Reus (Catalan pronunciation:[ˈrɛws]) is the capital ofBaix Camp, inCamp de Tarragona,Catalonia, Spain. The area has always been an important producer of wines and spirits, and gained continental importance at the time of thePhylloxera plague. Currently it is known for its commercial activity, for being a centre forrock-climbing and as the birthplace of architectAntoni Gaudí.
The origin of the name is a source of discussion. One of the theories is that Reus comes from theLatin 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 hasCeltic roots, from the rootred that originated the nameredis (orreddis), that would approximately meanplace in the way /place in the roads, or said alternatively, an inhabited place in a cross-road.
Around 1150Robert d'Aguiló repopulated the region of Reus, after receiving it on 3 June 1154. On 5 June 1154 thearchbishop of Tarragona gave two-thirds of Reus toBertran de Castellet, as acastellan, with the order to build a church. 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 orReddis. The castellanBernat de Bell-lloc gave the title of town to Reus on 3 August 1183, giving the ownership of houses and gardens, establishing acensus to pay for farmland and reserving justice, but recognizing itsvassalage towards the archbishopric of Tarragona. On 2 June 1186 the camerlengoJoan de Santboi confirmed the rights given by the castellan Bernard de Bell-lloc.
In 1305 Reus revolted against the ArchbishopRodrigo Tello, who wanted the citizens of Reus to pay for rebuilding the walls ofTarragona. In 1309 the king of Aragon gave Reus the right to hold a market on Mondays. The dynasty of Bell-lloc castellans became extinct in 1327 and thenBernard de Cabrera became the new castellan, but in 1335 the castellan was sold toPere Mulet, who lost it on 1345. Pere Mulet heirs sold their rights toBernat d'Olzinelles in 1349. The camerlengoPere Roger de Belfort disputed domain to the ArchbishopLópez de Ayerbe, who sent an army that decimated the town. A second attack was repulsed. A third attack was led by military occupation of the town and Reus was sacked. The camerlengo Pere Roger de Belfort, nephew of PopeClement VI, who was living inAvignon with his uncle, persuaded the Pope to call thearchbishop of Tarragona and thePope received a commitment for peace.Pere Roger de Belfort gave the roses off his coat to coat of arms of the town and he later became PopeGregory XI, he retained the title as a camerlengo of Reus, so the coat of arms was crowned and adorned with, a papal tiara and the keys of St. Peter.
At the beginning of theCatalan 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 generalLa Mothe.
In the eighteenth century Reus had phenomenal growth and became the second city of theprincipality of Catalonia. The walls were completely demolished in 1766. The town developed the textile trade and theliquor trade. In this last contribution was the first center, the others wereLondon andParis. 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 byPere Sunyer was granted in 1805, but it was stopped because of theFrench War. At this time Reus had consulates in the United States,Liguria, England,Holland,Sweden,Ragusa,Denmark,Sicily, thePapal States, France,Portugal,Naples andPrussia.
In 1931 Reus voted for therepublic. In 1936Francisco Franco bombed the city until his rebel army occupied the city on 15 January 1939, starting with the dictatorship of Franco until his death in 1975.
Reus was for long the second city ofCatalonia with a population of 14,440 in 1787 and 27,257 in 1860. It was overtaken byTarragona andLleida 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 fromMarrakesh,[4][5] has been a portion of that increase. About 6% are Muslim and 8% from other religions.
According to the 2006 official Spanishcensus (source: Instituto Nacional de Estadística), Reus is the 9th most populous city in Catalonia and the 59th in Spain.
During the 19th and 20th centuries Reus became known as one of the world's major centers of liquor production, and was home to over 30 producers ofvermouth.[10] Today Reus is home to major exporters of vermouth including Yzaguirre, Iris (Muller), Miró, and Fot-Li.[10][9]
The principal Reus festivity isSant Pere on 29 June, declared of National Touristic Interest. One of the most characteristic and popular acts of these festivities is the so-calledtronada, which is a series of 29 little mortarsmasclets with bangers interleaved, arranged linearly around theMercadal square (where the city hall is located), united by a hand craft gunpowder line. This line ends in a square shape in front of the city hall, with more bangers and 9 moremasclets. Also, on September 25, theMare de Déu de la Misericòrdia is held.
Other noteworthy festivities are theCarnival and theAnada a l'Antiga towardsSalou. Most of the neighborhoods have their own festivities.
Besides the major festivities, Reus holds many festivals, for exampleCos, a festival dedicated to mime, orEl Trapezi, a festival with circus spectacles. In every odd numbered year the Reus Institut Municipal d’Accio Cultural presents theBiennals 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.
In recent years,[when?] tourism in Reus has expanded as more and more people come to theCosta Daurada region for their summer holidays or some winter sun. Nowadays, the largest group of tourists comes from Russia, followed by France and Holland.[12]
Reus is close to the resort town ofSalou and one of Europe's biggest theme resort atPortAventura World. Tour companies and buses operate services to Reus from tourist destinations in the region such asSalou, La Pineda andCambrils.
The accommodation in Reus consists of small hotels, hostels, and major chained hotels owned byNH Hoteles and Hotusa Group.
Recently,[when?]Reus Airport has started to receive low cost flights fromRyanair that fly to Reus from many different European locations and North Africa. The airport also receives major charter flights from theUnited Kingdom.Barcelona Airport is another airport which serves the area for those destinations not served byReus Airport.
The firstflag 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, but this has not been confirmed by the local government.
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