Since 1975, Spain has had aconstitutional monarchy. The King of Spain isFelipe VI; he only does what theconstitution allows him to. The parliament is called "Las Cortes Generales," (General Courts) and has two bodies: "El Congreso" (The Congress) and "El Senado" (The Senate) and it is chosen by the Spanish people byvoting. ThePrime minister isPedro Sánchez. Thegovernment and the king'spalace are inMadrid, thecapital of Spain.
Spain has more than 500,000square kilometres of land. It is smaller than France, but it is bigger thanGermany. Almost fifty million people live in Spain. Spain is divided into 17autonomous communities (this means that they can decide upon some affairs themselves). Each community has its own government. Although Spain seems small it used to be much bigger with a massive influence on South America and Central America, With the Philippians and Western African influence until France got most of it.
Spain is known forflamenco which is usually performed by theCaló.
Spain was a predominant Colonial Empire and had colonies throughout the continentsSouth America,Asia,Oceania andAfrica with a large hold of European lands.
Spain was under a Falangismo under generalFrancisco Franco from 1936 to 1974.
People have lived in Spain since theStone Age. Later, theRoman Empire controlled Spain for about five hundred years; then as the Roman Empire broke up, groups ofGermanic people includingVisigoths moved in and took control.
TheKingdom of León, the most important in the early Spanish Middle Ages, was started in 910. This Kingdom developed the first democratic parliament (Cortes de Llión) in Europe in 1188. After 1301, León had the same King as the Kingdom of Castile inpersonal union. The various kingdoms remained independent territories until 1833, when Spain was divided into regions and provinces.
In 1492, the Christians took the last part of Spain that still belonged to the Moors,Granada.Boabdil, the last Moorish King ofGranada, surrendered to KingFerdinand II of Aragon andIsabella I of Castile on 2 January 1492. Ferdinand and Isabella then ruled all of Spain.
Before this, there were a number of Christian countries in what is now called Spain. Two of these countries,Castile andAragon, came together when Ferdinand II of Aragon married the queenIsabella of Castile. The King ruled as much as the Queen.
When other Europeans explored, likeHernán Cortés andFrancisco Pizarro, they found out that there were twocontinents there -North America andSouth America. Spanishconquistadores took over very large parts of those two continents. Thisempire did not make Spain a rich country, for most of the money had to be spent in wars in Italy and elsewhere. Some of these wars were fought against other European countries who were trying to take over parts of the Americas.
Meanwhile, at home, the Muslim manuscripts had been either burnt or taken to other countries. Jews had also been expelled from Spain. Some Jews remained but they had to becomeChristians. Among the few old things kept and respected in Spain were inmusic:harmony andstringed instruments. The buildings that had been built by the Moors were kept, and many Muslim religious buildings (mosques) were turned into churches. Some Jewish religious buildings were also turned into churches. Many Arab words became part of the Spanish Language
The grandson of Ferdinand and Isabella was Charles. When his grandfather died he inherited Castille and Aragon. He also inherited many territories at the death of his other grandfather, Maximilian I of Austria. Charles received from Maximilian the Austria state and the territories of Burgundy. He was named Charles I in Spain, but he was elected as the emperor of theHoly Roman Empire, and was calledCharles V, Holy Roman Emperor. This made the empire bigger than ever. However, it was not a single country, but apersonal union of many independent countries with a single King. At first many Spaniards did not want Charles as their king, so they fought against him. However, he won.
In the 18th century some of the parts of that large empire became their own countries, or were taken over by new countries, such as theUnited States of America.
Spain (and other European countries) was invaded byNapoleon of France.Britain sent troops to defend the peninsula, since it was so weak. Most of theSpanish Empire became independent in the following decades.
There was not much peace in Spain during the first part of the20th century. Some Spaniards tried to set up a government chosen by the people (ademocracy), and they madeAlfonso XIII leave the country. However, in 1936, two different groups of Spaniards went to war over whether the government should be a democracy, in theSpanish Civil War (although those on the side of the Republic were largely socialist or anarchist), or take orders from one person. In 1939, those who wanted democracy were defeated, and a nationalistdictator namedFrancisco Franco took over the government.
Francisco Franco died on 20 November 1975. He had decided that Spain should have a monarchy again, and he chose Juan Carlos, the grandson of Juan of Bourbon who had been forced to leave the country, to be king andAdolfo Suárez to become its firstPrime Minister. But the king and Suárez did not rule as a dictator; instead, they chose to set up a democracy.
On 23 February 1981 a group of people who had supported the now dead General Franco tried to take control of thedemocratic Spanish Parliament by force, they entered the building and fired guns in the air. It was seen live on Spanish television and there was widespread fear that this might be the start of another civil war. However, Juan Carlos I, quickly appeared on television and broadcast to the nation that they should remain calm. The persons responsible for the attempt to take over the country were arrested.
Now Spain is a modern democratic country, and does business with many countries around the world. It is the eighth largest economy in the world and is an important part of theEuropean Union.
On 2 June 2014,Juan Carlos I announced that he would abdicate in favour of his son,Felipe VI.[11] The date of abdication and handover to Felipe occurred on 19 June 2014. He and his wife kept their titles.[12]
The middle of Spain is a high, dry, flat land called La Meseta. In La Meseta it can be very hot in thesummer and cold or very cold in thewinter. Spain also has manymountain ranges. The MountTeide (Tenerife,Canary Islands), the highest mountain of Spain and the islands of the Atlantic (it is the third largest volcano in the world from its base). In the north there is a range of mountains calledLos Picos de Europa (The European Peaks). Here it is very cold in winter with a lot of snow but with gentle warm summers and wet winters.
In the south-east of the country is a range of mountains calledLa Sierra Nevada (The Snowy Mountains). This range of mountains contains the highest mountain in mainland Spain, Mulacen, at 2952 metres. La Sierra Nevada is very popular in winter forwinter sports, especially skiing. Snow remains on its peaks throughout the year. The south coast, has a warm andtemperate climate, not very hot or very cold. Since Spain is in the south of Europe, it is very sunny. Many people fromNorthern Europe take their vacations in Spain, enjoying itsbeaches and cities.
↑CIS."Barómetro de Enero de 2022", 3,777 respondents. The question was "¿Cómo se define Ud. en materia religiosa: católico/a practicante, católico/a no practicante, creyente de otra religión, agnóstico/a, indiferente o no creyente, o ateo/a?".
1.Transcontinental country/territory that is part of both Europe and Asia. 2. Territory or with territory geographically part of North America. 3. Partially recognized. 4. Not all dependent territories are listed. 5. Territory has some form of self-rule. 6. Territory or with territory geographically part of Africa. 7. Governed by theHoly See.
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