The Crown of Aragon or the Aragonese empire, was a personal union of multiple states and titles ruled by the King of Aragon . That means the states were ruled by the monarch but they retained their independence and boundaries, as for their culture too.
In 1469 a new dynasty was formed with the unification of the two Crowns, the Crown of Castile and the Crown of Aragon. This union would later become the unified Kingdom of Spain under Philip II.
The event that led to the unification of the two Crowns was the death of Aragon king Martin I, who died and left no descendants. As a result , rightfully, the heir to the throne of Aragon, by the Pact of Caspe became Ferdinand of Antequerra from the Castilian dynasty of Trastamara. He was crowned Ferdinand I of Aragon and carried on his bloodline. So his grandson, Ferdinad II of Aragon, after recovering the northern Catalan counties from the French, he married Isabella of Castile in 1469. This marriage was a dynastic union, which also formed the union Crown of Aragon.
The Crown of Aragon’s territories consisted from the kingdoms of Aragon, Cataluña, Mallorca, Valencia, Roussillon, Andorra, Napoli, Corsica, Malta, Sardinia, Sicily and the Duchy of Neopatria in Greece. All of them were coastal areas or islands fact that made the Crown of Aragon a maritime thalassocracy kingdom at the peak of the empire during the 14th and 15th centuries.
This new dynasty, King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, allowed the birth and of one the most fearful, infamous and notorious constitutions-organizations of the medieval times, the Spanish Inquisition

If you wish to visit Aragon, the car rental companies are Alamo, Hertz, Avis, SIXT, Dollar, National, Budget and Thrifty.

Castile as a unified region and a kingdom, began in 1230 with the unification of the two separate till that time, kingdoms of Castile and Toledo. In 1217 Ferdinand III became the king of these two kingdoms and later on in 1230 he unified the crown of Leon and Galicia.
The kingdom of Leon arose from the former kingdom of Asturias. Ferdinand inherited these kingdoms from his parents who were king and queen respectively of Leon and Castile, that’s how he unified them. The kings of the Crown of Castile traditionally styled themselves “King of Castile, Leon, Toledo, Galicia, Murcia, Jaén, Cordoba, Seville, and Lord of Biscay and Molina,” and other possessions they later conquered and added to the Crown.
The last years of the founder king Ferdinand III, the kingdom of Castile began to use the Visigothic code. This code was actually a document of legislation and laws, so Castile affiliated some of these laws.
After the death of Ferdinand’s heir Alfonso XI, conflict arose between his 2 sons Pedro and Henry. The Crown of Castille was devastated for many years by domestic conflicts and rivalries between heirs to the throne. In 1469, Isabella I and Ferdinand II, heir to the throne of Aragon married in secret in the Castilian city of Valladolid. A new dynasty arose from this marriage ad a new bigger kingdom by the two already big Crowns, the Crown of Castile and the Crown of Aragon was established. These two allowed and ordered the Spanish Inquisition to perform as it did, in order to increase the power and rule in the Crown.

If you wish to visit Aragon, the car rental companies are Alamo, Hertz, Avis, SIXT, Dollar, National, Budget and Thrifty.

Tarragona, a city of Spain located in the south of Catalonia is regarded as a World Heritage Site and is a tourists’ favorite holiday destination. Several attractions are located in the city and among them are the museums. Some of the finest museums present in Tarragona are:
The Archaeological Museum:
The oldest museum of its kind in Catalonia is the Archaeological Museum that houses one of the Spain’s finest collections of Roman art like the sculptures, archaeological items, military utensils, amphorae, clothing, coins, silver, ceramics and mosaics. The museum is located at the Plaza del Rei 5 and was created in the 19th century. Most of the collections of the museum, which are recovered after the excavations, belong for over the last 150 years. The outstanding attraction in the museum is the Medusa’s head and a Bacchic scene.
Casa Pau Casals Museum:
The Casa Pau Casals Museum is a must visit attraction that honors one of the world’s greatest cellist Pablo Casals. The museum comprises of 17 rooms which are filled with the Casals mementos like the photographs and the films of his performances, his first cello, personal documents, photographs of the artist with prominent men and the Peace Medal awarded by the United Nations in 1971.
The Necropolis Museum:
One of the most significant Christian burial sites of Spain is the Necropolis Museum used during third to fifth centuries. The tombs that are made up of common types like amphorae, flat tiles and also the wooden coffins are preserved in this museum.
The major car hire services in Tarragona are available from Sol-mar, Avis, Europcar, Hertz, Budget, Auto Europe, Argus and Car hire 3000.

Tarragona airport is a place that is linked with roads, rails and the sea. The province of Tarragona is surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea and has an immense historical background. Tourist from all around the globe comes to visit this place in search of fun, adventure and excitement.

Though, Tarragona is accessible by all modes of transport, yet most of the locals and as well as the tourists depend heavily on rental cars for traveling in and around Tarragona. The reason is simple. Moving around in car will cost you less as in comparison to hiring a cab or getting on a train or bus.

More over, moving around n Tarragona for sight seeing and traveling from place to place freely is not possible if you travel in a cab or a bus. This is because both the cab and the bus travels on a fixed route and the place of interest which you want to visit may not be situated on that route. In that case you can only access that place if you have a car. This in turn is possible only if you go for hiring a car from the airport itself.

Most of the people consider the rental rates for the hired cars to be cheap enough but recently Tarragona has seen rise in the rental rates of the car companies. The tourists have also experienced an ever changing rental rate that is not fixed at all.

The reason behind this is the lack of supply of rental cars for which a situation of excess demand appears in the market. For this, the rental rates increases.

Again, the steep rise in rental rates is also the result of the unprecedented and abnormal rise in the world price 0f oils, gasoline, diesel and petrol.

Tarragona is an awesome place to spend your vacations and live every moment spent in that place.

Tarragona in the eastern end of Spain is one of the famous tourist spot, especially the province of Reus that is surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea. The area of Tarragona has plenty to offer to the tourists who visit this place. Tarragona is rich in culture and ancient architectural sights and thus is famous for its ancient historical significance. The Amphitheatre in Reus is one of the prime spots for tourist attraction. Again there are museums, beaches ad several other places of amusements that have kept the tourists attracted towards this lovely place.

The Tarragona airport has some of best facilities available for the tourists that include the existence of multiple rental car companies all around the airport. Tourist buses and shuttles are available that will take the passengers to the car parking lots of the respective car companies and from there on, the passenger can select the car he desires for by fulfilling the legal formalities, and making the necessary payments.

The rents for the cars in this part of the country are exceptionally cheap. The service is constantly improving as more and more car rental companies are settling down in Tarragona for making good business. Some of the famous names who are already running some healthy business in this region are Avis, Budget, Europcar, Thrifty, Hertz and etc. These car companies have several cars in their collection that starts with economic cars that are small yet compact and comes at a low rent of 25 euros. There are also intermediate class cars that come at a rental rate of 50 euros. You can also hire a travel van. For a van, the rent is a little bit high, which can be around 75 to 90 euros. The luxury class cars like Nissan, Fort Limousines and Mercedes can cost as much as 200 euros.

Tarragona city, a World Heritage Site is a home for many recreational centers such as the theme parks. So, get yourself a hired car and visit all the beautiful parks located in the city.

Port Adventure Amusement Park is considered as the Spain’s largest theme park, is set in the vast 2000 acres of land and is becoming Europe’s biggest amusement hub. It takes 10 minutes ride for you to reach the park from the Barcelona. Being the Mediterranean’s most wanted family destination, the park offers you with life size recreations that include variety of shows, exciting adventures, and an array of roller coaster rides. Relax and enjoy with the twist of mariachi orchestras and discover the mysteries of China in Sol de Oriente and also don’t miss the fascinating dances of Aloha Tahiti and the Birds of Paradise in Polynesia. You will really get to see some good break to pass your time.

Parque de la Ciudad de Tarragona or the City Park of Tarragona is a huge park with trails in succession all throughout. You can check out for this perfect picnic spot to relax during leisure and is very much loved by the local residents. The park has several seating spaces such as benches and you can also happily rest on the grass and stretch out in the sun, during the summer months.

Parque Sama Park is very charming and attractive that recreates the foreign ambiance and the grandeur of the Spanish Colony in the Mediterranean vicinity. This park is a 20 hectare garden and is positioned 5 km from the Cambrils town of Tarragona. The tree-lined pathway at the park leads to its central elements like the lake, colonial style mansion and a waterfall makes a refreshing ambience that turns out to make this park an ideal spot chill out on a hot summer day.

Sights:

Tarraco as the city was named in the Roman times was the capital of Hispania Tarraconensis and today  designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO are the Roman ruins of Tarraco. To be seen are the bases of large Cyclopean walls near the Cuartel de Pilatos, and the 2nd century amphitheatre, near the sea-shore, the Plaça de la Font where preserved are the vaults that supported the circus, an area where chariot races were held.

The Aqüeducte de les Ferreres spans a valley about 4 km north of the city and Tower of the Scipios 6 km along the coast road east of the city are monuments in better condition.

The Cathedral of Santa Maria combines Romanesque, Arabic, and Gothic styles of architecture. There are a number of churches in the city worth visiting.

The Calle Mercería, the Calle de Çavallers are arcades belonging to the middle ages, with the Casa Del Degà, Casa dels Concilis and Casa de la Ciutat as their main features.

The city is also home to an archeological museum.

A number of beaches line the Mediterranean coast near the city, and the city is located near the holiday resort of Salou and the Universal Studios theme park Port Aventura.

Festivals:

A week before the Holy Week Tarragona hosts the Tarragona international Dixieland festival with 25 bands and 100 concerts.

Fireworks from Germany, Austria, Switzerland and The Netherlands feature each year in July at the International Fireworks Display Competition in Tarragona.

The Santa Tecla Festival is the collection of dances, the bestiary, the short farce, the spoken dances and the human castles. However flavor is added to the traditional with the modern rock music, jazz, drama plays, music-hall, movies, parties, and sport activities.

The nearest airport is The Reus Airport approximately 7.5 km from the city of Tarragona.

Located close to the popular holiday beach resort of Salou and the Port Aventura theme park and considered one of the largest in the continent, Tarragona is a favorite Mediterranean coastal city that had served as winter getaways by the rich and famous as far back as Augustus and Aurelius Caesars during the Roman occupation of the Iberian Peninsula.

When in Tarragona

Be sure to get a chauffeured car hire or limo.  As a tourist, the least that should bother you when savoring the historic and modern sights of Tarragona is having to bother about how to get to where you want to see.  A chauffeur from some of the leading car hire companies right within the Reus Airport or in any hotel can also be your guide around the city.

• Get to the Beach

After a round of visiting its famous Roman ruins that have been declared as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, a stroll or short swim in any of the beaches lining the Mediterranean coast just outside the city should complete your day’s holiday ternary before embarking on its nightlife.  Many of the beaches have been awarded the Blue Flag designation as complying to strict ecology standards for beach sand purity and water clarity of the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE) comprised of 60 countries from the major continents.

• Attend Festivals

The main historic and cultural heritage of the city is its Popular Retinue, a grand parade of floats and dances, bestiary and spoken dances that participate in the Santa Tecla Festival.  So popular are they that they have a permanent home in the Casa de la Festa or Festivities House where you can enjoy the festival all throughout the year.  But of course, nothing beats attending the native festivities with the thronging locales participating.  But you need t get hold of a calendar of events from your travel agent before the trip to check which one will coincide with your holiday.

• Visit Churches

The culture of a country is tightly hewn from its religions.  Spain is predominantly a Catholic country and its Churches constructed over the centuries not only provide the best architectural samples of the times but showcases the city’s religious fervor.  You will need your car hire as the famous churches are far between.

The main city cathedral is a solid edifice said to have been designed by St. Olegarius and blends Romanesque, Gothic and Arabic architectures with a dash of Byzantine influences as seen on its main door and dome.  Then there the convent of the Poor Clares near the Roman walls, the convents of Santa Teresa, the church of the Capuchins, the archiepiscopal palace and the El Milagro near the Roman amphitheater which used to belong to the Knights Templar.  GP

Tarragona, like many Spanish cities, has its share of festivities that tourists are more than glad to take home with their digicams.  Visitors to the city can better enjoy any of it festivals on foot and public buses and cabs can take you there on the date when they are held.

But the more popular ones may require you car hire service as more people from different parts of the city are expected to congregate to these festival sites making public transport difficult unless you schedule your visit a day or two ahead.

• The Tarragona international Dixieland Festival is a recent celebration that started only 1994 to commemorate the restoration of democracy at the local government level.  With the aim of popularizing jazz music across a wider audience, the festivities reaches out to a wide segment of the music loving markets from school children to adults with various jazz ensemble performances.
• It showcases jazz bands and more than 100 jazz concerts annually held in a weeklong musical fanfare on the week before the start of the Holy Week  The festival is ranked among the 4 most popular music festivals in Europe, Breda in the Netherlands, Dresden in Germany and Miskolc in Hungary.
• The Tarraco Viva celebrated between the 10^th and 20^th of May each year  It showcases various groups around Europe who recreate the Roman way of life from its military legions to daily life as a way to remember the Roman conquest of the peninsula.
• Then there’s the Tarragona International Fireworks Displays Competition that selects six international pyrotechnic companies every year.  It is considered the most significant fireworks context in the Mediterranean and is held annually on the first week of July at the Punta del Miracle bay. The fireworks are launched either as aquatic or aerial and the winner also gets to fire its company’s fireworks at the Santa Tecla Festival.
• Finally, the most celebrated and awaited Santa Tecla Festival has been celebrated between the 15th and the 24^th of every September since 1321 and is considered a national tourist attraction by the government.  It is a city-wide celebration dotted with street parades, street dancing and human towers. The festival is held in honor of Saint Tecla who had figured in festivities tracing its roots back to the early days of Christianity in the country and has been named the Fiesta Tradicional d’interes National(Traditional Festival of National Interest)  by the Catalan government.

There are other regional and city-wide festivities such as the annual Carnival and the Saint Magí Festival held every 15^th to the 19^th of August.  GP

Sprawled over 70.1 square miles of land along the Spanish Mediterranean coast, the City of Tarragona is the capital of the Spanish province that bears the same name.  It s historic roots dating back to the Roman conquest of the Iberian Peninsula are everywhere as UNESCA has declared its Roman ruins as a World Heritage Site.

Enjoying an all-year round Mediterranean weather, it is no wonder that the Roman conquerors built a number of edifices in the city. Augustus Caesar spent his winter at Tarraco during his Cantabrian campaign and made the city a center of commerce as the richest town on the Mediterranean coast.

Despite being ravaged by time, these Roman structures left their mark in the ruins that have made Tarragona a must-see locale for archeologists and history buffs about what it meant to be colony of Rome in the first century A.D.

As a visitor, it is best to go on foot to savor the historic airs of these ruins but since the ruins are everywhere, you will need car hire service to navigate some distance in between the ruins. The best time to visit these sites is right after visiting any of its historic museums.

• The Cyclopean walls along the Cuartel de Pilatos have two gates that have been named during the Christian era as the Portal del Roser and the Portal de Saint Antoni. The walls were fortification that protected the buildings of the Roman garrison and where the palace of Augustus was built. It’s also called the house of Pilate.
• There’s the 2^nd century Roman amphitheater near the shoreline visitors should not miss.  After being used as a stone quarry after the fall of the Western Roman Empire, little is now left of the structure.  A 450 meter long circus was built over the area which is now known as the Plaza de la Font.  All around the town, Latin inscriptions can be found in stones of houses which were originally from the amphitheater as much of the town building were made of the stones quarried from it.
• The Aqueducte de les Ferreres monument survived the age better located 2 miles north of the city with lofty arches that represent the might of the Roman power at that time.  Then there’s the Tower of the Scipios monument which is said to be a sepulcher of the Scipios of Rome, one of whom is the famous Scipio Africanus.
• Other Roman edifices include the Arch of Sura or the Bara and the Aurelian Way.  GP