Reus

infobox catalan municipio
location_



arms = Escut heràldic de Reus.svg
province=Tarragona
comarca=Baix Camp
population=104.835
population_year=2007
area=52.71
population_density=1989
elevation=134
demonym="n/a"

Reus is the capital of the "comarca" of Baix Camp, in the province of Tarragona, in Catalonia, Spain.

The area has always been an important producer of wines and spirits, and gained continental importance at the time of the Phylloxera plague.

Tourism in Reus

In recent years tourism in Reus has expanded as more and more people flock to the Costa Daurada for their summer holidays or some winter sun.

Recently Reus Airport has started to receive low cost flights from Ryanair and Flybe who fly to Reus from five different European locations. From Reus Airport you can easily reach both the resort town of Salou and one of Europe's biggest theme parks at Port Aventura.

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. According to the 2006 official Spanish census (source: Instituto Nacional de Estadística), Reus is the 9th most populated city in Catalonia and the 59th in Spain.

infobox catalan municipio demography
pop_1900=26,681
pop_1930=31,299
pop_1950=35,950
pop_1970=59,904
pop_1986=81,145
pop_latest=101,767
latest_year=2006

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 colour red seemed to be associated with the left, defeated in the civil war (1936-39). As the historic city arms were argent with a heraldic rose the new flag was white with a heraldic rose in the center. Minor changes to the rose in the flag were made after 1943.

Currently the rose has a new version, taken from the city emblem. The emblem itself has official status. This presumably also applies to the flag also but this has not been confirmed by the local government.

History

In 1852 the architect Antoni Gaudí was born in Reus.

On July 20 1996, a bomb planted by ETA at Reus airport injured 53 people, many of them British [http://www.tkb.org/Incident.jsp?incID=8036] . Further bombs exploded at Cambrils and Salou.

References

* Panareda Clopés, Josep Maria; Rios Calvet, Jaume; Rabella Vives, Josep Maria (1989). "Guia de Catalunya", Barcelona:Caixa de Catalunya. ISBN 84-87135-01-3 (Spanish). ISBN 84-87135-02-1 (Catalan).

External links

* [http://www.reus.net/ Official Page of Reus]
* [http://gaudicentre.tripod.com Unofficial site about the new museum Gaudí Centre ]
* [http://www.justsalou.co.uk Salou and Flights to Reus ]