Spain

Kingdom of Spain
Flag
Location  Europe
Capital  Madrid
Area  505,370 sq km
Population  49,331,076

"There's no fool like an old fool"
(Proverb/Quote of the Week)

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January

January 1 A Spanish-Italian archaeological mission has discovered a complete symbolic tomb of the Egyptian god Osiris with multiple shafts and chambers at Al-Gorna necropolis on Luxor’s west bank in Egypt, as announced on 1 January 2015. Spanish politician José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero took over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union for six months on January 1, 2010. The Council is an institution of the European Union to setup general political direction and priorities in the region. Spain joined the European Union (EU), an economic and political union of European countries, on 1 January 1986. January 2 Spain introduced tough new anti-smoking laws which no longer allow lighting up a cigarette in bars and cafes since January 2, 2011. The new law replaces one of Europe's most relaxed anti-smoking legislation with one of the strictest. January 3 January 4 Pope Francis named Ricardo Blazquez Perez of Spain as a cardinal among a new batch of cardinals selected by Pope on 4 January 2015. January 5 Spain defeated Serbia 2-1 to win the Hopman Cup tennis tournament on 5 January 2013. Fernando Verdasco and Anabel Medina Garrigues claimed the title by winning the mixed doubles 6-4, 7-5 from Novak Djokovic and Ana Ivanovic. January 6 Spain’s Roberto Bautista Agut won the 2019 Qatar Open tennis title beating Tomas Berdych 6-4 3-6 6-3 in the final. January 7 January 8 January 9 January 10 Europe's first underwater museum, Museo Atlantico, opened to the public on 10 January 2017 off Spain's Lanzarote island featuring more than 300 sculptural works. January 11 A team of international and Spanish scientists have observed a huge amount of star-forming gas ejecting into the universe by the coming together of two galaxies. The merger created a new galaxy called ID229 as published on 11 January 2021 in the journal Nature Astronomy. Spain’s Luis Enrique was named FIFA World Coach of the Year for men's football on 11 January 2016 for his performance with Spanish club FC Barcelona. January 12 January 13 January 14 January 15 January 16 January 17 Veteran Spanish driver Carlos Sainz won the Dakar Rally for the third time on 17 January 2020 in Saudi Arabia. January 18 January 19 The Spanish Primera División retained the first place for the fifth time in a row as the World’s Strongest National Football League, as awarded by the International Federation of Football History & Statistics on 19 January 2015. January 20 January 21 Spain's medieval city of Toledo was recognised on 21 January 2022 as having the Most Beautiful Night Panoramic View in the World by Japan's Convention Bureau and Tourism Office. Spain was the third most popular tourism destination in the world in 2013, according to an official announcement on 21 January 2014. January 22 Spanish scientists and their international colleagues have detected the presence of water vapour on Ceres, the only dwarf planet in the inner Solar System. Their study was published on 22 January 2014 in the journal Nature. January 23 Spain was crowned as the sixth greenest country in the world according to the Environmental Performance Index (EPI) 2016 published by Yale University, Columbia University and the World Economic Forum. The EPI index ranks the performance of each nation in protection of human health from environmental harm and protection of ecosystems based on nine assessment areas that include air quality, climate and energy, forests and water resources. January 24 January 25 Sergio Garcia of Spain won the 2014 Commercial Bank Qatar Masters golf tournament after defeating Mikko Ilonen of Finland in a playoff. January 26 First blue-eyed boy was a Stone Age man, according to a study published by Spanish and a team of international researchers on 26 January 2014. The man who lived about 7,000 years ago and whose buried bones were discovered in 2006 in a cave near León, Spain has turned out to be the earliest known person with blue eyes, a physical trait that evolved relatively recently in human history, the study suggests. January 27 January 28 Javier Fernandez of Spain won his fourth straight Figure Skating European title on 28 January 2016 at the ISU European Figure Skating Championships in Bratislava, Slovakia. January 29 January 30 Spanish tennis star Rafael Nadal made history on 30 January 2022 as he roared back from two-sets-to-love down to capture his record-breaking 21st Grand Slam title at the Australian Open. Spanish windfarms produced more electricity than any other source in the last three months, according to data from grid operator Red Electrica de Espana, the Spanish Wind Energy Association said in a statement on 30 January 2013. January 31

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February

February 1 Rafael Nadal of Spain won the 2009 Australian Open men's singles tennis tournament. It was Nadal's 6th Grand Slam title and 1st at the Australian Open. Nadal won the Australian Open with a 7–5, 3–6, 7–6(3), 3–6, 6–2 victory over Roger Federer of Switzerland. February 2 February 3 February 4 An international team of researchers, that also includes scientists from Spain, found Neanderthals may have vanished from southern Spain thousands of years earlier than previously thought, according to a carbon-dating study published on 4 February 2013 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. February 5 Spanish and Canadian scientists have discovered a cave-dwelling new species of insect, Haplocampa wagnelli, in British Columbia in Canada. The insect, could be a survivor from the last ice age, was reported in the journal Subterranean Biology on 5 February 2019. February 6 Spain clinched the 2005 World Men's Handball Championship title on February 6, 2005. Spain won the championship defeating Croatia in the final 40-34. February 7 February 8 February 9 February 10 Spanish photographer Samuel Aranda won the 55th World Press Photo of the Year award for an image of a veiled woman holding a wounded relative in her arms after a demonstration in Yemen. The winner of the prestigious annual World Press Photo competition was announced on 10 February 2012 in Amsterdam. February 11 Dr Cristina Romera Castillo form the Institute of Sea Sciences in Spain was recognised as one of the International Rising Talents at the 2020 L'Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science Award. A release of carbon dioxide from the deep ocean helped bring an end to the last Ice Age, according to a new research by Spanish scientists and their international colleagues. The finding, published in Nature on 11 February 2015, gives scientists an insight into how the ocean affects the carbon cycle and climate change. Spain defeated Russia 3-1 in the overtime of the final match of the 2012 UEFA European Futsal Championship, a variant of football played indoor, to win the champion’s title for the fourth consecutive year. February 12 February 13 Spanish and Egyptian archaeologists have unearthed a 3,600-year-old mummy in the ancient city of Luxor, Egypt's Antiquities Minister announced on 13 February 2014. In a statement, the ministry said the rare find in a preserved wooden sarcophagus dates back to 1600 BC, when the Pharaonic 17th Dynasty reigned. February 14 Spanish and English researchers have developed a new approach towards the fabrication of solar cells based on AgBiS2 that enables absorption coefficients higher than any other photovoltaic material used to date, as revealed in the journal Nature Photonics on 14 February 2022. February 15 Spain ranked third in the world on how effectively children can access the justice system to defend their rights, according to a research report released on 15 February 2016 by Children Rights International Network (CRIN). February 16 Spanish film director Carla Simon’s Alcarràs won the Golden Bear award for the best film at the 72nd Berlin Film Festival on 16 February 2022. February 17 February 18 Spanish Basketball Federation was recognised with the Laureus Academy Exceptional Achievement Award at the Laureus World Sports Awards 2020 in Berlin. February 19 February 20 An international team of astronomers, that also includes researchers from Spain, discovered a planet outside our solar system that is slightly larger than earth's moon, the smallest planet discovered to date orbiting our sun. Their findings were published on 20 February 2013 in the journal Nature. February 21 Ratings agency Moody's has upgraded Spain's government bond rating by one notch to Baa2, according to an official report published on 21 February 2014, citing progress in structural reforms and improved market access after around five years of a deep economic downturn. February 22 February 23 Spanish scientists and a team of international researches have found the first major evidence that Neanderthals made cave paintings, created more than 64,000 years ago – 20,000 years before modern humans arrived in Europe. The paintings in three caves in Spain, indicating they may have had an artistic sense similar to our own, were detailed in the journal Science on 23 February 2018. February 24 Spanish passport ranked third at the Henley & Partners Visa Restrictions Index 2016, allowing its citizens visa-free access to 175 countries. February 25 Treasure, including tons of gold and silver coins, from the sunken 19th-century Spanish Navy frigate Nuestra Senora de las Mercedes returned to Spain on 25 February 2012 after being recovered by Florida-based salvage company Odyssey Marine Exploration in 2007. The Spanish treasure returned following a five-year legal battle in the United States between the Spanish government and the salvage company. February 26 Spain's economy expanded by 1.4 percent in 2014, after five years of recession or no growth, the country's national statistics agency Ine said on 26 February 2015. February 27 Spanish film director Alejandro Amenábar's film The Sea Inside, staring Spanish/Hollywood star Javier Bardem, won the 2005 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. It is based on the real-life story of Spaniard Ramon Sampedro, who fought a 30 year campaign in favor of euthanasia and his own right to die. February 28 February 29

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March

March 1 Spanish passport was ranked as the world’s third most valuable by the Nomad Passport Index 2017, assessed based on visa-free travel, taxation, perception, dual citizenship and overall freedom. An international team of researchers, including Spanish scientists, has for the first time identified a gene called IRF4 responsible for greying hair. Their study published in Nature Communications on 1 March 2016 confirms greying has a genetic component and is not just environmental. March 2 Spain ranked seventh in the list of the Global Energy Index 2016 published by the World Economic Forum (WEF), showcasing the country's ability to deliver secure, affordable and sustainable energy. March 3 March 4 March 5 March 6 March 7 Spanish scientists and a team of international researchers have shown that the human hippocampus – a region in the brain essential for learning and memory - stop producing nerve cells around the age of 13. Their findings were detailed in the journal Nature on 7 March 2018. March 8 Spain women's football team defeated Canada 1-0 in the final to be crowned 2017 champions at the Algarve Cup, a global invitational tournament for national teams in women's football hosted by the Portuguese Football Federation. Ancient DNA found in the dental plaque of Neandertals – our nearest extinct relative – has provided remarkable new insights into their behaviour, diet and evolutionary history, including their use of plant-based medicine to treat pain and illness nearly 50,000 years before the invention of penicillin. Spanish scientists and their international colleagues published the finding in the journal Nature on 8 March 2017. Spain’s Yon Santacana Maiztegui won gold at the 2014 Sochi Winter Paralympics in the Men's Downhill. March 9 March 10 A second patient has been cured of HIV after undergoing stem cell transplant treatment, by a team of Spanish and international doctors, as reported in The Lancet HIV journal on 10 March 2020. March 11 Archaeologists from Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona in Spain working at an ancient complex in southeastern Spain say women probably held political power in the Bronze Age society that ruled the area 4,000 years ago, as revealed on 11 March 2021. An international team of astronomers, in collaboration with Spanish researchers, has discovered a planet, WASP-76b some 390 light years away, where it rains iron. The study published on 11 March 2020 in the journal Nature Astronomy. March 12 Spanish scientists were awarded 32 research grants by the European Research Council (ERC) on 12 March 2015 as part of the European Union Research and Innovation programme Horizon 2020. March 13 Spanish archaeologists and a team of international researchers have discovered the oldest fossil human cranium from the Aroeira cave in Portugal dated to around 400,000 years ago. Their findings were detailed in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on 13 March 2017. March 14 March 15 Manuel Marín, a Spanish politician, took office as interim President of the European Commission on March 15, 1999. He served for six months as President of European Commission which is the executive body of the European Union-an economic and political union of European countries. March 16 March 17 Spanish scientists have found the tomb of Spain's beloved author Miguel de Cervantes in Madrid nearly 400 years after his death, as revealed on 17 March 2015. The author was buried in 1616 but his coffin was later lost. March 18 March 19 March 20 March 21 March 22 March 23 March 24 March 25 Spanish Formula One racing driver Fernando Alonso won the 2012 Malaysian Grand Prix for Ferrari on 25 March 2012. March 26 Internationally renouned Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar's masterpiece All About My Mother won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 2000. March 27 March 28 March 29 Salomé, a Spanish singer, jointly won the 1969 Eurovision Song Contest for the song Vivo Cantando. For the first time in the history of the Eurovision Song Contest, the outcome of the voting resulted in a tie for the first place. Four countries gained 18 points each: France, the Netherlands, Spain and the United Kingdom. Since there was no solution for this situation, all four countries were declared winners. March 30 An international research team, including scientists from Spain, has identified a specific gene fault which causes a hereditary form of melanoma. Their study, could lead to improved prevention, detection and treatment, was published in the journal Nature Genetics on 30 March 2014. March 31

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April

April 1 Spanish figure skater Javier Fernandez captured his second straight World Championship title on 1 April 2016 in Boston. Penélope Cruz became the first Spanish actress to receive a star in the Hollywood Walk of Fame on April 1, 2011. April 2 Spanish scientists and a team of international researchers have discovered two mating flies trapped in amber 40 Million Years Ago, according to their study published in the journal Scientific Reports on 2 April 2020. April 3 April 4 April 5 El Celler de Can Roca in Spain was named as the World’s Third Best Restaurant for 2017. April 6 Spanish scientists have discovered direct evidence that people in Europe used psychoactive drugs during the Bronze Age, possibly as part of ancient rituals. The researchers reported on 6 April 2023 in the journal Scientific Reports. Spanish pop singer Massiel won the Eurovision Song Contest 1968 for the song La, La, La. The final took place on April 6, 1968 in London, England. April 7 A team of researchers from Spain, Italy and Germany has discovered a super-Earth orbiting the star GJ 740, a red dwarf star situated some 36 light years from the Earth, as published in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics on 7 April 2021. Spain's Jorge Lorenzo won the season-opening Qatar MotoGP on 7 April 2013 in 42 minutes 39.802 seconds. April 8 Spanish professional motorcycle road racer Jorge Lorenzo, riding a Yamaha, won the season-opening Qatar MotoGP on 8 April 2012 by 0.852 seconds ahead of second-placed Dani Pedrosa. April 9 Spanish archaeologists have found the world's oldest string of yarn or cord at a prehistoric site in southern France, which our Neanderthal ancestors made by twisting together natural fibers. The study was published on 9 April 2020 in the journal Scientific Reports. April 10 April 11 April 12 April 13 April 14 Fernando Alonso of Spain won the 2013 Chinese Formula One Grand Prix in 1 hour 36 minutes 26.945 seconds to give Ferrari an impressive first victory of the season. April 15 Researchers at the Instituto Tecnológico de la Energía (ITE) in Spain have developed the first mobile charging system for electric vehicles, as revealed on 15 April 2014. This system allows users to charge their vehicle from any plug -not just from a specifically designed one- as long as it has been previously authorized by an electric power company. April 16 April 17 Spaniard Rafael Nadal claimed his ninth Monte Carlo Masters tennis title with a 7-5 5-7 6-0 victory over Frenchman Gael Monfils on 17 April 2016. April 18 April 19 April 20 April 21 Spanish entry Reel Odisea won the gold award in Brand Image category at the 2020 New York Festivals TV & Film Awards. April 22 April 23 By sequencing the DNA of nearly 40 ancient skeletons found in the Mitelelbe Saale region of Germany, Spanish scientists along with their international colleagues have suggested that the foundations of the modern European gene pool were laid down in the Neolithic era, between 4,000 and 2,000 BC. Their findings were published on 23 April 2013 in the journal Nature Communications. April 24 Scientists from Spain and England have discovered that the larva of a common insect, Galleria mellonella, can eat plastic bags. Their discovery was detailed in the journal Current Biology on 24 April 2017. Spanish researchers have discovered that the inhibition of a protein, called ATM, could foster the appearance of genetic anomalies during the process of spermatogenesis. The inhibition of this protein could generate fertility problems, as revealed on 24 April 2015. April 25 Spanish archaeologists have discovered what could be one of the oldest images of Jesus Christ, painted on the walls of a mysterious underground structure deep in an ancient tomb at the Egyptian city of Oxyrhynchus. The researchers described the finding on 25 April 2014 in an interview. April 26 April 27 April 28 April 29 April 30

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May

May 1 May 2 May 3 May 4 Honda rider Marc Marquez of Spain won the 2014 Spanish MotoGP to make it four from four to start the year. May 5 A team of international and Spanish archaeologists has discovered the earliest human burial site yet found in Africa in a small pit at the entrance of Panga ya Saidi, a leafy cave located 15 kilometres from Kenya's south-east coast. The study, sheds new light on the emotional life of early Homo sapiens 78,000 years ago, was published in the journal Nature on 5 May 2021. Spain’s MotoGP champion Marc Marquez swept back to the top of the standings on 5 May 2019 after running away with his home Spanish Grand Prix at Jerez. May 6 Spain topped the 2015 World Economic Forum’s global Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index (TTCI) ranking for the first time ever as the world’s most tourism-friendly country for its cultural resources, infrastructure and adaptation to digital consumption habits. May 7 May 8 Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz won the Mutua Madrid Open tennis title beating defending champion Alexander Zverev in two sets (6-3, 6-1) in 61 minutes on 8 May 2022. May 9 Spaniard Marcel Granollers and Argentine Horacio Zeballos claimed an enthralling victory over Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic to become men’s doubles champions of the 2021 Mutua Madrid Tennis Open. Researchers from Spain have broken down DNA of world's largest mammals to discover how whales defy the cancer odds. Their findings were published on 9 May 2019 in Molecular Biology and Evolution. May 10 May 11 Spanish football goalkeeper David De Gea was awarded the Premier League's Golden Glove award for the first time in his career on 11 May 2018 while playing for Manchester United. Spanish tennis star Rafael Nadal won his 50th consecutive set on clay and became the player with the longest run in history on one surface, beating the 49 set by John McEnroe on carpet in 1984. Nadal made this history after beating Diego Schwartzman 6-3 6-4 in the third round of the 2018 Madrid Open. May 12 In a study published on 12 May 2013 by Spanish researchers and their international colleagues, it is discovered that Utricularia gibba, a carnivorous bladderwort plant, has the shortest known DNA sequence of any multicellular plant and that it lacks "junk DNA", sequences of code that do not encode proteins. Fernando Alonso won the F1 Spanish Grand Prix 2013 for Ferrari on 12 May 2013 in 1 hour 39 minutes 16.596 seconds. May 13 Spanish philosopher Emilio Lledó Iñigo was awarded the 2015 Princess of Asturias Award for Communication and Humanities for his exemplary career in the field of the Humanities. May 14 May 15 Spanish computer professionals Josetxo Perez Fernandez and Pedro Domecq Aguirre won the 2012 Google Model Your Town competition on 15 May 2012 for their 3D portrait of Getaria, a town in the province of Gipuzkoa, Spain. May 16 Spanish tennis star Rafael Nadal defeated rival Novak Djokovic in three sets 7-5 1-6 6-3 to claim his 10th title at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia on 16 May 2021. Spanish astronomer Salvador Barquin has detected a new binary star system in the Draco constellation in the far northern sky, as reported on 16 May 2018. May 17 May 18 A team of international scientists, including Spanish researchers, has reported the detection of a new extrasolar world several times more massive than Earth. The newly found exoplanet, classified as a so-called "super-Earth," is circling a nearby star designated GJ 625, as published on 18 May 2017. Spanish professional basketball player Pau Gasol won the J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award on 18 May 2012 for his charity work with UNICEF and children’s hospitals. May 19 Spaniard Rafael Nadal beat Novak Djokovic, 6-0, 4-6, 6-1, to win the Italian Open tennis title on 19 May 2019 in Rome for his first win of the season and his ninth title at the event. May 20 May 21 Spanish researchers detected cancer cells at an early stage of development via luminescent nanothermometers, as the research was published on 21 May 2020. Spanish motorcycle racer Maverick Vinales won the 2017 French MotoGP representing Yamaha in 43 minutes 29.793 seconds. Spanish researcher Avelino Corma Canós jointly, along with two other American scientists, won the 2014 Spain's Prince of Asturias Award for Technical and Scientific Research. Early humans living in South Africa during the Middle Stone Age may have made advances in culture and technology during periods of wetter weather, indicating climate change promoted human development, according to a study published by Spanish and English researchers on 21 May 2013 in the journal Nature Communications. May 22 Researchers from the University of Cádiz (UCA) have discovered a well-preserved ancient Roman bath complex with walls more than 13 feet high in the sands of the Caños de Meca beach in Spain's Andalusia region, as widely reported by the university on 22 May 2021. May 23 May 24 Spanish club Real Madrid won the UEFA Champions League final on 24 May 2014 for its record 10th European title, beating Atletico Madrid 4-1 in penalties. May 25 Spanish actor Antonio Banderas won the Best Actor Prize at the Cannes film festival on 25 May 2019 for his performance in Dolor y gloria. May 26 Spanish football club Villarreal on 26 May 2021 won the UEFA Europa League and their first major trophy beating Manchester United 11-10 on penalties. May 27 Spanish football giant Real Madrid completed their third straight UEFA Champions League triumph with a 3-1 defeat of Liverpool in Kyiv on 27 May 2018. Spanish mountaineer Kilian Jornet on 27 May 2017 successfully reached the summit of Mount Everest for the second time in a week. The Federation of Medicus Mundi Spain (FAMME), an NGO that works in the field of health cooperation since 1963, was presented with the Sasakawa Health Prize on 27 May 2016 during the plenary meeting of the World Health Assembly. A team of international researchers from Spain, Ethiopia and the USA have unearthed fossilized remains of a new species of ancient human in the Afar region of Ethiopia, dating to between 3.3 million and 3.5 million years old. The new species was named Australopithecus deyiremeda and reported in the journal Nature on 27 May 2015. May 28 Spanish football club Real Madrid won their 14th European Cup beating English club Liverpool 1-0 in the Champions League final on 28 May 2022. Spanish football club Real Madrid won its 11th UEFA Champions League title on 28 May 2016 beating Atletico Madrid 5-3 in penalties after the teams finished the regulation and extra time at 1-1. Futbol Club Barcelona of Spain won the 2011 Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) Champions League, a soccer competition for the top football club in Europe, having beaten English side Manchester United 3-1 in the final on 28 May 2011. It was their fourth UEFA Champions League win. May 29 May 30 Spaniard Julio Blas Garcia was named as one of the winners of the 2013 UNESCO's Young Scientist Awards for contributions in wildlife research. Spain became the sixteenth member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), an intergovernmental military alliance, on May 30, 1982. May 31

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June

June 1 Spanish researchers and a team of international scientists have developed a new way to grow mineralised materials which could regenerate hard tissues such as dental enamel and bone. The study, published in Nature Communications on 1 June 2018, shows that this new approach can create materials with remarkable precision. Spain's El Celler de Can Roca topped the World's 50 Best Restaurant awards in London on 1 June 2015. June 2 Yamaha's MotoGP world champion, Spaniard Jorge Lorenzo on 2 June 2013 won the Italian Grand Prix for the third year in a row. June 3 Spanish Professor Eliseo Vano received the prestigious 2018 Award of Merit in Prague, bestowed by the International Union for Physical and Engineering Sciences in Medicine. Spanish football club Real Madrid won the European Cup for a 12th time on 3 June 2017 beating Juventus 4-1. Spanish professional basketball players Pau and Marc Gasol were jointly awarded the 2015 Princess of Asturias Award for Sports. Spanish professional motorcycle road racer Jorge Lorenzo won the 2012 Catalunya MotoGP representing Yamaha Factory Racing. June 4 Spanish tennis star Garbine Muguruza won her first Grand Slam title at the 2016 French Open beating world number one Serena Williams in straight sets 7-5 6-4. Researchers in Spain have discovered fossil remains of a weird worm lizard that resemble like snakes with no legs and closely related to lizards. The 11-million-year old fossil was reported on 4 June 2014 in the journal PLOS ONE. June 5 Spanish tennis star Rafael Nadal became the oldest men's singles champion in Roland-Garros history as the 36-year-old stormed to a 6-3, 6-3, 6-0 victory over Norwegian world No.8 Casper Ruud in the final on 5 June 2022. Spanish writer Antonio Muñoz Molina was named as recipient of the 2013 Spain's Prince of Asturias Award for Literature, beating out countryman Luis Goytisolo, Ireland's John Banville and Japan's Haruki Murakami. Rafael Nadal of Spain won the 2011 French Open Grand Slam Tennis tournament beating Roger Federer of Switzerland 7-5, 7-6, 5-7, 6-1 for record-equaling (till 2011) six Roland Garros titles. June 6 Spanish football club FC Barcelona won the Champions League for a fifth time on 6 June 2015 after beating Italian club Juventus 3-1 in the final. June 7 Rodrigo Rato, a Spanish politician, served as the International Monetary Fund (IMF)'s ninth Managing Director from June 7, 2004 to October 31, 2007. IMF is an organization of over 180 member countries, working to foster global monetary cooperation, secure financial stability, facilitate international trade promote high employment and sustainable economic growth, and reduce poverty around the world. June 8 Spaniard Rafael Nadal won his ninth French Open tennis title beating Novak Djokovic 3-6 7-5 6-2 6-4 on 8 June 2014. June 9 Spanish tennis star Rafael Nadal won his 12th French Open crown on 9 June 2019 beating Austrian Dominic Thiem 6-3, 5-7, 6-1, 6-1 in the final. Rafael Nadal won record eighth French Open tennis title on 9 June 2013 with a straight sets 6-3 6-2 6-3 dismissal of fellow Spaniard David Ferrer in the final. On 09 May 2012, eurozone ministers agreed to lend Spain's banks up to $125 billion, responding to urgent calls for a bailout for its cash-starved banks. Spain’s acceptance of the bailout is expected to bring brief respite to the recent financial turmoil in Spain. June 10 Spanish tennis star Rafael Nadal crushed Austrian Dominic Thiem to snatch a record-extending 11th French Open title with a 6-4 6-3 6-2 victory on 10 June 2018. June 11 Spaniard Rafael Nadal won a magical 10th tennis title at the French Open on 11 June 2017 with a stunning victory against Stan Wawrinka in three sets 6-2, 6-3, 6-1. Spain’s Rafael Nadal won his seventh Roland Garros tennis title on 11 June 2012, defeating Novak Djokovic 6-4, 6-3, 2-6, 7-5 and in the process becoming the most-crowned man in Open Era history at the French Open Men's Singles. June 12 June 13 June 14 June 15 European astronomers including Spanish scientists have identified a green light in the atmosphere of Mars coming from oxygen atoms when they are excited by sunlight. Their findings were published in the journal Nature Astronomy on 15 June 2020. June 16 June 17 June 18 June 19 Spain became the 11th member of the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) Organisation on 19 June 2018, a global scientific and technological project initiative to build the world’s largest radio telescope. June 20 Spanish golfer Jon Rahm won the U.S. Open for first major title at Torrey Pines on 20 June 2021. June 21 Researchers at the Institute of Photonic Sciences in Spain revealed, in a study published on 21 June 2013, that plants make use of quantum physics to harvest light efficiently. The new research suggests plants gather packets of light called photons, moving them deep into their cells where energy is efficiently converted, an effect called a "coherence" helps determine the most efficient path for the photons. June 22 June 23 June 24 Researchers from Spain, the USA and Austria have discovered the adhesions, a band of scar tissue that binds two parts of your tissue that are not normally joined together, that build the brain's networks, as published in the journal Neuron on 24 June 2021. Ferrari's Fernando Alonso scored a sensational victory for Ferrari - and Spain - in an action-packed 2012 Formula 1 European Grand Prix in Valencia on 24 June 2012. June 25 June 26 June 27 The World Heritage Committee of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) inscribed the Cultural Landscape of the Serra de Tramuntana in Spain as a World Heritage Site on June 27, 2011. The landscape is marked by agricultural terraces and inter-connected water works – including water mills - as well as dry stone constructions and farms. June 28 June 29 June 30

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July

July 1 The Caliphate city of Medina Azahara in Spain, an archaeological site of a city built in the mid-10th century CE, was inscribed on the UNESCO's World Heritage List on 1 July 2018. Spain overpowered Italy, 4-0, to win the 2012 European Football Championship on 1 July 2012. Spain became the first side to successfully defend a European Championship title, as well as the first to win three consecutive major tournaments after their triumphs at Euro 2008 and the 2010 World Cup. July 2 July 3 July 4 July 5 July 6 Spanish researchers and their international collaboration have discovered the first evidence of Neanderthal cannibalism in northern Europe. Their findings were published in the journal Scientific Reports on 6 July 2016 based on the analysis of Neanderthal human remains. July 7 Risco Caido and the Sacred Mountains of Gran Canaria Cultural Landscape in Spain was designated as the UNESCO World Heritage Site on 7 July 2019. July 8 Spanish professional motorcycle racer Dani Pedrosa won his first race of the season at the 2012 German Grand Prix in 41 mins 28.396 secs. July 9 July 10 July 11 Spain won the 2010 FIFA Soccer World Cup. It was the maiden Soccer World Cup win for Spain. They won the final after a 1-0 extra time victory over Holland at Soccer City Stadium, Johannesburg on Sunday July 11, 2010. July 12 Spanish and American scientists revealed a new species of duck-billed dinosaur, named Aquilarhinus palimentus, in the journal of Systematic Palaeontology on 12 July 2019. July 13 July 14 July 15 Spanish football team won the 2018 FIFA World Cup Fair Play Trophy with only one card given to them throughout the World Cup. Spain's Garbine Muguruza won her first Wimbledon tennis title beating Venus Williams 7-5, 6-0 in the women’s single final on 15 July 2017. Spanish football club Real Madrid retained the world's most valuable sports team title, according to a new Forbes poll published on 15 July 2015. July 16 The Spanish robotics team won a bronze medal in the Ustad Ahmad Lahori Award for Innovation in Engineering category at the FIRST Global robotics competition in Washington DC on 16 July 2017. Spanish scientists and their international colleagues have located an interconnected series of meandering, iridescent white subsea pools in the Southern Aegean Sea containing high concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO2), as reported on 16 July 2015 in the journal Scientific Reports. The pools, which get their distinctive color from opal particles, may hold answers to questions related to deep-sea carbon storage as well as provide a means of monitoring the volcano for future eruptions. July 17 July 18 July 19 Jon Rahm became the first Spaniard since Seve Ballesteros in 1989 to hold golf's world number one ranking, with the win of the US PGA Memorial tournament on 19 July 2020. July 20 July 21 Spanish actress Amparo Munoz won the Miss Universe title in 1974 as the first Spaniard at the age of 20. July 22 Spanish Formula One racing driver Fernando Alonso led from the start to win the German Grand Prix in his Ferrari on 22 July 2012. July 23 Spain has raised the minimum age for marriage from 14 to 16, bringing it in line with the rest of Europe, as the legislation came into effect on 23 July 2015. July 24 July 25 The 1992 Summer Olympic Games were held in Barcelona, Spain from July 25 to August 9. For the first time since 1972, the Games were boycott-free, due to important global political changes. July 26 July 27 July 28 July 29 July 30 July 31

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August

August 1 August 2 Spanish scientists and a team of international researchers have found the strongest evidence to date for a stratosphere on an enormous planet WASP-121b outside our solar system, with an atmosphere hot enough to boil iron. Their findings were reported in the journal Nature on 2 August 2017. Spain beat Australia 8-6 in the gold-medal final on 2 August 2013 to become the first host country to win the women's water polo world championship. August 3 August 4 Scientists from Spain, France and Scotland have discovered new populations of deep-sea corals growing on the slopes of the UK’s highest underwater mountain, 1400 m Hebrides Terrace Seamount, as revealed on 4 August 2014. August 5 Spain's Carolina Marin became the first woman to win three World Badminton Championships singles titles with victory 21-19 21-10 over India's PV Sindhu on 5 August 2018. August 6 August 7 August 8 August 9 August 10 August 11 Mireia Belmonte Garcia of Spain won gold in the Women's 200m Butterfly swimming at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games in Brazil. August 12 August 13 August 14 Researchers from Spain and an international team have discovered two new species of bone-devouring worms thriving on the icy-cold seafloor of the Southern Ocean. The new species, named Osedax antarcticus and Osedax deceptionensis, that dine on decaying whale skeletons are described on 14 August 2013 in the Royal Society journal Proceedings B. Spanish researchers along with an international team have set out the first comprehensive map of mutational processes behind the development of tumors - work that should in future lead to better ways to treat and prevent a wide range of cancers. Their study, published on 14 August 2013 in the journal Nature, discovered the genetic imprints and signatures left by DNA-damaging processes that lead to cancer. August 15 August 16 August 17 Spanish and a team of international scientists have discovered that Penguins originated in Australia and New Zealand, not in the Antarctica, as published on 17 August 2020 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. August 18 Spanish scientists have discovered the oldest known fossil of a hand bone to resemble that of a modern human. The bone was discovered in Tanzania and dates to at least 1.84 million years ago suggests that ancient human relatives may have been larger than previously thought, as detailed in the journal Nature Communications on 18 August 2015. Spaniard Marc Marquez won the 2013 Indianapolis MotoGP in 44 minutes, 52.463 seconds. August 19 In a world first, a team of researchers from Spain, the USA and France has achieved brain-to-brain transmission of information between humans. The successful transmission of information via the Internet between two human subjects – located 5,000 miles apart - was described in PLOS ONE on 19 August 2014. Spanish Grand Prix motorcycle racer Dani Pedrosa, riding a Honda, won Indianapolis MotoGP - finishing nearly 11 seconds ahead of fellow Spaniard Jorge Lorenzo - on 19 August 2012. August 20 August 21 Spain's tourism exceeded the best historical record with the arrival of 38 million foreign tourists in the first 7 months of the year, according to the official data published on 21 August 2015. August 22 Marcel Granollers of Spain and Horacio Zeballos of Argentina won the 2021 Western & Southern Open doubles tennis title after defeating American Steve Johnson and Austin Krajicek 7-6 (5), 7-6 (5) on 22 August 2021. August 23 August 24 Spanish footballer Sergio Ramos was named as the UEFA Best Defender of the Year on 24 August 2017. A collaborative effort by researchers from Spain and their international colleagues have confirmed the existence of a rocky planet named Proxima b orbiting Proxima Centauri, the closest star to our sun, according to a new study published in journal Nature on 24 August 2016. August 25 August 26 Spanish and Barcelona footballer Alexia Putellas won the UEFA Women's Player of the Year award on 26 August 2021. Spanish football coach Lluís Cortés won the UEFA Women's Coach of the Year award on 26 August 2021 after his success with Barcelona football club. August 27 August 28 August 29 August 30 Spanish footballer and Real Madrid captain Sergio Ramos was voted the UEFA Champions League Defender of the Season on 30 August 2018. August 31

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September

September 1 Spaniard Jorge Lorenzo representing Yamaha won the British MotoGP on 1 September 2013 in 40 minutes 52.515 seconds. September 2 September 3 September 4 September 5 In a world first, Spanish and a team of international researchers have transformed tissue cells into skin cells to help heal serious wounds, a technique that could revolutionise care for victims of burns and other severe injuries. Their study was published on 5 September 2018 in the journal Nature. September 6 September 7 September 8 Spaniard Rafael Nadal won his 19th career Grand Slam title and his fourth US Open crown beating Daniil Medvedev, 7-5, 6-3, 5-7, 4-6, 6-4, in the final on 8 September 2019. September 9 Spaniard Rafael Nadal won his third U.S. Open, 16th Grand Slam tennis title beating Kevin Anderson of South Africa 6-3, 6-3, 6-4 on 8 September 2017. Spaniard Rafael Nadal won his second US Open tennis crown, beating Novak Djokovic, 6-2, 3-6, 6-4, 6-1, in the men's final on 9 September 2013. September 10 Spanish actress Ruth Díazin won the Orizzonti Award for Best Actress award for her role in the film the film TARDE PARA LA IRA at the 73rd Venice Film Festival on 10 September 2016. September 11 Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz defeated fifth-seeded Norwegian Casper Ruud, 6-4, 2-6, 7-6(1), 6-3, to earn his first Grand Slam tennis title, world No. 1 ranking, at the 2022 US Open. September 12 September 13 Rafael Nadal of Spain won the Men's Singles at the 2010 US Open Tennis Championships defeating Novak Djokovic of Serbia 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 and 6-2 on 13 September 2010. It was Nadal's first US Open victory which made him only the seventh man in history to complete the set of majors - Wimbledon, the French, Australian and US Opens. September 14 September 15 Spain completed their undefeated run at the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 in China with a 95-75 victory against Argentina in the final. September 16 September 17 September 18 September 19 September 20 Spain won the third European basketball title on 20 September 2015 with a 80-63 win over Lithuania in the final. September 21 September 22 September 23 September 24 September 25 September 26 September 27 Spanish director Carlos Vermut's Magical Girl won the Golden Shell award for best film at the 62nd San Sebastian Film Festival in Spain on 27 September 2014. September 28 September 29 September 30

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October

October 1 October 2 October 3 Spain and Morocco signed a raft of cooperation accords on 3 October 2012, during Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's visit to Morocco, covering the simplification of visa procedures, cooperation in tourism, sport, education and transport. October 4 October 5 October 6 Spanish Grand Prix motorcycle road racer Marc Marquez sealed his sixth and fourth successive MotoGP world title as he won in Thailand on 6 October 2019. October 7 October 8 October 9 October 10 October 11 Spanish tennis star Rafael Nadal won his 13th French Open to claim record-equalling 20th grand slam singles title on 11 October 2020 beating Novak Djokovic 6-0, 6-2, 7-5 in the French Open final. Spanish tennis star Garbine Muguruza captured her second career WTA Tour title by winning the 2015 China Open final with a 7-5, 6-4 victory over Timea Bacsinszky. October 12 October 13 Spain won the gold in Men's Beach Handball beating Portugal 2-1 at the 2018 Summer Youth Olympic Games in Argentina. Spanish footballer Andrés Iniesta won the 2014 Golden Foot international award and became the first Spaniard to lift the award that can only be won by players aged 28 or over. Spanish newspaper El Mundo's correspondent Javier Espinosa was named as one of the recipients of the prestigious Prix Bayeux-Calvados des Correspondants de Guerre prize on 13 October 2012 for his assignments on the ongoing Syrian crisis. October 14 Spanish scientists and their international colleagues have unearthed a 125 million-year-old fossil of a creature, called Spinolestes xenarthrosus, with almost perfectly preserved skin and hair structures in Las Hoyas Quarry in central Spain. The discovery has pushed back the earliest record of preserved mammalian hair structures and inner organs by more than 60 million years, as reported in the journal Nature on 14 October 2015. Spaniard professional motorcycle racer Dani Pedrosa won the 2012 Japan MotoGP on 14 October 2012 in 42 minutes 31.569 seconds. October 15 Carlos F. Turienzo of Spain won the Jeff Mitchum Award at the 2015 EPSON International Pano Awards for an image titled Lighting The Way. The extinct Sthenurine family of giant kangaroos, up to three times larger than modern kangaroos, walked on two feet. Spanish and American researchers published their findings in the journal Plos One on 15 October 2014, detailing comparison between the size and shape of the bones found in living kangaroo species and those of the Sthenurine, which died out some 30,000 years ago. A new radar designed to test methods for finding orbital debris that can be hazardous to space navigation has been installed in Spain, according to an official announcement on 15 October 2012 by the European Space Agency (ESA). The radar will be used to develop future debris warning services, helping to boost safety for European satellite operators. October 16 Spain was elected to the UN Human Rights Council on 16 October 2017 for a 3-year term starting on 1 January 2018. Spanish Grand Prix motorcycle road racer Marc Marquez secured his third MotoGP World Championship in four years by winning the Japanese Grand Prix on 16 October 2016. Spain was elected as a non-permanent member of the U.N. Security Council on 16 October 2014 for the years 2015-2016. October 17 Paula Badosa of Spain became the first Spanish woman to win the Indian Wells tennis tittle following her 7-6 (7/5), 2-6, 7-6 (7/2) defeat of Victoria Azarenka in the final. October 18 Spanish motorcycle road racer Marc Márquez scored a stunning win at the Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix on 18 October 2015 at Phillip Island in 40 minutes 30:849 seconds. October 19 October 20 Eight-year-old Spanish photographer Carlos Perez Naval won the 2014 Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year (WPY) Award for his depiction of a common yellow scorpion. October 21 Spain's Grand Prix motorcycle racer Dani Pedrosa stormed to victory in the Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix on 21 October 2012. October 22 October 23 Spain's economy has emerged from recession after growing for the first time in more than two years, according to an official report published by the Bank of Spain on 23 October 2013. Spain's gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 0.1% between July and September, thanks to strong exports. October 24 October 25 October 26 October 27 Jesús Esteban of Spain was awarded the 2016 Green Talent prize by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research for his research focus on valorisation of renewable chemicals to obtain environmentally sustainable value-added products and discerning their physicochemical characterization. Spain was elected as a council member of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) on 27 October 2014 for four years from the Western European region. ITU is the United Nations specialized agency for information and communication technologies. October 28 Yamaha Factory Racing’s Jorge Lorenzo made history in the Australian Grand Prix at Phillip Island on 28 October 2012, as he was crowned the MotoGP world championship title and became the first Spanish rider to win the premier-class title more than once, after coming second and securing an insurmountable 43-point cushion with one race left. October 29 October 30 October 31

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November

November 1 An international team of astronomers, that also includes researchers from Spain, detected what appears to be light from the first stars in the universe, indicating that stars were present at least as early as 500 million years after the “big bang”. The findings were published on 1 November 2012 in the journal Science. November 2 Spanish director Rodrigo Sorogoyen’s ‘The Beasts’ won the Tokyo Grand Prix award at the 2022 Tokyo International Film Festival (TIFF). November 3 November 4 A team of Spanish and international team of researchers have detected an element, fluorine, found in our teeth in a galaxy that is more than 12 billion light-years away. A study detailing their findings was published on 4 November 2021 in the journal Nature Astronomy. Spain and the Philippines signed an agreement that would allow a smoother exchange of classified information for military purposes between the two countries, Manila’s Department of National Defense (DND) announced on on 4 November 2021. Spain won the 2011 Davis Cup, an international team event in men's tennis, on 4 November 2011. Spain won the final over Argentina, 3-1. November 5 November 6 Spanish renewable energy group Abengoa has begun construction on two concentrated solar power projects in South Africa, according to an official announcement on 6 November 2012. Abengoa will build a 50 MW solar power tower near Upington and a 100 MW parabolic trough solar power plant near Pofadder, both in South Africa's semi-desert Northern Cape Province. November 7 November 8 November 9 November 10 Spaniard Marc Marquez became the youngest-ever MotoGP world champion at the age of 20 with third-place finish at the season-ending Valencia Grand Prix on 10 November 2013. November 11 Spanish Grand Prix motorcycle racer Dani Pedrosa won the season-ending Valencia Grand Prix in 48 minutes 23.819 seconds on 11 November 2012. November 12 November 13 November 14 Spanish astronomers and a team of international scientists have discovered a planet, Barnard's Star b, around one of the closest stars to our Sun, as revealed in the journal Nature on 14 November 2018. November 15 Spain’s Joan Mir, on Suzuki, became the 2020 MotoGP champion by finishing seventh at Valencia on 15 November 2020. Photographer Luisa Lynch of Spain won the First Prize at the 2017 National Wildlife Federation Photo Contest in the Backyard Habitats category. November 16 The film Seeking Refuge by Eva Eileen Limones Macdonald of Spain won the 2019 PLURAL+ International Jury Award presented by UNAOC and IOM. November 17 Researchers in Spain have discovered fossils of car-sized dinosaur-era sea turtle, named Leviathanochelys aenigmatica that was about 12 feet (3.7 meters) long, weighed a bit under two tons. The discovery was reported on 17 November 2022 in the journal Scientific Reports. November 18 November 19 November 20 November 21 An international team of astronomers, that also includes researchers from Spain, revealed Makemake, one of the solar system’s five dwarf planets, has been found to have no atmosphere. The new results were published on 21 November 2012 in the journal Nature. November 22 Spanish footballer Pedri won the 2021 Golden Boy award, given by sports journalists to a young footballer playing in Europe, after an outstanding breakthrough season with Barcelona. November 23 November 24 Spain won its sixth Davis Cup tennis title defeating Canada 2-0 in the final in Madrid on 24 November 2019. November 25 A team led by researchers at the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias in Spain has discovered two potentially habitable earth-like worlds, GJ 1002b and GJ 1002c, as reported in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics on 25 November 2022. November 26 November 27 November 28 November 29 November 30

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December

December 1 December 2 December 3 December 4 Scientists from Spain and an international team have found DNA in a 400,000-year-old thigh bone discovered in Spain - oldest human genetic material ever sequenced - according to their study published on 4 December 2013 in the journal Nature. December 5 December 6 December 7 December 8 December 9 December 10 Spanish football club FC Barcelona won the 2018 SportTechie Award for Outstanding Sports Team. December 11 December 12 December 13 December 14 December 15 Researchers from Spain and their international colleagues have constructed the most comprehensive global microbial gene catalog to date from 13,174 publicly available metagenomes across 14 major habitats based on a global microbiome concept, as published in the journal Nature on 15 December 2021. A high-speed bullet train service linking Spain and France was inaugurated on 15 December 2013 that is expected to cut the regular 12-hour journey between Barcelona and Paris to approximately 6 hours. On 15 December 2011, the European Commission officially awarded the prestigious European Green Capital title for 2012 to Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain, further promoting sustainable transport initiatives throughout Europe. December 16 Spanish football club Real Madrid secured back-to-back FIFA Club World Cup titles beating Brazilian team Gremio 1-0 in the final on 16 December 2017. Spanish scientists have discovered a new species of dinosaur named Morelladon beltrani, which inhabited the Iberian Peninsula at least 125 million years ago. The discovery was published in the journal PLoS ONE on 16 December 2015. December 17 December 18 Spanish astronomers have identified a new carbon-rich ultra metal-poor unevolved star in the halo of the Milky Way galaxy. The newly found star, designated J0815+4729, could be the most iron-poor unevolved star known to date, as detailed on 18 December 2017 on the arXiv pre-print repository. Spanish club Barcelona won the FIFA Club World Cup 2011 beating Brazilian side Santos 4-0 in Japan on 18 December 2011. December 19 Mireia Lalaguna Royo of Spain was crowned Miss World 2015 at the 65th edition of the pageant held in Sanya, China. December 20 Spanish researchers and their international colleagues have identified a new dolphin species, named Urkudelphis chawpipacha, based on a small dolphin skull discovered in Ecuador. Their findings were detailed in the journal PLOS ONE on 20 December 2017. December 21 Photographer Ignacio Carmona and Jose Ramon Gomez Martin of Spain were named as the winners of the 2017 World Meteorological Organization Water Ways Photo Competition. Spanish club Real Madrid won the 2014 Club World Cup defeating San Lorenzo of Argentina 2-0 in the final in Morocco. December 22 "Upon Entry" of Spain and "Kura Pokkhir Shunye Ura" (The Golden Wings of Watercocks) of Bangladesh jointly won the Best Film award in the international category on 22 December 2022 at the 28th Kolkata International Film Festival. Spanish football club Real Madrid claimed their third successive, and a record fourth, FIFA Club World Cup title, defeating Al Ain of the UAE 4-1 at Abu Dhabi's Zayed Sports City Stadium on 22 December 2018. Spanish footballer Isco who plays for Málaga CF was named as 2012 Golden Boy, a prestigious prize which is awarded to Europe's best under-21 player by Italian newspaper Tuttosport, on 22 December 2012. December 23 December 24 December 25 December 26 December 27 December 28 December 29 December 30 December 31 San Sebastian of Spain and Wroclaw of Poland were named as the European Capitals of Culture in 2016 in Brussels on 31 December 2015.

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