Spain Country Guide

Spain is the world's second most popular travel destination and it's easy to see why, with its spectacular and diverse landscape, colourful history and rich culture. Beaches, rolling green hills, medieval towns and bustling cities are just some of the attractions, along with its friendly people and lively atmosphere.

Get off the beaten track, discovering the hundreds of miles of Spain's amazing Mediterranean coastline!

Our Spain Country Guide below is a vital resource for handy tips and details to help you plan your Spain holiday. For some great information about the many things to see and do in Spain, check out our Spain Destination Guide and local tour suggestions. Let us guide you through out beautiful country with our local knowledge and holiday suggestions.

Spain Country Guide

Useful information on this page includes:

Spain Climate and Weather

Follow the link to our Spain climate and weather page for some handy tips on the best time to travel Spain, the regions climate and weather seasonally and for a comprehensive six-day Spain weather forecast.

Communication

The communication systems in Spain are very good and constant efforts are made by the telephone company Telefonica to improve the telephone systems. There are other companies, too, which are coming up with similar services.

Public telephones

Public telephones are available in hotels, bars and restaurants. There are also telephone booths on the streets. These are called cabinas. You can follow instructions in English by pressing the language button. They usually accept euro coins. You have to remember that just connecting to an international call will cost you 60 cents, so you will have to keep a stock of coins ready if you make phone calls. A number of commercial call cabins are coming up which offer international calls at lower prices. National and international calls are less expensive after 10 pm on weekdays, after 2 pm on Saturdays, and all day on Sundays.

You cannot receive calls in these call boxes. There are phone shops in areas that tourists frequent, where you can pay for the call after you have finished talking. You can also call from bars but there is a surcharge involved. It is advisable that you avoid making calls from the hotel as the charges are three times the normal charge.

The number of Internet users is steadily increasing in Spain and according to a recent Nielsen NetRatings there are 21,772,334 Internet users as of June 2007, which is 48.4% of the population.

Currency/Money

The official currency in Spain is the Euro, which is divided into 100 cents. You can exchange currency at all major hotels and bureaux de change. Banks, however, give a good rate of exchange. Nearly all major credit cards and traveller's cheques are accepted at restaurants, hotels and shops. There are ATMs almost everywhere and provide the most convenient method of getting cash.

Euro: As Spain is part of the European Union, the Peseta (pts) was replaced by the Euro (€) from 2002 onwards. €500 notes are not accepted in several shops, so do keep alternate currency notes.

Other currencies: Do not expect everyone to accept any other type of currencies or to exchange currencies. The exceptions are shops and restaurants, but they also accept only US dollars and at lower exchange rates than what the banks give. To exchange currencies, approach a bank. You can also cash in your traveller's cheques at these banks. Currency exchanges, which were previously found commonly, have now disappeared. However, they are still to be found in tourist destinations and in large cities such as Madrid and Barcelona.

Credit cards: Credit cards are accepted at nearly all stores and shops in Spain - even at a small stall at Barcelona's La Boqueria market, a highway gas station and small towns like Alquezar. It is very rare that a credit card is not accepted in Spain. Most ATMs allow you to withdraw money with your credit card. For this, you need to remember the card's PIN number. Several Spanish stores may ask for your passport or driving license or some kind of identification before they accept your credit card. This is basically a precaution to avoid credit card robbery.

Electricity

Spain runs off a 230V/ 50Hz system A Type-C (European 2-pin) round pin attachment plug is most commonly used.

Embassy Locations

To view a list of Spanish embassies around the world, as well as foreign embassies within Spain, check out EmbassyWorld.com.

General Information

Population: 40,491,052 (July 2008 est.)
Total Area: 504,782 sq km
Capital: Madrid
Time Zone: UTC +1 hour

Click here to view the current local time in various Spain regions including Barcelona, Madrid, Malaga and Canary Islands.

Language

Several languages are spoken in Spain, but the official language in Spain is Spanish (Espanol, Castellano). The following is the break up of languages that are spoken: Castilian Spanish 74%; Catalan 17%; Galician 7%; and Basque 2%.

Other than the major languages there are languages and dialects that are spoken in various parts of Spain such as Basque, Asturian, Galician, Balear and Valencian.

In the northern coast of the Mediterranean Sea is Catalunya, where the language spoken is Catala; in Valencia and its surrounding areas Valencian is spoken by the people; Euskera, which is not known to be an Indo-European language, is spoken in the Basque country; the people of Galicia in the western region of Spain speak Galego; and the language spoken in the rest of Spain is Castello (Spanish).

In schools, in addition to learning the local language, English and French are also commonly taught. In places of tourist interest, you will find local people who can converse in several languages. However, in other places you may not be that lucky as Spaniards speak English poorly. If you need to locate English speaking people then the best bet would be the urban youngsters - they are bound to know English. You will need to speak slowly and use gestures to make yourself understood. If you write down what you want to convey, the chances are that you will be understood better.

A majority of visitors come from France and hence French is more widely understood, especially in places in the north-east of Spain like Cap de Creus and Alquezar. However, the locals will appreciate it if you try to speak their language or even attempt to do so.

Public Holidays

Follow the link to view a current list of the public holidays in Spain.

Religion

Chapter Two of the Spanish constitution states that no religion shall have a state character. However, the majority of Spain belongs to the Roman Catholic faith (17 percent); another 2 percent belongs to other faiths; and the remaining 19 percent do not follow any religion.

An interesting study conducted by the Spanish Centre of Sociological Investigations in October 2006 revealed that 76 percent of Spaniards identified with the Roman Catholic religion or an alternate religion. 54 percent of the population hardly ever or never attended church, while 15 percent of them went to the church a few times a year, 10 percent of the population went a few times a month and 19 percent attended church every Sunday or many times a week. 22 percent of the entire Spanish population attended religious services at least once every month.

Recently there has been an increase in immigration and this has led to an increase in the numbers of Muslims who account for a million people in Spain. There were no Muslims in Spain for centuries, but the colonial expansion into the Western and Northern African regions gave some residents citizenship, especially in the Spanish Morocco and Western Sahara region. Today, Islam is the second largest religion in Spain and accounts for 2.3 percent of the total population of Spain.

However, because of the considerable population from Latin America who are very strong followers of the Catholic faith, the Catholic Church has regained its power. Judaism was non-existent in the country until the 19th century and it was only after they were permitted to enter the country that the Jewish population in the country grew in number to around 62,000.

Geography

Spain, which is also known as Kingdom of Spain or Reino de España in Spanish is situated on the Iberian Peninsula in the south-western part of Europe. Mainland Spain is bounded to the north by Andorra and France and also the Bay of Biscay. To the south and east, it is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea, except for the area where it borders Gibraltar. Portugal and the Atlantic Ocean border Spain to the west.

Spanish territory, other than mainland Spain, includes the Canary Islands located off the African coast in the Atlantic Ocean, the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean and two independent cities in North Africa, namely, Melilla and Ceuta, which border Morocco. After France, Spain is the largest country in Europe with an area measuring 504,030 sq km.

Today Spain is a constitutional monarchy but is also organized as a parliamentary democracy. Spain was inducted as a member of the European Union in 1986. It is categorized as a developed nation and has the eighth largest economy in the world on the basis of nominal GDP.

To view a map of Spain, click on this link to WorldAtlas.com.

History

The Iberian Peninsula has been inhabited for many millennia. It is believed that the Basques were the first identifiable natives of the peninsula. They are also known to be the oldest surviving ethnic group of Europe. It was only later in history that the Iberians arrived from South Africa to settle down in Spain.

During the early part of the ninth century BC, the Celts and the Greek Carthaginians arrived in the Iberian Peninsula, to be followed by the Romans in the second century B.C. The Roman rule influenced Spain substantially and even the present day laws, religion and languages trace their origins in the Roman period. During the 16th century, Spain gained great power in Europe, largely due to the wealth from its presence in both North and South America.

However, with the subsequent revolts and wars that followed later, topped off by the defeat of the 'Invincible Armada' in 1588 by the English the decline of Spanish domination in Europe began. This was also followed by the confusion of the succession of the throne during the 18th century, which led to the occupation of Spain by the French.

During the 19th century, revolts happened in most of the Spanish colonies in the Western Hemisphere, with a demand for independence from Spain. This was followed by the succession controversy. The monarchy was ousted in 1873-74 and the First Republic was established. Later, in 1898, the Spanish-American war took place and Spain lost colonies such as Philippines, Cuba and Puerto Rico to America. A short dictatorial period followed in the years spanning 1923-31 and this ended with the establishment of the Second Republic. This period was dominated by extreme political polarisation and resulted in the victory of the leftist Popular Front in the election that was held in 1936. But this was also a period of unrest and unchecked violence, which led to the Spanish Civil War in July 1936.

In 1939 General Francisco Franco's nationalist forces gained victory and he took the reins of a nation that was politically and economically exhausted. During the Second World War, Spain was officially a neutral nation but largely followed a pro-Axis policy. The World War saw the Allies being victorious and Spain was isolated during the early post-war period. It was only in 1955 that Spain could join the United Nations. In 1959, due to the stabilisation plan of the IMF (International Monetary Fund), the country began establishing reforms and liberalising trade. Due to foreign direct investments, capital also started to flow into the country.

In the 1960s and 1970s, Spain was transformed into a modern industrial economy and also established a flourishing tourism sector. When General Franco died in November 1975, Prince Juan Carlos de Borbon y Borbon, who was hand picked by Franco as his heir, took over and assumed the twin titles of both king and head of state. Not content with the pace of liberalisation which was taking place after Franco's reign, in July 1976, the king appointed Adolfo Suarez as the prime minister, replacing Franco's last prime minister.

Suarez assumed office and promised the nation that elections would be held in Spain and that his government was committed to establishing a series of laws that would accelerate liberalisation.

It was on 15 June, 1977 that Spain witnessed the first elections to the Cortes or the parliament since 1936. The Union of the Democratic Center (UCD), a moderate centre-right coalition led by Prime Minister Suarez won 34 percent of the votes and also assured itself the largest number of seats in parliament. Under the leadership of Suarez, the new Cortes drafted a democratic constitution that was increasingly approved by the citizens of Spain through a national referendum held in 1978.

Health

It is strongly recommended that visitors to Spain take out a comprehensive travel insurance that covers any overseas medical expenses before they leave their home country. The insurance should cover the entire period of stay in Spain. It is advisable to be aware of the specific circumstances and activities that the insurance policy does not cover. No matter how healthy or fit you may be, it is imperative that travel insurance be taken before you travel to Spain.

Most travel agencies or a doctor should be able to tell you about any immunisations you require or any preventive measure you may need to take. You can personally check on disease outbreaks that may have occurred overseas. A good source of information is the World Health Organization's (WHO) 'Travelling Well' brochure that gives a number of tips to travellers on staying healthy while travelling abroad and the medicines you may need to carry on you.

Spain as a country has a high standard of medical facilities.

There have been reports of outbreaks of avian influenza (bird flu) in many countries of the world. To know which countries that have been affected, you can check the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE)'s website, which has a detailed list of the countries.

People/Culture

The Spanish are very forthcoming and large-hearted people. You will have absolutely no problem in getting to know someone even in big cities like Barcelona and Madrid. It is said in jest that the bar is the Spanish living room as this is where the Spanish like to spend a lot of time.

Spain has a culturally diverse tradition as it has been influenced by many nations and people all though its history. The Spanish culture is a conglomeration of Latin, Roman Catholic, Iberian, Visigothic, and Islamic cultures. Spain has one of the highest numbers of World Heritage Sites (a total of 40), second only to Italy. Spain provides free and compulsory education to all from the ages of 6 to 16. This was established by the education law of 1990.

Spanish art holds pride of place in Europe. It showcases all types of art down the ages and also includes literature by Spanish writers. Spanish cinema has also won accolades and major international appreciation including Oscars for recent films such as Volver and Pan's Labyrinth.

Spanish architecture includes styles from all eras to the current styles adopted by modern-day Spain. Spanish music is identified mainly by flamenco, which is a musical genre originating from the Andalusian region. However, contrary to popular belief, this style is restricted only to this area. There are a number of styles of folk music that originate from the many regions of Spain - the Basque country, Aragon Valencia, Castile, Valencia, Asturias, and Galicia. Contemporary music such as heavy metal, hip-hop and pop are also popular.

Spanish cuisine is very varied because of the diversity in Spain's geography, climate and culture. Seafood is predominant in its cuisine because of its proximity to the Mediterranean Sea.