2009 European Grand Prix

The 2008 European Grand Prix (formally the 2008 Formula 1 Telefónica Grand Prix of Europe) was a Formula One motor race held on 24 August 2008 at the Valencia Street Circuit in Valencia, Spain. It was the 12th race of the 2008 Formula One World Championship. Felipe Massa for the Ferrari team won the 57-lap race from pole position. Lewis Hamilton finished second in a McLaren car, with Robert Kubica third in a BMW Sauber. Massa started on pole position, with Hamilton second, and Kubica third. Massa got cleanly away, while Hamilton fought hard to fend off Kubica, but managing to keep second. The top three remained the same through the first round of pit stops, and after the first stop, Massa took a large lead over Hamilton. In Massa's second pit stop he was released straight into the path of Force India driver Adrian Sutil, and had to back off to avoid a collision. The stewards announced that they would investigate the incident after the race. They later ruled that Ferrari would be fined €10,000 for the pit lane incident, but that Massa would keep his victory, as although the release was unsafe, no sporting advantage had been gained. Massa went on to take the victory, with Hamilton second and Kubica third. Hamilton's closest rival in the Drivers' Championship going into the race, Kimi Räikkönen, failed to finish, after having an engine failure. Massa's victory in the race enabled him to overtake his teammate, Räikkönen, in the Drivers' Championship, moving him into second. He was now Hamilton's closest rival, behind by six points. Räikkönen moved eight points further behind Hamilton, due to his non-finish, with a deficit of 13 points now separating the two. In the Constructors' Championship McLaren caught up two points on Ferrari; Ferrari led, eight points ahead of McLaren, with BMW Sauber a further 17 points behind.

HMS Packington (pennant number: M1214) was a Ton-class minesweeper completed in 1959 by Harland & Wolff for the Royal Navy, but transferred before commissioning to the South African Navy as SAS Walvisbaai. The ship was decommissioned in March 2001 and was sold to the Walt Disney Company in 2003 to be used in the Wes Anderson film The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou. Post filming the vessel was sold and was subsequently converted into a private yacht.

The Valencia Street Circuit (Valencian: Circuit Urbà de València, Spanish: Circuito Urbano de Valencia) was a street circuit in Valencia, Spain which hosted the Formula One European Grand Prix for five years (2008–2012). The first race meeting on the circuit was held over the 23/24 August 2008 weekend, with Felipe Massa winning the main event, the European Grand Prix, after starting from pole position. The circuit used the roads skirting the city's harbour and America's Cup port area – including a section over a 140-metre-long (460 ft) swing bridge – and also included some roads designed exclusively for racing purposes by the German architect Hermann Tilke, who also designed the infrastructure buildings for the circuit. The 2012 edition took place on 24 June and was the last to go under the name of the European Grand Prix until 2016, when the Baku City Circuit used the title for one year. It has not been used since 2013 after a deal fell through to alternate this venue with Catalunya in Barcelona to host the Spanish Grand Prix.

The America's Cup Building, also known locally as Veles e Vents, is located in Valencia, Spain. The building was designed by the British architect David Chipperfield and inaugurated in 2006. The design has won numerous architectural awards, including the 2006 Emirates Glass LEAF Award and the Royal Institute of British Architects European awards in 2007. It was also nominated for the Stirling Prize in 2007.

Marítim is a metro station of the Metrovalencia network in Valencia, Spain, and is the terminus of Lines 5, 6, 7, and 8. It was opened on April 3, 2007, as an extension of Line 5 to connect with the existing surface tram lines to the east. This occurs via an underground cross-platform transfer on one of two island platforms. The southernmost platform is not in revenue use and does not have cross-platform fare gates. The station is located in a wide median space of Carrer Jeroni de Montsoriu. At the east end of the station, the tram tracks ramp up to street level and follow Carrer de Francesc Cubells. When the station was originally opened, it had the name "Marítim-Serrería" and served only Line 5 (metro and tram). However, when many stations across Metrovalencia were being renamed with the opening of Line 10 in 2022, the name was changed to only "Marítim".

El Cabanyal (Cabanyal-Canyamelar) is a neighbourhood in the city of Valencia which is part of the sea village. It is located in the eastern part of the city, very near to La Malvarrosa, Valencia's main beach. In 2020, The Guardian classes El Cabanyal as the third coolest neighbourhood in Europe.

Aqua Multiespacio is an office skyscraper in Valencia, Spain. Completed in 2006, it has 22 floors and stands 95 metres (312 feet) tall. This makes it the third tallest building in Valencia, after the Hilton Valencia and Torre de Francia. The complex consists of two towers. Construction began in 2002 and ended in 2006. The complex was designed by two architectural firms: E. Clerk Architects and L35 with Eduardo Simarro. It is located near the City of Arts and Sciences. The five-story parking garage has a capacity of 2,400 vehicles. The construction of the parking garage took more than a year. The design of the study project was Jerde California, who specializes in the development of tertiary areas, however, it was Spanish architectural firms, Simarro and Escribano, which gave shape and form to the construction. Additionally, the buildings have art. The building was opened on June 1, 2006 and has 110 stores in an area of 35,000 square meters. The office tower is 23,000 square meters, and there is also 16,000 square meters for two hotels. The construction cost was €240 million.The shareholders for the project are Iberdrola estate, whose headquarters have been moved to the complex and Valencia Gesfesa residential.

The Costa de Valencia is coastline and tourism region of the province of Valencia in Spain. It covers the coast along the Gulf of Valencia on the Balearic Sea in western part of the Mediterranean Sea. It extends from the Camp de Morvedre in the north to Safor in the south. The Costa de Valencia has the most beaches with Blue Flag status in Spain. To its north is the Costa del Azahar (in province of Castellón) and to the south lies the Costa Blanca (in the province of Alicante).

L'Oceanogràfic (Valencian: [loseˌanoˈɣɾafik]; Spanish: El Oceanográfico [el oˌθe.anoˈɣɾafiko], "The Oceanographic") is an oceanarium situated on the dry Turia River bed to the southeast of the city center of Valencia, Spain, where different marine habitats are represented. It was designed by the architect Félix Candela and the structural engineers Alberto Domingo and Carlos Lázaro. It is integrated inside the cultural complex known as the Ciutat de les Arts i de les Ciències (City of Arts and Sciences). It was opened on 14 February 2003.

The Port of Valencia is a seaport located in Valencia, Spain. It is the fifth busiest seaport in Europe and the busiest port in the Mediterranean. As of 2019, it moves an annual cargo traffic of around eighty-one million tonnes (eighty million long tons; eighty-nine million short tons) and 5.4 million TEU, ranking first in Spain and second in the Mediterranean basin in container shipping (after the Port of Piraeus), and second in Spain in annual cargo traffic, after the Port of Algeciras. The port is also an important employer in the area, with more than 15,000 employees who provide services to more than 7,500 ships every year.

The Assut de l'Or Bridge (Valencian: Pont de l'Assut de l'Or, Spanish: Puente de la Presa del Oro) is a white single-pylon cable-stayed bridge in the City of Arts and Sciences in Valencia, Spain, designed by Valencian architect and civil engineer Santiago Calatrava and completed in December 2008. The name l'Assut de l'Or is Valencian for the Dam of the Gold and refers to a dam that was located nearby, although locally it is referred to as El Jamonero (The Ham Holder) or Pont de l'Arpa, Spanish: Puente del Arpa (The Harp Bridge). Calatrava called it the Serreria Bridge.

The City of Arts and Sciences (Valencian: Ciutat de les Arts i les Ciències [siwˈtad de les ˈaɾts i les siˈɛnsi.es]; Spanish: Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias [θjuˈðað de las ˈartes i las ˈθjenθjas]) is a cultural and architectural complex in the city of Valencia, Spain. It is the most important modern tourist destination in the city of Valencia and one of the 12 Treasures of Spain. The City of Arts and Sciences is situated at the southeast end of the former riverbed of the river Turia, which was drained and rerouted after a catastrophic flood in 1957. The old riverbed was turned into a picturesque sunken park. Designed by Santiago Calatrava and Félix Candela, the project began the first stages of construction in July 1996, and was inaugurated on 16 April 1998 with the opening of L'Hemisfèric. The last major component of the City of Arts and Sciences, Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía, was inaugurated on 9 October 2005, Valencian Community Day. The most recent building in the complex, L'Àgora, was opened in 2009.Originally budgeted at €300 million in 1991 for three structures, it has expanded about three times the initial expected cost.