Due to Spain's geographical situation and orographic conditions, the climate is extremely diverse; it can be roughly divided into three areas:
A Continental Mediterranean climate in the inland areas of the Peninsula (largest city, Madrid).
A Mediterranean climate region extends from the Andalusian plain along the southern and eastern coasts up to the Pyrenees, on the seaward side of the mountain ranges that run near the coast (largest city, Barcelona).
An Oceanic climate in Galicia and the coastal strip near the Bay of Biscay (largest city, Bilbao). This area is often called Green Spain.
The euro (currency sign: €; currency code: EUR) is the official currency of the European Union (EU). Fifteen member states have adopted it, known collectively as the Eurozone (Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain). The currency is also used in five further countries with formal agreements and six other countries without such agreements. Hence it is the single currency for over 320 million Europeans.[1] Including areas using currencies pegged to the euro, the euro directly affects close to 500 million people worldwide.[2] With more than €610 billion in circulation as of December 2006 (equivalent to US$802 billion at the exchange rates at the time), the euro is the currency with the highest combined value of cash in circulation in the world, having surpassed the U.S. dollar (USD).[3] [4].
Taking official estimates of 2007 GDP, the Eurozone is the largest economy in the world by March 2008 after the USD/EUR exchange rate surpassed 1.56.[5][6][7][8]
The euro was introduced to world financial markets as an accounting currency in 1999 and launched as physical coins and banknotes on 1 January 2002. It replaced the former European Currency Unit (ECU) at a ratio of 1:1.
The euro is managed and administered by the Frankfurt-based European Central Bank (ECB) and the Eurosystem (composed of the central banks of the euro zone countries). As an independent central bank, the ECB has sole authority to set monetary policy. The Eurosystem participates in the printing, minting and distribution of notes and coins in all member states, and the operation of the Eurozone payment systems.
While all European Union (EU) member states are eligible to join if they comply with certain monetary requirements, not all EU members have chosen to adopt the currency. All nations that have joined the EU since the 1993 implementation of the Maastricht Treaty have pledged to adopt the euro in due course. Maastricht obliged current members to join the euro; however, the United Kingdom and Denmark negotiated exemptions from that requirement for themselves.[9] Sweden turned down the euro in a 2003 referendum, and has circumvented the requirement to join the euro area by not meeting the membership criteria. In addition, three European microstates (Vatican City, Monaco, and San Marino), although not EU members, have adopted the euro due to currency unions with member states. Andorra, Montenegro, and Kosovo have adopted the euro unilaterally, while not being EU members either (see Eurozone.)
The euro is divided into 100 cents (also referred to as euro cents, especially when distinguishing them from other currencies). All circulating euro coins (including the €2 commemorative coins) have a common side showing the denomination (value) with the old 15 EU-countries in the background. This common side was designed by Luc Luycx. From 2007 or 2008 on (depending on the country where the coin is issued) that "old" map is replaced by a map of Europe, thus also showing non-EU-members like Norway. The coins also have a national side showing an image specifically chosen by the country that issued the coin. Euro coins from any country may be freely used in any nation which has adopted the euro.
The coin denominations are are €2, €1, 50 cent, 20 cent, 10 cent, 5 cent, 2 cent and 1 cent. In the Netherlands, some, and in Finland, by law, cash transactions are rounded to the nearest five cents, to avoid the use of the two smallest coins.[citation needed]
At 194,884 mi² (504,782 km²), Spain is the world's 51st-largest country. It is some 47,000 km² smaller than France and 81,000 km² larger than the U.S. state of California.
On the west, Spain borders Portugal, on the south, it borders Gibraltar (a British overseas territory) and Morocco, through its cities in North Africa (Ceuta and Melilla). On the northeast, along the Pyrenees mountain range, it borders France and the tiny principality of Andorra. Spain also includes the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean Sea, the Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean and a number of uninhabited islands on the Mediterranean side of the strait of Gibraltar, known as Plazas de soberanía, such as the Chafarine islands, the isle of Alborán, the "rocks" (peñones) of Vélez and Alhucemas, and the tiny Isla Perejil. Along the Pyrenees in Catalonia, a small exclave town called Llívia is surrounded by France.
Mainland Spain is dominated by high plateaus and mountain ranges, such as the Sierra Nevada. Running from these heights are several major rivers such as the Tagus, the Ebro, the Duero, the Guadiana and the Guadalquivir. Alluvial plains are found along the coast, the largest of which is that of the Guadalquivir in Andalusia.
One of the characteristic features of the early history of Spain is the succesive waves of different peoples who spread all over the Peninsula. The first to appear were the Iberians, a Libyan people, who came from the south. Later came the Celts, a typically Aryan people, and from the merging of the two there arose a new race, the Celtiberians, who, divided into several tribes (Cantabrians, Asturians, Lusitanians) gave their name to their respective homelands. The next to arrive, attracted by mining wealth, were the Phoenicians, who founded a number of trading posts along the coast, the most important being that of Cadiz. After this came Greek settlers, who founded several towns, including Rosas, Ampurias and Sagunto. The Phoenicians, in their struggle against the Greeks, called on the Carthaginians, who, under the orders of Hamilcar Barca, took possession of most of Spain. It was at this time that Rome raised a border dispute in defense of the areas of Greek influence, and thus beguan in the Peninsula the Second Punic War, which decided the fate of the world at that time.
After the Roman victory, Publius Cornelius Scipio, Africanus, began the conquest of Spain, which was to be under Roman rule for six centuries. Once the Peninsula had been completely subdued, it was Romanized to such an extent that it produced writers of the stature of Seneca and Lucan and such eminent emperors as Trajan and Hadrian.
Rome left in Spain four powerful social elements: the Latin language, Roman law, the municipality and the Christian religion. After the fall of the Roman Empire, the Suevi, Vandals and Alans entered Spain, but they were defeated by the Visigoths who, by the end of the 6th century, has occupied virtually the whole of the Peninsula.
At the beginning of the 8th century the Arabs entered from the south. They conquered the country swiftly except for a small bulwark in the North which would become the initial springboard for the Reconquest, which was not completed until eight centuries later. The period of Muslim sway is divided into three periods: the Emirate (711 to 756), the Caliphate (756-1031) and the Reinos de Taifas (small independent kingdoms) (1031 to 1492).
In 1469, the marriage of the Catholic Monarchs, Isabella of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragon, prepared the way for the union of the two kigdoms and marked the opening of a period of growing success for Spain, since during their reign, Granada, the last stronghold of the Arabs in Spain, was conquered and, at the same time, in the same historic year of 1492, the caravels sent by the Crown of Castile under the command of Christopher Columbus discovered America.
The Canary Islands became part of Spanish territory (1495), the hegemony of Spain in the Mediterranean, to the detriment of France, was affirmed with the conquest of the Kingdom of Naples, and Navarre was incorporated into the Kingdom.
The next two centuries, the 16th and the 17th, witnessed the construction and apogee of the Spanish Empire as a result of which the country, under the aegis of the Austrias, became the world's foremost power, and European politics hinged upon it.
The War of Succession to the Spanish Crown (1701-1714) marked the end of the dynasty of the Habsburgs and the coming of the Bourbons. The Treaty of Utrecht in 1713 formalized the British occupation of the Rock of Gibraltar, giving rise to an anachronistic colonial situation which still persists today and constitutes the only dispute between Spain and the United Kingdom.
In 1808 Joseph Bonaparte was installed on the Spanish throne, following the Napoleonic invasion, although the fierce resistance of the Spanish people culminated in the restoration of the Bourbons in the person of Fernando VII. In 1873, the brief reign of Amadeo of Savoy ended with his abdication, and the First Republic was proclaimed. However, a military pronunciamiento in 1875, restored the monarchy and Alfonso XII was proclaimed King of Spain. He was succeeded in 1886 by his son Alfonso XIII, although his mother Queen Maria Cristina of Habsburg acted as regent until 1902, when he was crowned king.
Prior to this, a brief war with the United States resulted in the loss of Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Philippines, in 1898, thus completing the dissolution of the Spanish overseas empire.
In the municipal elections of April 12th, 1931, it became clear that in all the large towns of Spain the candidates who supported the Monarchy had been heavily defeated. The size of the Republican's vote in cities such as Madrid and Barcelona was enormous. In the country districs the Monarchy gained enough seats to secure for them a majority in the nation as a whole. But it was well known that in the country the 'caciques' were still powerful enough to prevent a fair vote. By the evening of the day following the elections, great crowds were gathering in the streets of Madrid. The king's most trusted friends advised him to leave the capital without delay, to prevent bloodshed. As a result, Alfonso XIII left Spain and the Second Republic was established in April 14th. During its five-year lifetime, it was ridden with all kind of political, economic and social conflicts, which inexorably split opinions into two irreconcilable sides. The climate of growing violence culminated on July 18th 1936 in a military rising which turned into a tragic civil war which did not end until three years later.
On October 1st, 1936, General Franco took over as Head of State and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces. The Spanish State embarked on a period of forty years' dictatorship, during which the political life of the country was characterized by the illegality of all the political parties with the exception of the National Movement. Franco died in 1975, bringing to an end a period of Spanish history and opening the way to the restoration of the monarchy with the rise to the Throne of the present King of Spain, Juan Carlos I de Borbon y Borbon.
The young monarch soon established himself as a resolute motor for change to a western-style democracy by means of a cautious process of political reform which took as its starting point the Francoist legal structure. Adolfo Suarez, the prime minister of the second Monarchy Government (july 1976) carried out with determination and skill though helped, certainly, by a broad social consensus the socalled transition to democracy which, after going through several stages (recognition of basic liberties, political parties, including the communist party, the trade unions, an amnesty for political offences, etc.), culminated in the first democratic parliamentary elections in 41 years, on June 15th, 1977. The Cortes formed as a result decided to start a constituent process which concluded with the adoption of a new Constitution, ratified by universal suffrage, on December 6th, 1978.
Between 1980 and 1982, the regions of Catalonia, the Basque Country, Galicia and Andalusia approved statutes for their own self-government and elected their respective parliaments. In January 1981, the prime minister, Adolfo Suarez, resigned and was succeeded by Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelo. On August 27th, 1982, Calvo-Sotelo presented to the King a decree for the dissolution of Parliament and the calling of a general election to be held on October 28th.
Victory of the polls went to the Spanish Socialist Worker Party (PSOE) and its secretary general, Felipe Gonzalez. The socialists obtained 202 seats out of the 350 of which the Lower House consists and approximately 48% of the popular vote. Felipe Gonzalez was elected prime minister (December 2nd) after the parliamentary vote of investiture. The major losers were the Union of the Democratic Centre -which has split up following the defection of a number of its members- and the Spanish Communist Party (PCE). The Popular Alliance, whose chairman was Manuel Fraga Iribarne, made considerable gains (106 seats and approximately 26% of the vote).
The subsequent general elections of 1986, 1989 and 1993 were also won by the Spanish Socialist Party and consolidated the the position of the Popular Party, led by Jose Maria Aznar, as the second largest political force in the country.
January
February
Do not miss the Carnavals held in Cadiz, Tenerife, Barcelona and Sitges - huge celebrations involving all night music and dance, and of course fancy dress costumes. Come as you are!
March
April
June
June
July
August
What would you think if you could whack people with ripe tomatoes and they enjoy it? La Tomatina is no doubt one of Spain's maddest festivals. Since 1944, each year on the last Wednesday of August in the little town of Buñol, Valencia, between 11:00 a.m. until 1:00 pm, people flock for the tomato war called the Tomatina. This is really the world's biggest tomato fight!
September
If you happen to like sparkling wines and Cava (the Spanish variety for Champagne), then you should join the Catalonia’s Cava week. An entire festival dedicated to the fine Catalan version of champagne. A real community festival in Catalonia.
September is definitely the month of wine and harvesting. Among the various Autumn festivals, there is the Jerez de la Frontera´s Fiestas de Otoño. Three weeks dedicated to sherry tasting, horses and flamenco.
Also the Fiesta de San Mateo in Logroño (which is the heart of La Rioja, Spanish wine country) they celebrate the grape harvest with a big festival. Traditional Spanish party style at its best.
Barcelona celebrates its biggest fiesta, the Festes de la Merce, a huge festival with folkloric parades, fireworks, dragons and giants. This would be a great opportunity to discover one of the most fascinating cities in Spain.
October
December
Christmas has come to Spain. This is a big family fiesta involving loads of food (especially sweets) and a stretched out celebration that will take you all the way to January 6th (Three King’s day). Noche Buena (Christmas Eve) on the 24th tends to be a very quiet night in which all families have dinner together. Noche Vieja (New Years Eve) fills the Spanish geography with all sorts of parties around the midnight countdown. Of course do not forget your twelve grapes to be eaten (if not swallowed) just on time before the New Year.
The population of Spain in 2003 was estimated by the United Nations at 41,060,000, which placed it as number 29 in population among the 193 nations of the world. In that year approximately 17% of the population was over 65 years of age, with another 15% of the population under 15 years of age. There were 96 males for every 100 females in the country in 2003. According to the UN, the annual population growth rate for 2000–2005 is 0.21%, with the projected population for the year 2015 at 41,167,000. The population density in 2002 was 81 per sq km (211 per sq mi).
It was estimated by the Population Reference Bureau that 78% of the population lived in urban areas in 2001. The capital city, Madrid, had a population of 4,070,000 in that year. Other large urban areas include Barcelona (2,819,000), Valencia (754,000), Seville (683,028), Zaragoza (594,394), and Málaga (522,108). According to the United Nations, the urban population growth rate for 2000–2005 was 0.2%.
Capital
(and largest city) Madrid
40°26′N, 3°42′W
Official languages Spanish
Recognised regional languages Aranese, Basque, Catalan/Valencian and Galician
Ethnic groups 89% Spanish, 11% minority groups
Demonym Spanish, Spaniard
Government Parliamentary democracy and Constitutional monarchy
- Monarch King Juan Carlos I
- President of
the Government
José L. Rodríguez Zapatero
Formation 15th century
- Unification 1469
- Dynastic union 1516
- de facto 1716
- de jure 1812
EU accession January 1, 1986
Area
- Total 504,030 km² (51st)
195,364 sq mi
- Water (%) 1.04
Population
- 2007 estimate 45,200,737[1] (28th)
- Density 90 people/km² (106th)
231/sq mi
GDP (PPP) 2007[2] estimate
- Total $1.310 trillion (11th)
- Per capita $33,700 (2007) (27th)
GDP (nominal) 2007[3] estimate
- Total $1.439 trillion (8th)
- Per capita $31,471 (2007) (26th)
Gini (2005) 32[4]
HDI (2005) 0.949 (high) (13th)
Currency Euro (€) ³ (EUR)
Time zone CET4 (UTC+1)
- Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
Internet TLD .es, .cat5
Calling code +34
Italiano
Español