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April 21

Saint’s Day for Anselmo, Silvio, Vidal, Félix and Conrado.

The romanesque cathedral in XII century / «Los orígenes de Compostela», Arturo Franco Taboada.

1211 - in Galicia, archbishop Pedro Muñiz consecrated the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela 
1483 - in the battle of Lucena (Cordova), Boabdil -the king of Granada- is taken prisoner.
1486 - Ferdinand signs the Sentence of Guadalupe, by putting an end to the situation of bondage of remensa peasants in Catalonia.
1503 - during the War of Naples (1501-1504), the troops of the Crown of Castile and Aragon defeated the French at the Battle of Seminara.
1739 - Spain & Naples-Austria sign peace accord
1898 - Spanish-American War: The United States Navy begins a blockade of Cuban ports. When the U.S. Congress issued a declaration of war on April 25, it declared that a state of war had existed from this date
1941 - in Pozo Calero of Barruelo-in Palencia coalfield - 18 miners are killed as a result of an explosion of firedamp.
1997 - Spain launches Minisat 1 satellite.
2005 - The Congress of Deputies approved the first bill that legalizes same-sex marriage.
2017 - The worst storm for 22 years’ – waves of nearly eight metres flooded chiringuitos and promenades and provoked serious damage to beaches in the city, Costa del Sol and Axarquía.

Births
1132 - Sancho VI, king of Navarre (d. 1194)
1790 - Manuel Blanco Encalada, Spanish-Chilean admiral and politician 1st President of Chile (d. 1876)
1845 - Juan Bautista Lazaga Garay, marine and soldier (d. 1898).
1901 - Julián Bautista, orchestral and film score composer, and conductor, born in Madrid. (d 1961)
1907 - Enrique Líster, solider and politician
1917 - The actress, María Isbert, was born in Madrid
1919 - Rosario la Dinamitera, militant (b. 2008).
1939 - Ian Gibson is an Irish author and Hispanist known for his biographies of the poet Antonio Machado, the artist Salvador Dalí, the bibliographer Henry Spencer Ashbee, the filmmaker Luis Buñuel. and particularly his work on the poet and playwright Federico García Lorca, for which he won several awards, including the 1989 James Tait Black Memorial Prize for biography. His work, La represión nacionalista de Granada en 1936 y la muerte de Federico García Lorca (The Nationalist Repression of Granada in 1936 and the Death of Federico García Lorca) was banned in Spain under Franco.
Ian Gibson - own work
Born in Dublin to a Methodist family, he was educated at Newtown School in Waterford and graduated from Trinity College, Dublin. He taught modern Spanish literature at Queen's University Belfast and the University of London before moving to Spain. His first novel, Viento del Sur (Wind of the South, 2001), written in Spanish, examines class, religion, family life, and public schools in British society through the fictitious autobiography of a character named John Hill, an English linguist and academic. It won favourable reviews in Spain.
 
Gibson has also worked in television on projects centering on his scholarly work in Spanish history, having served as a historical consultant and even acting in one historical drama.
He was granted a Spanish passport (citizenship) 1984.
1972 - José Luis Munuera, draftsman.
1940 - Francesc Buscató, Basketball player
1978 - Diana Navarro, singer. born in Málaga
1992 - Isco, footballer
1997 - Mikel Oyarzabal, footballer


Deaths
1569 - Renaissance architect, Hernán Ruiz II, died in Sevilla
1582 - Francisco de Toledo, aristocrat and soldier (b. 1515).
1913 - Marcos Zapata Mañas, dramatist and poet (b. 1842).
2002 - Patxi Iturrioz, Basque politician.
2010 - Juan Antonio Samaranch, Spanish businessman seventh President of the International Olympic Committee (b. 1920)