Spain
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BASIC FACTS
Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain (Reino de España), is a country located in south western Europe on the Iberian[1]Peninsula.
The Spanish mainland is bordered to the south and east almost entirely by the Mediterranean[2]Sea, to the north by France, Andorra, and the Bay[3]of[4]Biscay; and to the west by the Atlantic[5]Ocean and Portugal.
With an area of 504,030 km², Spain is the second largest country in Western Europe (behind France) and with an average altitude of 650m, the second highest country in Europe (behind Switzerland).
The Capital of Spain is Madrid with a population of 3,092,759. The official language is Spanish (español, throughout the whole territory of Spain). Other dialects of Spanish are, Catalan (castellano, in Catalonia, the Balearic Islands and in the Valencian Community, known in the latter officially as Valencian), Basque (euskera, in the Basque Country and Navarre), Galician (galego) in Galicia, Valencian (valenciano, in Valencian region).
Because of the many dialects in the different regions, one may understand the language in one region, but have trouble understanding in another.
The currency, since 2004, is the Euro.
COUNTRY PROFILE
ECONOMY
Spain’s mixed capitalist economy supports a GDP that on a per capita basis is 87% that of the four leading West European economies. The center-right government of former Prime Minister Aznar successfully worked to gain admission to the first group of countries launching the European single currency, the euro, on 1 January 1999. The Aznar administration continued to advocate liberalization, privatization, and deregulation of the economy and introduced some tax reforms to that end. Unemployment fell steadily under the Aznar administration but remains high at 9.8% as of August 2005. Growth of 2.4% in 2003 was satisfactory given the background of a faltering European economy. The Prime Minister Rodríguez Zapatero, whose party won the election three days after the Madrid train bombings in March 2004, plans to reduce government intervention in business, combat tax fraud, and support innovation, research and development, but also intends to reintroduce labour market regulations that had been previously scrapped by the Aznar government. Adjusting to the monetary and other economic policies of an integrated Europe - and reducing unemployment - will pose challenges to Spain over the next few years. According to World Bank GDP figures from 2004, Spain has the 8th largest economy in the world. There is general concern that Spain’s model of economic growth (based largely on tourism, the construction industry, and manufacturing sectors) is faltering and may prove unsustainable over the long term. The first report of the Observatory on Sustainability (Observatorio de Sostenibilidad), published in 2005 and funded by Spain’s Ministry of the Environment and Alcalá University, reveals that the country’s per capita GDP grew by 25% over the last ten years, while greenhouse gas emissions have risen by 45% since 1990. Although Spain’s population grew by less than 5% between 1990 and 2000, during that time period, urban areas expanded by 25%. Meanwhile, Spain’s energy consumption has doubled over the last 20 years and is currently rising by 6% per annum. This is particularly worrying for a country whose dependence on imported oil (meeting roughly 80% of Spain’s energy needs) is one of the greatest in the EU. Large-scale unsustainable development is clearly visible along Spain’s Mediterranean coast in the form of housing and tourist complexes, which are placing severe strain on local land and water resources.
HISTORY
One of the characteristic features of the early history of Spain is the successive 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. Following the Phoenicians, 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 began the Second Punic War on the peninsula, which, at that time, decided the fate of the world. Following the Roman victory, Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus, continued the conquest of Spain, which would continue to remain under Roman rule for six centuries.
| The Roman Theatre in Mérida - source |
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, had 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 re-conquest, which would not occur 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 kingdoms and marked the opening of a period of growing success for Spain. 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, three ships sent by the Crown of Castile under the command of Christopher Columbus discovered America.
| Christoper Columbus arrives in America - source |
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 soon incorporated into the Kingdom.
The 16th and the 17th centuries, 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 soon after, 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 then crowned king.
Prior to this, in 1898, a brief war with the United States resulted in the loss of Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Philippines, thus completing the dissolution of the Spanish overseas empire.
After the municipal elections of 12 April 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 Republicans’ vote in cities such as Madrid and Barcelona were enormous. In the country districts 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 on 14 April. 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 18 July 1936 in a military uprising which turned into a tragic civil war which would not end until three years later.
On 1 October 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 of 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 so-called 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 15 June 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 6 December 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 27 August 1982, Calvo-Sotelo presented the King a decree for the dissolution of Parliament and the calling of a general election to be held on 28 October. Victory in the polls went to the Spanish Socialist Worker Party (PSOE) and its secretary general, Felipe Gonzalez. The socialists obtained 202 out of the 350 seats of which the Lower House consists and approximately 48% of the popular vote. Felipe Gonzalez was elected prime minister (2 December) after the parliamentary vote of investiture. The major losers were the Union of the Democratic Centre (which has since 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, 1993, 2003, 2008 were also won by the Spanish Socialist Party and consolidated the position of the Popular Party, led by Jose Maria Aznar, as the second largest political force in the country.
POLITICS
Spain is a constitutional monarchy organised as a parliamentary democracy.
Spain has a hereditary monarch and a bicameral parliament, the Cortes Generales or National Assembly. The executive branch consists of a Council of Ministers presided over by the President of Government (comparable to a prime minister), proposed by the monarch and elected by the National Assembly following legislative elections.
The legislative branch is made up of the Congress of Deputies (Congreso de los Diputados) with 350 members, elected by popular vote on block lists by proportional representation to serve four-year terms, and a Senate or Senado with 259 seats of which 208 are directly elected by popular vote and the other 51 appointed by the regional legislatures to also serve four-year terms.
Head of State: Juan Carlos I. - King, Head of Government: José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero (PSOE) - Prime Minister, Governing Party: PSOE
Last national elections 2008
http://www.parties-and-elections.de/spain.html
Last European Parliament election June 2009 See: • http://www.europarl.europa.eu/parliament/archive/elections2009/en/spain_en.html • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Parliament_election,_2009_(Spain)
| The Spanish Senate - source |
Spain is, at present, what is called a State of Autonomies, formally unitary but, in fact, functioning as a Federation of Autonomous Communities, each one with different powers (for instance, some have their own educational and health systems, others do not) and laws. There are some differences within this system, since power has been devolved from the centre to the periphery asymmetrically. With some autonomous governments (especially those dominated by nationalist parties) seeking a more federalist—or even confederate—kind of relationship with Spain, the Central Government is dealing with these autonomous governments for the transference of more autonomy. This novel system of asymmetrical devolution has been described as "co-constitutionalism" and has similarities with the devolution process adopted and being used by the United Kingdom since 1997.
CULTURE
Culture
The culture of Spain has roots in Iberian and Latin influences, Catholicism, Moorish Islam, tension between the centralized Castilian state and its regions, and its minority peoples. In addition, the history of the nation and its Mediterranean climate and geography have played strong roles in shaping its culture.
Religion
Roman Catholicism is, by far, the most popular religion in the country. About 94.0% Spaniards self-identify as Catholics, whereas 6% identify with either other religions or none at all. It is important to note, however, that many Spaniards identify themselves as Catholics even though they are not very religious at all. Only around 18 percent of Spaniards regularly attend mass.
Spain has an extraordinary artistic heritage in every way. There were a lot of influences of foreign cultures like Romans and Arabians. The most obvious impression have being been left by architecture.
Most of the sights are in Andalusia: mosque in Cordoba, palaces like the complex Medina Azahara, Gardens Generalife in Granada and the Golden tower and Giralda in Seville.
Visit Cordoba on: www.virtourist.com/europe/cordoba/
Gardens Generalife: www.virtualtourist.com
A lot of monumental cathedrals were built in the gothic style, which are located all over Spain, for example the Cathedrals in León, Toledo, and Girona; with the biggest cathedral being in Seville.
Seville: www.sol.com
The title of the most famous Spanish architecture belongs to Antonio Gaudí, who is world renown due to Sagrada familia in Barcelona and his examples of his work, Güell’s park, La Pedrera house, etc.
| Cathedral of Seville and the Archivo de Indias - source |
The website of Barcelona city: www.bcn.es
| Sagrada familia - source |
All about Antonio Gaudí on: www.gaudidesigner.com
Spain art is represented by several great painters like Francisco de Goya (beautiful fresco paintings made for the church of San Antonio of Florida in Madrid, in 1798; Two of his most famous paintings: Maja Naked (1800-1803), Maja Clothed (1800-1803)), Pablo Picasso (African season (1907-09): Young ladies of Avignon), Salvador Dalí (Galatea of the spheres).
| Pablo Picasso - source |
Virtual gallery of Salvador Dali’s artwork, including hundreds of his paintings, a biography of his life is to see on website www.virtualdali.com
Biography and paintings of Francisco Goya: www.biography.free-people.net
Pablo Picasso paintings, prints and biography: www.picasso.com
Have you ever heard of the most internationally acclaimed Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar? His most famous films are Volver (2007), Bad Education (2004), and Talk To Her (2002).
The official website of Pedro Almodóvar: www.clubcultura.com
Museums and Galleries
Teatre-Museu Dalí in Figueres (www.dali-estate-org)
Museu Picasso in Barcelona (www.museupicasso.bcn.es)
Museo Nacional y Centro de Investigación de Altamira (www.museodealtamira.mcu.es)
Museu d’Art de Catalunya in Barcelona (www.mnac.es)
Museo Nacional de Antropologia in Madrid (www.mnantropologia.mcu.es)
Museo Arqueológico Nacional in Madrid (www.man.es)
Spanish Schools
International and foreign schools are the only schools which use English as the teaching language. If your children attend any other schools they will be taught their lessons in Spanish. www.spain-info.com
COMMUNICATION
The Spanish way of life is somewhat slower than the rest of Europe, especially in the south. But when Spaniards work, they work hard. They have adapted to the weather, that’s why they have three hours siestas for a lunch and relax. It is quite common for life to begin when the sun goes down, especially in the summer.
Spaniards are very opened, friendly and kind. They have no problem to cooperate with foreigners. Spaniards have their own mind. They are unpunctual. People never should push them to work.
- The Spanish prefer to do business with those they know and trust.
- It is important that you spend sufficient time letting your business colleagues get to know you.
- Once you develop a relationship, it will prevail even if you switch companies, since your Spanish business colleagues’ allegiance will be to you rather than the company you represent.
- Face-to-face contact is preferred to written or telephone communication.
- The way you present yourself is of critical importance when dealing with Spaniards.
- It is best to display modesty when describing your achievements and accomplishments.
- Communication is formal and follows rules of protocol.
- Avoid confrontation if at all possible. Spaniards do not like to publicly admit that they are incorrect.
- Trust and personal relationships are the cornerstone of business.
- Spaniards, like many societies, are concerned that they look good in the eyes of others and try to avoid looking foolish at all times.
Business Negotiation
- Spaniards place great importance on the character of the person with whom they do business.
- Hierarchy and rank are important. You should deal with people of similar rank to your own.
- Decision-making is held at the top of the company, since this is a hierarchical country. You may never actually meet the person who ultimately makes the decision.
- You may be interrupted while you are speaking. This is not an insult, it merely means the person is interested in what you are saying.
- Spaniards do not like to lose face, so they will not necessarily say that they do not understand something, particularly if you are not speaking Spanish. You must be adept at discerning body language.
- Spaniards are very thorough. They will review every minute detail to make certain it is understood.
- First you must reach an oral understanding. A formal contract will be drawn up at a later date.
- Spaniards expect both sides to strictly adhere to the terms of a contract.
Business Meeting Etiquette - Appointments are mandatory and should be made in advance, preferably by telephone or fax. Reconfirm in writing or by telephone the week before.
- You should try to arrive on time for meetings.
- The first meeting is generally formal and is used to get to know each other. Do not be surprised if no business is actually conducted during the first meeting.
- Agendas are often used but not always needed to be followed too strict.
- Make sure all your printed material is available in both English and Spanish.
- Not all businesspeople speak English, so it is wise to check if you should hire an interpreter.
- Several people may speak at once. You may be interrupted while you are speaking.
- Decisions are not reached at meetings. Meetings are for discussion and to exchange ideas.
- Most Spaniards do not give their opinion at meetings. Therefore, it is important to watch their non-verbal communication
Useful information, which you can find on websites:
www.everyculture.com
and Spain:
Spanish Language, Culture, Customs and Etiquette: www.kwintessential.co.uk
TRAVEL and TOURISM
Bullfights
Bullfights are deep-rooted tradition in history of Spain. Many Spaniards can’t imagine their culture without bullfights, but several of them are beginning to contest this tradition.
Every year during July in the city of Pamplona, wild bulls are run through the streets while brave thrill seekers, both young and old, join them and try to avoid being trampled or gored. The running of the bulls is very famous, but one shouldn’t miss the festival and feast that follows, including dance, music, fireworks.
Information about bullfights in Spain: www.spanish-fiestas.com
| Bullfights - source |
Flamenco
Flamenco is a music-dancing culture, which has its centre in Andalusia in the south of Spain. It appeared with Romanies when they came from India across Pakistan and Egypt. That’s why flamenco is comprised of Romany culture with Spanish, Indian, Jewish and Arabian culture intertwined.
What is flamenco and everything about it on the website:
www.flamenco-world.com
LANGUAGE PHRASES
SOURCES
Spain tourist info for your travel to Spain: www.spain.info
Photos of the world: www.panoramio.com
Interactive maps: www.maps.google.com
Information about Madrid: www.allmadrid.com
Features a map and brief descriptions of geography, economy, government, and information of the people of Spain: www.cia.gov
www.virtualtourist.com Granada Travel Guide
A rich website rich containing information about Spanish culture, history and ethnic relations, Urbanism, architecture, and the use of space: www.everyculture.com
THE ALTERNATIVE SPAIN
Please add your own experience at: The Alternative Spain
