Reus

Reus
—  Municipality  —
Monument to Juan Prim.
Flag Coat of arms
Location of Reus in Catalonia
Reus Location of Reus in Spain
Coordinates: 41°09′N 1°07′E / 41.15°N 1.117°E / 41.15; 1.117Coordinates: 41°09′N 1°07′E / 41.15°N 1.117°E / 41.15; 1.117
Country	Spain
Community	Catalonia
Province	Tarragona
Comarca	Baix Camp
Government
- Mayor	Lluís Miquel Pérez
Area
- Total	52.71 km2 (20.4 sq mi)
Elevation	134 m (440 ft)
Population (2009)
- Total	107,118
- Density	2,032.2/km2 (5,263.4/sq mi)
Demonym	Reusenses
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
- Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
Website	Official website

Reus (Catalan pronunciation: [ˈrɛws]) 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 center for rock-climbing and as the birth-place of architect Antoni Gaudí.

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 convict prisoners (reus), 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.

History

The beginnings of Reus

Around 1150 Robert d'Aguiló repopulate the region of Reus. The first documentary proof of is a partition with Siurana limits from 1151 and on 3 June 1154 the area was given to Robert d'Aguiló. On 5 June 1154 the archbishop of Tarragona gave two-thirds of Reus to Bertran de Castellet, as a castellan. The archbishop of Tarragona ordered him to build a church according to the Archbishopric of Tarragona. On 29 June 1159, the distribution of income from ecclesiastical goods, the third of its Reus parish of Santa Maria was awarded to the camerlengo, starting the duplicity of governing the town. The camerlengo has the third of Reus parish. At this time the city was known as Redis or Reddis. The castellan Bernat de Bell-lloc gave the title of town to Reus on 3 August 1183, giving the ownership of houses and gardens, establishing a census to pay for farmland and reserving justice, but recognizing its vassalage towards the archbishopric of Tarragona. On 2 June 1186 the camerlengo Joan de Santboi confirmed the rights given by the castellan Bernard de Bell-lloc.

Camerlengo, Popes and Archbishops of Tarragona

In 1305 Reus revolted against the Archbishop Rodrigo Tello, who wanted that the citizens of Reus pay for rebuilding the walls of Tarragona. In 1309 the Catalan king gave to Reus the right to do market on Mondays. The dynasty of Bell-lloc castellans became extinct in 1327 and then Bernard de Cabrera became the new castellan, but in 1335 the castellan was sold to Pere Mulet, who lost it on 1345. Pere Mulet heirs sold their rights to Bernat d'Olzinelles in 1349. The camerlengo Pere Roger de Belfort disputed domain to the Archbishop López de Ayerbe, which sent an army that decimated the town. A second attack was repulsed. A third attack led military occupation of the town and Reus was sacked. The camerlengo Pere Roger de Belfort, nephew of Pope Clement VI, who was living in Avignon with his uncle, he persuaded the Pope to call the archbishop of Tarragona and the Pope received a commitment for peace. Pere Roger de Belfort gave the roses of his coat to coat of arms of the town and later he became Pope Gregory XI, keeping it as a camerlengo of Reus, so the coat of arms was crowned with adorned with papal tiara and keys of St. Peter.

Coat of arms, 1567

Catalan Revolt war and the Archduke Charles

Archduke Charles VI

At the beginning of the Catalan Revolt war the town had 1200 houses, but reduced to 800 by the end of the war. On 16 December 1640 was declared an enemy of the fatherland by the Parliament and confiscated the goods of the inhabitants, as a response to the inactive participation in the war. In 1641 it was occupied by the French La Mothe.

Reus was loyal to Philip V until 1705, but this year, under the direction of Joan Nebot, revolted in favor of the Archduke Charles. On 3 July 1706 the Archduke Charles came to the town. In 1707 fell shortly to the Bourbons, but in 1709 Reus surrendered to the Spanish and French Bourbons. In 1710 Reus returned again to the field of Archduke Charles. On 5 June 1712 the wife of the Archduke, Elisabeth Christine, gave the title of imperial city to Reus. In 1713 Reus was occupied finally by the Bourbon.

Growth of the eighteenth century

In the eighteenth century Reus had phenomenal growth and became the second city of the principality of Catalonia. The walls were completely demolished in 1766. The town developed the textile trade and the liquor trade. In this last contribution was the first center, the others were London and Paris. From this time it’s the popular sentence "Reus, Paris and London”, because Reus was one of the centers of the liquor marquet. The construction of a canal between Reus and Salou, proposed by Pere Sunyer was granted in 1805, but it was stopped because of the French War. At this time Reus had consulates in the United States, Liguria, England, Holland, Sweden, Ragusa, Denmark, Sicily, the Papal States, France, Portugal, Naples and Prussia.

The Nineteenth Century

In 1854 the Reus Gas Company was founded. In 1856 the railway between Reus and Tarragona was built. In 1884 the Catalan Association of Reus was founded and in 1893 was celebrated the Assembly of the Unió Catalana. In 1886 Pau Font de Rubinat founded the Catalan newspaper Lo Somatent. In 1895 the phylloxera killed big areas of vineyards in the region of Reus and many of this areas were changed to hazelnuts.

The Republic and the Franco dictatorship

In 1931 Reus voted for the republic. In 1936 dictator Franco bombed the city until his rebel army occupied the city on 15 January 1939, starting with the dictatorship of Franco since the dictator died on 1975.

Recent Years

The first democratic mayor after Franco’s dictatorship was Carles Martí Massagué, lawyer of Reus. In 1983 Anton Borrell Marcó was the new mayor of the city, but he died tragically in a car accident on the road from Reus to Cambrils, then his successor was Juan Maria Roig. After him, Josep Abelló Padró was the mayor until 1999, when the current mayor, Lluís Miquel Pérez Segura, started.

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,^{[citation needed]} 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.

Climate

Festivities

The "Nanos" of Reus, Catalonia

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.

Main historic buildings

The markt square of Reus, Catalonia

Reus is mainly known by the modernist building, but in other architectural styles there are:

• Castell del Cambrer
• Campanar de Reus
• Ajuntament
• Palau Bofarull
• Centre de Lectura
• Museu Salvador Vila-seca
• Teatre Fortuny
• Gaudí Centre

Catalan Modernisme in Reus

The Casa Navàs in Reus, Catalonia

The city of Reus has many Catalan modernist buildings. Although Antoni Gaudí was born in Reus, there is any building of him, but there are many modernist buildings from his colleagues as Lluís Domènech i Montaner, Pere Caselles i Tarrats and Pere Domènech Roura.

The Casa Rull in Reus, Catalonia

• Casa Navàs, Lluís Domènech i Montaner, 1901–1908, located on Plaça Mercadal.
• Casa Rull, Lluís Domènech i Montaner, 1901, located on carrer de Sant Joan 27.
• Casa Gasull, Lluís Domènech i Montaner, 1910–1912, located on carrer de Sant Joan 27.
• Institut Pere Mata, Lluís Domènech i Montaner, 1899–1919, located on surroundings of Reus.
• Casa Pinyol, Pere Caselles i Tarrats, 1910, located on Plaça Mercadal.
• Escoles Prat de la Riba, Pere Caselles i Tarrats, 1911, located on avinguda Prat de la Riba 36.
• Escorxador, Pere Caselles i Tarrats, 1899, located on Carrer de l'Escorxador.
• Estació Enològica, Pere Caselles i Tarrats, 1906–1910, located on passeig Sunyer 4 - 6.
• Casa Munné, Pere Caselles i Tarrats, 1904, located on raval Martí Folguera 2.
• Casa Sardà, Pere Caselles i Tarrats,, 1896, located on avinguda Prat de la Riba, 41.
• Casa Marco, Pere Domènech Roura, 1926, located on raval Santa Anna 23 - 25.
• Xalet Serra, Joan Rubió i Bellver, 1911, located on carretera de Castellvell.

Tourism

In recent years tourism in Reus has expanded as more and more people come to the Costa Daurada region for their summer holidays or some winter sun. Nowadays the more important group of tourist come from Rusia and then France and Holland^[2].

Recently Reus Airport has started to receive low cost flights from Ryanair that fly to Reus from eighteen different European locations. Reus Airport is close to the resort town of Salou and one of Europe's biggest theme parks at Port Aventura.

Reus, Joan Prim's Monument

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.

Famous people

• 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

Twin towns — Sister cities

Reus is twinned with^[3]:

• Bahía Blanca (Argentina), since 1994
• Hadzici (Bosnia-Herzegovina), since 1995
• Astorga, (Spain), since 1998
• Amgala-Wilaya de Aauin (Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic), since 2000
• Boyeros (Cuba), since 2000
• Gandia (Valencian Community), since 2008

Last news

On July 20, 1996, a bomb planted by ETA at Reus airport injured 53 people^[4], many of them British.^[5] Further bombs exploded at Cambrils and Salou.

References

• This article incorporates information from the revision as of 19 August 2010 of the equivalent article on the Catalan Wikipedia.
• 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).

External links

• Official Page of Reus
• Website Museum Gaudí Centre
• Unofficial site about the new museum Gaudí Centre

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