Shopping on line can be easy, simple and save you lots of money. It can also take a lot of your time, frustrate you, and result in unwanted purchases. Now the same can be said for regular high street shopping, but with the vast opportunity presented by the Internet it will pay you to spend a few minutes reading this and understanding how to better optimize your Spain shopping experience:

1. Compare - without doubt the biggest advantage that the Spain offers shoppers today is the ability to compare thousands of Spain at a time. This is a great thing, but not necessarily all the time! Too much can be daunting at times so take advantage of the great comparison sites and where possible let them do the hard work for you.

2. Research - if it has been said it will be on the internet. Ignorance is no longer a justifiable reason for buying the wrong thing. Take the time to research in detail everything that you could possible want to know about

3. Testimonials - don't know anybody that has bought a Spain? Wrong! If the Spain is good the internet will let you know. Use the Internet as a friend and get testimonials before you buy.

4. Questions - Got a question about Spain then search the Forums, FAQ's, Blogs etc. Don't be afraid to ask .....

5. Reputation - Never heard of the company selling Spain? Don't worry, no reason why you should know every company in the world, but you know someone that does! Use the internet to find out what people are saying about Spain and build up a picture of their reputation for sales, returns, customer service, delivery etc.

6. Returns - still worried that even after all of the above your Spain wont be what you want? Check out the returns policy. There is so much competition now that someone, somewhere is bound to offer the terms that you are comfortable with.

7. Feedback - happy with your Spain then let people know, after all you are depending on others people input in your buying decision, so why not give a little back.

8. Security - check for the yellow padlock on the Spain site before you buy, and the s after http:/ /i.e. https:// = a secure site

9. Contact - got a question about Spain, or want to leave a comment then check out the sites contact page. Reputable companies have them and respond.

10. Payment - ready to pay for your Spain, then use your credit card or PayPal! Be aware of companies that don't accept them, there may be genuine reasons but given the huge amount of choice you have when buying online there is no reason at all not to buy via credit card or PayPal.

{{Infobox Country or territory|native_name = Reino de España|conventional_long_name = Kingdom of Spain|common_name = Spain|image_flag = Flag of Spain.svg|image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg|image_map = Location Spain EU Europe.png|map_caption = |national_motto = (Latin)"Further Beyond"])"Royal March"|official_languages = Spanish language, Catalan language, Basque language and Galician language|demonym = Spanish people, Spanish people|capital = Madrid|leader_title1 = [Spanish monarchy|leader_title2 = President of the Government of Spain|leader_name1 = Juan Carlos I of Spain|leader_name2 = |sovereignty_type = Formation|sovereignty_note = 15th century|established_event1 = Dynastic union|established_date1 = Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor|established_event2 = Unification|established_date2 = Catholic Monarchs|established_event3 = de facto]|established_event4 = de jure]|accessionEUdate = January 1 1986-->|area_rank = 51st|area_magnitude = 1 E11|percent_water = 1.04|population_estimate = 45,116,894|population_estimate_year = 2007|population_estimate_rank = 28th|population_density_km2 = 79 people per km2|population_density_sq_mi = 220 (Euro sign)³|currency_code = EUR|time_zone = Central European Time4|utc_offset = +1|time_zone_DST = Central European Summer Time|utc_offset_DST = +2|cctld = .es5].|footnote2 = In some autonomous communities of Spain, Aranese (Occitan language), Basque language, Catalan language and Galician language are co-official languages.|footnote3 = Prior to 1999 (by law, 2002): Peseta.|footnote4 = Except in the Canary Islands, which are in the Western European Time time zone (Coordinated Universal Time, Coordinated Universal Time+1 in summer).|footnote5 = The .eu domain is also used, as it is shared with other European Union member states.-->Spain (, ), is a Western European country. The country consists of Peninsular Spain which is located between the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, two archipelagos, one in each sea, and two Autonomous communities of Spain in North Africa.

The Spanish mainland is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the south and east, by the Cantabric Sea that includes the Bay of Biscay to the north, and by the Atlantic Ocean and Portugal to the west. Spanish territory also includes the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean and the Canary Islands off the African coast. It shares land borders with Portugal, France, Andorra, the British colony of Gibraltar, and Morocco. It is the largest of the three sovereign states that make up the Iberian Peninsula — the others being Portugal and Andorra. With an area of 504,030 km², Spain is the second largest country in Western Europe (behind France).

Spain is a constitutional monarchy organised as a parliamentary democracy, and has been a member of the European Union since 1986. It is a developed country with the ninth largest economy in the world and fifth largest in the EU.List of countries by GDP (nominal): 9 (2006); List of countries by GDP (nominal) per capita: 26 (2006); List of countries by GDP (PPP) per capita: 26 (2005).

History Spain has a very ancient and complex prehistory. Under the Roman empire Hispania flourished and became one of the empire's most important regions. During the early Middle Ages it came under Germanic rule. Later, nearly the entire peninsula came under Muslim rulers. Through a long process Christian kingdoms in the north gradually rolled back Muslim rule, which was finally extinguished in 1492. That year Columbus reached the Americas, the beginnings of the first global empire. Spain became the strongest kingdom in Europe in the sixteenth and first half of the seventeenth centuries but continued wars and other problems eventually led to a diminished status. In the middle decades of the twentieth century it came under a dictatorship, under which it went through many years of stagnation and then a spectacular economic revival. In 1986 it joined the European Union and has experienced an economic and cultural renaissance. Prehistory and pre-Roman peoples in the Iberian Peninsula Modern humans in the form of Cro-Magnons began arriving in the Iberian Peninsula from the Pyrenees some 35,000 years ago. The best known artifacts of these prehistoric human settlements are the famous paintings in the Altamira (cave) of Cantabria in northern Spain, which were created about 15,000 BCE. New archeological research at Atapuerca indicates that the Iberian Peninsula was peopled more than a million years ago.

The two main historical peoples of the peninsula were the Iberians and the Celts, the former inhabiting the Mediterranean side from the northeast to the southwest, the latter inhabiting the Atlantic side, in the north and northwest part of the peninsula. In the inner part of the peninsula, where both groups were in contact, a mixed, distinctive, culture was present, known as Celtiberians. Different names of places witness their geographical distribution. Celts founded military forts (from the Celt "briga" = fortress) that later evolved into cities such as Coimbra, Portugal, Braga, Portugal, and Segovia, Spain. The Iberians gave their name to Spain's longest river Ebro (or "Iberian river") and to cities such as Ilici (present-day Elche) and Ilerda (Lérida). In addition, Basques occupied the western area of the Pyrenees mountains, although some geographical names attest their presence as far south as Aranjuez, Spain, a name that originates in the Basque language words aran zuri ("valley of thorns") and contemporary Basque aranzazu (thorn, thistle). Other ethnic groups existed along the southern coastal areas of present day Andalusia. Among these southern groups there grew the earliest urban culture in the Iberian Peninsula, that of the semi-mythical southern city of Tartessos (perhaps pre-1100 BC) near the location of present-day Cádiz. The flourishing trade in gold and silver between the people of Tartessos and Phoenicians and Greeks is documented in the history of Strabo and in the biblical book of king Solomon. Between about 500 BC and 300 BC, the seafaring Phoenicians and Greeks founded trading colonies along the Mediterranean coast. These colonies include present-day cities like Empúries (from the Greek word 'emporion'), Malaga (from the Phoenician word 'malaka' for salt, as fish was salted in the harbour), and the city of Alicante, originally named in Greek Akra Leuka (ie, white bay). Phoenicians from the African city of Carthage (Carthaginians) briefly took control of much of the Mediterranean coast in the course of the Punic Wars until they were eventually defeated and replaced by the Romans. Cartaginians created important cities in the Mediterranean litoral, including 'Cartago nova' or 'New Carthage' (present-day Cartagena, Spain) and a city in the northeast founded by Hannibal's father Hamilcar Barca. Hamilcar named the city Barcino, after his family; the city is present day Barcelona.

Roman Empire and Germanic invasions theater in Mérida

During the Second Punic War, an expanding Roman Empire captured Carthaginian trading colonies along the Mediterranean coast (from roughly 210 BC to 205 BC), leading to eventual Roman control of nearly the entire Iberian Peninsula – a control which lasted over 500 years, bound together by law, language, and the Roman road. The base Celt and Iberian population remained in various stages of Romanization (cultural), The latifundia (sing., latifundium), large estates controlled by the aristocracy, were superimposed on the existing Iberian landholding system. and local leaders were admitted into the Roman aristocratic class.

The Romans improved existing cities, such as Lisbon (Olissis bona or 'good for Ulysses') and Tarragona (Tarraco), and established Zaragoza (Caesaraugusta), Mérida, Spain (Augusta Emerita), Valencia (city in Spain) (Valentia), León, Spain ("Legio Septima"), Badajoz ("Pax Augusta"), and Palencia (Παλλαντία, "Pallas Ateneia"). The Roman provinces of Hispania included Provincia Hispania Ulterior Baetica (Hispania Baetica), whose capital was Córdoba, Spain, Provincia Hispania Ulterior Lusitania (Hispania Lusitania), whose capital was Emerita Augusta (now Mérida, Spain), Provincia Hispania Citerior, whose capital was Tarraco (Tarragona), Provincia Hispania Nova, whose capital was Tingis (Tánger in present Morocco), Provincia Hispania Nova Citerior and Asturiae-Calleciae (these latter two provinces were created and then dissolved in the third century CE). The peninsula's economy expanded under Roman tutelage. Hispania served as a granary for the Roman market, and its harbors exported gold, wool, olive oil, and wine. Agricultural production increased with the introduction of irrigation projects, some of which remain in use. Emperors Trajan, Hadrian, and Theodosius I, and the philosopher Seneca the Younger were born in Hispania. The poets Martial, Quintilian and Lucan (poet) were also born in Hispania. Christianity was introduced into Hispania in the first century CE and it became popular in the cities in the second century CE. Most of Spain's present languages and religion, and the basis of its laws, originate from this period.

The first Barbarians to invade Hispania arrived in the 5th century, as the Decline of the Roman Empire. The Visigoths, Suebi, Vandals and Alans arrived in Spain by crossing the Pyrenees mountain range. This led to the establishment of the Suebi#Suebi kingdom in Gallaecia in Gallaecia, in the northwest, the Vandal kingdom of Vandalucia (Andalusia) and the Visigoths#Visigothic kingdom in Hispania in Toledo. The romanised Visigoths entered Hispania in 415. After the conversion of their monarchy to Roman Catholicism, the Visigothic Kingdom eventually encompassed a great part of the Iberian Peninsula after conquering the disordered Suebic territories in the northwest and Byzantine Empire territories in the southeast.

Muslim Iberia In the 8th century, nearly all the Iberian peninsula was quickly Umayyad conquest of Hispania (711–718) by mainly Berber people Muslims (see Moors) from North Africa. These conquests were part of the expansion of the Islamic Umayyad Empire. The Moorish armies continued northwards until they were defeated in central France at the Battle of Tours in 732. Only three small areas in the mountains of northern Spain managed to cling to their independence: Asturias, Navarra and Aragon.

in Córdoba, Spain, a Muslim mosque until the Reconquest, after which it became a Christian cathedral

Under Islam, Christians and Jews were recognised as People of the Book, and were free to practice their religion, but faced some Second-class citizen. The Treatment of Jews in Arab/Islamic Countries The Forgotten Refugees The Almohads Conversion to Islam proceeded at a steadily increasing pace, starting with the aristocracy, as it offered an escape from the limitations and humiliations of their dhimmi status. With mass conversions in the 10th and 11th centuries Muslims are believed to have come to outnumber Christians in Al-Andalus. The 11th century saw Muslim pogroms against Jews; those occurred in Cordoba in 1011 and in 1066 Granada massacre.Frederick M. Schweitzer, Marvin Perry., Anti-Semitism: myth and hate from antiquity to the present, Palgrave Macmillan, 2002, ISBN 0312165617, pp. 267-268. Granada by Richard Gottheil, Meyer Kayserling, Jewish Encyclopedia. 1906 ed.

The Muslim community in Spain was itself diverse and beset by social tensions. The Berber people of North Africa, who had provided the bulk of the invading armies, Berber Revolt from the Middle East. The Berbers soon gave up attempting to settle the harsh lands in the north of the Geography of Spain#Meseta Central handed to them by the Arab rulers. Over time, large Moorish populations became established, especially in the Guadalquivir River valley, the coastal plain of Valencia (autonomous community), and (towards the end of this period) in the mountainous region of Granada.

Córdoba, Spain, Muslim Spain's capital, was the largest, richest and most sophisticated city of medieval Europe. It was not until the 12th century that western High Middle Ages began reaching comparable levels of sophistication, and this was due in to a great extent to the stimulus coming from Muslim Spain. Mediterranean trade and cultural exchange flourished. Muslims imported a rich intellectual tradition from the Middle East and North Africa. Muslim and Jewish scholars played a great part in reviving and expanding classical Greek culture in Western Europe. Spain's romanised cultures interacted with Muslim and Jewish cultures in complex ways, thus giving Spain a distinctive culture. Outside the cities, the land ownership system from Roman times remained largely intact as Muslim leaders rarely dispossessed landowners, and new crops and techniques led to a remarkable expansion of agriculture.

However, by the 11th century, Muslim holdings had fractured into rival Taifa kingdoms. The arrival of the North African Muslim ruling empires of the Almoravids and the Almohads restored unity upon Muslim holdings, with a stricter, less tolerant application of Islam, but ultimately, after some initial successes in invading the north, proved unable to resist the increasing military strength of the Christian states.

Fall of Muslim rule and unification and Isabella I of Castile, the Catholic Monarchs

The term Reconquista ("Reconquest") is used to describe the centuries-long period of expansion of Spain's Christian kingdoms; the Reconquista is viewed as beginning after the battle of Covadonga in 722. The Christian army victory over the Muslim forces lead to the creation of the Christian Kingdom of Asturias. Muslim armies had also moved north of the Pyrenees, but they were defeated at the battle of Poitiers in France. Subsequently, they retreated to more secure positions south of the Pyrenees with a frontier marked by the Ebro and Duero rivers in Spain. In the following years Christian armies moved to occupy and colonized the vacant areas. As early as 739, Muslim forces left Galicia (Spain), which was to host one of medieval Christianity's holiest sites, Santiago de Compostela. A little later Frankish forces established Christian counties south of the Pyrenees; these areas were to grow into kingdoms, in the north-east and the western part of the Pyrenees. These territories included Navarre, Aragon and Catalonia.

The breakup of Al-Andalus into the competing Taifa kingdoms helped the expanding Christian kingdoms, namely Castille that would become the main driving force in the Reconquista. The capture of the central city of Toledo, Spain in 1085 largely completed the reconquest of the northern half of Spain. Initially, as the Reconquista advanced south, different religions were respected and several Castilian kings in subsequent years (Ferdinand III, Alfphonse X the Sage, Pedro of Castile) named themselves 'king of the three peoples' or 'king of the three religions'. Only rarely mosques and synagogues were converted into churches before 1492, and some areas of Christian Spain had large Muslim and Jewish populations that were a substantial component in the economic activity. However, famed preachers like Vincent Ferrer and Thomas of Villanova illustrate the zeal with which the new dominant Christian religion attempted mass conversions in the occupied territories. Forced mass conversions to Islam under the Almohads predates it Christian counterpart, and caused large numbers of Christians to migrate into the north. Indeed they brought many of the Moorish influences in art, architecture and food with them. After a Muslim resurgence in the 12th century, the great Moorish strongholds in the south fell to Christian Spain in the 13th century—Córdoba, Spain in 1236 and Seville in 1248—leaving only the Muslim enclave of Granada as a Tributary (political) in the south. Also in the 13th century, the kingdom of Aragón Aragonese empire across the Mediterranean to Sicily.

In 1469, the crowns of the Christian kingdoms of Crown of Castile and Aragón were united by the Catholic Monarchs of Isabel I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon. In 1478 began the final stage of the conquest of Canary Islands and in 1492, these united kingdoms captured Granada, ending the last remnant of a 781-year presence of Islamic rule on the Iberian Peninsula.The Treaty of Granada (see The Treaty of Granada, 1492) guaranteed religious tolerance toward Muslims. The year 1492 also marked the arrival in the New World of Christopher Columbus, during a voyage funded by Isabella. That same year, History of the Jews in Spain were ordered to convert into the Christian religion or face expulsion from Spanish territories; Alhambra decree Moriscos in a lengthier process beginning in 1502, and ending as late as 1609-1614. during the Spanish Inquisition.

As Renaissance New Monarchs, Isabella and Ferdinand centralised royal power at the expense of local nobility, and the word España - whose root is the ancient name "Hispania" - began to be used to designate the whole of the two kingdoms.With their wide-ranging political, legal, religious and military reforms, Spain emerged as a world great power.

From the Renaissance to the Nineteenth Century The unification of the kingdoms of Aragón, Castile, Kingdom of León, and Navarre laid the basis for modern Spain and the Spanish Empire. Spain became Europe's leading power throughout the 16th century and most of the 17th century, a position later reinforced by trade and wealth from colonial possessions. Spain reached its apogee during the reigns of the first two Spanish Habsburgs (Charles I of Spain (1516-1556) and Philip II of Spain (1556-1598)). Included in this period are the Italian Wars, the Dutch revolt, clashes with the Ottomans, the Anglo-Spanish War (1585) and war with France. became synonymous with the riches of the Spanish Empire

The Spanish Empire expanded to include nearly all of South America and Central America, Mexico, southern and western portions of today's United States, the Philippines, Guam and the Mariana Islands in Asia - Pacific, the Iberian peninsula (including the Portuguese empire (from 1580)), southern Italy, Sicily, cities in Northern Africa, as well as parts of modern Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands. It was the first empire about which it was said that The empire on which the sun never sets. This was an age of discovery, with daring explorations by sea and by land, the opening up of new trade routes across oceans, conquests and the beginning of colonialism. Along with the arrival of precious metals, spices, luxuries, and new agricultural plants, Spanish explorers and others brought back knowledge, playing a leading part in transforming the European understanding of the world.

Of note was the cultural efflorescence now known as the Spanish Golden Age and the intellectual movement known as the School of Salamanca.

In the 16th and 17th centuries Spain was confronted by unrelenting challenges from all sides. In the early 16th century Barbary pirates under the aegis of the rapidly growing Ottoman empire, disrupted life in many coastal areas through their slave raids and renewed the threat of an Muslim conquests.The coastal villages and towns of Spain and List of islands in the Mediterranean were frequently attacked by Barbary pirates from North Africa, who were under the aegis of the Ottoman empire. The Formentera was even temporarily left by its population and long stretches of the Spanish and Italian coasts were almost completely abandoned by their inhabitants. In 1514, 1515 and 1521 coasts of the Balearic Islands and the Spanish mainland were raided by the Turkish people privateer and Ottoman Empire admiral Hayreddin Barbarossa. According to Robert Davis between 1 million and 1.25 million Europeans were captured by North African pirates and sold as slaves during the 16th and 17th centuries. These Arab slave trade were captured mainly from seaside villages in Spain, Italy and Portugal. This at a time when Spain was often at war with France in Italy and elsewhere. Later the Protestant Reformation schism from the Catholic Church dragged the kingdom ever more into the mire of religiously charged wars. The result was a country forced into ever expanding military efforts across Europe and in the Mediterranean.

By the middle decades of a war-ridden mid-17th century Europe, the effects of the strain began to show. The Spanish Habsburgs had enmeshed the country in the continent wide religious-political conflicts. These conflicts drained it of resources and undermined the European economy generally. Spain managed to hold on to the majority of the scattered Habsburg empire, and help the Imperial forces of the Holy Roman Empire reverse a large part of the advances made by Protestant forces, but it was finally forced to recognise the independence of Portugal - with its empire - and the Netherlands, and eventually began to surrender territories to France after the immensely destructive, Europe-wide Thirty Years War.From the 1640s Spain went into a gradual but seemingly irreversible decline for the remainder of the century, however it was able to maintain and enlarge its vast overseas empire which remained intact until the 19th century.

Controversy over succession to the throne consumed the first years of the 18th century. The War of Spanish Succession (1701-1714), a wide ranging international conflict combined with a civil war, cost Spain its European possessions and its position as one of the leading powers on the Continent (although it retained its overseas territories).

During this war, a new dynasty—the House of Bourbon—was installed. Long united only by the Crown, a true Spanish state was established when the first Bourbon king Philip V of Spain united Castile and Aragon into a single state, abolishing many of the regional privileges (fueros).

The 18th century saw a gradual recovery and some increase in prosperity through much of the empire. The new House of Bourbon monarchy drew on the French system of modernising the administration and the economy. Age of Enlightenment ideas began to gain ground among some of the kingdom's elite and monarchy. Towards the end of the century trade finally began growing strongly. Military assistance for the rebellious British colonies in the American Revolutionary War improved Spain's international standing.

Napoleonic rule and its consequences In 1793, Spain went to war against the new First French Republic, which had overthrown and executed its Bourbon king, Louis XVI of France. The war polarised the country in an apparent reaction against the Culture of France elites. Defeated in the field, Spain made peace with France in 1795 and effectively became a client state of that country; the following year, it declared war against Britain and Portugal. A disastrous economic situation, along with other factors, led to the abdication of the Spanish king in favour of Napoleon I of France's brother, Joseph Bonaparte. , by Francisco de Goya (1814).

This new foreign monarch was regarded with scorn. On May 2, 1808, the people of Madrid began a nationalism Dos de Mayo Uprising, marking the beginning of what is known to the Spanish as the War of Independence, and to the English as the Peninsular War. Napoleon was forced to intervene personally, defeating the Spanish army and Anglo-Portuguese forces. However, further military action by Spanish guerrillas and Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington Anglo-Portuguese army, combined with Napoleon's disastrous Napoleon's Invasion of Russia, led to the ousting of the French from Spain in 1814, and the return of Ferdinand VII of Spain.

The French invasion proved disastrous for Spain's economy, and left a deeply divided country that was prone to political instability for more than a century. The power struggles of the early 19th century led to the loss of all of Spain's colonies in Latin America, with the exception of Cuba and Puerto Rico.

Spanish-American War Amid the instability and economic crisis that afflicted Spain in the 19th century there arose nationalist movements in the Philippines and Cuba. Wars of independence ensued in those colonies and eventually the United States became involved. Although Spanish military units won respect from American soldiers they fought, for their bravery and skill, the Spanish-American war of 1898 was so badly mismanaged by the highest levels of command and government that it was soon over. "El Desastre", as the war became known in Spain, helped give impetus to the Generation of 98 who were already conducting much critical analysis concerning the country. It also weakened the stability that had been established during Alfonso XII's reign.

The Twentieth Century The 20th century brought little peace; Spain played a minor part in the scramble for Africa, with the colonisation of Western Sahara, Spanish Morocco and Equatorial Guinea. The heavy losses suffered during the Rif War (1920) in Morocco helped to undermine the monarchy. A period of authoritarian rule under General Miguel Primo de Rivera (1923–1931) ended with the establishment of the Second Spanish Republic. The Republic offered political autonomy to the Basque Country (autonomous community), Catalonia and Galicia (Spain) and gave voting rights to women.

The bitterly fought Spanish Civil War (1936-39) ensued. Three years later the Nationalist forces, led by General Francisco Franco, emerged victorious with the support of Germany and Italy. The Republican side was supported by the Soviet Union and Mexico, but it was not supported by the Western powers due to the British-led policy of Non-Intervention. The Spanish Civil War has been called the European Civil War of the Second World War; under Franco, Spain was neutral in the Second World War though Spain in World War II to the Axis.Over a hundred thousand highly motivated Spanish Civil War veterans were to give both sides the benefit of their experience throughout the Second World War in Europe, the Eastern Front and North Africa. Many in the French Resistance and French Foreign Legion were Spanish as was the French 9th Armoured Company (World War II) that spearheaded Général Leclerc French 2nd Division (World War II) liberation of Paris. On the other side, some 47,000 Spaniards fought against the Soviet Union in the Wehrmacht's División Azul (Blue Division).

The only legal party under Spain under Franco regime was the Falange, formed in 1937; the party emphasised anti-Communism, Roman Catholic Church and nationalism.

After World War II, Spain was politically and economically isolated, and was kept out of the United Nations until 1955, when it became strategically important for the U.S. to foment a military presence on the Iberian peninsula, next to the Mediterranean Sea and the Strait of Gibraltar. In the 1960s, Spain registered an unprecedented economic growth in what was called the Spanish miracle, which gradually transformed it into a modern industrial economy with a thriving tourism sector and a high degree of human development.

Upon the death of General Franco in November 1975, Juan Carlos I of Spain assumed the position of king and head of state. With the approval of the new Spanish Constitution of 1978 and the arrival of democracy, Autonomous Communities of Spain were established. In the Basque Country, moderate Basque nationalism coexisted with a radical nationalism supportive of the terrorist group ETA.

On February 23 1981, rebel elements among the security forces seized the Cortes and 23-F. However, the great majority of the military forces remained loyal to King Juan Carlos, who used his personal authority and addressed the usupers via national TV as commander in chief to put down the bloodless coup attempt.

In 1982, the Spanish Socialist Worker's Party (PSOE) came to power, which represented the return to power of a leftist party after 43 years. In 1986, Spain joined the European Community (which was to become the European Union). The PSOE was replaced by the PP after the latter won the 1996 General Elections; at that point the PSOE had served almost 14 consecutive years in office.

21st century On January 1, 2002, Spain terminated its historic peseta currency and replaced it with the euro, which has become its national currency shared with 13 other countries from the Eurozone. This culminated in an initial period of growth and economic consolidation, which has slowed considerably in past years due to rising house prices and the country's large current-account deficit.

On March 11, 2004, a series of bombs exploded in commuter trains in Madrid, Spain. This act of terror killed 191 people and wounded 1,460 more, besides possibly affecting national elections scheduled for March 14, three days after the attack. The 2004 Madrid train bombings had an adverse effect on the image of the then-ruling conservative party Partido Popular (PP) which polls had indicated were likely to win the elections, thus helping the election of Zapatero's Partido Socialista Obrero Español (PSOE). There were two nights of incidents around the PP headquarters, with the PSOE and other political parties accusing the PP of hiding the truth by saying that the incidents were caused by ETA even though new evidence that pointed to an Islamic attack started appearing. These incidents are still a cause of discussion, since some factions of the PP suggest that the elections were "stolen" by means of the turmoil which followed the terrorist bombing, which was, according to this point of view, backed by the PSOE.

March 14, 2004, three days after the bombings, saw the PSOE party elected into government, with Rodríguez Zapatero becoming the new Presidente del Gobierno or prime minister of Spain thus replacing the former People's Party (Spain) administration.

Politics Spanish Government King of Spain and Queen Sofía of SpainSpain is a constitutional monarchy, with a hereditary monarch and a bicameral parliament, the Cortes Generales. The executive branch consists of a Council of Ministers of Spain (9th Legislature) presided over by the President of Government (comparable to a prime minister), proposed by the monarch and elected by the National Assembly following legislative elections.

The legislative branch is made up of the Congress of Deputies (Congreso de los Diputados) with 350 members, elected by popular vote on block lists by proportional representation to serve four-year terms, and a Senate or Senado with 259 seats of which 208 are directly elected by popular vote and the other 51 appointed by the regional legislatures to also serve four-year terms.

• Chief of State
• King Juan Carlos I of Spain, since November 22 1975
• Head of Government
• Prime Minister of Spain: José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, elected 14 March 2004.
• First Vice President (Spain) and Minister of Presidency (Spain): María Teresa Fernández de la Vega, elected 14 March 2004.
• Second Vice President (Spain) and Minister of Economy and Finance (Spain): Pedro Solbes, elected 14 March 2004.
• Cabinet
• Council of Ministers of Spain (9th Legislature) (Spanish Consejo de Ministros) designated by the president.

, President of the GovernmentSpain is, at present, what is called a State of Autonomies, formally unitary but, in fact, functioning as a highly decentralised Federation of Autonomous Communities of Spain; it is regarded by many as the most decentralisation nation in Europe; for example, all territories manage their own health and education systems, and other territories (the Basque Country and Navarre) manage their own public finances. In Catalonia and the Basque Country, an autonomous police corps widely replaces the State police functions (see Mossos d'Esquadra and Ertzaintza).

The Government of Spain has been involved in a long-running campaign against Basque Fatherland and Liberty (ETA), a terrorist organisation founded in 1959 in opposition to Franco and dedicated to promoting Basque independence through violence means. They consider themselves a guerrilla warfare organisation while they are listed as a terrorist organisation by both the European Union and the United States on their respective watchlists. The current nationalist-led Basque Autonomous government does not endorse ETA's nationalist violence, which has caused over 800 deaths.

Spanish Constitution The Spanish Constitution of 1978 is the culmination of the Spanish transition to democracy.

The constitutional history of Spain dates back to the constitution of 1812. After the death of Francisco Franco in 1975, a Spanish general election, 1977 in 1977 convened the Constituent Cortes (the Spanish Parliament, in its capacity as a constitutional assembly) for the purpose of drafting and approving the constitution.

As a result, Spain is now composed entirely of 17 Autonomous Communities and two autonomous cities with varying degrees of autonomy, to the extent that, even though the Constitution does not formally state that Spain is a federation (nor a unitarian state), Spain has a decentralized system in practice.

Foreign relations of Spain After the return of democracy following the death of Francisco Franco in 1975, Spain's foreign policy priorities were to break out of the diplomatic isolation of the Franco years and expand diplomatic relations, enter the European Union, and define security relations with the West.

As a member of NATO since 1982, Spain has established itself as a major participant in multilateral international security activities. Spain's EU membership represents an important part of its foreign policy. Even on many international issues beyond western Europe, Spain prefers to coordinate its efforts with its EU partners through the European political cooperation mechanisms.

With the normalization of diplomatic relations with North Korea in 2001, Spain completed the process of universalizing its diplomatic relations.

Spain has maintained its special identification with Latin America. Its policy emphasizes the concept of an Iberoamerican community, essentially the renewal of the historically liberal concept of hispanoamericanismo (or hispanism as it is often referred to in English), which has sought to link the Iberian peninsula with Latin America through language, commerce, history and culture. Spain has been an effective example of transition from dictatorship to democracy, as shown in the many trips that King of Spain and Politics of Spain have made to the region.

Territorial disputes Territory claimed by Spain Spain has called for the return of Gibraltar, a small but strategic British overseas territory or colony near the Strait of Gibraltar. In referendums held in this regard to date, the majority of Gibraltarians have rejected the union with Spain. UN resolutions call on the United Kingdom and Spain, both EU members, to reach an agreement over the status of Gibraltar of a sovereignty of both countries.

Spanish territories claimed by other countries Morocco claims the Spanish cities of Ceuta and Melilla and some isles plazas de soberanía off the northern coast of Africa. Portugal does not recognise Spain's sovereignty over the territory of Olivenza / Olivenza.

Administrative divisions Spain is divided into 17 Self-governance communities (comunidades autónomas) and 2 Plaza de soberanía (ciudades autónomas) - Ceuta and Melilla. These autonomous communities are subdivided into 50 Provinces of Spains (provincias).

Historically, some provinces are also divided into comarcas (roughly equivalent to a United States "county" or an England Districts of England). The lowest administrative division of Spain is the List of municipalities of Spain (municipio).

Geography At 194,884 square miles (504,782 square kilometre), Spain is the world's 51st-largest country. It is comparable in size to Turkmenistan, and is somewhat larger than the U.S. state of California.

On the west, Spain borders Portugal, on the south, it borders Gibraltar (a British overseas territory) and Morocco, through its cities in North Africa (Ceuta and Melilla). On the northeast, along the Pyrenees mountain range, it borders France and the tiny principality of Andorra. Spain also includes the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean Sea, the Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean and a number of uninhabited islands on the Mediterranean side of the strait of Gibraltar, known as , such as the Islas Chafarinas islands, the Isla de Alborán, the "rocks" () of Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera and Peñón de Alhucemas, and the tiny Isla Perejil. In the northeast along the Pyrenees, a small exclave town called Llívia in Catalonia is surrounded by France territory.

Mainland Spain is dominated by high plateaus and mountain ranges, such as the Sierra Nevada (Spain). Running from these heights are several major rivers such as the Tajo, the Ebro, the Duero, the Guadiana and the Guadalquivir. Alluvial plains are found along the coast, the largest of which is that of the Guadalquivir in Andalusia.

Due to Spain's geographical situation and orographic conditions, the climate is extremely diverse; it can be roughly divided in three areas:

• The moderate Continental climate takes place in the inland areas of the Peninsula (largest city, Madrid).
• The Mediterranean climate region, which roughly extends from the Andalusian plain along the southern and eastern coasts up to the Pyrenees, on the seaward side of the mountain ranges that run near the coast (largest city, Barcelona).
• An Oceanic climate takes place in Galicia and the coastal strip by the Bay of Biscay (largest city, Bilbao). This area is often called Green Spain.

Military of Spain The armed forces of Spain are known as the Spanish Armed Forces (Spanish language: Fuerzas Armadas Españolas). Their Commander-in-Chief is the King of Spain, Juan Carlos I of Spain.

The Spanish Armed Forces are divided into four branches:

• Spanish Army
• Spanish Navy
• Spanish Air Force
• Civil Guard (Spain) which serves for the most part as a rural and general purpose police force.

Economy

According to the World Bank, Spain's economy is the ninth largest worldwide and the fifth largest in Europe. As of 2006, the absolute GDP was valued at $1.084 trillion according to the CIA Factbook, (see List of countries by GDP (nominal)). The per capita PPP is estimated at $27,400 (2006), behind the major industrialized nations of the G7.

The centre-right government of former prime minister José María Aznar worked successfully to admission to the group of countries launching the euro in 1999. Unemployment stood at 7.6% in October 2006, a rate that compares favorably to many other European countries, and which is a marked improvement over rates that exceeded 20% in the early 1990s. Perennial weak points of Spain's economy include high inflation," Spain's Economy: Closing the Gap," in the OECD Observer, May 2005. Retrieved July 8, 2007. a large underground economy, Going Underground: America's Shadow Economy, FrontPage magazine, January 2005 and an education system, slated in OECD reports, together with the United States and UK, among the poorest for developed countries. OECD report for 2006 Nevertheless, it is expected that the Sp {{Infobox Country or territory|native_name = Reino de España|conventional_long_name = Kingdom of Spain|common_name = Spain|image_flag = Flag of Spain.svg|image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg|image_map = Location Spain EU Europe.png|map_caption = |national_motto = (Latin)"Further Beyond"])"Royal March"|official_languages = Spanish language, Catalan language, Basque language and Galician language|demonym = Spanish people, Spanish people|capital = Madrid|leader_title1 = [Spanish monarchy|leader_title2 = President of the Government of Spain|leader_name1 = Juan Carlos I of Spain|leader_name2 = |sovereignty_type = Formation|sovereignty_note = 15th century|established_event1 = Dynastic union|established_date1 = Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor|established_event2 = Unification|established_date2 = Catholic Monarchs|established_event3 = de facto]|established_event4 = de jure]|accessionEUdate = January 1 1986-->|area_rank = 51st|area_magnitude = 1 E11|percent_water = 1.04|population_estimate = 45,116,894|population_estimate_year = 2007|population_estimate_rank = 28th|population_density_km2 = 79 people per km2|population_density_sq_mi = 220 (Euro sign)³|currency_code = EUR|time_zone = Central European Time4|utc_offset = +1|time_zone_DST = Central European Summer Time|utc_offset_DST = +2|cctld = .es5].|footnote2 = In some autonomous communities of Spain, Aranese (Occitan language), Basque language, Catalan language and Galician language are co-official languages.|footnote3 = Prior to 1999 (by law, 2002): Peseta.|footnote4 = Except in the Canary Islands, which are in the Western European Time time zone (Coordinated Universal Time, Coordinated Universal Time+1 in summer).|footnote5 = The .eu domain is also used, as it is shared with other European Union member states.-->Spain (, ), is a Western European country. The country consists of Peninsular Spain which is located between the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, two archipelagos, one in each sea, and two Autonomous communities of Spain in North Africa.

The Spanish mainland is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the south and east, by the Cantabric Sea that includes the Bay of Biscay to the north, and by the Atlantic Ocean and Portugal to the west. Spanish territory also includes the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean and the Canary Islands off the African coast. It shares land borders with Portugal, France, Andorra, the British colony of Gibraltar, and Morocco. It is the largest of the three sovereign states that make up the Iberian Peninsula — the others being Portugal and Andorra. With an area of 504,030 km², Spain is the second largest country in Western Europe (behind France).

Spain is a constitutional monarchy organised as a parliamentary democracy, and has been a member of the European Union since 1986. It is a developed country with the ninth largest economy in the world and fifth largest in the EU.List of countries by GDP (nominal): 9 (2006); List of countries by GDP (nominal) per capita: 26 (2006); List of countries by GDP (PPP) per capita: 26 (2005).

History Spain has a very ancient and complex prehistory. Under the Roman empire Hispania flourished and became one of the empire's most important regions. During the early Middle Ages it came under Germanic rule. Later, nearly the entire peninsula came under Muslim rulers. Through a long process Christian kingdoms in the north gradually rolled back Muslim rule, which was finally extinguished in 1492. That year Columbus reached the Americas, the beginnings of the first global empire. Spain became the strongest kingdom in Europe in the sixteenth and first half of the seventeenth centuries but continued wars and other problems eventually led to a diminished status. In the middle decades of the twentieth century it came under a dictatorship, under which it went through many years of stagnation and then a spectacular economic revival. In 1986 it joined the European Union and has experienced an economic and cultural renaissance. Prehistory and pre-Roman peoples in the Iberian Peninsula Modern humans in the form of Cro-Magnons began arriving in the Iberian Peninsula from the Pyrenees some 35,000 years ago. The best known artifacts of these prehistoric human settlements are the famous paintings in the Altamira (cave) of Cantabria in northern Spain, which were created about 15,000 BCE. New archeological research at Atapuerca indicates that the Iberian Peninsula was peopled more than a million years ago.

The two main historical peoples of the peninsula were the Iberians and the Celts, the former inhabiting the Mediterranean side from the northeast to the southwest, the latter inhabiting the Atlantic side, in the north and northwest part of the peninsula. In the inner part of the peninsula, where both groups were in contact, a mixed, distinctive, culture was present, known as Celtiberians. Different names of places witness their geographical distribution. Celts founded military forts (from the Celt "briga" = fortress) that later evolved into cities such as Coimbra, Portugal, Braga, Portugal, and Segovia, Spain. The Iberians gave their name to Spain's longest river Ebro (or "Iberian river") and to cities such as Ilici (present-day Elche) and Ilerda (Lérida). In addition, Basques occupied the western area of the Pyrenees mountains, although some geographical names attest their presence as far south as Aranjuez, Spain, a name that originates in the Basque language words aran zuri ("valley of thorns") and contemporary Basque aranzazu (thorn, thistle). Other ethnic groups existed along the southern coastal areas of present day Andalusia. Among these southern groups there grew the earliest urban culture in the Iberian Peninsula, that of the semi-mythical southern city of Tartessos (perhaps pre-1100 BC) near the location of present-day Cádiz. The flourishing trade in gold and silver between the people of Tartessos and Phoenicians and Greeks is documented in the history of Strabo and in the biblical book of king Solomon. Between about 500 BC and 300 BC, the seafaring Phoenicians and Greeks founded trading colonies along the Mediterranean coast. These colonies include present-day cities like Empúries (from the Greek word 'emporion'), Malaga (from the Phoenician word 'malaka' for salt, as fish was salted in the harbour), and the city of Alicante, originally named in Greek Akra Leuka (ie, white bay). Phoenicians from the African city of Carthage (Carthaginians) briefly took control of much of the Mediterranean coast in the course of the Punic Wars until they were eventually defeated and replaced by the Romans. Cartaginians created important cities in the Mediterranean litoral, including 'Cartago nova' or 'New Carthage' (present-day Cartagena, Spain) and a city in the northeast founded by Hannibal's father Hamilcar Barca. Hamilcar named the city Barcino, after his family; the city is present day Barcelona.

Roman Empire and Germanic invasions theater in Mérida

During the Second Punic War, an expanding Roman Empire captured Carthaginian trading colonies along the Mediterranean coast (from roughly 210 BC to 205 BC), leading to eventual Roman control of nearly the entire Iberian Peninsula – a control which lasted over 500 years, bound together by law, language, and the Roman road. The base Celt and Iberian population remained in various stages of Romanization (cultural), The latifundia (sing., latifundium), large estates controlled by the aristocracy, were superimposed on the existing Iberian landholding system. and local leaders were admitted into the Roman aristocratic class.

The Romans improved existing cities, such as Lisbon (Olissis bona or 'good for Ulysses') and Tarragona (Tarraco), and established Zaragoza (Caesaraugusta), Mérida, Spain (Augusta Emerita), Valencia (city in Spain) (Valentia), León, Spain ("Legio Septima"), Badajoz ("Pax Augusta"), and Palencia (Παλλαντία, "Pallas Ateneia"). The Roman provinces of Hispania included Provincia Hispania Ulterior Baetica (Hispania Baetica), whose capital was Córdoba, Spain, Provincia Hispania Ulterior Lusitania (Hispania Lusitania), whose capital was Emerita Augusta (now Mérida, Spain), Provincia Hispania Citerior, whose capital was Tarraco (Tarragona), Provincia Hispania Nova, whose capital was Tingis (Tánger in present Morocco), Provincia Hispania Nova Citerior and Asturiae-Calleciae (these latter two provinces were created and then dissolved in the third century CE). The peninsula's economy expanded under Roman tutelage. Hispania served as a granary for the Roman market, and its harbors exported gold, wool, olive oil, and wine. Agricultural production increased with the introduction of irrigation projects, some of which remain in use. Emperors Trajan, Hadrian, and Theodosius I, and the philosopher Seneca the Younger were born in Hispania. The poets Martial, Quintilian and Lucan (poet) were also born in Hispania. Christianity was introduced into Hispania in the first century CE and it became popular in the cities in the second century CE. Most of Spain's present languages and religion, and the basis of its laws, originate from this period.

The first Barbarians to invade Hispania arrived in the 5th century, as the Decline of the Roman Empire. The Visigoths, Suebi, Vandals and Alans arrived in Spain by crossing the Pyrenees mountain range. This led to the establishment of the Suebi#Suebi kingdom in Gallaecia in Gallaecia, in the northwest, the Vandal kingdom of Vandalucia (Andalusia) and the Visigoths#Visigothic kingdom in Hispania in Toledo. The romanised Visigoths entered Hispania in 415. After the conversion of their monarchy to Roman Catholicism, the Visigothic Kingdom eventually encompassed a great part of the Iberian Peninsula after conquering the disordered Suebic territories in the northwest and Byzantine Empire territories in the southeast.

Muslim Iberia In the 8th century, nearly all the Iberian peninsula was quickly Umayyad conquest of Hispania (711–718) by mainly Berber people Muslims (see Moors) from North Africa. These conquests were part of the expansion of the Islamic Umayyad Empire. The Moorish armies continued northwards until they were defeated in central France at the Battle of Tours in 732. Only three small areas in the mountains of northern Spain managed to cling to their independence: Asturias, Navarra and Aragon.

in Córdoba, Spain, a Muslim mosque until the Reconquest, after which it became a Christian cathedral

Under Islam, Christians and Jews were recognised as People of the Book, and were free to practice their religion, but faced some Second-class citizen. The Treatment of Jews in Arab/Islamic Countries The Forgotten Refugees The Almohads Conversion to Islam proceeded at a steadily increasing pace, starting with the aristocracy, as it offered an escape from the limitations and humiliations of their dhimmi status. With mass conversions in the 10th and 11th centuries Muslims are believed to have come to outnumber Christians in Al-Andalus. The 11th century saw Muslim pogroms against Jews; those occurred in Cordoba in 1011 and in 1066 Granada massacre.Frederick M. Schweitzer, Marvin Perry., Anti-Semitism: myth and hate from antiquity to the present, Palgrave Macmillan, 2002, ISBN 0312165617, pp. 267-268. Granada by Richard Gottheil, Meyer Kayserling, Jewish Encyclopedia. 1906 ed.

The Muslim community in Spain was itself diverse and beset by social tensions. The Berber people of North Africa, who had provided the bulk of the invading armies, Berber Revolt from the Middle East. The Berbers soon gave up attempting to settle the harsh lands in the north of the Geography of Spain#Meseta Central handed to them by the Arab rulers. Over time, large Moorish populations became established, especially in the Guadalquivir River valley, the coastal plain of Valencia (autonomous community), and (towards the end of this period) in the mountainous region of Granada.

Córdoba, Spain, Muslim Spain's capital, was the largest, richest and most sophisticated city of medieval Europe. It was not until the 12th century that western High Middle Ages began reaching comparable levels of sophistication, and this was due in to a great extent to the stimulus coming from Muslim Spain. Mediterranean trade and cultural exchange flourished. Muslims imported a rich intellectual tradition from the Middle East and North Africa. Muslim and Jewish scholars played a great part in reviving and expanding classical Greek culture in Western Europe. Spain's romanised cultures interacted with Muslim and Jewish cultures in complex ways, thus giving Spain a distinctive culture. Outside the cities, the land ownership system from Roman times remained largely intact as Muslim leaders rarely dispossessed landowners, and new crops and techniques led to a remarkable expansion of agriculture.

However, by the 11th century, Muslim holdings had fractured into rival Taifa kingdoms. The arrival of the North African Muslim ruling empires of the Almoravids and the Almohads restored unity upon Muslim holdings, with a stricter, less tolerant application of Islam, but ultimately, after some initial successes in invading the north, proved unable to resist the increasing military strength of the Christian states.

Fall of Muslim rule and unification and Isabella I of Castile, the Catholic Monarchs

The term Reconquista ("Reconquest") is used to describe the centuries-long period of expansion of Spain's Christian kingdoms; the Reconquista is viewed as beginning after the battle of Covadonga in 722. The Christian army victory over the Muslim forces lead to the creation of the Christian Kingdom of Asturias. Muslim armies had also moved north of the Pyrenees, but they were defeated at the battle of Poitiers in France. Subsequently, they retreated to more secure positions south of the Pyrenees with a frontier marked by the Ebro and Duero rivers in Spain. In the following years Christian armies moved to occupy and colonized the vacant areas. As early as 739, Muslim forces left Galicia (Spain), which was to host one of medieval Christianity's holiest sites, Santiago de Compostela. A little later Frankish forces established Christian counties south of the Pyrenees; these areas were to grow into kingdoms, in the north-east and the western part of the Pyrenees. These territories included Navarre, Aragon and Catalonia.

The breakup of Al-Andalus into the competing Taifa kingdoms helped the expanding Christian kingdoms, namely Castille that would become the main driving force in the Reconquista. The capture of the central city of Toledo, Spain in 1085 largely completed the reconquest of the northern half of Spain. Initially, as the Reconquista advanced south, different religions were respected and several Castilian kings in subsequent years (Ferdinand III, Alfphonse X the Sage, Pedro of Castile) named themselves 'king of the three peoples' or 'king of the three religions'. Only rarely mosques and synagogues were converted into churches before 1492, and some areas of Christian Spain had large Muslim and Jewish populations that were a substantial component in the economic activity. However, famed preachers like Vincent Ferrer and Thomas of Villanova illustrate the zeal with which the new dominant Christian religion attempted mass conversions in the occupied territories. Forced mass conversions to Islam under the Almohads predates it Christian counterpart, and caused large numbers of Christians to migrate into the north. Indeed they brought many of the Moorish influences in art, architecture and food with them. After a Muslim resurgence in the 12th century, the great Moorish strongholds in the south fell to Christian Spain in the 13th century—Córdoba, Spain in 1236 and Seville in 1248—leaving only the Muslim enclave of Granada as a Tributary (political) in the south. Also in the 13th century, the kingdom of Aragón Aragonese empire across the Mediterranean to Sicily.

In 1469, the crowns of the Christian kingdoms of Crown of Castile and Aragón were united by the Catholic Monarchs of Isabel I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon. In 1478 began the final stage of the conquest of Canary Islands and in 1492, these united kingdoms captured Granada, ending the last remnant of a 781-year presence of Islamic rule on the Iberian Peninsula.The Treaty of Granada (see The Treaty of Granada, 1492) guaranteed religious tolerance toward Muslims. The year 1492 also marked the arrival in the New World of Christopher Columbus, during a voyage funded by Isabella. That same year, History of the Jews in Spain were ordered to convert into the Christian religion or face expulsion from Spanish territories; Alhambra decree Moriscos in a lengthier process beginning in 1502, and ending as late as 1609-1614. during the Spanish Inquisition.

As Renaissance New Monarchs, Isabella and Ferdinand centralised royal power at the expense of local nobility, and the word España - whose root is the ancient name "Hispania" - began to be used to designate the whole of the two kingdoms.With their wide-ranging political, legal, religious and military reforms, Spain emerged as a world great power.

From the Renaissance to the Nineteenth Century The unification of the kingdoms of Aragón, Castile, Kingdom of León, and Navarre laid the basis for modern Spain and the Spanish Empire. Spain became Europe's leading power throughout the 16th century and most of the 17th century, a position later reinforced by trade and wealth from colonial possessions. Spain reached its apogee during the reigns of the first two Spanish Habsburgs (Charles I of Spain (1516-1556) and Philip II of Spain (1556-1598)). Included in this period are the Italian Wars, the Dutch revolt, clashes with the Ottomans, the Anglo-Spanish War (1585) and war with France. became synonymous with the riches of the Spanish Empire

The Spanish Empire expanded to include nearly all of South America and Central America, Mexico, southern and western portions of today's United States, the Philippines, Guam and the Mariana Islands in Asia - Pacific, the Iberian peninsula (including the Portuguese empire (from 1580)), southern Italy, Sicily, cities in Northern Africa, as well as parts of modern Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands. It was the first empire about which it was said that The empire on which the sun never sets. This was an age of discovery, with daring explorations by sea and by land, the opening up of new trade routes across oceans, conquests and the beginning of colonialism. Along with the arrival of precious metals, spices, luxuries, and new agricultural plants, Spanish explorers and others brought back knowledge, playing a leading part in transforming the European understanding of the world.

Of note was the cultural efflorescence now known as the Spanish Golden Age and the intellectual movement known as the School of Salamanca.

In the 16th and 17th centuries Spain was confronted by unrelenting challenges from all sides. In the early 16th century Barbary pirates under the aegis of the rapidly growing Ottoman empire, disrupted life in many coastal areas through their slave raids and renewed the threat of an Muslim conquests.The coastal villages and towns of Spain and List of islands in the Mediterranean were frequently attacked by Barbary pirates from North Africa, who were under the aegis of the Ottoman empire. The Formentera was even temporarily left by its population and long stretches of the Spanish and Italian coasts were almost completely abandoned by their inhabitants. In 1514, 1515 and 1521 coasts of the Balearic Islands and the Spanish mainland were raided by the Turkish people privateer and Ottoman Empire admiral Hayreddin Barbarossa. According to Robert Davis between 1 million and 1.25 million Europeans were captured by North African pirates and sold as slaves during the 16th and 17th centuries. These Arab slave trade were captured mainly from seaside villages in Spain, Italy and Portugal. This at a time when Spain was often at war with France in Italy and elsewhere. Later the Protestant Reformation schism from the Catholic Church dragged the kingdom ever more into the mire of religiously charged wars. The result was a country forced into ever expanding military efforts across Europe and in the Mediterranean.

By the middle decades of a war-ridden mid-17th century Europe, the effects of the strain began to show. The Spanish Habsburgs had enmeshed the country in the continent wide religious-political conflicts. These conflicts drained it of resources and undermined the European economy generally. Spain managed to hold on to the majority of the scattered Habsburg empire, and help the Imperial forces of the Holy Roman Empire reverse a large part of the advances made by Protestant forces, but it was finally forced to recognise the independence of Portugal - with its empire - and the Netherlands, and eventually began to surrender territories to France after the immensely destructive, Europe-wide Thirty Years War.From the 1640s Spain went into a gradual but seemingly irreversible decline for the remainder of the century, however it was able to maintain and enlarge its vast overseas empire which remained intact until the 19th century.

Controversy over succession to the throne consumed the first years of the 18th century. The War of Spanish Succession (1701-1714), a wide ranging international conflict combined with a civil war, cost Spain its European possessions and its position as one of the leading powers on the Continent (although it retained its overseas territories).

During this war, a new dynasty—the House of Bourbon—was installed. Long united only by the Crown, a true Spanish state was established when the first Bourbon king Philip V of Spain united Castile and Aragon into a single state, abolishing many of the regional privileges (fueros).

The 18th century saw a gradual recovery and some increase in prosperity through much of the empire. The new House of Bourbon monarchy drew on the French system of modernising the administration and the economy. Age of Enlightenment ideas began to gain ground among some of the kingdom's elite and monarchy. Towards the end of the century trade finally began growing strongly. Military assistance for the rebellious British colonies in the American Revolutionary War improved Spain's international standing.

Napoleonic rule and its consequences In 1793, Spain went to war against the new First French Republic, which had overthrown and executed its Bourbon king, Louis XVI of France. The war polarised the country in an apparent reaction against the Culture of France elites. Defeated in the field, Spain made peace with France in 1795 and effectively became a client state of that country; the following year, it declared war against Britain and Portugal. A disastrous economic situation, along with other factors, led to the abdication of the Spanish king in favour of Napoleon I of France's brother, Joseph Bonaparte. , by Francisco de Goya (1814).

This new foreign monarch was regarded with scorn. On May 2, 1808, the people of Madrid began a nationalism Dos de Mayo Uprising, marking the beginning of what is known to the Spanish as the War of Independence, and to the English as the Peninsular War. Napoleon was forced to intervene personally, defeating the Spanish army and Anglo-Portuguese forces. However, further military action by Spanish guerrillas and Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington Anglo-Portuguese army, combined with Napoleon's disastrous Napoleon's Invasion of Russia, led to the ousting of the French from Spain in 1814, and the return of Ferdinand VII of Spain.

The French invasion proved disastrous for Spain's economy, and left a deeply divided country that was prone to political instability for more than a century. The power struggles of the early 19th century led to the loss of all of Spain's colonies in Latin America, with the exception of Cuba and Puerto Rico.

Spanish-American War Amid the instability and economic crisis that afflicted Spain in the 19th century there arose nationalist movements in the Philippines and Cuba. Wars of independence ensued in those colonies and eventually the United States became involved. Although Spanish military units won respect from American soldiers they fought, for their bravery and skill, the Spanish-American war of 1898 was so badly mismanaged by the highest levels of command and government that it was soon over. "El Desastre", as the war became known in Spain, helped give impetus to the Generation of 98 who were already conducting much critical analysis concerning the country. It also weakened the stability that had been established during Alfonso XII's reign.

The Twentieth Century The 20th century brought little peace; Spain played a minor part in the scramble for Africa, with the colonisation of Western Sahara, Spanish Morocco and Equatorial Guinea. The heavy losses suffered during the Rif War (1920) in Morocco helped to undermine the monarchy. A period of authoritarian rule under General Miguel Primo de Rivera (1923–1931) ended with the establishment of the Second Spanish Republic. The Republic offered political autonomy to the Basque Country (autonomous community), Catalonia and Galicia (Spain) and gave voting rights to women.

The bitterly fought Spanish Civil War (1936-39) ensued. Three years later the Nationalist forces, led by General Francisco Franco, emerged victorious with the support of Germany and Italy. The Republican side was supported by the Soviet Union and Mexico, but it was not supported by the Western powers due to the British-led policy of Non-Intervention. The Spanish Civil War has been called the European Civil War of the Second World War; under Franco, Spain was neutral in the Second World War though Spain in World War II to the Axis.Over a hundred thousand highly motivated Spanish Civil War veterans were to give both sides the benefit of their experience throughout the Second World War in Europe, the Eastern Front and North Africa. Many in the French Resistance and French Foreign Legion were Spanish as was the French 9th Armoured Company (World War II) that spearheaded Général Leclerc French 2nd Division (World War II) liberation of Paris. On the other side, some 47,000 Spaniards fought against the Soviet Union in the Wehrmacht's División Azul (Blue Division).

The only legal party under Spain under Franco regime was the Falange, formed in 1937; the party emphasised anti-Communism, Roman Catholic Church and nationalism.

After World War II, Spain was politically and economically isolated, and was kept out of the United Nations until 1955, when it became strategically important for the U.S. to foment a military presence on the Iberian peninsula, next to the Mediterranean Sea and the Strait of Gibraltar. In the 1960s, Spain registered an unprecedented economic growth in what was called the Spanish miracle, which gradually transformed it into a modern industrial economy with a thriving tourism sector and a high degree of human development.

Upon the death of General Franco in November 1975, Juan Carlos I of Spain assumed the position of king and head of state. With the approval of the new Spanish Constitution of 1978 and the arrival of democracy, Autonomous Communities of Spain were established. In the Basque Country, moderate Basque nationalism coexisted with a radical nationalism supportive of the terrorist group ETA.

On February 23 1981, rebel elements among the security forces seized the Cortes and 23-F. However, the great majority of the military forces remained loyal to King Juan Carlos, who used his personal authority and addressed the usupers via national TV as commander in chief to put down the bloodless coup attempt.

In 1982, the Spanish Socialist Worker's Party (PSOE) came to power, which represented the return to power of a leftist party after 43 years. In 1986, Spain joined the European Community (which was to become the European Union). The PSOE was replaced by the PP after the latter won the 1996 General Elections; at that point the PSOE had served almost 14 consecutive years in office.

21st century On January 1, 2002, Spain terminated its historic peseta currency and replaced it with the euro, which has become its national currency shared with 13 other countries from the Eurozone. This culminated in an initial period of growth and economic consolidation, which has slowed considerably in past years due to rising house prices and the country's large current-account deficit.

On March 11, 2004, a series of bombs exploded in commuter trains in Madrid, Spain. This act of terror killed 191 people and wounded 1,460 more, besides possibly affecting national elections scheduled for March 14, three days after the attack. The 2004 Madrid train bombings had an adverse effect on the image of the then-ruling conservative party Partido Popular (PP) which polls had indicated were likely to win the elections, thus helping the election of Zapatero's Partido Socialista Obrero Español (PSOE). There were two nights of incidents around the PP headquarters, with the PSOE and other political parties accusing the PP of hiding the truth by saying that the incidents were caused by ETA even though new evidence that pointed to an Islamic attack started appearing. These incidents are still a cause of discussion, since some factions of the PP suggest that the elections were "stolen" by means of the turmoil which followed the terrorist bombing, which was, according to this point of view, backed by the PSOE.

March 14, 2004, three days after the bombings, saw the PSOE party elected into government, with Rodríguez Zapatero becoming the new Presidente del Gobierno or prime minister of Spain thus replacing the former People's Party (Spain) administration.

Politics Spanish Government King of Spain and Queen Sofía of SpainSpain is a constitutional monarchy, with a hereditary monarch and a bicameral parliament, the Cortes Generales. The executive branch consists of a Council of Ministers of Spain (9th Legislature) presided over by the President of Government (comparable to a prime minister), proposed by the monarch and elected by the National Assembly following legislative elections.

The legislative branch is made up of the Congress of Deputies (Congreso de los Diputados) with 350 members, elected by popular vote on block lists by proportional representation to serve four-year terms, and a Senate or Senado with 259 seats of which 208 are directly elected by popular vote and the other 51 appointed by the regional legislatures to also serve four-year terms.

• Chief of State
• King Juan Carlos I of Spain, since November 22 1975
• Head of Government
• Prime Minister of Spain: José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, elected 14 March 2004.
• First Vice President (Spain) and Minister of Presidency (Spain): María Teresa Fernández de la Vega, elected 14 March 2004.
• Second Vice President (Spain) and Minister of Economy and Finance (Spain): Pedro Solbes, elected 14 March 2004.
• Cabinet
• Council of Ministers of Spain (9th Legislature) (Spanish Consejo de Ministros) designated by the president.

, President of the GovernmentSpain is, at present, what is called a State of Autonomies, formally unitary but, in fact, functioning as a highly decentralised Federation of Autonomous Communities of Spain; it is regarded by many as the most decentralisation nation in Europe; for example, all territories manage their own health and education systems, and other territories (the Basque Country and Navarre) manage their own public finances. In Catalonia and the Basque Country, an autonomous police corps widely replaces the State police functions (see Mossos d'Esquadra and Ertzaintza).

The Government of Spain has been involved in a long-running campaign against Basque Fatherland and Liberty (ETA), a terrorist organisation founded in 1959 in opposition to Franco and dedicated to promoting Basque independence through violence means. They consider themselves a guerrilla warfare organisation while they are listed as a terrorist organisation by both the European Union and the United States on their respective watchlists. The current nationalist-led Basque Autonomous government does not endorse ETA's nationalist violence, which has caused over 800 deaths.

Spanish Constitution The Spanish Constitution of 1978 is the culmination of the Spanish transition to democracy.

The constitutional history of Spain dates back to the constitution of 1812. After the death of Francisco Franco in 1975, a Spanish general election, 1977 in 1977 convened the Constituent Cortes (the Spanish Parliament, in its capacity as a constitutional assembly) for the purpose of drafting and approving the constitution.

As a result, Spain is now composed entirely of 17 Autonomous Communities and two autonomous cities with varying degrees of autonomy, to the extent that, even though the Constitution does not formally state that Spain is a federation (nor a unitarian state), Spain has a decentralized system in practice.

Foreign relations of Spain After the return of democracy following the death of Francisco Franco in 1975, Spain's foreign policy priorities were to break out of the diplomatic isolation of the Franco years and expand diplomatic relations, enter the European Union, and define security relations with the West.

As a member of NATO since 1982, Spain has established itself as a major participant in multilateral international security activities. Spain's EU membership represents an important part of its foreign policy. Even on many international issues beyond western Europe, Spain prefers to coordinate its efforts with its EU partners through the European political cooperation mechanisms.

With the normalization of diplomatic relations with North Korea in 2001, Spain completed the process of universalizing its diplomatic relations.

Spain has maintained its special identification with Latin America. Its policy emphasizes the concept of an Iberoamerican community, essentially the renewal of the historically liberal concept of hispanoamericanismo (or hispanism as it is often referred to in English), which has sought to link the Iberian peninsula with Latin America through language, commerce, history and culture. Spain has been an effective example of transition from dictatorship to democracy, as shown in the many trips that King of Spain and Politics of Spain have made to the region.

Territorial disputes Territory claimed by Spain Spain has called for the return of Gibraltar, a small but strategic British overseas territory or colony near the Strait of Gibraltar. In referendums held in this regard to date, the majority of Gibraltarians have rejected the union with Spain. UN resolutions call on the United Kingdom and Spain, both EU members, to reach an agreement over the status of Gibraltar of a sovereignty of both countries.

Spanish territories claimed by other countries Morocco claims the Spanish cities of Ceuta and Melilla and some isles plazas de soberanía off the northern coast of Africa. Portugal does not recognise Spain's sovereignty over the territory of Olivenza / Olivenza.

Administrative divisions Spain is divided into 17 Self-governance communities (comunidades autónomas) and 2 Plaza de soberanía (ciudades autónomas) - Ceuta and Melilla. These autonomous communities are subdivided into 50 Provinces of Spains (provincias).

Historically, some provinces are also divided into comarcas (roughly equivalent to a United States "county" or an England Districts of England). The lowest administrative division of Spain is the List of municipalities of Spain (municipio).

Geography At 194,884 square miles (504,782 square kilometre), Spain is the world's 51st-largest country. It is comparable in size to Turkmenistan, and is somewhat larger than the U.S. state of California.

On the west, Spain borders Portugal, on the south, it borders Gibraltar (a British overseas territory) and Morocco, through its cities in North Africa (Ceuta and Melilla). On the northeast, along the Pyrenees mountain range, it borders France and the tiny principality of Andorra. Spain also includes the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean Sea, the Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean and a number of uninhabited islands on the Mediterranean side of the strait of Gibraltar, known as , such as the Islas Chafarinas islands, the Isla de Alborán, the "rocks" () of Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera and Peñón de Alhucemas, and the tiny Isla Perejil. In the northeast along the Pyrenees, a small exclave town called Llívia in Catalonia is surrounded by France territory.

Mainland Spain is dominated by high plateaus and mountain ranges, such as the Sierra Nevada (Spain). Running from these heights are several major rivers such as the Tajo, the Ebro, the Duero, the Guadiana and the Guadalquivir. Alluvial plains are found along the coast, the largest of which is that of the Guadalquivir in Andalusia.

Due to Spain's geographical situation and orographic conditions, the climate is extremely diverse; it can be roughly divided in three areas:

• The moderate Continental climate takes place in the inland areas of the Peninsula (largest city, Madrid).
• The Mediterranean climate region, which roughly extends from the Andalusian plain along the southern and eastern coasts up to the Pyrenees, on the seaward side of the mountain ranges that run near the coast (largest city, Barcelona).
• An Oceanic climate takes place in Galicia and the coastal strip by the Bay of Biscay (largest city, Bilbao). This area is often called Green Spain.

Military of Spain The armed forces of Spain are known as the Spanish Armed Forces (Spanish language: Fuerzas Armadas Españolas). Their Commander-in-Chief is the King of Spain, Juan Carlos I of Spain.

The Spanish Armed Forces are divided into four branches:

• Spanish Army
• Spanish Navy
• Spanish Air Force
• Civil Guard (Spain) which serves for the most part as a rural and general purpose police force.

Economy

According to the World Bank, Spain's economy is the ninth largest worldwide and the fifth largest in Europe. As of 2006, the absolute GDP was valued at $1.084 trillion according to the CIA Factbook, (see List of countries by GDP (nominal)). The per capita PPP is estimated at $27,400 (2006), behind the major industrialized nations of the G7.

The centre-right government of former prime minister José María Aznar worked successfully to admission to the group of countries launching the euro in 1999. Unemployment stood at 7.6% in October 2006, a rate that compares favorably to many other European countries, and which is a marked improvement over rates that exceeded 20% in the early 1990s. Perennial weak points of Spain's economy include high inflation," Spain's Economy: Closing the Gap," in the OECD Observer, May 2005. Retrieved July 8, 2007. a large underground economy, Going Underground: America's Shadow Economy, FrontPage magazine, January 2005 and an education system, slated in OECD reports, together with the United States and UK, among the poorest for developed countries. OECD report for 2006 Nevertheless, it is expected that the Sp

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