Living in Spain

History & Country Facts

Contemporary Spain can trace its history back to 1469 when the kingdoms of Aragon and Castile united through the marriage of Fernando de Aragón and Isabel de Castilla. By 1492 these united kingdoms managed to usurp the Moors from the kingdom of Granada securing virtually all of the Iberian Peninsula.

In the same year, the Americas were discovered by Christopher Columbus resulting in the establishment of one of the World's most important empires stretching at one point from California in the north to Chile in the south not to mention various European and African interests.

The defining event in modern Spanish history was the 1936 Civil War. It resulted in the death of some one million people and the leadership of General Francisco Franco, the fascist self-proclaimed President of the Spanish Republic (1936 to 1975). Notwithstanding Franco's close relationships with both Hitler and Mussolini, Spain was strictly neutral during the Second World War (1939 to 1945) although his inward-looking and extremely dictatorial regime undoubtedly held Spain back both economically and socially.

In fact, up to and until the 1960's Spain was officially classified as a developing country by the United Nations. After Franco's death in 1975 the Spanish monarchy was reinstated with the anointment of Juan Carlos as King of Spain. Despite the fact the young aristocrat was personally groomed by Franco for this position, he soon showed himself to be a unifying force in what was still a potentially very unstable country.

However, the greatest force for development was Spain's entry to the European Union in 1986 which resulted in unprecedented economic growth and investment with Spain once more being counted amongst the world's greatest economic powers. Nevertheless, on a per capita basis Spain is only just ahead of Portugal, Greece and the 10 new accession states which joined the EU in 2004.

The country also has doggedly high unemployment and relatively low wages but on the positive side has a far better health system and lower crime rates than either the United Kingdom or the Republic of Ireland.

Country Facts

Population: 40,217,413 (2003)

Location: Spain occupies most of the Iberian Peninsula (along with Portugal) from the Bay of Biscay and the Pyrenees in the north to the straits of Gibraltar in the south. It also takes in the Canary Islands in the Atlantic, the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean and Ceuta and Melilla in North Africa.

Mainland Spain is mostly plateaux with forestry in the north and open arid land in the south. The country covers an area of 505,957 square kilometres, which makes it the second largest country in the EU after France. The coastline alone is over 4,964 square kilometres.

Climate: Highly variable from region to region. The Mediterranean coasts generally have hot, dry summers and mild sometimes rainy winters. The central plateau has very hot summers and cold winters whilst the north Atlantic coast has weather not that dissimilar to Southern England or Ireland. The Canaries are sub-tropical whilst the Balearic Islands have cool wet winters and warm, dry summers.

Development: The per capita gross domestic product of Spain in 2004 was US$21,152.52 per person. This ranks Spain as the 33rd wealthiest country in the World. For comparison this compares to the UK with a per capita GDP of US$25,426.55 per person (24th wealthiest country) or Ireland with a per capita GDP of US$28,974.50 per person (11th wealthiest country).

Capital City: The capital city of Spain is Madrid. It has a population of approximately 4,000,000 and is the 3rd largest city in the EU after London and Paris. World famous for its museums, architecture and nightlife. Other cities of note include Barcelona, Valencia, Seville and Granada.

Currency: The Euro is used in Spain together, at the time of writing, with Ireland, France, Portugal, The Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Austria, Italy, Greece, Sweden and Finland. The new accession states plus the UK and Denmark currently use their own currencies.

Education: According to the OECD the current literacy rate in Spain is 98% compared to a 99% level in the UK and Ireland.

Language: Spanish is the official language of Spain but Catalàn (Catalonia, the Balearics and Valencia), Euskera/Vasco (The Basque Region) and Gallego (Galicia) are all widely spoken in their respective regions. Catalan is closely related to Spanish and Italian, Gallego is part of the Celtic Family of Languages whilst entomologists consider Euskera/Vasco separate from the Indo-European family of languages but with Brethonic (Welsh, Cornish and Bréton), rather than Gallic (Irish and Scottish) Celtic undertones.

Trade Block Membership: Spain has been a full member of the European Union since 1986 and is also a member of the OECD.

A much more in-depth explanation - including examples and diagrams - is given in the new book "How to Buy Spanish Property", available now for just £4.99