| Information about country |
Spain Capital: Madrid. Area: 504,750 kilometres square. Currency: Peseta. Population: 39.652.742 inhabitants. Language: Spanish or Castilian, Catalonian, Galician, "Euskera" or Basque and Bable.
Type of State: Parliamentary Monarchy. Form of Government: Parliamentary Democracy. Borders: To the North, the Cantabrian Sea and the Pyrenees (which separate it from France); to the East, the Mediterranean Sea; to the West, the Atlantic Ocean and Portugal; and to the South, the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, with the Straits of Gibraltar being the shortest distance between Europe and Africa (15 kilometres). Situated between the African continent and Europe, Spain has an area of 504,705 sq. km., making it the second largest state in the European Union after France. Its territory includes most of the Iberian Peninsula, plus a Mediterranean archipelago (the Balearic Islands), another group of islands off the West coast of Africa (the Canary Islands), and two enclaves under Spanish sovereignty on the Northern coast of Africa (Ceuta and Melilla).
Main cities are:
Albacete,Alcantara,Alcaniz,Alcala de Guadaira,Alcorcon, Alcoy, Algeciras, Almagro, Almeria, Arcos de la Frontera, Astorga, Aviles, Bejar, Badajoz, Badalona, Baeza, Baracaldo,Barcelona, Bayona, Bilbao, Burgos, Caceres,Cadiz,Cordoba, Cadaques, Carmona, Cartagena, Castellon de la Plana, Cerdanyola del Valles,Ceuta, Chinchon,Ciudad Real, Ciudad Rodrigo, Comillas,Coria, Cornella, Denia, El Ferrol, El Prat de Llobregat, Elche, Estella, Fuendetodos, Gandia ,Gerona, Getafe, Gijon, Guadix, Guernica, Hospitalet, Huesca, Irun, Jativa, Javea,,Jaen, Jaca, Jerez de los Caballeros, Lerida, La Coruna, La Linea,, La Manga, Langreo,Laredo,Las Palmas, eganes, Llanes, Logrono, Lorca, Lugo, Malaga, Merida, Mostoles, Madrid, Manresa, Marbella, Matalascanas, Mataro, Medina del Campo, Medinaceli, Melilla, Mieres, Mojacar, Mondonedo, Morella, Murcia, Nerja, Onate, Olivenza, Olot, Orense, Osuna, Oviedo, Padron Palencia, Palma, Palos de la Frontera, Pamplona, Ponferrada, Pontevedra, Portugalete, Puente la Reina, Puertollano Reus, Ribadesella, Roncesvalles,Ronda,Roses, Rubi, Sabadell, Salamanca, San Cristobal de La Laguna, San Fernada, San Fernando de Henares,San Sebastian, San Vicente de la Barquera, Sanlucar de Barrameda, SantaCruz de Tenerife, Santander, Santiago de Compostela, Segovia, Seville, Siguenza, Sitges, Tuy, Talavera de la Reina, ,Tarifa Tarragona, Telde, Terrasa, Teruel, Toledo, Tordesillas, Toro, Torrelavega, Tortosa, Tossa, Trujillo, Tudela, Valdepenas, Valencia, Valladolid, Vigo, Vitoria, Zafra, Zamora, Zaragoza |
| Holidays, culture, etc. |
Hispanidad Day, October 12. The Spanish name is Dia de la Hispanidad.
National Holiday of Spain, October 12. Honors Columbus' discovery of the New World. Occurs on the same day as Columbus Day in the USA.
Constitution Day, December 6.
Labor Day, July 18.
Queen Isabella Day, April 22. Birthday of Isabella (b.1451), the Spanish queen who funded Christopher Columbus's expidition. Also occasionally observed by various states in the United States.
Fiesta del Arbol, March 26. "Tree Festival". Anniversary of the day in 1895 when King Alfonso planted a pine tree near Madrid.
Grenada Day, January 2. Commemorates the recapture of Grenada from the Moors in 1492.
Christmas, December 25. Children receive their presents during street festivals.
Public holidays New Year's Day, Epiphany, Maundy Thursday (except Barcelona), Good Friday, Easter Monday (Barcelona and Palma de Mallorca), St Joseph the Workman (May 1), St Isidro's Day (May 15, Madrid only), Corpus Christi, King Juan Carlos' Saint's Day (Jun 24), St James Day (Jul 25), Assumption, National Day (Oct 12), All Saints' Day, Constitution Day, Immaculate Conception (except Barcelona), Christmas, Boxing Day (Barcelona and Palma de Mallorca). Local holidays are also observed. |
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