Environment and health with respect to a poverty-related disease: the epidemiology of trachoma in Spain, 1925-1941

Trachoma currently represents one of the three main causes of ‘avoidable' blindness and reaches intolerable dimensions in many developing countries. It was endemic in many regions of eastern Spain until well into the twentieth century. The aim of this paper is to analyze the epidemiological development of this disease in contemporary Spain; to examine its determining factors, particularly environmental and sanitary/health factors, and, finally, to study the health care, environmental and socio-economic measures that led to its control and eradication. We believe that the historical approach not only highlights the role of environmental factors in the development of trachoma, but may also aid in understanding the current epidemiology of trachoma.

El Teatro Circo de Albacete

El Teatro Circo de Albacete constituye uno de los edificios emblemáticos del despertar de la ciudad hacia la modernidad decimonónica. El doble e interesante carácter de teatro y circo, originalmente se evidenciaba en la posibilidad de conversión del patio de butacas en pista. Generada una encendida polémica con su rehabilitación, este artículo pretende aportar unas opiniones más serenas y disciplinares a partir de la reflexión acerca de la historia del edificio y de la filosofía que ha animado la intervención.