Culture Of Spain

SPAIN

Location: Southwestern Europe, bordering the Bay of Biscay, Mediterranean Sea, North Atlantic Ocean, and Pyrenees Mountains, southwest of France. Note: there are 19 autonomous communities including Balearic Islands and Canary Islands, and three small Spanish possessions off the coast of Morocco - Islas Chafarinas, Penon de Alhucemas, and Penon de Velez de la Gomera.

Area - comparative: slightly more than twice the size of Oregon

Climate: temperate; clear, hot summers in interior, more moderate and cloudy along coast; cloudy, cold winters in interior, partly cloudy and cool along coast

Terrain: large, flat to dissected plateau surrounded by rugged hills; Pyrenees in north

Population: 40,280,780 (July 2004)

Ethnic groups: composite of Mediterranean and Nordic types

Religions: Roman Catholic 94%, other 6%

Languages: Castilian Spanish 74%, Catalan 17%, Galician 7%, Basque 2% Note: Castilian is the official language nationwide; the other languages are official regionally

Country name: Conventional long form: Kingdom of Spain

Government type: Parliamentary monarchy

Capital: Madrid (The city is alive with light, the sunshine filtering down through a pale sky barely dense enough to float a cloud on. Madrid is a hospitable hotbed of cafe's and restaurants, theatres and night-clubs. This is the world capital of bullfighting.The shops are among the finest in Europe.)

Other big cities: Seville (Sevilla), Cordoba, Granada, Cadiz, Barcelona

ABOUT CULTURE

Spain has been for thousands of years - one of the cultural centers of Europe. It has beautiful cities and towns, offering really old monuments as well as futuristic architecture. Its various regions are all different one to each other, geographically, climatically and even in personality. It is a fascinating country to know and to know more about it.

Flamenco - a genuine Spanish art, and to be more exact an genuine Southern Spanish art. It exists in three forms: Cante, the song, Baile, the dance, and Guitarra, guitar playing. Gypsies are very often named as its fathers, and at least it can be taken for certain that they played an important part in its creation.

Bullfight - Spain has always been famous for its bull-fights which are undergoing a new lease of life with a great increase in interest. In Spain the bullfight is called the Fiesta Nacional (The national Sport). It is reported that