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The Geographic Atlas of Spain (AGE) designed by Tomas Lopez in1804 consisted of an anthology of maps of the Spanish regions that was drawn in the second half of the eighteenth century. It was the most ambitious and successfully completed cartographic work undertaken to date. Nowadays there is no study that examines this work as a whole. This paper analyzes the complete cartographic errors of this work in Spain. A total amount of 90 sheets of maps, from 36 kingdoms or provinces of Spain in 1804 have been analyzed. A total of 21,800 settlements or towns have been digitized, which have been linked to the current ones about 75%. Linear error of each settlement has been calculated by comparing the historical mapping coordinates to the current ones. The average linear error obtained for all analyzed settlements was 6.5 km. Linear errors of all settlements have been represented for Spain by GIS. Finally, an inverse relationship between the higher density of settlements and the largest linear error has been found; as well as the communication networks of that time act as corridors that connect areas of lower errors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores participation in higher education in Germany and Spain through two case studies from the RANLHE project. There is one case in each national context (Germany and Spain) based on biographical interviews undertaken between 2008 and 2010. Social, economic and cultural dimensions are explored in order to better understand the German and Spanish contexts. In addition, we look at the comparison of the two cultural and institutional contexts, searching for a more complex description of the processes related to access, retention, completion and learning in higher education from a European and transnational perspective. These issues are connected to social challenges regarding inequalities and social class. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite recent advances in sex and relationships education (SRE), the Spanish education system still lacks coherent policies in this field. This paper provides an overview of the current situation, focusing specifically on Andalusia, and discusses the importance of providing SRE for young people. It first describes current Spanish education policy on gender equality and shows how this leaves little space for SRE. It then presents data on young people's sexuality and relationships collected in the course of an action research project utilising different qualitative techniques. Data deriving from 27 in-depth interviews focusing on values, norms and practices relating to young people's sexuality and relationships, conducted in two secondary schools in Granada, Andalusia, are then analysed in order to identify the degree of gender equality present within them. The results suggest that in sexual relations young people tend uncritically to accept and reproduce many of the patriarchal dimensions of gender and sexuality. Findings highlight the importance of linking more closely SRE to gender equality education policies in Spain. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The Congregation of the Brothers of Christian Schools (the De La Salle Brothers) has grown since its arrival in Spain in 1878, and today it is the second most important Congregation – in terms of the number of students and schools – in the private school sector in Spain. This article aims to present, first, the educational contributions of De La Salle, which are based upon discipline, Catholic schooling and popular education. This pedagogical approach became the foundation of traditional education, and was a success in their schools and a model for other institutions. Second, our study is focused on the situation of the De La Salle schools in the Basque Country during the Franco regime. The case of the Basque Country is very important, because it showed a significant increase in centres for vocational training and secondary education. The paper concludes that the De La Salle schools make up a Catholic school model adapted to the educational and social reality of the Basque Country and that, during the Franco regime, the model went through a period which balanced tradition and modernity regarding educational provision. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In light of the extensive presence and preservation of communal property and resources in territories in mainland Spain, the aim of this paper is to analyse the keys to the use, distribution and retention of such properties and resources, particularly those still in existence, with particular regard to common pasture lands and woodlands. A compilation of council by-laws from past periods, combined with the production of a catalogue of agricultural patterns, has enabled an in-depth study of certain fundamental points relating to social and economic development. Such development has tended to maintain the balance between resources and population and to conserve resources through sustained and sustainable use that to some extent has guaranteed the occupation of lands, the preservation of rural communities and the perpetuation of traditional systems in the context of new challenges and contemporary needs. A combination of qualitative and quantitative documentary sources has enabled elucidation of the role and the full dimensions of communal properties. In particular, the causes and consequences, either of their sale or privatisation, or of their preservation and exploitation, will be outlined in the context of changes and new contemporary needs. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The purpose of the paper is twofold: (1) to contribute to the analysis of the origins of modern European female PE and sports from a power perspective, inspired by Foucault's work; and (2) to present a detailed analysis of female PE and sport in Spain (1883–1936) as a specific European case study. It is argued that these physical activities could be conceived in the Spanish case as part of a specific kind of ‘governmentality’ with a dual nature. On the one hand they represented disciplinary ‘technologies of power’ over the female body. Selected physical activities—dictated mainly from the hygienic-moral position of theRegeneracionistas(‘Regenerationists’)—were exerted as a kind of ‘bio-power’ for the control of the female population. On the other hand, such kind of activities (especially sports) represented certain ‘technologies of the self’ for middle and upper class women. Through participation in sports, women gained a more active and public role in the Spanish society of the era, obtaining some degree of autonomy in self-governance over their bodies and their lives. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

International migratory movements tend to produce the reality of divided families that are located in at least two different places. The literature on divided or transnational families and family reunification movements has shown how the socio-demographic determinants in origin and the socio-economic and institutional factors in destination drive these processes. Assuming that migratory movements are the result to a large extent of specifically familial dynamics and strategies, in this paper we are interested in exploring whether other elements associated to the country of origin and to the relationship between country of origin and country of destination have a discernible influence on the family results of migration and, specifically, on the separation and subsequent reunification of the immigrant families. This complex set of elements builds on the playing field where migratory decisions are taken. The Spanish case, characterized by a sudden explosion of international immigration between 2000 and 2007 and significant numbers of Latin American migrants arriving during these years, is a particularly suitable scenario to investigate this phenomenon. The empirical analysis will be mainly based on the National Immigrant Survey of Spain (2007). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Romani women, both immigrant and native, face a greater risk of social exclusion because of the prejudices that mainstream society has about the Roma, and especially because they are women and some of them immigrants as well. This paper analyses how Romani immigrant and native women are building pan-ethnic identities, sharing alliances and developing common strategies in Spain. Previous studies on Romani women have tended to see them as passive and not active agents. Thus, very few have focused on the specific case of Romani immigrant women and on their modes of incorporation in their new contexts of reception. Drawing on data from two qualitative studies of Roma immigrant women and Gitanas in Spain, the authors demonstrate how everyday-life interactions and shared interests at informal and formal encounters lead to building solidarity alliances and sharing transnational narratives, thus overcoming subgroup ethnic boundaries and stereotypes. The analysis is carried out from the ‘other women’ approach, taking into account the voices of all types of Romani women, illiterate and literate, in the whole research process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper offers an overview of the current state, difficulties, limitations and future possibilities for sex education in Spain. On the basis of a study involving 3760 teachers from all provinces in Spain, a detailed analysis of the obstacles at legislative, school and teacher levels was developed. Significant weaknesses were found at each of these levels. The main obstacles were the fact that sex education is a cross-curricular subject and contains content that should be incorporated throughout the curriculum rather than in one specific course; lack of monitoring of the practice of sex education; lack of interest in the topic in many schools; and finally lack of appropriate teacher training. A variety of different actions at legislative, school and teacher levels are proposed to overcome those difficulties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Impacts on water resources produced by climate change can be exacerbated when occurring in regions already presenting low water resources levels and frequent droughts, and subject to imbalances between water demands and available resources. Within Europe, according to existing climate change scenarios, water resources will be severely affected in Spain. However, the detection of those effects is not simple, because the natural variability of the water cycle and the effects of water abstractions on flow discharges complicate the establishment of clear trends. Therefore, there is a need to improve the assessment of climate change impacts by using hydrological simulation models. This paper reviews water resources and their variability in Spain, the recent modelling studies on hydrological effects of climate change, expected impacts on water resources, the implications in river basins and the current policy actions. Editor Z.W. Kundzewicz Citation Estrela, T., Pérez-Martin, M.A., and Vargas, E., 2012. Impacts of climate change on water resources in Spain. Hydrological Sciences Journal, 57 (6), 1154–1167. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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]

According to several international surveys Spain is among the western countries with the most negative views of Jews. While quantitative data on the topic accumulates, there is a significant lack of interpretative approaches that might explain the particular Spanish case. This paper presents the background, methodology and major results of a discussion group-based study on antisemitism, which was conducted in Spain in the autumn of 2009. The study identifies and locates in different socio-economic and ideological milieus the range of stereotypical discourses on Jews, Judaism and the Arab–Israeli conflict in Spain. Analysis of the group meetings shows that, despite growing secularization in Spanish society, the central explanatory variable for persisting and resurging antisemitism in this country is still religion in a broad cultural sense. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The freshwater gastropod genus Pseudamnicola Paulucci, 1878 belongs to the family Hydrobiidae Stimpson, 1865 and has been cited in Europe, Africa and Asia. The Ibero-Balearic region is considered one of the areas showing the greatest diversity of hydrobiids although few works have provided complete morphological descriptions. Seven Pseudamnicola species have been described based only on shells and some features of the male and female genitalia. This paper provides the largest set of anatomical and morphological data currently available for hydrobiids and describes five new species of Pseudamnicola (Corrosella) from the Iberian Peninsula: P. (C.) manueli sp. nov., P. (C.) bareai sp. nov., P. (C.) marisolae, sp. nov., P. (C.) iruritai sp. nov. and P. (C.) andalusica sp. nov. Two further species, P. (C.) luisi Boeters, 1984 and P. (C.) falkneri (Boeters, 1970), whose distribution areas overlap, are re-described for comparison. The new species are morphologically well differentiated, the most satisfactory characters being female and male genitalia, radula and nervous system, and are well supported by molecular data, with genetic distances between 5.39 and 11.15% for the mitochondrial DNA cytochrome c oxidase subunit I sequence. All the species inhabit a mountain region whose tectonic episodes are here invoked to explain the creation of an area of endemisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inland wetlands are numerous in Spain and have been classified in a broad range of categories. At present, the most relevant classification is that applied by River Basin Authorities for the identification of water bodies, according to the EU Water Framework Directive. This typology recognises up to 27 different types of inland lake in Spain. The aims of this paper are to review current knowledge about the evaluation of the ecosystem services provided by inland wetlands, and to present a discussion about two cases that have been subject to economic evaluation. The results obtained highlight the fact that little work has been done in Spain on this topic, thus opening up new lines of research. In particular, a significant amount of work is required to identify and characterize specific ecosystem services provided by wetlands in Mediterranean conditions, which in turn will do a great deal to highlight the importance of their conservation. Editor Z.W. Kundzewicz; Guest editor M.C. Acreman Citation de la Hera, A. Fornés, J.M. and Bernués, M., 2011. Ecosystem services of inland wetlands from the perspective of the EU Water Framework Directive implementation in Spain. Hydrological Sciences Journal, 56 (8), 1656–1666. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper focuses on the way conflict and cooperation in industrial and community relations interrelate, and how the social space of practices contribute to the emergence of a common cultural heritage, whether it be a workers' heritage or a civil heritage. Furthermore, the dynamics of industrial sectors contribute to the changing aspect and character of what will be recalled as heritage. This analysis outlines the role that industrial relations in textile and shoe manufacturing sectors has had for the configuration of cultural heritage in two declining industrial cities in Eastern Spain: Alcoy (textile) and Elda (shoes). Conflictual industrial relations inside factories were and are linked to cooperative social relations between 'clashing' industrialists and workers. This occurs in daily life through a strong industrial paternalism, and with a strong presence of company owners in the social activities of these cities. This 'weaves' the community around the existence of the textile and shoe factories; a social consensus is sustained by an image of capital and labour as citizens and members of the same community. On the other hand, a common civic heritage has been configured through the folklore festivities of Moors and Christians, in which most city citizens participate irrespective of their social position, and in which the role of workers and industrialists has traditionally been very important. From a qualitative approach, this work analyses the dynamics experienced by these cities' common heritage, and the specific role that workers' cultural heritage has played in it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Explaining Islamic architecture was a challenge for early modern Spanish historians. Although many of the buildings were highly valued, they nonetheless represented a defeat and 700 years of Muslim presence in the Peninsula. Consequently, the Islamic legacy was sometimes viewed with a wide range of aesthetic, moral and religious prejudices. This paper aims to analyse the role of these unfavourable narratives of Islamic architecture in the negotiation of the memory of the so-called 'loss of the Iberian Peninsula'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Immigration and citizenship laws mark the boundaries of the imagined community that is the nation. However, these boundaries are not stable constructs: quite the contrary, they are sites of constant struggle and change. This paper discusses the evolving status of Argentinean-born immigrants in Spain since 1985 in these two bodies of legislation. After a brief introduction to the history of population exchanges between Spain and Argentina throughout the twentieth century, I draw from official statistics and Spanish legislation to discuss how changes in the legislation have impacted the arrival and settlement of Argentineans in Spain since 1985, when the country joined the European Union. I then analyse material gathered in more than 30 in-depth interviews conducted in the fall of 2006 and explore respondents' efforts to preserve the political privileges that Argentineans traditionally enjoyed in Spanish immigration and citizenship legislation. I conclude that further work is needed to understand the impact of the changes introduced in these two bodies of legislation in the face of increased immigration flows, particularly in the contexts where colonial histories and the europeanisation of national institutions collide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Knowledge of the processes that control nitrate migration and its geochemical evolution in the subsurface are fundamental for the regional management of polluted aquifers. In this paper, the spatial distribution and transient variations of nitrate concentrations, associated with manure fertilization, are used to depict hydrogeological dynamics within the sedimentary aquifer system of la Plana de Vic in the Osona region of Spain. Flow systems are identified from geological, hydraulic head, hydrochemical and isotopic data, and by considering nitrate itself as a tracer that indicates how flow paths are modified by human pressures. In this area, nitrates move through fractured aquitards in flows induced by groundwater pumping. Moreover, the lack of casing in the boreholes permits a mixing of groundwater from distinct layers inside the wells, which negates any benefits from the low-nitrate groundwater found in the deepest aquifer layers. Therefore, impacts on groundwater quality are related to intensive manure fertilization as well as to inadequate well construction and exploitation strategies. Citation Mencio, A., Mas-Pla, J., Otero, N. & Soler, A. (2011) Nitrate as a tracer of groundwater flow in a fractured multilayered aquifer. Hydrol. Sci. J. 56(1), 108-122. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a method for assessing the renewable groundwater reserves of large regions for an average year, based on the integration of the recession curves for their basins' springs or the natural baseflow of their rivers. In this method, the hydrodynamic volumes (or renewable reserves), were estimated from the baseflow. It was assumed that the flow was the same as the natural recharge, and the recession coefficients were derived from the hydrogeological parameters and geometric characteristics of the aquifers and adjusted to fit the recession curves at gauging stations. The method was applied to all the aquifers of Spain, which have a total renewable groundwater reserve of 86 118 hm3-four times the mean annual recharge. However, the spatial distribution of these reserves is highly variable; 18.6% of the country's aquifers contain 94.7% of the entire reserve. Citation Sanz, E. & Recio, B. (2010) A method to assess annual average renewable groundwater reserves for large regions in Spain. Hydrol. Sci. J. 56(1), 99-107. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the number of North African Muslim immigrants in Europe grows, questions of cultural assimilation have moved to the forefront of discussion. Treated as the quintessential Other, Maghribines' long-term presence in France prompted a 2004 ban on religious symbols in public schools; it went without saying that the hijab was the primary target of this restriction. Politicians and public figures in Britain have called Muslim women's veiling practices antithetical to democratic citizenship, while Dutch conservatives have promised a ban on veiling in all public places (Anon 2006a, 2006b; Morris 2006). Spain, however, has developed a more ambivalent cultural and ideological relationship with the Muslim world and with North Africa in particular. Approximately 10% of all immigrants to Spain are from the Maghrib, and about 90% of those are from Morocco (Instituto Nacional de Estadistica). The proximity of Spain has made it an appealing entry point to the rest of Europe, as well as an accessible destination for work. This paper argues that Moroccans' vulnerability in Spain must be understood in terms of the unique ties between the two nations, as well as the specific brand of modern liberalism that has developed in Spain since 1975, the start of that nation's democracy. Key to Spanish liberalism is the defense of women's freedom, which finds voice in teleological narratives of liberation and self-actualisation. Concern over Moroccan women's subjugation to Islam and to male relatives has crystallised in discussions around the hijab, in particular. In this article, I analyse media coverage of hijab controversies in Spain, drawing also on my own fieldwork with Moroccan women and Spanish social service providers in Madrid. I argue for careful consideration of North African othering as a foil for Spanish discourses of progress and modernity - themselves historically situated and contestable variations upon wider European ideologies of liberalism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agri-environmental schemes (AES) are the main policy instrument currently available in the EU to promote environmentally-friendly farming practices. However, the rate of adoption of these measures is still relatively low in southern Europe, and understanding how these rates can be increased is still an open issue. The goal of this paper is to increase that understanding by testing whether the factors which determine AES sign-up decisions are influenced by the intensity of change in farming practices that are brought about by adopting the scheme. A micro-economic model reflecting farmer AES sign-up decisions is proposed and applied to two schemes in Spain respectively requiring major or minor intensity of change in practices by surveying farmers eligible for both schemes. The results show that farm structural factors play a role when major practice change is required by the scheme, yet when dealing with minor change, individual farmer characteristics play a more determining role. Social capital and farmer attitude are important factors in both the AES surveyed. Therefore, it may be concluded that improving agronomic design would be an important tool to improve farmer participation in AES where major change is involved, whereas improved targeting and extension would help uptake for AES involving a lesser degree of change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This empirical study investigates the environmental awareness of school children in Bavaria and Asturias. The analysis was based on a data-set (Bavaria, 900 students; Asturias, 182 students) that was collected in spring 2007. Students aged between 14 and 15 years responded to a paper-and-pencil questionnaire. The theoretical concept follows the premise that environmental awareness could be divided into three dimensions: environmental knowledge, attitudes and actions. The results show that there are cultural influences in the scales of knowledge, attitudes and actions. Also, different independent variables have a significant bearing on the Bavarian and Asturian students' levels of environmental knowledge, readiness to act and personal environmental action. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study analyzes variables that influence the water management model based on a simultaneous relationship between competing demands in the Marina Baja of Alicante, using a methodology that directly links together urban and irrigation demands, making them relevant to each other from a socioeconomic point of view. The paper identifies the relevant variables of this model and the agent behaviour in a closed and joint system. It also aims to demonstrate that by considering water demands for different yet simultaneous uses and regarding clean and reclaimed waters as integrated resources, the system could remain in equilibrium without external water supplies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this paper is to study in depth the perspective of the individual in rural geographic studies, specifically relationships between the position of the individual in the community and the physical space they inhabit. The focus of the study is individuals living alone in Spain, in the middle of the countryside in depopulated nuclei, with space but almost without a community. The analysis is based on a quantitative study of individuals who live alone in a village, from a geographical perspective and, also, the testimonies of various individuals who live alone, presented ethnographically. The conclusions show the temporary nature of the phenomenon, its wide distribution at a municipal level, a clear male predominance, the value of the absence of a community, the appreciation of values of the surroundings and the disappearance of the limits of the community in terms of spatial continuity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates to what extent variation in the distribution across occupational categories in the labour market affects women's demographic behaviour. It specifically explores which occupational categories are more beneficial for women in the transition to first, second and third birth in Spain. Event-history analyses are applied to retrospective data from the Spanish Fertility and Family Survey (1995). The results show that there are differences in women's fertility according to their occupational choice and demonstrate that health and teaching professionals show an advantage in harmonizing work and motherhood in Spain. This finding is consistent with the idea that not only the impact of occupational sex-segregation on women's fertility is explicable by each woman's specific attitudes towards motherhood and career but also by her employment conditions at the workplace. This effect is particularly strong in Spain due to the specific national context of combining family responsibilities and labour force participation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the relationship between the 'Church' and the 'State' in the Visigothic kingdom of sixth- and seventh-century Spain. The authors examine the copious legal material from this period - both church council records and royal legislation - to see what it reveals about the significant degree of interpenetration of the two spheres. For example, the royal laws gave bishops an important role in the supervision of judges, while a church council could not be called without the permission of the king, who often attended along with his officials and set the agenda for the meetings. There has been significant debate on this issue over the past two centuries, and the authors' analysis will be situated accordingly. The extent to which the Visigothic evidence emerges out of late Roman practices and precedents or is independent of it will also be addressed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is rare that a gastronomical debate turns into a media sensation. However, that is exactly what happened during the summer of 2008 when Catalan chef Santi Santamaria criticized his rivals for the use of "suspect materials" in their food preparations and for creating "dishes that our parents would never have served us," while reclaiming "traditional and artisan" cuisine. During the endless diatribes, the opposition between traditional Catalan cuisine and molecular or techno-emotional cuisine was clearly drawn. In this paper I analyze how Catalan cuisine has moved from being home-based, straightforward and locally accented to become a highly sophisticated, cosmopolitan restaurant cuisine with a strong drive toward innovation and iconoclastic creation. Such a rapid yet profound change in culinary culture could be easily dismissed as a consequence of dramatic socioeconomic upheaval, but this change mirrors the same relentless quest for the Catalan community to achieve cosmopolitanism in all areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How are representatives of different nations portrayed in English picturebooks whose specific aim is to present a variety of foreign countries for the amusement of young readers? Taking as its main example Spaniards and how they feature in picturebooks and ABCs for children during the long 19th century, this paper observes the context of contemporary history as well as the conventions of discourse such as intertextuality, and asks how national stereotypes are deployed specifically for the target audience of young readers. The composite nature of picturebooks is taken into account in an analysis which addresses the iconography of the visual representation of national character, its verbal construction, and the interplay of the textual and the pictorial. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Spain as in other European countries, policies on school choice have been implemented in tandem with the channelling of public resources into private education. Given the application of public money to private schooling, the primary objective of this paper is to analyse the extent to which Spanish families enjoy equality in their ability to exercise school choice. To do so, the analysis focuses on the factors that affect school choice in Spain using data from the 2003 and 2006 PISA evaluations. Specifically, the influence of personal, family, geographic, motivational and educational policy factors are all considered in the context of deciding whether to attend a public or private school. The results reveal a broad similarity across the factors driving the selection of private schools which either receive some public funding (known as 'concerted') or independent, showing a greater proportion of families from better socioeconomic, educational and cultural backgrounds in these types of schools. In addition, the geographic distribution of schools has an effect on school selection. Given that concerted schools form part of the public educational offering (because of the state funding they receive), the state has the ability to take a wide range of actions to promote greater equality of choice in the case of public and concerted schools. In this respect, a series of measures are set out regarding student selection, the distribution of information and the geographic distribution of schools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines invention patents in the Crown of Aragon during the seventeenth century. Patents were granted by the Council of Aragon, the Royal Council responsible for political and legal issues arising in the Spanish territories belonging to the Crown of Aragon. The Council's functions in the area of patents arose out of the monarchy's interest in extending the validity of royal patents from Castile to Aragon in order to enhance its control over technical discoveries and developments, and to raise fresh revenues for the treasury. Both foreign and Castilian inventors applied for patents, which were immediately applicable, but the privileges they entailed were accepted only with difficulty by the Aragonese institutions. This reluctance severely curtailed the number of applications. Meanwhile, the Council's desire to cooperate with the monarchy led it eventually to define criteria for the grant of patents. However, the legal and institutional structure of the Crown of Aragon made it difficult for inventors to enforce and defend their rights. The lack of new patent applications to the Council in the later seventeenth century illustrates how the existence of a separate jurisdiction obstructed the consolidation of a patents system in the Crown of Aragon, hindering the spread of technical progress in Spain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines how war memory has been appropriated, interpreted and domesticated by radical Basque nationalism. The so-called patriotic left presents an interesting case study because of its need to justify ETA's use of unconventional methods and political violence. The politics of war memory places violent conflicts in a historical continuum where Basques and Spaniards stand against each other. The memory of the Carlist Wars, the Spanish Civil War and ETA's violent campaign are all used both as an ethnic boundary between Basques and Spaniards and as a powerful mobilizing agent. The conflict between the Basque insurgents and the Spanish state is celebrated as a narrative of heroic past wars and redemptive sacrifices, hence removing the need to reflect on the usefulness of the armed struggle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

More than three decades of international best practice and a rich body of scholarship demonstrate that women's policy machinery (WPM) is a crucial tool for promoting feminist policymaking. A new and unstudied form of WPM is emerging at the sub-national level. In this paper, we examine the effects of (1) regional leftist party governance and (2) sub-state durability on feminist policymaking. We employ Stetson and Mazur's model of effective, feminist WPM and operationalize policy Influence and Access provided to feminist groups. Drawing on four regional cases within Spain and Poland, we use field research, interviews, and party documents to examine whether regional leftist party governance and federalized state structure are associated with WPM 'Leaders' in feminist policymaking. We find that regional leftist governance is associated with WPMs that offer feminist policy and empower feminist groups; however, sub-state durability modifies the impact of party governance. We conclude with suggestions for further research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the situation of women in the different socioeconomic areas of Spain using an alternative methodology. Rather than just providing a descriptive analysis, we combine statistics and multicriteria analysis techniques to obtain a ranking of Spanish regions according to their level of equality or inequality regarding women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Morocco and Spain share a history of mutual recognition and estrangement dating back centuries. Today, this relationship faces re-interpretation in an age of post-colonial migration, economic disparity, and ambiguous nationalities. The nebulous 'space between two coasts' is an important site of this re-negotiation, one that draws upon cultural links of the past in order to understand the present. Cuentos de las dos orillas [Tales of two shores], a bilingual Arabic-Spanish edition of eight short stories by both Moroccan and Spanish authors created in 1999, employs this cultural legacy in order to re-interpret the Hispano-Moroccan relationship as experienced on either side of the Strait of Gibraltar. The stories engage in an intertwined dialogue, each providing a window into how notions of 'Spanishness' and 'Moroccanness' are dependent upon one another. The author proposes that the result of this cooperative compilation is a 'traslado' (translation/transfer) of cultural memory, thus defining the exchange between Morocco and Spain as one of circularity. By analysing the stories 'Morir lo mas lejos posible' [To die as far as possible] by Antonio Alamo, 'El safor' [The safor] by El Astillero, and 'Diario de un emigrante clandestino' [Diary of a clandestine immigrant] by Rachid Nini, this paper traces the ways in which the narratives both rupture and perpetuate the sociopolitical and mythical relationship between Spain and Morocco via the themes of brotherhood, the performance of identity, and departure and return. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The enormous potential of combined transport (rail-road) makes rail the main alternative to the transport of freight by road in the Europe. Unfortunately, the European railway network is strongly fragmented, having different bottleneck points. This paper presents research that centers on the transhipment tasks in the Port Bou terminal. This terminal is a bottleneck point because of the different track gauges of the Spanish and French railways. In order to optimize the use of gantry cranes and the means available for train-train transhipment, a linear programming model that allows for the automation of container transhipment plans is proposed. An Analytic Decision Support application is used to develop the model. As a result of this research it can be concluded that the problem can be solved through linear programming and the model proposed could be transferred both to other transhipment terminals and to cargo terminals in general. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines recent debates on the European Union's (EU) constitution and their impact on territorial politics in Spain. Analysis of the preferences and participation of autonomous communities and minority nationalist parties in treaty decision processes and the 2005 Spanish referendum, addresses questions about the mobilization of territorial actors, their ability to influence politics beyond the state, political cleavages on EU issues and the role of European integration in domestic disputes on nationalities questions. I argue that innovations in EU treaty processes provided new access for some Spanish territorial actors, but treaty outcomes reflected their limited impact. Ethno-territorial and ideological cleavages present in domestic politics on territorial matters extended to EU issues with territorial dimensions. Finally, while constitutional treaty debates provided minority nationalist leaders with opportunities to articulate distinctive political profiles both at home and abroad, scope for consensual accommodation of national differences within Spain by way of European integration made little progress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines educational policy production through an exploration of the shifting policies of educational decentralisation in Catalonia, Spain. It seeks to illuminate how in the era of globalisation, policy is produced through multiscalar processes involving a range of intersecting factors. This analysis shows that policy concepts surrounding educational decentralisation are not only formed in relation to national-regional dynamics but are influenced more broadly by a more complex set of supranational and global considerations. This article thus maps how decentralisation policies in Catalonia are in a constant state of flux, rearticulated through contrasting pressures on state arrangements and educational governance structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on family involvement in the education of teenagers at risk of dropping out from compulsory secondary school. A questionnaire was completed by 131 Spanish and Cypriot families with children at six schools - three in each country. The questionnaire investigated: (1) parental perceptions of their children's activities in their free time; (2) academic expectations for their children; (3) parental concern regarding their children's education; and (4) parent-teacher interactions. Descriptive measures and t-test comparative analyses between Spain and Cyprus were undertaken. Results show that these families have an encouraging attitude towards their teenagers. Nonetheless, significant statistical differences between Spanish and Cypriot parents suggest that the Spanish families have a more protective parenting style than the Cypriot families. The study points to the lack of support for these families as regards advice and stimulation for their children at home, and to the need to promote school-family partnerships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores the processes of, motivations for, and market consequences of bilingual journalism in Spain, and considers this phenomenon in the context of linguistics, identity, and theorizing about nationhood. Based on newsroom observation and interviews with journalists at newspapers in Catalonia, the Basque Country, and Galicia, this article develops a framework of production, content, and tailored bilingualism for understanding the operations of this fledgling form of journalism. Moreover, against the backdrop of local nationalism, ethno-linguistic identity, and advocacy journalism, this study posits that a modulated approach to Anderson's (1983) concept of "imagined communities" might begin to explain the rise of bilingual journalism in certain regions of Spain. Newspaper editors there have imagined language communities - niche "nations" of readers with whom they feel a special kinship and for whom they feel a moral obligation to preserve the ethnic language. This "public service" comes at a heavy cost: An analysis of circulation data demonstrates that the most aggressive bilingual journalism has failed to attract wide readership, calling into question the very essence of the editors' imagined communities and their efforts to serve them. Finally, this paper considers the Spanish case in the wider context of global media trends. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spain's 1985 Water ~w gave special significance to the Registry and the Catalogue, two legal figures that allowed the co-existence of public and private groundwater ownership. Twenty years later, the situation of the Catalogue and the Registry is quite deficient. As a consequence, adequate groundwater management in Spain seems extremely difficult. This paper comments on the three main actions taken by the Government since 1985: first, the "Groundwater Registry and Catalogue Update Program" (ARYCA), a 42M€ project of the Ministry of Public Works, the results of which have not lived up to expectations; second, the Transient Disposition of the National Water Plan Law (2001) with regard to the "closure of the inscription period for private wells." The results of this action are still uncertain; and thirdly, the "Update Program for the Registry and Catalogue Books" (ALBERCA), a 155M€ initiative of the Ministry of the Environment which is yet to be implemented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article tackles the complex relationship between secularism, modernity, politics and religion in the Mediterranean by comparing the Spanish example with the Maghreb. The progress of modernity implies the emergence of "anti-modern" processes. Logically, secularization, insofar as it constitutes an essential element on which modernism is based, can also provoke fundamentalist reactions. Both these processes are present in the social life of the northern and southern shores of the Mediterranean. The paper begins by tracing the tension between religion and politics in Spain. Two main issues were involved: the relationship between the Church and the State, and the response of the Church to secularization processes. Nineteenth-century elites, closely allied with the Church, viewed secularization as inimical to the presumed essence of the Spanish character, and the identification of the nation with an anti-modernist Catholicism has remained a recurring (if increasingly curtailed) theme in right-wing and ecclesiastical thought. The Republican process of social modernization and the laicization of the State was brutally interrupted by the implantation of the Franco dictatorship (1939-1975). Under Franco, the nation became Catholic and the irreligious (or more precisely the secularists) "anti-Spanish". However, the Franco policy of economic liberalization gave rise to a curious "modernization without secularization and without democracy". By the end of the Franco period the Church had distanced itself from the regime. Although the Church moved from being a cornerstone of the regime to becoming a factor in its de-legitimization, the process of the Church's disengagement from politics (and right-wing evocation of religious values) has not been easy. Whilst the Church has intervened forcefully in the past decades against what it considered the anti-Catholic nature of some secularist reforms, its effects have been restricted by two independent factors: the growing recognition of the national diversity of the Spanish State, and the process of modernist secularization. The principals of religious faith, national identity and political citizenship can be increasingly separated. The authors find in the Spanish example parallelisms that allow them to approach in a different way the "modernity" of the Mediterranean North, supposedly connected with the triumph of reason over metaphysics, and the "backwardness" of the South, supposedly the result of a religion presumed to be intolerant and which imbues every aspect of life. They trace the Maghrebi movement from the modernist secular Arab nationalism of Bourguiba and Nasser to either contemporary religious nationalism, or political opposition to undemocratic regimes legitimated by religious fervour. The rise of political Islam is at present tied up with the situation of social instability which is, in its turn, a response to the continuous deterioration of economic conditions, to growing inequalities, and, particularly, to the incompetence of the political regimes. They suggest that this articulation seems to be an unrealistic solution of a populist nature, given that it is incapable of formulating a practical political and economic program expressed by an efficient historical tendency. They conclude that if democratization has proved possible in Hungary or in Poland, no insurmountable obstacle should be able to prevent it from being established in Pakistan, Algeria or Uzbekistan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reflects on what is called the process of 'patrimonialization' of culture and nature currently taking place in the Western mountainous inlands of the Spanish Eastern Pyrenees. Landscapes, as cultural and historical formations, are presently being commodified and connected to global networks of consumption dominated by urban and 'postmaterialistic' values. Conservation policies, ski resorts and cultural museums are mushrooming in previously 'abandoned' agricultural fields or vacated factories. This shift from agriculture, ranching and industry, to conservation and services marks the connection of the Pyrenean valleys to global modernity and to the hyper-modern era. These processes of transformation have been depicted generally as structural processes of unilateral redefinition of the urban-rural divide: redefinition that results in direct urban appropriation. Rural populations, however, are far from passive subjects of external influences. The analysis of local agency suggests a more complicated picture in which local economic and cultural choices are included as explanatory variables. The story of the connection of these spaces to regional and global networks is not only a story about local dispossession, but also about local ingenuity. The globalization of the economy in the early 1970s disempowered and relegated these areas to the periphery of the economic system. The consolidation of a global modernity articulated around the need to provide leisure has opened a venue for these areas to reconnect themselves to the central networks and to attract large amounts of resources from these urban-dominated economic systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This papers aims to analyse the demand for main food groups in Spain. Apart from the traditional economic factors (prices and income), our theoretical framework incorporates the nutrient composition of food into a demand model in the form of food attributes, as a proxy to take into account the rising consumer concern about the relationship between diet and health. A CBS functional form is chosen for the empirical model, which is estimated using a complete panel data set. Ten broad categories, nine nutrients and the most relevant socio-economic variables have been considered. Finally, after employing an appropriate selection strategy, the chosen model is used to calculate expenditure, price and nutrient elasticities, as well as the main socio-demographic effects. Results indicate that the introduction of nutrient-based determinants generates elasticities that differ from those obtained when only economic factors are included, particularly in the case of price elasticities. As the nutrients effect is incorporated in the model through adjusted prices, unhealthier food groups (cereals, white meat and eggs, dairy and sugar) become more inelastic as they are associated with higher perceived prices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since Spain's transition to democracy, abortion has been a public policy issue both inside and outside parliament. This paper describes the history of abortion law reform in Spain from 1979 to 2004 and analyses the discourse on abortion of members of the Spanish parliament by sex and political allegiance. The analysis is based on a retrospective study of the frequency of legislative initiatives and the prevalence of different arguments and positions in debates on abortion found through a systematic search of the parliamentary database. Little time was given to abortion in the parliamentary agenda compared to other women's issues such as violence against women. There were 229 bills and other parliamentary initiatives in that period, 60% initiated and led by pro-choice women. 143 female and 72 male parliamentarians took part in the debates. The inclusion of socio-economic grounds for legal abortion (64%), and making abortion on request legal in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy (60%) were the most frequent forms of law reform proposed, based most often on pro-women's rights arguments. Male and female members of anti-choice parties and most male members of other parties argued for fetal rights. Pro-choice parties tabled more bills than anti-choice parties but till now all reforms proposed since 1985 have been voted down. Depuis la transition de l'Espagne vers la démocratie, l'avortement est une question politique à l'intérieur et à l'extérieur du Parlement. Cet article retrace l'histoire de la réforme de la législation sur l'avortement en Espagne de 1979 à 2004 et analyse le discours des députés espagnols, par sexe et appartenance politique. L'analyse est fondée sur une étude de la fréquence des initiatives législatives et de la prévalence des différents arguments dans les débats sur l'avortement, effectuée à l'aide d'une recherche systématique dans la base de données parlementaire. Les travaux parlementaires ont consacré peu de temps à l'avortement par comparaison à d'autres questions intéressant les femmes, comme la violence contre les femmes. On a recensé 229 propositions de lois et autres initiatives parlementaires pendant cette période, dont 60% lancées et dirigées par des femmes favorables à l'avortement. Parmi les députés ayant participé au débat, il y avait 143 femmes et 72 hommes. L'inclusion de motifs socio-économiques pour l'avortement légal (64%) et la légalisation de l'avortement pendant les 12 premières semaines de grossesse (60%) étaient les propositions les plus fréquentes, basées le plus souvent sur le droit des femmes à choisir. Les membres masculins et féminins de partis opposés à l'avortement et la plupart des membres masculins d'autres partis militaient pour les droits du fłtus. Les partis pour le libre choix ont présenté davantage de propositions de loi que les partis contre l'avortement, mais, depuis 1985, toutes les réformes ont été refusées. Desde la transición de España a la democracia, el aborto ha sido asunto de políticas públicas dentro y fuera del parlamento. En este artículo se describe la historia de la reforma de la ley de aborto en España desde 1979 hasta 2004, y se analiza el discurso sobre el aborto por parte de los parlamentarios españoles, por sexo y afiliación política. El análisis se basa en un estudio retrospectivo de la frecuencia de iniciativas legislativas y la prevalencia de diferentes argumentos y posiciones en debates sobre aborto, encontradas mediante una búsqueda sistemática en la base de datos parlamentaria. No se dedicó mucho tiempo al aborto en la agenda parlamentaria, comparado con otros asuntos relacionados con las mujeres, como la violencia contra éstas. Hubo 229 iniciativas parlamentarias en ese período, el 60% iniciadas y dirigidas por mujeres por el derecho a decidir; 143 diputadas y 72 diputados participaron en los debates. La aceptación de motivos socioeconómicos para tener un aborto legal (64%) y la legalización de la práctica de abortos a petición en el primer trimestre del embarazo (60%) fueron las formas más frecuentes propuestas para reformar la ley, principalmente a raíz de argumentos referentes a los derechos de las mujeres. Hombres y mujeres afiliados a partidos contra el derecho a decidir, y la mayoría de los hombres afiliados a otros partidos abogaron por los derechos del feto. Los partidos por el derecho a decidir presentaron más proyectos de ley que aquellos en contra, pero hasta ahora, se ha votado en contra de todas las reformas propuestas desde 1985. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper's aim is to reflect on the contribution of Sociology to our knowledge of tourism, just when the tourism industry is demanding professionals with a wider knowledge and understanding of tourism, and European universities are redefining their programmes. Half of the Spanish universities offering a degree in Tourism Studies include Sociology of Tourism in its programme. A comparative analysis of the syllabi shows how their content covers the main issue areas in this field. More emphasis has been placed on typologies of tourists and the impact of tourism, while the tourists' social behaviour and the tourist system as a social structure are largely ignored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a comprehensive analysis of the voluntary policy instruments most commonly applied by the hotel sector: codes of conduct, best environmental practices, ecolabels, environmental management systems (EMSs) and environmental performance indicators. Based on a qualitative study of Spanish hotel companies that have applied one or more of these voluntary tools, each instrument is reviewed and analysed with regard to incentives and obstacles experienced during its practical implementation. In the comparative assessment of all the tools studied, formal certification systems such as ecolabels and EMSs appear to be the most effective instruments. At a conceptual level, ecolabels and EMSs are the tools with the broadest scope and the only ones that guarantee an improvement of the company's environmental (and sustainable) performance. At the practical level, the present research shows that, although both of these instruments involve higher costs and complexity than the other tools studied, they offer a wider range of tangible and intangible benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main goal of the paper is to study Jan Monk's contribution to the development of international gender geography, in particular in Spain. Our aim is also to explain the experiences and numerous connections among places, people and ideas that she has been weaving to foster international scholarship and, in this way, how she has challenged hegemonic approaches in feminist geography. Jan Monk comes originally from the Southern hemisphere and therefore she is well aware of the extent to which 'Northern' (or Anglo-American) ways of seeing the world define concepts, theories and ideas in geography (and also in feminist geography). Being an 'insider' and an 'outsider' as well as her sensibility to the important of place has permeated Jan's contribution to international gender geography. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an analysis of the current situation of Spanish geography in higher education. The authors show that Spanish geography has undergone a profound transformation in the new democratic era, resulting in a thriving community struggling to find its place amongst other disciplines. To assess the current health of the discipline in higher education, they discuss the two ends of the spectrum as perceived by many Spanish geographers: either geography is losing its place in Spanish academe (the worst of times, in Dickens's words), or it is starting a new golden age (the best of times). What was found is that the current situation does not necessarily involve a weighted combination of these extreme views, as one would be tempted to think: it might be that geography is actually at one of the poles. It was also found that the divide between classical physical and human geography is widening, with very different views on what geography is about, its societal role, and the future strategies to advance the discipline. In view of this diversity and the need to implicate themselves in this debate, the authors end up providing some suggestions from their own perspective. Their proposals to strengthen geography in higher education are both strategic and methodological, without forgetting that the problems geography faces in higher education are not particular to geography –but are shared by the arts and social sciences in technocratic societies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the return of Andalusian emigrants from Northern European countries to their regions of origin. The aim is to discover the reasons that led to the original emigrations and those that, after several decades and when in or approaching old age, motivated the returns. The factors and relationships involved in migrants' decision-making are discussed at the family and social network levels, and interpreted through the notion of a 'life project'. This reveals that the decisions and plans to return were to an extent linked to the original emigration decision and grounded in individual and family behaviour. The material and socio-demographic contexts of the original emigration from rural Andalusia (economic hardship, high fertility and large families, and family households as units of production) facilitated selective emigration, with many of the emigrants having characteristics of social exclusion. At the destinations, the migrants developed a distinctive social structure, based on work and family relationships, which enabled integration and the forging of ties with the host society. When the emigrants reached the end of their working lives, many of the same personal and social factors reappeared and conditioned the decision-making process to return. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Within the food products marketing area, traditional researches have centred their attention on market and consumers. But because the final products are defined by their inputs, supply relationships are also important. The long-term orientation of the commercial relationships established between firms and their suppliers is a subject of great interest at present. Prior researches have shown that lasting relationships with supplier have positive effects on the quality of final products and on the firms satisfaction. But although there are many works that look at this temporal orientation, there has been no previous research analysing the agro-food sector. Therefore, the present paper analyses the moderating effect of belonging to an agro-food protection system on the factors determining the temporal orientation of firm-supplier relationships. Thus, taking as reference the Spanish agro-food sector, this current work examines this moderating effect. Our findings indicate that this property does indeed have an influence: through the effects of trust and communication on perceived satisfaction on the one hand, and through the effect of this level of satisfaction on the temporal orientation of the supply relationship, on the other. Firms that belong to an agro-food protection system seem to value trust, communication and satisfaction more than others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]