Spain

Spain, officially the Kingdom of Spain (Spanish: Reino de España), is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in southwestern Europe (2013) with 47.370.542 inhabitants and an area of 505.992 km². The country covers roughly 80% of the Iberian Peninsula. Outside of that includes the Balearic Islands archipelago in the Mediterranean Sea, theCanary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean and the Spanish exclaves in North Africa at the country.

In the Northeast it borders France and Andorrato Spain, along the length of the Pyrenees, in the West to Portugal, in the South to the British colony Gibraltar and Melilla and via the exclaves Ceuta on Morocco. The capital city of Spain is Madrid, a city with more than 3 million inhabitants located in the middle of the country.

Spain is a diverse country with very different cultures, languages, eating habits and climates. The country ranges from the rainy fishing villages in Galicia to the nightlife ofMadrid, of the Mediterranean coasts to the tourist to the flamenco dances of Andalusia and of the bullfighting in many parts of the country to the modern Barcelona inCatalonia.

Just like Belgium Netherlands and Spain is a constitutional parliamentary monarchy. Spain joined NATO in 1982 and is a member of the European Union since 1986. Theeuro was the Spanish currency on 1 January 2002, replacing the peseta.

Besides Spanish (Castilian) are Catalan, Basque and Galician so-called ' co-official languages of the country.



Content
[hide] *1 Etymologie  ==Etymologie[ Edit] == The name Spain (Spanish: España) is derived from the Latin name Hispania, which was used for the whole Iberian Peninsula. However, this name is seen linguistically from the Latin, and also with other Indo-European languages is not a clear link to point to. There are different theories about the origin of the word Hispania. One of those theories is that the name comes from the Greek . The Greeks would the name Hesperia Italy and Spain to have given the current, because both countries are West of a particular star (called esperos) stood. The Word can be corrupted to Hesperia would later Hispania. According to the most widely accepted theory is the name, however, of thePhoenicians, a nation that was once the current inhabited Spain. According to this theory this is due to the large number of rabbits that they found on the Iberian Peninsula.The Phoenician language was closely related to the Hebrew, and in that language one spoke about Spain as I-sphanim, which literally means ' Cliff Badgers '. The Hyraxwas a common animal in Lebanon, the country of origin of the Phoenicians, but when they discovered the rabbit in Spain, an animal unknown to them, they gave it the same name. Therefore they referred later to Spain as I-sphanim, which would be derived the Latin Hispania . ==History[ Edit] == Spain since the early Paleolithic is inhabited as finds of remains of Neanderthals prove. The first civilization whose details are known is the legendary city state located in present-day Andalusia Tartessos, which in theBible is known under the name Tarsis. The Phoenicians from Lebanon found among other things the City State Gades ( Cádiznow) and are later replaced by the Carthaginians. Then take the Romans remain in Spain and almost 600 years.
 * 2 History
 * 3 Geography
 * landscape characteristics 3.1
 * 3.2 Climate
 * 3.3 national parks
 * 4 demographics
 * 4.1 demographics
 * 4.2 Cities and agglomerations
 * 4.3 Languages
 * 4.4 Religion
 * 4.4.1 Christianity
 * 4.4.2 non-Christian religions
 * 4.4.2.1 Islam
 * 4.4.2.2 Judaism
 * 5 Politics
 * 5.1 political structure
 * 5.2 administrative divisions
 * 5.3 political parties
 * 5.3.1 Rural parties
 * 5.3.2 regional parties
 * 5.3.3 Historical parties
 * 5.4 trade unions
 * 6 Economy
 * 6.1 tourism
 * 6.2 Transport
 * 7 Culture
 * 7.1 Literature
 * 7.2 painting
 * 7.3 Siesta
 * 7.4 Gastronomy
 * 7.5 Bullfighting
 * 7.6 Events
 * 7.7 Media
 * 7.8 Sports
 * 7.9 points of interest
 * 8 external links

Spain in Roman timesOccupy the Iberian Peninsula before the Moors in the early eighth century, Spain was in the hands of the Visigoths that Spain had occupied during the Great Migration that theWestern Roman Empire was fatal. The occupation by the Moors lasted almost 7 centuries. They claimed the islam in and there developed a Moorish-Spanish culture on a high level. The reconquest ( Reconquistain Spanish) by the Christians was a lengthy process that ended with the fall of Granada in 1492. This date is considered as the actual Association of Spain.

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">Spain became a world power from then under the Habsburgs (1504-1700) and the Bourbons (1700-1868). The Spanish Empire stretched around the world. From 1701 to 1714the war of the Spanish Successionraged. This resulted in a centralized State headed by the House of Bourbon.

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">During the Napoleonic wars, around 1800, Spain was also occupied by Napoleon. During this period, the Spanish colonies in America revolted and declared its independence from the mother country and the Spanish Crown. Thus, at a stroke, Spain lost the by far most of its colonial empire. In the second half of the 19th century the Spanish-American war led to the loss (in 1898) by the last remaining Spanish coloniesin the Western hemisphere: Cuba and Puerto Rico and the Philippines in Asia.

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">Spain became a Republic In 1931 (Spanish Republic), after King Alfonso XIII was forced to resign. Continued political instability eventually led to the Spanish civil war (1936-1939). Who started out as a nationalist rebellion against the legitimate Republican government, but was, in fact, with all foreign interference, a conflict between Communism and fascism. General Franco, leader of the nationalists, was supported by Germany and Italy, while the Government was helped by the then Soviet Union. The nationalists overcome, and general Franco as dictator remained in power until his death in 1975.

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">After the death of Franco was the monarchy restored. Juan Carlos, the grandson of Alfonso XIII, became the new King. In 1978 came a democratic Constitution that the highly centralized political system under Franco modified in a decentralized structure with autonomous regions. On June 19, 2014 was succeeded by his son Juan Carlos Felipe. ==Geography<span class="mw-editsection" len="322" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-family:sans-serif;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" len="1" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ Edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" len="1" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] == AragoneseLas Médulas Roman mines in LeónEl Teide on TenerifeAway in Parque Nacional del Teide===Landscape Characteristics<span class="mw-editsection" len="332" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" len="1" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ Edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" len="1" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] === <p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">The landscape of Spain consists mainly of plateaus, such as the Spanish Plateau, and mountain ranges such as the Pyrenees and the Sierra Nevada. The main rivers of the country are the Tagus, the Ebro, the Duero, the Guadiana and the Guadalquivir. Spain is bordered to the East and South to the Mediterranean Sea, in the North to the Cantabrian Sea (the southern part of the Bay of Biscay), and to the West by the Atlantic Ocean.

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">The six major mountain ranges of Spain are the Pyrenees, the Betische cordillera and Sierra Nevada, the Sistema Central, the Cantabrian mountain range and the Iberian Edge Mountains. The Pyrenees, which in the West reach in Galicia, are created as a result of the clash of the Iberian subcontinent against the European continent.

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">The highest peaks are Pico de Aneto 3404 metres high in Central Spain, and the Picos de Europa 2648 metres high in the West. In the Sierra Nevada is the Mulhacén, which with 3482 m the highest mountain of the Spanish mainland. The highest mountain in the whole of Spain, however, is the Pico del Teide on the Canary Island of Tenerife. Other mountains in Spain are: Bola del Mundo, Circo de la Safor, El Yelmo, Monte Hacho, Montserrat, Monte Perdido, Pica d'Estats, Pozo de las Nieves, Turbón and the pillars of Hercules. ===Climate<span class="mw-editsection" len="320" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" len="1" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ Edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" len="1" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] === <p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">The geographic location of Spain shall ensure that only the Northwest (Galicia, Asturias, Cantabria and the Basque country) is under the influence of the so-called Jet streamsand the rest of the country not. Spain has a very irregular landscape and it is one of the bergachtigste countries of the European continent. All this makes that one very different climates (and micro-climates) can stand out. The country can be roughly divided into the following climatic zones:

===National Parks<span class="mw-editsection" len="329" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" len="1" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ Edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" len="1" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] === ==Demographics<span class="mw-editsection" len="323" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-family:sans-serif;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" len="1" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ Edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" len="1" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] == ===Demographics<span class="mw-editsection" len="336" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" len="1" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ Edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" len="1" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] === Population density by province (2005).<p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">At the beginning of the 20th century Spain counted about 20 million inhabitants; that number has more than doubled to 47.370.542 (2013). The country is still sparsely populated to Western European standards (density: 85.8/km²), and the population is very unevenly distributed. The most densely populated areas one finds to the different coasts and in the region of Madrid while further Interior only sparsely populated; many domestic villages are even virtually unpopulated (often only by old men) because many young people to the coastal towns and Madrid draw because there is more and better jobs. The Instituto Nacional de Estadística (INE) is responsible for the composition of the population register (censo).
 * North-East coast of the Mediterranean (Catalonia, Balearic Islands, and the northern half of the Valencian country): Mediterranean climate: Warm and sometimes hot summers and mild winters, about 600 millimeters of precipitation per year in a very small number of concentrated days, so-called Mediterranean storms.
 * South-East coast of the Mediterranean Sea (Alicante, Murcia and Almería): Mediterranean climate: hot summers and mild winters. Very dry, almost desert-like, in some places only 150 millimeters of precipitation per year, which is the driest place in Europe.
 * South coast of the Mediterranean (the coasts of Málaga and Granada): subtropical climate Warm and sometimes hot summers, extremely soft and mild winters. An average annual temperature of 20 degrees Celsius, almost unprecedented high for European standards.
 * Valley of the Guadalquivir (Seville and Cordoba): long summers with extreme heat and drought, mild winters with virtually no precipitation. Almost a desert climate.
 * Southwest Atlantic coast (Cadiz and Huelva): very Warm, but not extremely hot summers, mild winters, relatively (for this part of Europe) much precipitation.
 * Spanish Plateau (Madrid, Castile-La Mancha and Castile and León): Mediterranean climate with strong influences from a more extreme continental climate. Long and very hot summers and cold winters, low rainfall.
 * Valley of the Ebro (Zaragoza and the Interior of Catalonia): very hot summers, cold winters, low rainfall. Almost a land climate
 * North Atlantic coast (Galicia, Asturias, Cantabria, the Basque country): maritime climate with mild summers and mild winters, very much precipitation (1000-1200 millimeters per year)
 * Pyrenees: fresh summers and cold winters, temperate, wet climate in some areas a so-called high mountain climate.
 * Canary Islands: subtropical climate with little seasonal changes. The same all year round summer temperatures, desert-like on the eastern islands located further to the West on the Islands, something moister. According to the University of Syracuse, the city of Las Palmas on Gran Canaria the best climate in the world.

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">Spain currently receives the largest number of immigrants from Europe. As much as 38.6 percent of immigration towards the European Union in 2005 settled in Spain. Most of the immigrants comes from South America, Africa, Eastern Europe and also from other Western European countries. With some of these new population groups are problems arise with regard to integration, but despite this, the high number of immigrants formed an important part of the economic growth of the country. ===Cities and agglomerations<span class="mw-editsection" len="336" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" len="1" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ Edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" len="1" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] === Agglomerations of Spain<p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">The following list shows the population of the largest cities and agglomerations in Spain, measured at 1 January 2008. Suburbs of Madrid, such as Barcelona or Terrassa,Móstoles, Alcalá de Henares etc. are not included in this list. For the complete list, see list of major Spanish cities. ===Languages<span class="mw-editsection" len="319" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" len="1" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ Edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" len="1" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] === <p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">To the language used in it is called to appoint Dutch Spanish, one can use two words: español (Spanish) or castellano (Castilian, from Castile). Both terms are used interchangeably in Spain, depending on the region (in Andalusia it is said especially español, hardly ever in Catalonia), but mean the same thing. The most pure Spanish is according to many Spaniards spoken in and around Valladolid.

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">Spanish is world-wide by more than 400 million people as a first language spoken. This makes it, in terms of native speakers, the second world language after Mandarin. As well as the people who speak Spanish as a second language are included, there are more than 500 million speakers worldwide. It is the official language in 20 countries, mainly in the Western hemisphere. There are also many Spanish speakers in the United States, Brazil and parts of the Philippines. In Puerto Rico (American territory) has Spanish also the status of official language. Spanish is the most studied foreign language after English . It is one of the six official languages of the United Nations and of 22 other organisations including the European Union and the World Trade Organization.

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">The various languages that are spoken in Spain have regularly for great confusion in foreign countries, where it often has about dialects. However, it comes to a total of five official languages (Spanish, Catalan, Basque, Galician and Aranees) and two non-official languages (Asturian and Aragonese). Spanish is the only official national language of Spain. The remaining four are official regional languages, which are also the dominant language in some areas.

<p lang="en" len="61" style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">Article III of the Spanish Constitution of 1978 reads:


 * Castilian (Spanish) is the official language of the Spanish State. (...) The other Spanish languages are also official in their respective autonomous communities...<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-5" len="157" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;"> [5]

Languages in Spain: <p lang="en" len="50" style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">The four official regional languages of Spain are:

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">Spanish, Catalan, Galician and Aranees are all Romance languagesdescend from the Latin, and, within each of these languages are also different dialects. The two non-official regional languages are:
 * Catalan (Spanish: Catalán, Catalan: Català): is spoken by just over 18% of the total population, or 7.5 million inhabitants in Catalonia, the Balearic Islands and theValencian Community. Strictly linguistically speaking, Catalan is spoken in Valencia that no Catalan but Valencian (Spanish: Valenciano Catalan: Valencià). Nowadays there are in practice, however, virtually no differences more distinguishable, and is recognized as the Catalan language.
 * Basque (Spanish: Vasco, Basque: Euskara): is spoken by just over 1 million people in the Basque country and Navarra, 2.3% of the total Spanish population. The Basque language shows no single agreement with any other language.
 * Galician (Spanish: Gallego, Galician: Galego): is spoken by just over 2.5 million people, 5.7% of the total Spanish population in Galicia, and parts of León and Asturias.The language looks more Portuguese than Spanish.
 * Aranees (Spanish: Aranés): is spoken by only 4000 people in the Val d'Aran in Catalonia. Linguistically speaking, Aranees a dialect of Occitan, which otherwise is spoken mainly in France .

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">The four official regional languages of Spain play a relatively important role, at both regional and national level. For comparison; in Spain 24% of the population speaks one of the four official regional languages, that works out to almost 11 million inhabitants. In the Netherlands is the only official regional language, Frisian, by 400.000 inhabitants or only 2.4% of the population spoken.
 * Asturian (Spanish: Asturiano, Asturian: Asturianu) is spoken by about 100,000 people and is legally protected in Asturias . It is not a dialect of Spanish, but a separate language, and is spoken in different regions: Asturias, León, Zamora, Salamanca (there called the language "llionés), Extremadura (there called the language" extremeñu ") and Cantabria (there called the language" montañés ").
 * Aragonese (Spanish: Aragonés, Aragonese: Aragonés): is spoken by only 10,000 people in the province of Huesca in Aragón. About 40,000 people know the language or have the learned (neo-fabláns), mostly inZaragoza and Huesca. In the rest of Aragón, Navarra and some areas in southern Valencia and Castile-La Mancha, it is often mixed with the Spanish . The Aragonese derives from the Latin.

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">Spain to the listed languages also knows many dialects and regional languages. The best example of this is the Spanish that is spoken in Andalusia by about 7 million people, with large differences in vocabulary and pronunciation. The so-called Andaluz (Andalusian) is difficult to understand for many other Spaniards. The Valencian, a variant of the Catalan language spoken in the region of the same name, is considered by many Valencians itself even considered as a separate language. ===Religion<span class="mw-editsection" len="321" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" len="1" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ Edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" len="1" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] === ====Christianity<span class="mw-editsection" len="325" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" len="1" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ Edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" len="1" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] ==== The Cathedral of Segovia<p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">The dominant religion is Roman Catholicism in Spain and it is a traditional Roman Catholic country. According to a census of 2010 considers 70.5% of the population is Catholic.0.2% is protestant, 2.3% is Muslim, 0.4% has a different religion and 26.6% are irreligious.<sup class="noprint nopopups" len="313" style="line-height:1;"> [source?]

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">The Roman Catholic Church in Spain has in the principle behind the civil war led by Franco insurgents asked and obtained after the end of it an official status in the country's administration. This privileged status was recorded in the 1953 Concordat that in between the Spanish Government and the Vatican was closed. As a result of the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) was in the Spanish Church living consciousness that the merger with State power affect the Evangelical proclamation. The resolutions of the Council meantreligious freedom by the Government was accepted and legally was recognized in the ' Ley de libertad religiosa "(28 June 1967). According to art. 16 of the Constitution of 1978no religion has the character of a State religion. In January 1979 the Concordat was abolished; There were four agreements signed by Spain and the Vatican in which the position of the Roman Catholic Church in Spain in four areas (legal, cultural, economic and military) is regulated.

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">The list of the Roman Catholic Church includes a total of 63 archdioceses and dioceses that make up eleven Church provinces forms. The archdioceses Madrid-Alcalá and Barcelona have no suffragan dioceses and fall directly under the Holy See. Primate of Spain is the Archbishop of Toledo.

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">In the last decades is the number of practising believers dropped. According to a survey by The New York Times in 2005<sup class="noprint nopopups" len="313" style="line-height:1;">[citation needed ] 18% of the population regularly goes to a church service. Within the part of the population though religiously active, like in most European countries, different sizes and levels of effective involvement to distinguish.

<p lang="en" len="844" style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">The Saints James the greater, St. John of Ávila and Teresa of Ávila are the patron saints of Spain.

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">Protestants, Muslims and Jews form small minorities. There are a number of Protestant population groups, none of which has more than 50,000 persons. Also, there are about 20,000 Mormons. ====Non-Christian religions<span class="mw-editsection" len="340" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" len="1" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ Edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" len="1" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] ==== <p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">To the beginning of the 16th century the population of the current Spain religiously diverse. So there were relatively large groups of Muslims in addition to Christians and Jews.

=
Islam<span class="mw-editsection" len="319" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" len="1" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ Edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" len="1" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] ===== The Mezquita in Córdoba, now in use as a Cathedral, but originally amosque<p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">The islam was the religion of the Moors who in the beginning of the 8th century from North Africa invaded Spain and the current were large parts of the Iberian Peninsula under their influence brought. The Empire that they called Al-Andalus was founded there. Their rule lasted until 1492 in the current Spain when the last Moorish stronghold Granada as part of the Reconquista was conquered by the Catholic monarchs . This ended up not yet immediately the presence of Muslims in Spain, although the current though it is assumed that most Muslims left the Iberian Peninsula as a result of the Reconquista. Until some years after 1492 the remaining Muslims were still forced to convert to Christianity or to leave the country. Those who converted to Christianity, were called conversos or moriscos. Those who left the country yet, left to North Africa. Today, the number of Muslims in Spain as a result of immigration.

=
Judaism<span class="mw-editsection" len="322" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" len="1" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ Edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" len="1" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] ===== The former synagogue of Córdoba<p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">The presence of Jews in the current Spain goes back to the beginning of our era. It is thought that the number of Jews in particular in the time that the current Spain was part of the Roman Empire has increased considerably. They formed a large minority of the total population of Spain. The presence of the Iberian Jews called Sephardim, as are, in the current Spain ended in 1492 when the Catholic monarchsadopted the so-called Expulsion edict . As a result of this edict all Sephardim were forced to convert to Christianity or to leave the country.Those who were converted to Christianity, conversos or disparagingly called maranen (or boar). They and their descendants were afterwards frequently the victim of the Spanish Inquisition. Those who left the country, left mainly to Portugal (where they were subsequently made the same choice for a number of years), North Africa and the Ottoman Empire, and in smaller numbers in the long run also to Belgium and Netherlands. ==Politics<span class="mw-editsection" len="322" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-family:sans-serif;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" len="1" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ Edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" len="1" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] == The King of Spain (King Juan Carlos, pictured here is the previous I) is also the Chief of defence===Political structure<span class="mw-editsection" len="333" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" len="1" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ Edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" len="1" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] === <p lang="en" len="456" style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">Spain is a constitutional monarchy, with King Felipe VI as a head of State.

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">The Executive Branch consists of the Government with various ministers led by the Prime Minister or president of the Government (Presidente del Gobierno). Since 19 december 2011, the conservative Mariano Rajoy Brey of the Partido Popular Prime Minister of Spain, after his party won the elections of 2011 . The Council of State advises the Government asked if unsolicited.

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">The legislature consists of two chambers, the so-called Cortes Generales. The House of Lords (the Senado) exists at the time from 259 seats and in the House of Commons(Congreso de los Diputados) is composed of 350 representatives. The last elections were in March 2008.

<p lang="en" len="372" style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">The judiciary consists of the various courts and tribunals, with several judges who have authority in the name of the King to maintain the justice in the country. ===Administrative divisions<span class="mw-editsection" len="335" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" len="1" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ Edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" len="1" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] === The autonomous regions and cities of Spain<p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">A Confederation is Spain States in which power is running very decentralised, it is the most decentralized country of the European Union. The country consists of two autonomous cities (Spanish: Ciudades Autónomas), Ceuta and Melilla, and 17 autonomous communities (Comunidades Autónomas): <p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">The degree of autonomy varies by region. Almost all regions are divided into provinces. The provinces of Spain are divided into comarques, which in turn are divided inmunicipalities .

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">The varying degrees of autonomy is due to the great need for autonomy in the regions of Catalonia, Galicia, the Basque country and because these three each have a strong identity and language. They were assigned more own rights at an earlier stage than the other regions. These three regions are so under the so-called "special regime", in which local language has official status. The proportions of the regional Government of the Basque country and Catalonia (the Generalitat de Catalunya) with the Central Government in Madrid are often tense and sometimes even problematic. The autonomy of these regions can apply to the local health care system, tax system, education and safety. Catalonia and the Basque country have, for example, each with its own police body (Ertzaintza and Mossos d'Esquadra). ===Political parties<span class="mw-editsection" len="332" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" len="1" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ Edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" len="1" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] === ====Rural parties<span class="mw-editsection" len="333" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" len="1" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ Edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" len="1" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] ==== <p lang="en" len="103" style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">A number of parties is active nationwide, whether or not through alliances with regional parties.

====Regional parties<span class="mw-editsection" len="332" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" len="1" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ Edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" len="1" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] ==== <p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">By the decentralised public authorities often have regional parties at national level also have a certain degree of influence. For example, a number of them also a member of the National Congress and in the Senate, both in Madrid.
 * Izquierda Unida (IU)
 * Partido Socialista Obrero Español (PSOE)
 * Partido Popular (PP)
 * Unión Progreso y Democracia (UPyD)


 * Aragon
 * Partido Aragonés
 * Chunta Aragonesista


 * Asturias
 * Foro Asturias


 * Basque Country
 * Batasuna (banned)
 * Eusko Alderdi Jeltzalea (PNV in the Castilian)


 * Canary Islands
 * Canarian Coalition (CC)


 * Catalonia
 * Candidatura d'Unitat Popular (CUP)
 * Ciutadans-Partit de la Ciutadania (C 's)
 * Convergència i Unió (CiU)
 * Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya (ERC)
 * Iniciativa per Catalunya Verds (ICV)
 * Partit dels Socialistes de Catalunya (PSC, often with the national workers ' Party: PSC-PSOE)
 * Plataforma per Catalunya (PxC)
 * Solidaritat Catalana per la Independència (SI)


 * Galicia
 * Bloque Nacionalista Galego (BNG)


 * Navarra
 * Nafarroa Bai (NaBai)

====Historical parties<span class="mw-editsection" len="334" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" len="1" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ Edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" len="1" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] ==== ===Trade Unions<span class="mw-editsection" len="323" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" len="1" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ Edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" len="1" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] === <p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">Although the number of members of trade unions have relatively low today, trade unions in the past played a large role in Spain. In particular in the run-up to and during the civil war, and in a later phase of the Francisco Franco regime they are very influential. Some important associations of trade unions today:
 * Acción Republicana
 * CEDA
 * Estat Catala
 * Falange Española
 * Izquierda Republicana
 * Partido Republicano Nacional
 * POUM
 * Partido Republicano Conservador
 * Partido Republicano Radical
 * Republican Union

<p lang="en" len="363" style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">During the Franco regime was the only trade union permitted the OSE (popularly called sindicato vertical ). ==Economy<span class="mw-editsection" len="322" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-family:sans-serif;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" len="1" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ Edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" len="1" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] == Skyline and business centre of Madrid<p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">Spain is known as holiday destination (since the 1960s). During the Francisco Francoregime politically isolated, that began in 1939 and ended with his death in 1975, did find some modernisation in a highly regulated economy, but not nearly enough to make up for centuries of relative decline. The country could only start to catch up in the 80 's and is now one of the major economies of Europe. In 2012 it had a GDP of $ 1,456 billion and an average per capita income of $ 34.525. The Spanish economy is currently the 5th economy of Europe and the thirteenth in the world. According to the World bank in 2004 Spain had the eighth economy in the world. The life expectancy of the Spanish population is one of the three highest in the world. The food quality is also excellent and exceeds according to the British weekly magazine The Economist that of countries such as Canada,France and the United States. Run more and more Spanish companies participate in the World Summit in the field of Advanced technologies such as aircraft construction, information technology, biotechnology, solar energy and infrastructure engineering.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-6" len="157" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;"> [6]
 * CC.OO. (Communist)
 * CGT (Anarchist)
 * CNT (Anarchist)
 * UGT (Socialist)
 * USO (Catholic)

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">Spain is one of the main agricultural producers of Europe. Some of the main products in this sector are oranges, lemons, olives and olive oil, nuts, grapes and wine.

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">Spain has been hit hard by the economic crisis and the unemployment rate is the second highest in the EU. This is mainly due to the collapse of the Spanish housing market. Spain is expected to need many years to get out of the economic crisis, which much later than most other Member States of the European Union. To limit the damage to the economy, the Government of Zapatero in January 2009 the 'Plan E' proclaimed, that in March 2011 is succeeded by legislation that the economic recovery should give a sustainable form. In the fall of 2011 hit Spain in acute problems due to sharply increasing risk premia in interest rates on Spanish State debt. The ECB had to order medicines on the secondary market to do extensive purchases of Spanish Government bonds. The Spanish Government was forced to adopt a tough austerity program. ===Tourism<span class="mw-editsection" len="322" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" len="1" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ Edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" len="1" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] === Aqueduct of Segovia Benidorm is one of the manySpanish beach resortsThe Oso y Madroño on Puerta del Sol. The clock in the background of theCasa de Correos<p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">Even though most of the Spanish tourists in Spain itself, it is also the country with the second largest number of foreign tourists every year, after neighboring France, and takes no less than 7% of the global international tourism for his account. That's more than the United StatesorItaly . Tourism already came on in the 60s and 70s of the 20th century. The number of foreign tourists rose from less than 700,000 in 1951 to 4 million in 1959, 34 million in 1973 and 40 million early 80 's.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-7" len="157" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;"> [7]  Spain In 2012 according to the World Tourism Rankings of the UNWTO visited by 57.7 million tourists. This is an increase of 9.3% compared to 2010.

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">Catalonia (Barcelona, Costa Brava, Costa Dorada, Pyrenees) is by far the most touristic part of the country: more than 25% of foreign tourists visited this region in Spain in 2005, followed by the Balearic Islands (9.4 million foreign tourists), and the Canary Islands (8.6 million foreign tourists). About two-thirds of foreign tourists comes from only three countries; 29% from the United Kingdom, 18% from 16% fromGermany and France (especially to Catalonia). Dutch and Belgian tourists make just 4% and 3% respectively of the total.

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">In 2005, domestic, or Spanish tourists went especially to Madrid (20.7 million tourists or 18.5% of the total), followed by Catalonia, 17.7 million people (15.8%) and Andalusia with 16.7 million people. (15.0 percent).<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-8" len="157" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;"> [8]

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">According to the World Tourism Organization, the number of tourists that visit Spain with approximately 5% per year over the next 20 years. By 2020, the country than about 75 million foreign tourists received. ===Transport<span class="mw-editsection" len="321" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" len="1" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ Edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" len="1" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] === A AVE-high speed train on the route Madrid-Barcelona<p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">Spain has 105 airports for civil aviation, of which only 33 also receive international flights. The most important are the Barajas airport in Madrid and Barcelona's El Prat Airport . Airport Barajas is greatly expanded in 2005, and now has the largest airport terminal in the world.The idea is that it is one of the most important airports in Europe, is being processed about 50 million passengers per year.

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">The train movement of Spain is in the hands of the State-owned company RENFE. Connections exist between almost all cities of the country. Because the track gauge in Spain (Iberian broad gauge) is different from the rest of Western Europe, there are as yet only direct connections possible on the French rail network via the high-speed network. This makes that the two ' normal ' international connections along the Pyrenees, at the border by train should be changed.

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">Under the name AVE RENFE operates eight high-speed lines with trains running up to 310 miles per hour drive away. 11 high-speed lines are still under construction. The high-speed network of Spain in 2013 has a total length of more than 3100 km, making it the longest of Europe and the longest in the world after China. It connects cities such as Madrid, Barcelona, Málaga, Sevilla and Valladolid. Since 2013 there is an international connection with Perpignan in France. Thereby it is possible to use the high-speed train from Madrid to Paris and the rest of Europe to travel. To make this possible was there in 2010 an 8.3-km-long tunnel under the Pyrenees dug: the Perthus tunnel.

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">A total of eight Spanish cities have about a metro. The largest are the Barcelona metro and Madrid, but also that of Valencia, Palma de Mallorca, San Sebastián, Bilbao, Málagaand Seville, since april 2009, have their own Metro system.

<p lang="en" len="291" style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">Had the motorway network at 31 december 2012 a total length of 16.335 km.

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">The main sea port of Spain is the port of Algeciras to the Strait of Gibraltar. Other important ports are those of Barcelona , Valenciaand Bilbao. ==Culture<span class="mw-editsection" len="321" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-family:sans-serif;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" len="1" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ Edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" len="1" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] == ===Literature<span class="mw-editsection" len="324" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" len="1" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ Edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" len="1" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] === ===Painting<span class="mw-editsection" len="327" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" len="1" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ Edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" len="1" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] === <p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">Spain has produced many renowned painters, by Diego Velázquez and El Greco to Pablo Picasso and Salvador Dalí. ===Siesta<span class="mw-editsection" len="320" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" len="1" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ Edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" len="1" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] === <p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">Afternoon siesta held In Spain, especially in the summer. The Siesta usually takes from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m., but can locally vary, and replaces the lunch break as it is usual in the rest of Europe. Many shops are closed during the afternoon siesta, it's the time of day to eat and rest or sleep. Normal working hours/school hours are different than in Northern European countries and differ greatly by region. Depending on the region one works from 09: 00 until 14: 00 and from 15: 00 to 18: 00 à 17: 00 à 21: 00. In the centers of large cities, most shops open six days a week from 10: 00 to 21: 00. At the end of 2005, the proposal was to abolish the siesta, but for the moment there are no concrete plans for. Escorial===Gastronomy<span class="mw-editsection" len="325" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" len="1" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ Edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" len="1" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] === Catalan fideuada, a kind of paellawith pasta instead of rice<p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">The Spanish cuisine is as diverse as the Spanish cultures and climates. Typical Spanish products are the many wines and CAVAS, countless sausages including chorizo, jamón serrano or jamón ibérico (Iberian ham), numerous cheeses, legumes, rice, Mediterranean vegetables and many different sweets. The most famous dishes are the churros, Spanish tortilla, paella, gazpacho, stews (cocidos) andcalamares a la romana (fried squid). The tapasare also known, which can be eaten both in the afternoon and evening, and in some parts of the country are free. Eating tapas is also abroad (North Europe, North America) very popular. There are hundreds, if not thousands of tapas that are very vary by region. Snacks related to the tapas, but ordered and eaten separately, are the pinchos, for which the Basque country is known, especially where these bites are called pintxos . Spaniards especially appreciate the simplicity, freshness and quality of the food, and not always the presentation or the use of, as much as possible, ingredients and spices in one dish.

Spanish wine and Basque "pintxos"<p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">Typical Spanish drinks, which are be drunk, especially in the summer sangria, horchata and clara (beer mixed with slightly sweet soft drinks). The name sherry comes from the Andalusian city Jerez de la Frontera. Spain is one of the most important wine producers in the world.

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">There are very many differences to distinguish themselves in the regional gastronomy: for example, the Galician cuisine seems not at all on the Catalan or Andalusian cuisine.However, there are still a number of typical features of the Spanish food culture:

===Bullfighting<span class="mw-editsection" len="328" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" len="1" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ Edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" len="1" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] === <p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">It (especially outside Spain) controversial bullfighting is part of Spanish culture. A bullfight is not seen by many Spaniards as a sport, but does for them the character of a artistic performance in which the human (especially male) superiority over the animal and death is shown. In doing so, it seems to work for some women as aphrodisiac, although that is hard for others to believe. Bullfighting is a centuries-old and as is practiced today was originally performed on village squares. The first arenas were of wood, but the beginning of the 18th century-in 1711-was first built out of stone, an arena in Béjar, a village in the province ofSalamanca. Five years later followed Campo Frio, in the province of Huelva. Ronda's Bullring, reputedly built on the foundations of a Roman Theatre, was put into use in 1804.
 * Hot food twice per day (around 3 pm and around 10 pm), usually a starter and a main course
 * Drinking wine with meals (also in the afternoon)
 * Eat out very often (on average 4 times per week)
 * Cooking with fresh products and low consumption of frozen foods, prepared spice mixes or ready-made meals
 * Sparing use of olive oil for both cold and hot dishes
 * Large consumption of fish and seafood compared with other countries. The largest visconsumenten in the world after Japanese are Spaniards.
 * Eating sweets for breakfast (almost never bread)

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">Despite the large number of bullfights in Spain, where many foreign tourists to go and see apart from Spaniards, there are also in the country to find opponents. On 6 april 2004 banned the City Council of Barcelona as the first city bullfighting, incidentally without consequences: until 2011 Barcelona bullfights are held in the arena. In 2009 forbade Catalonia (where Barcelona is the capital of), as the first autonomous region on the Mainland, bullfighting. This prohibition takes effect on 1 January 2012 so that the bullfights were the latest by 2011. ===Events<span class="mw-editsection" len="321" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" len="1" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ Edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" len="1" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] === Bullfighter in Seville<p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">Spain has a relatively large number of public holidays which are celebrated some exuberant-especially the many regional holidays. The national holidays are not more than the free days. This does not apply to the Semana Santa, the Holy week around Easter. The Spanish themselves have their events has been awarded 4 stars to regional, national or international importance. Thus, the Seville's Semana Santa, like those of 16 other cities, listed as a feast of international importance. Some events and traditions are included in the Unesco World Heritage site, and attract thousands of tourists and pilgrims. Also the tradition of the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela is internationally renowned.

<p lang="en" len="56" style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">The best known and largest regional festivals celebrated are:

===Media<span class="mw-editsection" len="319" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" len="1" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ Edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" len="1" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] === <p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">Most national newspapers are issued in Madrid or Barcelona. The newspaper El País is the largest with a circulation of around 494.697 copies daily. El País is published in Madrid, as well as El Mundo (390.831), ABC(331.810) and La Razón (166.006). Publishers from Barcelona the rural newspapers (231.287) La Vanguardia and El Periódico (174.960) out.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-9" len="157" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;"> [9]  in addition to the regular newspapers are also the rural sports newspapers El Mundo Deportivo, Sports (both published in Barcelona), Marca and Diario AS (published in Madrid) of interest.
 * "Las Fallas" in Valencia
 * Semana Santa of Sevilla
 * The Romeria of Rocio
 * Patum de Berga
 * Misteri d'Elx
 * the Corpus Christi procession of Toledo
 * The april Festival (Feria de Abril) of Seville
 * Diada de la Mercè in Barcelona and surroundings
 * San Juan (Sant Joan in Catalonia)
 * El Pilar in Zaragoza
 * San Fermínfeesten in Pamplona
 * The Carnival of Cádizand Tenerife , Sitges
 * The tomato Festival in Buñol

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">The public radio and television broadcasting is in the hands of Radiotelevisión Española (RTVE). Furthermore, there are several commercial channels. ===Sports<span class="mw-editsection" len="319" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" len="1" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ Edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" len="1" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] === Camp Nou is the home of FC Barcelona and the largest stadium of Europe<p lang="en" len="513" style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">In 1992 Barcelona hosted the Olympic Summer Games, the first and so far only time this event was held in Spain.

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">Football is the most popular sport in Spain. Well-known football clubs include Real Madrid, FC Barcelona, Sevilla FC, Valencia CF, Villarreal CF and Atlético Madrid. Big clubs like Real Madrid and Barcelona play at a high level in Europe. Also the national football team is on a high level. Spain on home soil In 1964 became European champion by a 2-1 victory over the Soviet Union, and from 2008 to 2012 it won three Championships in a row: the European Championships in 2008 after a 1-0 victory over Germany, the WORLD CUP in 2010 by after an extension to defeat Netherlands 1-0, and the European Championships in 2012 after a 4-0 victory over Italy. The latter is the biggest victory ever in the finals of a EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS or WORLD CUP.

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">In second place comes basketball. Basketball is also played at a high level in Spain. In 2006 the Spanish national basketball team even became world champion by beatingGreece in the final. Famous names in basketball include Pau Gasol, Jorge Garbajosa, Sergio Rodríguez, Ricky Rubio , Rudy Fernándezand José Manuel Calderón.

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">Also in cycling on the road turns Spain well with it. With riders like Alberto Contador, Alejandro Valverde , Óscar Freireand Carlos Sastre in their ranks to fight the Spaniards regularly for the podium. Faster still than the cyclists is the Spanish racing driver Fernando Alonso, who are successes in the Formula 1 .

<p lang="en" len="424" style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">On Spain with Rafael Nadal tennis area and world class players David Ferrer .

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">In the handball was the national men's team in 2013 world champion at home. The two biggest clubs in Spain are also two of the biggest clubs in Europe: BM Ciudad Real and FC Barcelona. ===Points Of Interest<span class="mw-editsection" len="333" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" len="1" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ Edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" len="1" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] === <p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">There are 44 Spanish sights on the World Heritage list of UNESCO. The best known of these are:


 * The Alhambra in Granada
 * The historic centre and the Cathedral of Córdoba
 * The Palm Grove of Elche, near Alicante
 * Works of Antoni Gaudí: Park Güell, among others, Sagrada Família, Casa Batlló, Casa Milà and Palau Güell in Barcelona.
 * The museums and architecture of Madrid
 * The historic centre of Toledo
 * The Cathedral and the Alcázar of Seville
 * The historic centre and the pilgrimage routes to Santiago de Compostela
 * The Cathedral of Burgos
 * The historic centre of Salamanca
 * The white villages around Málaga
 * The historic centre of Alcalá de Henares
 * La Lonja de la Seda in Valencia
 * National Park El Teide on Tenerife (Canary Islands)