Spain

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Spain
Spain.gif
Flag of Spain
Capital Madrid
Inhabitants 47.021.031
Language(s) Spanish
Spain.jpg

Spain is a country in Western Europe famous for its colorful bullfights, sunny climate, and beautiful story-book castles. Until the mid-1900's, Spain was one of the most underdeveloped countries of Western Europe. Most of the people were poor farmers.

Then during the 1950's and 1960's, rapid economic development changed Spain into an industrial nation.


Spain's powerful world empire of the 16th and 17th centuries ultimately yielded command of the seas to England. Subsequent failure to embrace the mercantile and industrial revolutions caused the country to fall behind Britain, France, and Germany in economic and political power.

Spain remained neutral in World Wars I and II, but suffered through a devastating Civil War (1936-39). In the second half of the 20th century, it has played a catch-up role in the western international community.

Continuing concerns are large-scale unemployment and the Basque separatist movement.


Contents

History

Most of the Iberian peninsula has been populated since prehistoric times. Early evidence of human habitation unearthed at the Atapuerca site in northern Spain are some 800,000 years old. Modern man made his appearance around 35,000 BC. Sometime around 4000 BC, much of Spain was settled by the Iberians, arriving from the east. The Celts arrived later, settling in the northern third of the peninsula. Bronze age civilization flourished in the south, culminating with the Tartessian civilization around Seville (1000-500 BC).

Around 1100 BC, Phoenician seafarers from present-day Lebanon set up trading colonies in Cadiz and elsewhere along the Spanish coast. Phocaean Greeks also traded along the north-eastern coast. With the fall of Phoenicia, the Iberian peninsula came under the rule of Carthage (present day Tunisia), but was occupied by Rome following the Punic Wars. The Romans held sway in Iberia for six centuries, laying the foundations for Spanish language and culture.

Following the fall of the western Roman empire in the fifth century AD, Spain was ruled by the Visigoths, a Germanic people who had migrated from central Europe. In 711, the Muslims of northern Africa launched an invasion across the Strait of Gibraltar, occupying most of the peninsula within a few years. Their presence lasted more than seven centuries, though the Christian kingdoms to the north increased in power over the generations, gradually driving the Moors southwards. The last Moorish kingdom, Granada (the eastern half of present-day Andalusia), was conquered in 1492.

The discovery of the New World by Christopher Columbus and the expulsion of Jews and Moors from Spain were to mark Spanish history forever. Treasure from Spain's vast overseas empire pushed Spain into the forefront of European countries, but constant warfare drained resources. With the accession of the Bourbon dynasty to the Spanish throne at the beginning of the 18th century, Spain came within the French sphere of influence for the following 100 years, up to the defeat of Napoleon's army during the Peninsular War.

During the 19th century, Spain was sharply divided between conservatives and liberals, and rural and urban society. Coups d'etat and changes of government were frequent. With the increasing power of the working class, in 1931 king Alfonso XIII was forced to abdicate, and Spain was declared a republic. Conservative reaction from the church and army sparked the Spanish Civil War, which raged from 1936 to 1939 and was a prelude to World War II. Under the dictator Franco, who had been sympathetic to the Axis powers, Spain was ostracized from the community of nations until it became strategically attractive to the US during the Cold War. The first US bases opened in the 1950s. Spaniards working abroad and tourists arriving in increasing numbers brought in foreign revenue and fueled the emergence of a large middle class. When Franco finally died in 1975, the accession of King Juan Carlos to the throne and the transition to a democratic state were relatively smooth.

Key dates in Spanish history

  • 1100 BC: Phoenician traders establish colony at Cαdiz in southern Iberia.
  • 228 BC: Carthaginians occupy southern and eastern Iberia.
  • 218-220 BC: Romans defeat Carthage in Second Punic War and occupy Iberian peninsula.
  • 74: Inhabitants of Iberia are granted full Roman citizenship.
  • 409: Visigoths occupy Iberian peninsula.
  • 711: Combined Arab and Berber force from northern Africa cross Strait of Gibraltar to occupy Iberian peninsula.
  • 756: Independent Emirate is established in Iberia, with Cσrdoba as its capital.
  • 913: Having re-taken territories in northern Spain, Christians establish capital in Leσn.
  • 1013: Powerful Caliphate of Cσrdoba breaks up due to internal strife; Moorish Spain split into small feuding kingdoms.
  • 1212: Decisive Christian victory at battle of Navas de Tolosa spells the beginning of the end of Moorish rule in Spain.
  • 1492: King Fernando and Queen Isabel's army capture Granada after a long siege, the final defeat of the Moors in Spain. Jews are forced to convert to Christianity; those who refuse are expelled from Spain. Christopher Columbus sets sail on his voyage of discovery.
  • 1588: Defeat of Spanish Armada sent to invade England. Spanish Empire is at the height of its power, but is slowly declining.
  • 1702-14: War of Spanish Succession. Bourbon dynasty accedes to Spanish throne.
  • 1808-14: Peninsular War. Spaniards rise against Napoleon's occupying force. Combination of guerilla tactics and support from Wellington's army end in French defeat.
  • 1898: Spanish American War. Spain loses Cuba and Philippines.
  • 1931: Spanish king is forced to abdicate. Spain becomes a republic.
  • 1936-39: Spanish Civil War. Bloody conflict ends with General Franco's victory. Dictatorship established.
  • 1975: Franco dies, Juan Carlos de Borbσn is proclaimed king. Spain becomes constitutional monarchy. Democracy would bring membership of the European Community.


Culture

Arts

Spain has an extraordinary artistic heritage. The dominant figures of the golden age were the Toledo-based artists El Greco and Diego Velazquez. Francisco Goya emerged in the 18th century as Spain's most prolific painter and he produced some wonderfully unflattering portraits of royalty. The art world in the early 20th century was influenced by a remarkable group of Spanish artists: Pablo Picasso, Juan Gris, Joan Miro and Salvador Dali. Spain's architecture ranges from prehistoric monuments in Menorca in the Balearic Islands, through to the Roman ruins of Merida and Tarragona, the decorative Islamic Alhambra in Granada, Mudejar buildings, Gothic cathedrals, castles and palaces, fantastic modernista monuments and Gaudi's intricate fabulist sculptures.

Literature & Cinema

One of the world's greatest works of fiction is the 17th-century novel Don Quijote de la Mancha, written by Spain's Miguel de Cervantes. Important 20th-century writers include Miguel de Unamuno, Federico Garcia Lorca and Camilo Jose Cela, winner of the 1989 Nobel Prize for literature. Prominent feminist writers include Adelaida Garcia Morales, Ana Maria Matute and Montserrat Roig. Spanish films were once synonymous with the work of surrealist genius Luis Bunuel, who spent much of his time abroad. They are now associated with the mad-cap kinky farces of Pedro Almodovar, who has enjoyed huge international success.

Music

The guitar was invented in Andalucia in the 1790s when a sixth string was added to the Arab lute. It gained its modern shape in the 1870s. Spanish musicians have taken the humble guitar to dizzying heights of virtuosity and none more so than Andres Segovia (1893-1997), who established classical guitar as a genre. Flamenco, music rooted in the cante hondo (deep song) of the gitanos (gypsies) of Andalucia, is experiencing a revival. Paco de Lucia is the best known flamenco guitarist internationally. His friend El Camaron de la Isla was, until his death in 1992, the leading light of contemporary canto hondo. In the 1980s flamenco-rock fusion (aka gypsy rock) was developed by the likes of Pata Negra and Ketama, and in the 1990s Radio Tarifa emerged with a mesmerising mix of flamenco, North African and medieval sounds. Bakalao, the Spanish contribution to the world of techno, has its headquarters in Valencia.

Sports

Spaniards are sports crazy, and football (soccer) is huge; try to see a match, because the atmosphere is electric. Bullfighting is also very popular, despite continued pressure from international animal-rights activists.

Religion

While Catholicism is deeply ingrained in all aspects of Spanish society, only about 40% of Spaniards are regular churchgoers. Many Spaniards have a deep-seated scepticism of the Church; during the Civil War, churches were burnt and clerics shot because they represented repression, corruption and the old order.

Food

Spanish food has a deservedly fantastic reputation, and tapas are probably one of the most civilised inventions since cold beer. Paella, gazpacho and chorizo may be familiar to most Western diners, but Spanish cuisine goes well beyond these, with a smorgasbord of rich stews, soups, beans, seafood and meats, all of which have been influential in Latin American cooking. It's a good idea to reset your stomach-clock when travelling in Spain because lunch, eaten between 1.30 and 4pm, is usually the main meal of the day. The evening meal is lighter and is served between 10 and 11pm.

Christmas

Christmas is a deeply religious holiday in Spain. The country's patron saint is the Virgin Mary and the Christmas season officially begins December 8, the feast of the Immaculate Conception. It is celebrated each year in front of the great Gothic cathedral in Seville with a ceremony called los Seises or the "dance of six." Oddly, the elaborate ritual dance is now performed by not six but ten elaborately costumed boys. It is a series of precise movements and gestures and is said to be quite moving and beautiful.

Christmas Eve is known as Nochebuena or "the Good Night." It is a time for family members to gather together to rejoice and feast around the Nativity scenes that are present in nearly every home. A traditional Christmas treat is turron, a kind of almond candy.

December 28 is the feast of the Holy Innocents. Young boys of a town or village light bonfires and one of them acts as the mayor who orders townspeople to perform civic chores such as sweeping the streets. Refusal to comply results in fines which are used to pay for the celebration.

As in many European countries, the children of Spain receive gifts on the feast of the Epiphany. The Magi are particularly revered in Spain. It is believed that they travel through the countryside reenacting their journey to Bethlehem every year at this time. Children leave their shoes on the windowsills and fill them with straw, carrots, and barley or the horses of the Wise Men. Their favorite is Balthazar who rides a donkey and is the one believed to leave the gifts.


Events

coming soon...

National holidays

  • Jan 1: New Year's Day
  • Jan 7: Lunes Siguiente a la Epifania del Senor
  • Mar 18: Jueves Santo
  • Mar 19: San Jose
  • Mar 29: Viernes Santo
  • May 1: Fiesta del Trabajo
  • May 2: Fiesta de la Comunidad de Madrid
  • May 15: San Isidro
  • Aug 15: La Asuncion de la Virgen
  • Oct 12: Fiesta Nacional de Espana
  • Nov 1: Todos los Santos
  • Nov 9: La Almudena
  • Dec 6: Dia de la Constitucion
  • Dec 25: Christmas


Embassies

 

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