Diversity of marine benthic algae from Cantabria (Eastern Cantabrian, Spain): a historical overview of research and publications

The macroalgal flora of Cantabria (north of Spain) has attracted the interest of many researchers on past occasions. Currently published information only reflects occasional collections from sporadic field visits to this region of the Spanish Atlantic coast. To overcome this, a historical overview of research and publications, encompassing collections and presence data recording, has been undertaken. This work lists the resultant taxonomic records and provides information about macroalgal flora of Cantabria. A total of 425 species (25 Cyanobacteria, 55 Chlorophyta, 81 Ochrophyta, and 264 Rhodophyta) were identified. The number of specific, infraspecific taxa, and stages is 437: 25 Cyanobacteria, 57 Chlorophyta, 89 Ochrophyta, and 266 Rhodophyta. The floristic character of flora from the Cantabrian coast is compared over time and with nearby regions applying Cheney’s ratio [(Rhodophyta+Chlorophyta)/ Ochrophyta, or (R+C)/O]. The present paper aims to provide an overview of the research that has been conducted in the Cantabrian coast, not only found in international publications but also in local publications as well as unpublished theses.

Spanish American Port Cities

Following medieval political traditions, the conquest of America led by the Spanish crown was a highly urbanized enterprise. Cities defined the spaces of colonial America in terms of organization of the territory, control of the population, and the negotiation of political sovereignty on the ground. Early city foundation in the Antilles after 1492 was followed by the major occupation of continental America, when more than two hundred cities were founded over the 16th century. In the 17th and 18th centuries, cities in Spanish America became the hub of social integration, moving from ‘Spanish cities’ to what has been labeled ‘creole metropolises.’ During the age of revolution and independence, the late 18th and early 19th centuries, cities played a major role as the seats of national sovereignty. Typically struggles for independence would start with the rising of creole elites in the capital cities of each viceroyalty. Historiography on Spanish American cities has evolved in the last decades from an institutionally driven or urban growth approach to urban experiences, to an exploration of the multiple facets of urban life: commercial, economic, political, social, and cultural. In the renewal of urban history, the study of port cities has gained significance especially—although not exclusively—in connection to their commercial role, contributing thus to the development of new trends on Atlantic, global, and connected histories. Ports were also spaces for scientific development with shipyards and arsenals as main centers of technological innovation. Studies on port cities, however, have not been systematic and are notably disproportionate among regions and periods within the Spanish Atlantic. There are a considerably greater number of studies related to the first half of the 16th century and late 18th century and to the Caribbean and River Plate regions. Acknowledging this imbalance, this article will prioritize a geographical approach by focusing on particular cities within four main regions in the Atlantic—the Greater Antilles, Northern Mainland Caribbean, Southern Mainland Caribbean and the Southern Atlantic and River Plate Region—as a way to address the complexity of port experiences within those regions during different chronologies. A section on Pacific Connections ports is included to underline the connected nature of Spanish American port cities and their global outreach. Although local examples of port cities will be the core of this article, it opens with an updated review on the main urban history literature, with a section on primary sources following, and a general overview of regional or thematic works on ports, to move then to the geographical sections.

A late Holocene record of marine high-energy events along the Atlantic coast of Morocco: new evidences from the Tahaddart estuary

The Atlantic coast of Morocco has been exposed to marine submersion events from storm surges and tsunamis which have resulted in human and economic losses. The absence of long term records for these hazards makes it difficult to trace their behavior through time, which is the first step to prepare proactive adaptation strategies for events that may happen in the future. In this paper, we present a late Holocene record of marine submersion events along the Atlantic coast of Morocco using a 2.7 m sediment core sampled from the Tahaddart estuary. The sedimentological and geochemical analyses conducted on this geological archive showed a mud-dominated sequence with 14 allochthonous sandy layers (E1-E14) left by marine high-energy events. The deposition age of three layers (E1, E13 and E14) has been determined using conventional dating methods (210Pbex, 137Cs and 14C). The first layer, introduced as E1 seems to fit with the great Lisbon tsunami in 1755 CE (Common Era), an event dated for the first time along the Atlantic coast of Morocco. The other two layers, referred to as E13 and E14, were dated between 3464 and 2837 cal BP (calibrated years Before Present) and chronologically correlated with marine high-energy deposits found on the Spanish Atlantic coast. This correlation confirms the existence of another regional event around 3200 BP.

War, Gender, and Society in Late Colonial and Revolutionary Spanish America

Military conflicts and wars shaped Spanish America in the transformative period from the 1780s to the 1830s with its first anticolonial uprisings and the Spanish American Wars of Independence. This chapter explores the impact of warfare and militarization on the social and gender order in the Spanish Atlantic Empire in this transformative period and examines, conversely, how ideas about the gender order shaped society, warfare, and military culture. It focuses on the first anticolonial uprisings, especially the Tupac Amaru Rebellion in the South American Andes and the Rebellion of the Comuneros in New Granada—two of the largest and earliest in the history of Latin America—and the Spanish American Wars of Independence and their aftermath.