona.Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² and has an official population of 7,364,078. It borders France and Andorra to the north, Aragon to the west, the Valencian Community to the south, and the...
, Spain.
The area has always been an important producer of wines and spirits, and gained continental importance at the time of the
PhylloxeraGrape phylloxera , commonly just called Phylloxera , is a pest of commercial grapevines worldwide, originally native to eastern North America...
plague. Nowadays it is known by its commercial activity, for being a mecca of rock-climbing and as the birth-place of world-famous architect Gaudi.
Name
The origin of the name is source of discussion. One of the theories is that Reus comes from the
latinLatin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Roman conquest, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe...
word used to describe prisoners, and as such, it would be a roman penitentiary. Currently, the most accepted theory is that the name has
celticThe Celtic languages are descended from Proto-Celtic, or "Common Celtic", a branch of the greater Indo-European language family. The term "Celtic" was used to describe this language group by Edward Lhuyd in 1707, having much earlier been used by Greek and Roman writers to describe tribes in...
roots, from the root
red that originated the name
redis (or
reddis), that would approximately mean
place in the way /
place in the roads, or said alternatively, an inhabited place in a cross-road.
Demography
Reus was for long the second city of
CataloniaCatalonia is an Autonomous Community in northeast Spain. The capital city is Barcelona.Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² and has an official population of 7,364,078. It borders France and Andorra to the north, Aragon to the west, the Valencian Community to the south, and the...
with a
populationIn biology, a population is the collection of inter-breeding organisms of a particular species; in sociology, a collection of human beings. Individuals within a population share a factor may be reduced by statistical means, but such a generalization may be too vague to imply anything...
of 14,440 in 1787 and 27,257 in 1860. It was overtaken by
TarragonaTarragona is a city located in the south of Catalonia and east of Spain, by the Mediterranean Sea. It is the capital of the Spanish province of the same name and the capital of the Catalan comarca Tarragonès...
and
LleidaLleida is a city in the west of Catalonia, Spain.It had 131,731 inhabitants , including the contiguous municipalities of Raïmat and Sucs...
between 1900 and 1930. For example, the
populationIn biology, a population is the collection of inter-breeding organisms of a particular species; in sociology, a collection of human beings. Individuals within a population share a factor may be reduced by statistical means, but such a generalization may be too vague to imply anything...
barely raised between 1920 and 1930, with 30.266 and 35.950 habitants, respectively. From then, the
populationIn biology, a population is the collection of inter-breeding organisms of a particular species; in sociology, a collection of human beings. Individuals within a population share a factor may be reduced by statistical means, but such a generalization may be too vague to imply anything...
growth has been notable, from the 41.014 habitants in 1960 to the 108.100 habitants that the city has as of the end of 2008.
ImmigrationImmigration is the arrival of new individuals into a habitat or population. It is a biological concept and is important in population ecology, differentiated from emigration and migration.-As a political term:...
, mostly from
MarrakechMarrakech or Marrakesh , known as the "Red City", is an important and former imperial city in Morocco...
, has made that
populationIn biology, a population is the collection of inter-breeding organisms of a particular species; in sociology, a collection of human beings. Individuals within a population share a factor may be reduced by statistical means, but such a generalization may be too vague to imply anything...
grow. About 6% are Muslim and 8% from other religions.
According to the 2006 official Spanish
censusA "census" is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population.In other words every 10 years...next one would be in 2010 The term is used mostly in connection with...
(source: Instituto Nacional de Estadística), Reus is the 9th most populated city in Catalonia and the 59th in
SpainSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.
[The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though España , Estado español and Nación española are used interchangeably...]
.
Commerce
The city can be considered as a big commercial mall. There are small shops everywhere, but the most commercial streets are
Llovera,
Monterols,
Sant Joan,
Galanes,
de Jesús and
del Vent. Nearing July 25 (local festivity of
Sant Jaume) a fair is celebrated, in the past dedicated exclusively to cattle, but nowadays with a wider range of sectors offering products. On Mondays and Saturdays, street market is held near the
Mercat Central, recently improved. The nut guild on the
General Prim square, located on a building property of
La Caixa d'Estalvis de Tarragona, was closed on 2004.
Festivities
The principal Reus festivity is
Sant Pere on June 29, declared of National Touristic Interest. Also, on September 25, the
Mare de Déu de la Misericòrdia is held. One of the most characteristic and popular acts of these festivities is the so called
tronada, which is a series of 29 little mortars
masclets with bigger and stronger bangers interleaved, arranged in a linearly around the
Mercadal square (where the city hall is located), united by a hand craft gunpowder line. This lines ends in a square shape in front of the city hall, with more bangers and 4
masclets more.
Other noteworthy festivities are the
CarnivalCarnival is a festive season which occurs immediately before Lent; the main events are usually during January and February...
and the
Anada a l'Antiga towards
SalouSalou is a seaside resort and tourist centre in Catalonia, about 10 km from Tarragona on the Costa Daurada, and little over 92km to central Barcelona...
. Most of the neighborhoods have they own festivities.
Besides the major festivities, Reus holds many festivals, for example
Cos, a festival dedicated to mime, or
El Trapezi, a festival with circus spectacles. In every odd numbered year the Reus Institut Municipal d’Accio Cultural presents the
Biennals Internacionals de Fotografia Medalla Gaudi. This bi-annual exhibition features fine art photographers from around the world working in Alternative Photographic Processes (such as Platinum Printing, Gum Dichromate, Etc). At each Biennal they award the Medalla Gaudi award to a select few artists and purchase their work for the Institut Municipal d’Accio Cultural's permanent collection.
Tourism in Reus
In recent years tourism in Reus has expanded as more and more people flock to the Costa Daurada for their summer holidays or some winter sun.
Recently
Reus AirportThe Reus Airport is located by the beaches of Costa Daurada, equidistant in relation to the towns of Constantí and Reus and approximately from the city of Tarragona, in Catalonia, Spain....
has started to receive low cost flights from
Ryanair
who fly to Reus from eighteen different European locations. From Reus Airport you can easily reach both the resort town of Salou and one of Europe's biggest theme parks at Port Aventura.
Flag of Reus
The first
flagA flag is a piece of fabric, often flown from a pole or mast, generally used symbolically for signaling or identification. It is most commonly used to symbolize a country...
of Reus was in use from 1774 to 1943. The flag was dark red with the city arms in the centre.
In 1943 the flag was changed because the color red seemed to be associated with the left, defeated in the civil war (1936-39). As the historic city arms were argent with a heraldic rose the new flag was white with a heraldic rose in the center. Minor changes to the rose in the flag were made after 1943.
Currently the rose has a new version, taken from the city emblem. The emblem itself has official status. This presumably also applies to the flag also but this has not been confirmed by the local government.
History
Personalities
- His Excellency Joan Prim i Prats Marquis of Castillejos, Count of Reus and the Viscount Bruc, born in Reus on 12 December 1814 and died in Madrid on 30 December 1870. He was a general and statesman of the Spanish nineteenth century who played a leading role during the Carlist Wars
The Carlist Wars in Spain were the last major European civil wars in which pretenders fought to establish their claim to a throne. Several times during the period from 1833 to 1876 the Carlists — followers of Infante Carlos and his descendants — rallied to the cry of "God, Country, and King" and...
.
- Soberano Domènec i Mestres Painter and nineteenth century painters' proffeseur: Baldomer Galofré i Jiménez, Josep Baró Tapiro and Llovera Josep i Bofill.
- Josep Baró i Tapiro Painter, born in Reus, 7 febrier 1836 - Tangier, 4 October 1913.
- Josep Bernat Marià Fortuny i Marsal Painter, born in Reus 1838-Rome 1874.
- Josep Bofill i Llovera Painter, born in Reus 7 de gener de 1846 - 1896
- Baldomero Galofre Jimenez Painter born on 24 May 1849 Reus-Barcelona, 26 July 1902
- François Tosquelles
François Tosquelles was a Catalan psychiatrist. He is credited as one of the creators of Institutional Psychotherapy, an influential movement in the second half of the 20th century....
Psychiatrist, born in Reus, 22 August 1912.
- Antoni Gaudí
Antoni Plàcid Guillem Gaudí i Cornet – in English sometimes referred to by the Spanish translation of his name, Antonio Gaudí...
ArchitectAn architect is trained and licensed in planning and designing buildings, and participates in supervising the construction of a building. Etymologically, architect derives from the Latin architectus, itself derived from the Greek arkhitekton , i.e. chief builder...
was born in Reus 1852 and died in Barcelona 1926
- His Serene Highness Jésus Saumell i Zafra Prince of Achaia and Marquis of Campobianco. Mezen Museum Reus and others museums, also contribued with donation to hospitals associations, born 4 July 1963.Honorable Titles of Nobility, recognized by the countries (including Britain) signed the Hague Convention of 1961.Principality of Achaea from family lineage. Marquis of Campobianco real privilege, 1733 by His Royal Highness King Charles III of Spain and Emperor Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor and Archduke of Austria
On July 20, 1996, a
bombA bomb is any of a range of explosive devices that typically rely on the exothermic chemical reaction of an explosive material to produce an extremely sudden and violent release of energy. The word comes from the Greek word βόμβος , an onomatopoetic term with approximately the same meaning as...
planted by
ETAor ETA , is a terrorist, criminal, Basque nationalist and separatist organization. Founded in 1959, it evolved from a group advocating traditional cultural ways to a paramilitary group with the goal of independence for the greater Basque Country from a Marxist-Leninist perspective.Since 1968, ETA...
at Reus airport injured 53 people, many of them
BritishThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
http://www.tkb.org/Incident.jsp?incID=8036. Further bombs exploded at
CambrilsCambrils is a coastal town in the comarca of Baix Camp, Tarragona province of Catalonia, Spain.-History:-Roman empire to Middle Ages:The town of Cambrils can trace its origins back to prehistoric times, although it was not until the Roman period that the population of the Cambrils we know today...
and Salou.
External links