In 1956 artist Manolo Prieto designed a bull (El Toro) bill board to advertise the Osborne company’s sherry and brandy products. By 1964 more than 500 were distributed across the Spanish countryside. Initially bill boards were made of wooden panels but were later replaced by metal. They ranged from 6.5 to 13.1 metres in height.
In 1988 the government legislated to prohibit all advertising visible from public highways. In 1997 the Spanish supreme court declared that the Osborne bull has surpassed advertising and has become an intrinsic part of the Spanish landscape. Its brand status is also recognised, a registered trademark over which Grupo Osborne S.A. has the sole and exclusive usage rights.
The Millau Viaduct is a multi-span cable-stayed bridge completed in 2004 across the gorge valley of the Tarn near Millau in Southern France. The design team was led by engineer Michel Virlogeux and English architect Norman Foster. As of September 2020, it is the tallest bridge in the world, having a structural height of 336.4 metres (1,104 ft).
The Millau Viaduct is part of the A75[4]–A71 autoroute axis from Paris to Béziers and Montpellier. The cost of construction was approximately € 394 million ($ 424 million). It was built over three years, formally inaugurated on 14 December 2004, and opened to traffic two days later on 16 December.
The bridge has been consistently ranked as one of the greatest engineering achievements of modern times, and received the 2006 Outstanding Structure Award from the International Association for Bridge and Structural Engineering.
The Spanish highway network is the third largest in the world, by length. As of 2016, there are 17,109 km (10,631 mi) of high capacity roads.
Jaén is an Andalusian city in southern Spain. It is known for its olive oil production as depicted above adjacent to this steeply descending road tunnel.
Northern California receives most of its rainfall in the autumn and winter. During the summer the countryside dries out very quickly making the forest vulnerable to fires prompted by lightening strikes and human activities.