Notes, summaries, assignments, exams, and exercises for Geography for Baccalaureate

Spain's Migration Story: A Historical Overview

Since 1975, Spaniards, including young and old, skilled and unskilled workers, have traveled for various reasons, not necessarily from rural areas to cities. Currently, residents of Spanish autonomous communities move as tourists or for second homes, among other reasons.

Emigration from Spain: Historical Waves

Spain's history is marked by significant emigration patterns:

• Pre-1853: Bourbon political populism somewhat reduced emigration to America.
• 1853-1914: A significant shift occurred, leading to an increase in transoceanic emigration.
• 1914-1945: Transoceanic migration declined due to the paralysis caused by the World Wars.
• 1945-1960: Transoceanic migration recovered, largely thanks to the Franco regime'

Spain and the European Common Fisheries Policy

Since Spain joined the then EEC and after a transitional period that lasted ten years, we are fully integrated into the European community. Therefore, it is the Council of Fisheries Ministers of the EU that sets the total allowable catches and fishing quotas allocated to us, both for national and community fisheries. The Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) has existed for 20 years with the following objectives:

• To conserve fish stocks.
• To protect the marine environment.
• To ensure the viability of European fleets.
• To provide good quality food to consumers.

Failure to meet these objectives led to a reform policy in 2003, needed to achieve future sustainable fisheries from a biological, environmental, and economic...

Agriculture, Farming, and Rural Land: Key Terms

Farming: Set of tasks performed by humans to obtain products of the land (agriculture, livestock, and forestry).

Intensive Agriculture: Agricultural practice characterized by a large investment in technology or labor that produces high productivity.

Agrociudad: Core of the population, given their size, can be considered a city, but it plays mostly rural functions.

Waters: Sector of ocean space adjacent to the land of a country on which that State exercises sovereign powers.

Sharecropping: Tenancy in which the owner grants the use of land in exchange for a percentage of the crop.

Lease: Tenancy in which the owner grants the use of the land on payment of rent.

Fallow: Traditional agricultural practice...

Industrial Activity

The set of processes and activities that aim to transform raw materials into finished products in bulk.

Company

An organization or institution engaged in economic and commercial activities.

Nuclear Fission

The currently used process that comes from the fission, or separation, of heavy atoms, such as uranium.

Renewable Energy Source

Sources that are inexhaustible because they generate energy without disappearing, allowing for indefinite use, such as water or heat from the sun.

Hydropower

The production of energy through the power of water. Reservoir water is channeled through a pipeline and used to move turbines connected to a generator, converting mechanical power into electricity.

Technology Industry or High-Tech Industry

These industries...

Research and Development (R&D)

Basic research includes all studies aimed at acquiring new scientific knowledge. Applied research involves original work undertaken to acquire new knowledge directed towards a specific practical aim or objective. Development involves the use of acquired knowledge for the production of new materials, products, or processes.

Extensive Landholdings (Landlordism)

Refers to large land areas (typically > 250 Ha in Spain, 100 Ha in the U.S.) often characteristic of Mediterranean regions.

Seafood Gathering

The activity of collecting bivalve molluscs from natural banks found in the sea.

Raw Material Definition

A primary product used in an industrial transformation process. The existence of abundant raw materials forms...

Understanding the Old Regime

The term Old Regime (or Ancien Régime) designates the period of history before the French Revolution, the liberal revolutions, and industrialization.

Defining the Old Regime

It extends from the late fifteenth century to the late eighteenth century. In Spain during this period, the Austrian and Bourbon dynasties reigned.

Government and Power

The Old Regime was characterized by absolute monarchy as the form of government. However, this was mediated by the strong presence of the Church in public life and the existence of representative institutions at different levels, such as the courts.

The Agrarian Economy

The economy was largely agrarian, engaging more than 80% of the population. The principal landowners were the nobility...

Fishing in Spain: An Overview

Fishing is an activity with an ancient tradition that has been losing economic weight, although it remains important in Galicia and in the Spanish diet in general.

Spanish Fishing Sectors

The Spanish fishing area is divided into eight sectors:

• Northwest
• Cantabria
• North Winds
• Levantine
• Mediterranean Region
• South Atlantic
• Balearic Islands
• Canary Islands

The main destination for fishing is human consumption. Three-quarters of the catch are fish and shellfish. The remainder is notable for its white fish value and tonnage of sardines and anchovies. Landings experienced a large increase until 1976.

Challenges in the Fishing Industry

Fishing activity is in a crisis, as shown by the decrease in the workforce, the decline in GDP contribution...

Social Organization: Estate Society and Religious Minorities

By race and religion, inhabitants were divided into Christians and non-Christians. Among the latter, we must consider the Jews and the Moors.

The Jewish Community

Jews were engaged in diverse professions, including crafts, medicine, and money lending. They lived in separate neighborhoods called juderías (or ghettos). Due to social unpopularity, they faced two options: emigrate or convert to Christianity (conversos). Christian society placed great importance on the purity of blood, distinguishing between "New Christians" and "Old Christians."

The Moorish-Muslim Population

Muslims living in Christian territory were generally less persecuted than the Jews, often due to having less wealth...

15th Century: Economic & Social Transformation

Politically, the 15th century witnessed a significant trend towards the concentration of monarchical power across most of Western Europe. Political authority, once dispersed among various estates, gradually consolidated in the hands of the king. Concurrently, the expansion of roads, improved transport, and commercial success fostered the emergence of new commercial activities that began to break down the traditional barriers of guilds and cities.

This period also saw a deep crisis in the social relations of estates. The development of agriculture, livestock, and industry fueled the growth of the bourgeoisie and the widespread dissemination of their mentality and values, including: individuality,

Everything has its pros and cons. In the country, noise pollution is significantly lower. Also, the air is cleaner and, generally, there is a more peaceful life, without the rush of the city, including:

• Buses
• Subways
• Streetcars
• Cars

Nevertheless, any doubts disappear when you wake up in the morning, open the window, and see that dream countryside. Notwithstanding, depending on the rural area in which you live, you have to travel for almost everything, since houses in the country are usually isolated from the city.

On the one hand, some environmental factors of the country seem to favor its villagers, who suffer fewer cases of cancer, have less hypertension, and develop fewer psychological disorders such as anxiety and depression.

On the other hand,...