Spain and Spanish Culture

Useful information about Spain

Geography
Information on the geography of Spain

Spain is situated in the south west of europe bordering the Bay of Biscay, the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean. It covers a total of 504,782 square km, of which 499,542 square km is land and 5,240 sqaure km is water. Countries and territories that border Spain are France, Andorra, Gibraltar and Portugal and seperated by a few kilometers of sea is Morocco. To the east of mainland Spain are the Balearic Islands consisting of the Gimnesias (Mallorca Majorca, Menorca and Cabrera and the Pitiusas (Ibiza and Formentera). To the south west of mainland Spain off the coast of Africa are the Canary Islands made up of Gran Canaria, Fuerteventura, Lanzarote, Tenerife. La Palma and Gomera. The most southerly town in Spain is La Linea de la Concepcion, which is the Spanish side of the border with Gibraltar. (See here for property for sale in La Linea)

There are 19 autonomous communities throughout Spain. These are made up of Andalucia, Aragon, Asturias, Baleares (Balearic Islands), Ceuta, Canarias (Canary Islands), Cantabria, Castilla-La Mancha, Castilla y Leon, Cataluna, Communidad Valenciana, Extremadura, Galicia, La Rioja, Madrid, Melilla, Murcia, Navarra, Pais Vasco (Basque Country)

Population of Spain
The estimated population as of July 2004 was 40,280,780 of which 20,584,342 were female and 19,696,438 were male. 5,800,403 were estimated to be between the ages of 0-14 years, 27,401,850 were estimated to be between the ages of 15-64 years and 7,078,527 were estimated to be 65 years and older.

Spanish Languages
The official language of Spain is Castilian which is spoken by about 74% of the population. There are regional langauges spoken in the various regions such as Catalan spoken by about 17%, Galician spoken by about 7% and Basque spoken by about 2%.

The State
The chief of State is King Juan Carlos I who has reigned since 22 November 1975. The next in line is the King's son Prince Felipe who was born on the 30 January 1968 and married Letizia Ortiz in the summer of 2004. The prime minister of Spain since April 2004 is Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero representing the Spanish Socialist Workers Party.

The Spanish Flag
The Spanish flag is made up of three horizontal bands of red (top), yellow (double width), and red with the national coat of arms on the hoist side of the yellow band; the coat of arms includes the royal seal framed by the Pillars of Hercules, which are the two promontories (Gibraltar and Ceuta) on either side of the eastern end of the Strait of Gibraltar. Legend suggests that Hercules separated Africa from Europe by using the rock of Gibraltar and Ceuta to push the continents apart.

The Spanish Currency
On 1 January 1999, the European Monetary Union introduced the euro as a common currency to be used by the financial institutions of member countries. On 1 January 2002, the euro became the sole currency for everyday transactions with the member countries

Area information - About the Costa de la Luz, About the Costa del Sol, About Alicante