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In recent years, 'place-based' interventions have become influential in shaping economic development policy, especially at the European level. From the 2007 to 2013 programming period onwards, EU Cohesion policy, adopted a 'place-based' approach to encourage the competitiveness of all regions. Rather than spatially-blind interventions, the focus is on tackling territorial inequalities via a more sophisticated spatially-sensitive approach to stimulate economic change, at the local level. The challenge is that place-based policies are complex, risky and the performance indicators used to capture the achievements from EU Cohesion policy focus on direct results rather than expected policy change, making it hard to prove effectiveness and value for money. This paper contributes to ongoing academic and policy debates about how to capture the achievements of EU Cohesion policy, through an in-depth case study of 'place-based' interventions made via Interreg funding, to encourage cross-border cooperation between Spain and Portugal. The evidence illustrates that there is a need for novel approaches, which are conceptually informed and spatially sensitive to be able to capture not only the quantitative but also the qualitative achievements generated through EU 'place-based' interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Having a proper understanding of the impact of influenza is a fundamental step towards improved preventive action. This paper reviews findings from the Burden of Acute Respiratory Infections study on the burden of influenza in Iberia, and its potential underestimation, and proposes specific measures to lessen influenza's impact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The family Rhinocerotidae, also referred to as 'true rhinoceroses', is one of the multiple perissodactyl lineages that have independently evolved large body sizes, lophodonty (fully developed crests between dental cusps), a simplified anterior dentition, and the molarization of the premolars. During the last decades, descriptions of novel fossil collections, the update of previously published ones, and taxonomic reviews through cladistic analyses have brought to bear a new, comprehensive perspective on the group, significantly increasing its recorded deep-time diversity. This paper reviews the historical development of the study of Rhinocerotidae in the Iberian Peninsula, provides an up-to-date compendium of the regional rhinoceros fossil record by gathering the available references, and presents an updated taxonomic framework. As a result, 27 out of the more than 200 rhinoceros species described in the literature worldwide inhabited the Iberian Peninsula, regionally ranging from the Oligocene to the Late Pleistocene. Their systematics, stratigraphic, and geographical ranges are detailed in the present article and the occurrences and geographical ranges illustrated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the results of the explorations carried out in the western sector of the Iberian Central System (western Gredos, Béjar, Gata and Estrela mountain ranges). The macroremains found allow detailing the model of the landscape transformation, the composition and extension of their vegetal formations throughout the Holocene. Ninety-nine woody macroremains, 3 bark remains and 8 pinecones were located from eight sites between 875 and 1860 m above sea level, among which 15 radiocarbon dates were made. The taxonomic identification of two trunks found in Estrela allows us to document the local presence of Pinus cf. sylvestris ca. 6600 cal BP in this site. The same taxon also appears at the western end of Gredos between ca. 1700–2800 cal BP at approximately 1300 m. These remains expand the Holocene distribution of P. cf. sylvestris in the Central System known to date, both temporally and geographically. In parallel, the macroremains analysed document the composition of high mountain scrub (Cytisus type, Erica cf. arborea) in Béjar (ca. 1860 m), as well as mixed scrub-woodland formations in Gata (975–1180 m), which included deciduous Quercus , Betulaceae and Ericaceae. The presence of P. pinaster at ca. 6200 cal BP and 1180 m in this mountain range constitutes the earliest palaeobotanical evidence of this species recorded in Gata. The main results support the continuous persistence of plant formations in which P. sylvestris , P. nigra , and P. pinaster would have formed part throughout the Iberian Central System during the Holocene in a wide altitudinal range (1100–1840 m). • Above one hundred Holocene macrofossils from eight different sites were analysed. • Pinus sylvestris recently disappeared from the western Central System. • P. gr. sylvestris remained in Serra da Estrela until ˜6650 years ago. • First evidence of Pinus pinaster has been found in Gata ˜6200 years ago. • Betula , Quercus , Alnus and Ericaceae Holocene macroremains were found in Gata. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to describe and discuss the significance of the social policy measures implemented in Southern European countries—Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain—in response to the first wave of COVID‐19. Our analysis covers interventions from 1 March to June 30, 2020. Despite significant differences in how the COVID‐19 pandemic spread—with Italy and Spain experiencing much higher rates of infection and lethality—Southern European economies are among the most hard‐hit—and are likely to find themselves in the eye of the storm, once more. The paper shows that despite differences in how countries have countered the spread of COVID‐19, there are important commonalities in the actions governments took to counteract the economic impact of the pandemic. Foremost efforts were directed at wage subsidy schemes to contain mass job destruction, additional temporary benefits to compensate self‐employed and other non‐standard workers for the loss of earnings; the expansion of unemployment insurance; and finally, the introduction and/or strengthening of schemes to provide support to families with care responsibilities. The scale of the social policy and employment protection response has nevertheless been constrained by the fiscal position of each individual country in the post‐Euro crisis context. We argue that, in the long run, the response capacity of these governments and the social and economic consequences of this crisis will need to be contextualised against the backdrop of the deep and prolonged impact of austerity‐driven measures on public budgets, production and welfare regimes over the last decade. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The advent of online data aggregator infrastructures has facilitated the accumulation of Digital Accessible Knowledge (DAK) about biodiversity. Despite the vast amount of freely available data records, their usefulness for research depends on completeness of each body of data regarding their spatial, temporal and taxonomic coverage. In this paper, we assess the completeness of DAK about terrestrial mammals distributed across the Iberian Peninsula. We compiled a dataset with all records about mammals occurring in the Iberian Peninsula available in the Global Biodiversity Information Facility and in the national atlases from Portugal and Spain. After cleaning the dataset of errors as well as records lacking collection dates or not determined to species level, we assigned all occurrences to a 10-km grid. We assessed inventory completeness by calculating the ratio between observed and expected richness (based on the Chao2 richness index) in each grid cell and classified cells as well-sampled or under-sampled. We evaluated survey coverage of well-sampled cells along four environmental gradients and temporal coverage. Out of 796,283 retrieved records, quality issues led us to remove 616,141 records unfit for this use. The main reason for discarding records was missing collection dates. Only 25.95% cells contained enough records to robustly estimate completeness. The DAK about terrestrial mammals from the Iberian Peninsula was low, and spatially and temporally biased. Out of 5,874 cells holding data, only 620 (9.95%) were classified as well-sampled. Moreover, well-sampled cells were geographically aggregated and reached inventory completeness over the same temporal range. Despite the increasing availability of DAK, its usefulness is still compromised by quality issues and gaps in data. Future work should therefore focus on increasing data quality, in addition to mobilizing unpublished data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The integration of the residential function beyond the limits of the urban and developable land in the legislative frameworks has had a distinct and incomplete character. Faced with an identical phenomenon in general, called urban sprawl, the competent governments in this matter within the Iberian Peninsula have opted for a dissimilar assimilation of it, materialized in different legal and instrumental mechanisms. The objective of this paper is to present the different ways of understanding and regulating this new urban model by the Portuguese state government and the regional autonomous governments in Spain. To do this, a comparative analysis is carried out on the criteria for the classification of undeveloped land and a review of the most paradigmatic tools for the management of periurban and rurban development. The works indicate a position that is still indeterminate and, sometimes, contradictory. In spite of this, there is a tendency towards the regulated inclusion of the residential function outside the geographical contexts that have traditionally supported it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to analyze communication policies and the relationship between state and press in Portugal and Spain, with special emphasis on these two countries' particular characteristics within the Euro-Mediterranean model. A historical approach has been taken to explain context and measures of the past that have led to the current situations. Moreover, the paradigm shift that digital convergence is bringing about makes it necessary to reflect upon how these countries, each with a very definite journalistic tradition, are facing the future of the press. There is no guarantee that government measures of the past will be able to ensure the competitive vitality that converging international media requires. Finally, the paper also reviews how various policies of state aid and impact assessment contribute to paralysis in decision-making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper aims to analyze the Spanish expedition headed by Ruy López de Villalobos, that left from New Spain in 1542. Two documents provide different points of view about the same expedition: (i) one official report, written by García Descalante Alvarado in Lisbon, in 1548; (ii) one letter, written by the Jesuit Cosme de Torres (1510-1570) from Goa (India), in 1549. The comparison of the texts shows how the rivalry between the Spanish and the Portuguese kingdoms were running at the time in the Pacific Ocean. Besides, the second document was edited during the 16th century, which reveals the discursive component in that rivalry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Both Portugal and Spain are commonly perceived as secondary actors regarding the shaping of the EU's eastern policies, due to several factors, including geographical distance and both countries' colonial past. This article enquires about this common perception, arguing that although there has been some division of labour among EU member states regarding Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) areas, namely through the exercise of EU presidencies, both countries sponsor a more universal view of their foreign policy, which has led them to engage with Russia, both through the EU and on a bilateral basis. The paper surveys the main areas of this engagement, identifying key factors shaping bilateral relations with Russia and major policy areas where interaction has developed. Finally, the paper assesses the impact of Spanish and Portuguese foreign policy choices on EU common policy towards Moscow, arguing that a central aspect limiting the scope of their input is the nature of relations among EU member states, more than the lack of historical and proximity relations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the integration experiences of Portugal and Spain in the European Union in order to study how it has affected their economic structures and economic performance. It analyzes the relationship between regional integration, economic growth, and economic reforms, draws some lessons based on their EU integration experience, and looks at the impact of European Monetary Union (EMU) integration in the Portuguese and Spanish economies. While the overall benefits of EU/EMU membership are undeniable in both countries, their economic performance diverged starting in 2000. In particular, the paper will examine the reasons for this divergence during the 2000-2007 period. The examination of these cases will show that the process of economic reforms has to be a domestic process led by domestic actors willing to carry them out. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses and compares two kinds of logic that explain electoral behaviour: the performance vote and the ideological vote. To be exact, this paper puts one of the main hypotheses of both theories to the test: that the rules guiding citizens' voting decisions are the same, regardless of their level of interest, knowledge and information about political matters. In order to do this, empirical material taken from post-electoral surveys in four democracies —Spain, Portugal, Hungary and Poland— is analysed. The data belongs to the second module of the Comparative Study of Electoral Systems (CSES 2005) programme which contains information on citizens' electoral conduct and knowledge of politics. The results indicate that while the influence of political knowledge on the logic of the performance vote is clear and conclusive, it is much less conclusive in the case of the ideological vote. All this suggests that democratic control of governments through sanctioning their performance requires citizens to have minimum levels of knowledge and information about politics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study is to investigate the link between the use of electronic resources and the academic output of researchers in 10 universities of Portugal and Spain in the period 2007 to 2012. As for Portuguese institutions, data are analyzed from Universities of Minho, Porto, Aveiro, Beira Interior and Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro. As for Spanish institutions data are taken into account from Universities of Burgos, Leon, Salamanca, Valladolid and Vigo. The analysis of the consumption of contents distributed to the mentioned universities will be undertaken from downloads of four suppliers whose materials are widely used: IEEEXplore, ScienceDirect, SpringerLink and Wiley. In investigating academic output, the databases Web of Science (WoS) from Thomson Reuters and Scopus from Elsevier will be taken into account. From previous studies we know that the consumption of electronic academic contents shows an upward trend since the Big Deals were hired by the consortia B-on in Portugal and BUCLE and Bugalicia in Spain. We want to check if this upward trend is also a reality in the academic output. The paper main aim is to investigate the connection between the access to a wider range of journals and a higher international academic output. The analysis will differentiate disciplines, compare the situation of Portugal and Spain and study the research collaboration between both countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are significant gaps in accessible knowledge about the distribution and phenology of Iberian harvestmen (Arachnida: Opiliones). Harvestmen accessible datasets in Iberian Peninsula are unknown, an only two other datasets available in GBIF are composed exclusively of harvestmen records. Moreover, only a few harvestmen data from Iberian Peninsula are available in GBIF network (or in any network that allows public retrieval or use these data). This paper describes the data associated with the Opiliones kept in the BOS Arthropod Collection of the University of Oviedo, Spain (hosted in the Department of Biología de Organismos y Sistemas), filling some of those gaps. The specimens were mainly collected from the northern third of the Iberian Peninsula. The earliest specimen deposited in the collection, dating back to the early 20th century, belongs to the P. Franganillo Collection. The dataset documents the collection of 16,455 specimens, preserved in 3,772 vials. Approximately 38% of the specimens belong to the family Sclerosomatidae, and 26% to Phalangidae; six other families with fewer specimens are also included. Data quality control was incorporated at several steps of digitisation process to facilitate reuse and improve accuracy. The complete dataset is also provided in Darwin Core Archive format, allowing public retrieval, use and combination with other biological, biodiversity of geographical variables datasets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Polar marine ecosystems have global ecological and economic importance because of their unique biodiversity and their major role in climate processes and commercial fisheries, among others. Portugal and Spain have been highly active in a wide range of disciplines in marine biology of the Antarctic and the Arctic. The main aim of this paper is to provide a synopsis of some of the results and initiatives undertaken by Portuguese and Spanish polar teams within the field of marine sciences, particularly on benthic and pelagic biodiversity (species diversity and abundance, including microbial, molecular, physiological and chemical mechanisms in polar organisms), conservation and ecology of top predators (particularly penguins, albatrosses and seals), and pollutants and evolution of marine organisms associated with major issues such as climate change, ocean acidification and UV radiation effects. Both countries have focused their polar research more in the Antarctic than in the Arctic. Portugal and Spain should encourage research groups to continue increasing their collaborations with other countries and develop multi-disciplinary research projects, as well as to maintain highly active memberships within major organizations, such as the Scientific Committee for Antarctic Research (SCAR), the International Arctic Science Council (IASC) and the Association of Polar Early Career Scientists (APECS), and in international research projects. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper concerns a seventeenth-century manuscript nautical atlas of the coast of Portugal that was compiled in the context of the Hispanic-Portuguese crisis of 1640. The atlas was the work of Antonio da Cunha e Andrada, a Portuguese operating under the orders of King Philip IV of Spain, who seems to have been an amateur cartographer. Andrada's own description of his cartographical achievement as an atlas for privateers is upheld in the light of the accompanying text, which contains a strategy for blockading the coastal trade of secessionist Portugal to ruin her economy and force her back under Spanish rule. The extant version of the atlas is dated 1661, but the author tells us it was a copy of the one he had made in 1641. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this work/paper is to compare the ideology of the most important republican leaders of Spain and Portugal, between the portuguese "Geraçao doutrinal" and the spanish "republicanos históricos", in order to find common characteristics and differences between them and, therefore, between the Portuguese republicanism and the Spanish one. This way, we will pay attention on the ideological principles of each of the main leaders about different matters like: their philosofical principles, the organization of the State, the iberism, the religious problem or the social question. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines how dissimilar democratization scenarios in two historically important cases helped to shape a major societal outcome, that of unemployment levels. With an empirical focus on the neighboring countries of the Iberian Peninsula, the paper argues that Portugal's relative success and Spain's persistent failures in the provision of employment cannot be fully explained by the focus of some analysts on comparative labor costs, and that the Iberian countries' employment levels also rest on a set of factors connected in sometimes complex ways with the two societies' very different paths from authoritarianism to democracy in the 1970s. Factors emphasized include the degree of incorporation of women into the labor force, the availability of adequate financing for small and medium enterprises—and the impact of national financial systems and state policies on that intermediary outcome—and the extent to which the two countries' welfare states are employment friendly. Central to this article's argument is the claim that the divergence between these Third Wave pioneers in their democratization scenarios accounts for the dissimilar penetration into the Iberian cases of another global wave of the late twentieth century, that of market-centric economic liberalization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on analysis of public opinion towards European integration in Greece, Portugal and Spain, countries known for their positive attitudes toward integration. In particular, the article analyses how public attitudes towards Europe have been formed in these countries. Secondly, it examines the determining factors of citizens' positive attitudes toward integration and shows the types of variables that are essential to understanding the differences between Greeks, Spaniards and the Portuguese. It also examines traditional euro-optimism in these southern countries. The findings show the relevance of identity and the various impacts of party platforms and ideology in attitudes of support for European integration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Karyological information on Iberian Ophrys species is very limited. This paper provides the haploid and diploid chromosome numbers of 11 taxa of sect. Pseudophrys and sect. Ophrys , both of which are well represented in the Iberian Peninsula, and two taxa from Tunisia. The first data on chromosome numbers for O. vasconica (2n = 72, 74), O. ficalhoana (2n = 36), O. picta (2n = 36), O. sphegifera (n = 18, 2n = 36, 38) and O. passionis (2n = 36) are also presented, confirming the stability of the chromosome number in Ophrys . In addition, populations of the group O. omegaifera (O. dyris and O. vasconica ), together with tetraploidy, pentaploidy and the existence of aneuploid phenomena, are reported for the first time in Iberia. The basic diploid number is always 2n = 36. The karyotypes of several species were analysed. Evolutionary trends in Ophrys chromosomes are discussed. Taxonomic and phytogeographical details are provided on several species or groups of species from Iberia. © 2003 The Linnean Society of London, Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 2003, 142 , 395-406. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study is in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN-SDGs) that address pertinent global issues. This study focuses on the need for access to clean and affordable energy consumption, responsible energy consumption, sustainable economic growth, and climate change mitigation. To this end, this paper evaluates the relevance of the renewable energy sector on the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) framework in Portugal, Italy, Greece, and Spain for the period 1995–2015. As an econometric strategy, we adopt the use of panel data over the highlighted countries. In the first step, we apply the unit root test recommended by Levin, Lin, and Chu in conjunction with ADF-Fisher, and Phillips-Perron for robustness and consistency. We found that the variables used in this study are integrated I (1) in the first difference. In the second step, we apply the Pedroni cointegration test, and Kao Residual cointegration test, and we observe that the variables are cointegrated in the long run. The generalized least squares (GLS), the panel fully modified least squares (FMOLS), ordinary least squares robust (OLS), and panel quantile regression are considered in this research. The econometric results validate the assumption of the environmental Kuznets curve, i.e., and there is a positive correlation between income per capita and a negative effect of squared income per capita on carbon dioxide emissions. In contrast, we observe that renewable energy reduces CO2 emissions. Finally, we also find a direct connection between the urban population and the environmental degradation in the examined blocs. These results show that in Portugal, Italy, Greece, and Spain, more is required to achieve environmental sustainability in the respective countries growth trajectory. Further policy prescriptions are appended in the concluding section of this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]