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Revision as of 13:29, 21 January 2010 by 193.147.222.242 (talk)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff) Municipality in Catalonia, Spain| Reus | |
|---|---|
| Municipality | |
.svg) Flag Coat of arms | |
| Country |  Spain |
| Community |  Catalonia |
| Province | Tarragona |
| Comarca | Baix Camp |
| Area | |
| • Total | 52.71 km (20.35 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 134 m (440 ft) |
| Population | |
| • Total | 107,118 |
| • Density | 2,000/km (5,300/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+1 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+2 (CEST) |
Reus is the capital of the comarca of Baix Camp, in the province of Tarragona, in Catalonia, Spain.
The area has always been an important producer of wines and spirits, and gained continental importance at the time of the Phylloxera 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 latin word used to describe prisoners, and as such, it would be a roman penitentiary. Currently, the most accepted theory is that the name has celtic 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 Catalonia with a population of 14,440 in 1787 and 27,257 in 1860. It was overtaken by Tarragona and Lleida between 1900 and 1930. The population barely grew between 1920 and 1930, with 30,266 and 35,950 inhabitants, respectively. From then, the population growth has been substantial, from 41,014 inhabitants in 1960 to 108,100 inhabitants that the city has as of the end of 2008. Immigration, mostly from Marrakesh, has been a portion of that increase. About 6% are Muslim and 8% from other religions.
According to the 2006 official Spanish census (source: Instituto Nacional de Estadística), Reus is the 9th most populous city in Catalonia and the 59th in Spain.
| 1900 | 1930 | 1950 | 1970 | 1986 | 2006 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 26,681 | 31,299 | 35,950 | 59,904 | 81,145 | 101,767 |
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 Carnival and the Anada a l'Antiga towards Salou. 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 Airport 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 flag 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
- 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.
- 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 Psychiatrist, born in Reus, 22 August 1912.
- Antoni Gaudí Architect was born in Reus 1852 and died in Barcelona 1926
On July 20, 1996, a bomb planted by ETA at Reus airport injured 53 people, many of them British. Further bombs exploded at Cambrils and Salou.
References
- Panareda Clopés, Josep Maria; Rios Calvet, Jaume; Rabella Vives, Josep Maria (1989). Guia de Catalunya, Barcelona:Caixa de Catalunya. ISBN 84-87135-01-3 (Spanish). ISBN 84-87135-02-1 (Catalan).
