Spain, Spanish España (ais-PAH-nyah), kingdom (194,884 sq mi/504,750 sq km; 1991 estimated population 39,384,400; 2004 estimated 40,280,780), SW Europe, including the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean Sea and Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean; (cap.) Madrid.
Geography
It consists of the Spanish mainland (190,190 sq mi/492,592 sq km), which occupies the major part of the Iberian Peninsula. Five enclaves in Morocco (Ceuta, Peñon de Vélez de la Gomera, Peñon de Alhucemas, Melilla, Isla Chafarinas) are the only remnants of Spain’s former empire. Two of the enclaves, Ceuta and Melilla, are Spanish municipalities and may become provinces. Continental Spain extends from the Pyrenees Mountains, which separate it from France, and from the Bay of Biscay, an arm of the Atlantic Ocean, S to the Strait of Gibraltar, which separates it from Africa (Gibraltar itself is a British possession.). The E and SE coast of Spain, from the French border to the Strait of Gibraltar, is washed by the Mediterranean. In the W, Spain borders on the Atlantic Ocean both N and S of its border with Portugal. The small republic of Andorra is wedged between France and Spain in the Pyrenees. Administratively, Spain is divided into fifty provinces. However, the division into seventeen geographic and historic regions (autonomous communities), generally corresponding to the old Christian and Moorish kingdoms of Spain, has been maintained for most practical purposes.
Spanish summers are often very hot, but winters vary sharply, being mild in coastal areas and colder inland. The center of Spain forms a vast plateau (Spanish Meseta Central) extending from the Cantabrian Mountains (N) to the Sierra Morena (S) and from the Portugese border (W) to the low ranges that separate the plateau from the Mediterranean coast (E). It is traversed from W to E by mountain chains—notably the Sierra de Guadarrama—and the valleys of the Duero (Douro), the Tagus, and Guadiana rivers. Except for some fertile valleys, the central plateau is arid and thinly populated; wheat growing, viticulture, and sheep raising are the principal rural activities. The plateau comprises Castile-León, Castile–La Mancha, and Madrid, which form the heart of Spain, and Extremadura, which is in the W. The chief cities, other than Madrid, are Burgos, Valladolid, León, Zamora, and Salamanca in Castile-León; Toledo in Castile–La Mancha; and Badajoz in Extremadura. To the NE of the central plateau is the broad valley of the Ebro River, which traverses Aragón and flows into the Mediterranean. Aragón has Zaragoza as its chief city; it is historically and geographically connected with Catalonia, which occupies the Mediterranean coast from the French border to the mouth of the Ebro. Barcelona, the chief Catalan city, is the largest port and the second largest city of Spain.
The W Pyrenees and the N coast, paralleled by the Cantabrian Mountains, are occupied by Navarre, with the city of Pamplona; the Basque Country, with the ports of Bilbao, San Sebastián, and Santander; and Asturias, with Oviedo and the port of Gijón. The extreme NW, occupied by Galicia, has a deeply indented coast and the excellent ports of La Coruña, El Ferrol, and Vigo. Along the E coast, S of Catalonia, extend the regions of Valencia and Murcia, named after their chief cities. The Balearic Islands, with Palma as their capital, are off the coast of Valencia. The southernmost part of Spain, S of the Sierra Morena, is Andalusia; it is crossed by the fertile Guadalquivir valley. The chief cities of Andalusia are Seville, Córdoba, and Granada , the Mediterranean port of Málaga, and the Atlantic port of Cádiz. The Sierra Nevada, rising from the Mediterranean coast, has the highest peak (Mulhacén, 11,411 ft/3,478 m) in continental Spain.
Population
The Spanish people display great regional diversity. Separatist tendencies remain particularly strong among the Catalans and the Basques. Castilian has become the standard Spanish language, but Catalan (akin to Provençal), Galician (akin to Portuguese), and Basque (unrelated to any other living European language), are still spoken and written extensively in their respective districts. Roman Catholicism, the predominant religion in Spain, was the official religion until 1978, but its role in Spanish public and private life has declined. Illiteracy is high among the lower classes despite laws compelling elementary education. Spain had thirty-six universities in 1990, including those of Navarre, Salamanca, Madrid, and Barcelona.
Economy
Primarily an agricultural country, Spain produces large crops of wheat, sugar beets, barley, tomatoes, olives, citrus fruit, grapes, and cork. The best-known wine regions are those of Rioja, in the upper Ebro valley, and of Málaga and Jerez de la Frontera, in Andalusia. Agriculture is handicapped in many regions by lack of mechanization, by insufficient irrigation, and by soil exhaustion and erosion. The major industries produce textiles, iron and steel, and chemicals. Motor vehicles, diesel and electric motors, and machinery are produced, in addition to a variety of consumer goods such as shoes, toys, radios, televisions, and home appliances. There are also beverage and tobacco industries. Industries are concentrated chiefly in the Madrid region; in Valladolid; in Catalonia, which has large textile, automotive parts, and electronics manufacturing; in Valencia; and in Asturias and the Basque country, where the rich mineral resources of the Cantabrian Mountains (iron, coal, and zinc) are exploited. Copper is mined extensively at Río Tinto; other mineral resources include lead, silver, tin, and mercury. Petroleum is found near Burgos. Fishing, notably for sardines, tunny, cod, and anchovies, is an important source of livelihood, especially on the Atlantic coast, and fish canning is a major industry. Spain’s greatest trade is with France, Germany, Italy, Great Britain, Portugal, the Netherlands, and the U.S. Among leading exports are fruit, wine, and other food products, ships, footwear, machinery, and chemicals; major imports include machinery, petroleum, iron and steel, and transport equipment. Tourism is Spain’s greatest source of income. Formerly considered a poor country, Spain has made great economic progress in recent decades, but it still lags behind most of Western Europe. Though industry has grown considerably since the 1950s, Spain still has a large trade imbalance. Overland communications are generally poor. Most Spanish railroads, unlike those of the rest of Western Europe, use broad-gauged tracks, although some regional systems consist of narrow-gauge railroads. In 1989 construction began on a high-speed standard-guage railroad system from Madrid to Seville.
History to 409 A.D.
Civilization in Spain dates back to the Stone Age. The Basques may be descended from the prehistoric men whose art has been preserved in the caves at Altamira. They antedated the Iberians, who mixed with Celtic invaders at an early period. Because of its mineral and agricultural wealth and its position guarding the Strait of Gibraltar, Spain was known to the Mediterranean peoples from very early times. The Phoenicians passed through the strait and established (9th century B.C.) colonies in Andalusia, notably at Cádiz and Tartessus (possibly the biblical Tarshish). Later the Carthaginians settled on the E coast and in the Balearic Islands, where Greek colonies also sprang up. The Romans conquered E and S Spain, but met strong resistance elsewhere, notably in the N. The fall (133 B.C.) of Numantia marked the end of organized resistance, and by the first century A.D. Roman control was virtually complete. Roman rule brought political unity, law, and economic prosperity. Christianity was introduced early; St. Paul is supposed to have visited Spain, and St. James the Greater is its apostolic patron.
History - 409 A.D. to 1492
In A.D. 409, Spain was overrun by the first wave of Germanic invaders, the Suevi and the Vandals. They were followed by the Visigoths, who forced the Vandals to emigrate into Africa and established (419) their kingdom in Spain and S Gaul. Visigothic society was rent by a clash of Germanic, Hispano-Roman, and Jewish influences. When, in 711, a Muslim Berber army under Tariq Ibn Ziyad crossed the Strait of Gibraltar into Spain, Roderick, the last Visigothic king, was defeated, and his kingdom collapsed. The Moors, as the Berber conquerors were called, soon conquered the entire peninsula except for Asturias and the Basque country. Reconquest (La Reconquista) by Christian forces would take until 1492. In the Moorish cities Muslims, Jews, and Christians lived side by side in relative harmony and mutual tolerance. Their excellent craftsmen and industries were famous throughout Europe, and their commerce prospered. Agriculture, helped by extensive irrigation systems, was productive under the Moors. To the Christian nobles of N Spain, particularly of Castile and León, the flourishing cities and countryside to the S were a constant temptation. The united state of Aragón and Catalonia, commercially more prosperous than the other Christian kingdoms, was less active in La Reconquista and was more concerned with its Mediterranean empire—the Balearics (which for a time formed the separate kingdom of Majorca), Sardinia, Sicily, and Greece. Portugal also, after winning its independence in the 12th cent., developed as an Atlantic sea power and took part only in local campaigns against the Moors. It was thus under Castilian leadership that La Reconquista was completed, and it was the Castilian nobility that formed the nucleus of the class of feudal magnates—the grandees—who were the ruling class of Spain for centuries after the Moors had been expelled.
History - 1492 to the 16th Century
The fall of Granada (1492) made Ferdinand V and Isabella I rulers of all Spain. In the same year, in their zeal to achieve religious unity, the Roman Catholic rulers expelled the Jews from Spain. Until 1492 the Jews and the Muslims had been allowed to live in reconquered territory. From the time of the Spanish Inquisition (1478), however, attempts at conversion were made more forcibly, often including confiscation of property, torture, or murder, usually by auto-da-fé. The Inquisition was not restricted to Jews and Moors, and even those who did convert were often persecuted. The expulsion of the Jews deprived Spain of part of its most useful and active population. Many went to the Levant, to the Americas, and to the Netherlands, where their skills, capital, and commercial connections benefited their hosts.
The Mudéjares, as the Muslims in reconquered Spain were called, were not immediately expelled, but after an uprising they were forcibly converted (1502) to Christianity. Many of the Moriscos [Christian Moors] secretly adhered to Islam After many persecutions, they were finally expelled in 1609. In spite of the expulsion of 1492, a large population of Christian converts remained in Spain, and as members of the educated elite, continued to make significant contributions to Spanish culture. The Jewish-Moorish legacy to Spain and to Western Europe is immense. Moorish architecture has left a deep imprint on Spain; its most famous example is the Alhambra of Granada. Arabic scholars such as Averroës and Jewish scholars such as Maimonides had a major share in the development of Christian scholasticism.
Material legacies of Moorish Spain included the great steel industry of Toledo, the silk industry of Granada, the leather industry of Córdoba, and the intensive plantations of rice and citrus trees. By fostering the exploitation of central Spain for sheep grazing, Ferdinand and Isabella unwittingly prepared the ruin of much land that had been fruitful under the Moors. The major economic revolution that occurred during their reign was, however, the discovery (1492) of America by Columbus. By the Treaty of Tordesillas (1494), Spain and Portugal divided the world into two spheres of influence. Almost all of the Americas (except what are now Brazil, Canada, and most of the U.S.) and the Philippines were added to the Spanish world empire in the 16th century. Gold and silver, the primary objectives of the conquistadores, flowed into Spain in fabulous quantities.
History - 16th Century to 1556
Spain in the 16th century (the “Golden Century”) was the first power of the world, with an empire “on which the sun never set,” with fleets on every sea, and with a brilliant cultural, artistic, and intellectual life. In the Italian Wars (1494–1559), Spain triumphed over its chief rival, France, and added Naples and the duchy of Milan to its dependencies. When Charles I (elected Holy Roman emperor in 1519 as Charles V, first of the Hapsburg kings (who ruled Spain 1516–1700), succeeded Ferdinand V, Spain was still divided into separate kingdoms and principalities, united chiefly in the person of a common ruler. Each kingdom had its own customary law. Castile was nominally ruled jointly by Charles and his mother, Joanna, until Joanna’s death. The centralizing policies of Charles’ predecessors had curtailed some of the local powers, particularly in Castile, but Charles’ efforts to continue the centralizing process and his fiscal policies resulted in an uprising of the cities—the war of the Comunidades—in 1520–1521. The rising was suppressed, and its leader, Padilla, was executed.
History - 1556 to 1588
By the time Charles abdicated (1556) in Spain in favor of his son Philip II, Spain was on its way to becoming a centralized and absolute monarchy. Under Philip II the process was continued. During the 16th century the church enlarged its already dominant position in Spanish life. The Spanish Inquisition, organized by Tomás de Torquemada in the late 15th century, reached its greatest power in the 16th century under Philip. At the same time the Counter Reformation was advanced in Spain by St. Ignatius of Loyola, St. Theresa of Ávila, and St. John of the Cross. With Spain, Philip had also inherited Sicily, Naples, Sardinia, Milan,Franche-Comté, the Netherlands, and all the Spanish colonies. His religious policies, fiscal demands, and high-handed rule precipitated the Dutch struggle for independence. The N provinces of the Netherlands shook off the Spanish yoke, but the S provinces (see Netherlands, Austrian and Spanish ) were again subjugated. Spanish military power, which achieved its greatest successes against France, leading to the Treaty of Cateau-Cambrésis (1559), and in the naval victory at Lepanto over the Turks (1571), was on the decline.
History - 1588 to 1701
As the champion of Catholicism in Europe, Spain unsuccessfully intervened in the French Wars of Religion by sending an army to support the Catholic League against Henry IV. The rivalry on the seas between Spain and England culminated in the attempted conquest of England by the Spanish Armada (1588); its complete failure at immense cost weakened Spain for a decade. Under Philip II’s successors, Philip III and Philip IV, Spain was drawn into the Thirty Years War (1618–1648), prolonged by war with France until 1659. The peace treaties made France the leading power of continental Europe. The wars of Louis XIV of France cost Spain further territories and military prestige. Portugal, united with Spain by Philip II in 1580, rebelled and regained its independence in 1640. The political weakness of Spain was complicated by the absence of a direct heir to Charles II, who succeeded Philip IV in 1665. The pro-French party at the Spanish court ultimately won out when Charles II designated Louis XIV’s grandson, Philip (later Philip V of Spain), as successor.
History - 1701 to 1767
The War of the Spanish Succession (1701–1714) broke out upon Charles’ death. The Peace of Utrecht confirmed Philip V on the Spanish throne, but it transferred the Spanish Netherlands, Milan, Naples, and Sardinia to Austria and Sicily to Savoy. With the support of France, Spain regained (1735) Naples and Sicily in the War of the Polish Succession. In the Treaty of Paris of 1763, Spain lost Florida to Britain but was compensated with Louisiana by France. In the American Revolution, Spain sided with the U.S. and France and recovered Florida in the Treaty of Paris of 1783. These, however, were short-lived successes. The economy of Spain had steadily deteriorated since the reign of Philip II. The colonization of the vast Spanish Empire and the many costly wars had impoverished the country. Inflation led landowners to increase their holdings. The population had greatly increased and the peasants lived in misery. Under Philip V’s successors, Ferdinand VI and Charles III, the ministers Ensenada and Floridablanca made basic reforms. Internal transportation was improved. Agricultural colonies were formed for better utilization of the land. The colonial trade was freed of centuries-old regulations and restrictions. Trade and commerce, especially in Cádiz and Barcelona, were stimulated.
History - 1767 to 1833
The Jesuits were expelled from Spain in 1767 as part of an effort to subordinate church to state. Charles IV, who succeeded Charles III, was an incompetent monarch. Drawn into the French Revolutionary Wars and the Wars of Napoleon I, Spain suffered its greatest humiliation in 1808 with the successive abdications of Charles and his son, Ferdinand VII, the installation of Joseph Bonaparte on the Spanish throne, and the occupation of the country by French troops. However, the rigor and heroism displayed by the common people of Spain in their struggle against the conquerer was an important factor in the eventual downfall of Napoleon. By 1814 the Spanish resistance forces and the British under Wellington had expelled the French, and Ferdinand VII was restored under a constitution drawn up in 1812 at Cádiz by the first national Cortes of Spain. The constitution restricted the power of the Spanish monarch and did away with the special representation of the nobility and the church in parliament. It also formally ended the Inquisition. The nationalist and liberal upsurge that swept over Spain and its overseas empire during the Peninsular War was focused, somewhat incomprehensibly, on the person of Ferdinand VII. At home, the liberal and radical groups attacked the very institution of the monarchy; overseas, they brought about the independence of the Latin American nations. By 1825 all Latin America except several territories in the West Indies had gained independence. In Spain itself, Ferdinand’s refusal to honor the 1812 constitution led to the revolution of 1820, put down in 1823 by French troops acting for the Holy Alliance.
History - 1833 to World War I
Shortly before his death (1833), Ferdinand altered the law of succession in favor of his daughter, Isabella II, and to the detriment of his brother, Don Carlos. Isabella succeeded under the regency of her mother, Maria Christina, but her succession was contested by the Carlists in a bitter war that raged until 1839. Her turbulent reign (1833–1868), which ended in abdication, was a series of uprisings, military coups d’etat, new constitutions, and dictatorships. After the abdication (1868) of Isabella, the Cortes set up a constitutional monarchy and chose Amadeus, duke of Aosta, as king. Unable to obtain the cooperation of all factions, Amadeus abdicated in 1873. The short-lived first Spanish republic (1873–1874) was torn by another Carlist War (1872–1876) and by the cantonalist movement in the S, notably in Cartagena, which attempted to establish authorities independent of the central government. The Bourbon Alfonso XII, son of Isabella, was placed on the throne by a coalition of moderate parties, and in 1876 a new constitution was adopted. By the end of the 19th century the Socialist and Anarcho-Syndicalist parties began to gain a wide following among the lower classes, particularly in industrial Catalonia, rural Andalusia, and in the mining districts of Asturias. Strikes and uprisings, usually suppressed with great brutality, became characteristic features of 20th-century Spain. As the church had become identified with the landowners, anticlerical feeling was violent among the revolutionary, and even among liberal elements. The loss of most of the remainder of the Spanish Empire in the Spanish-American War (1898) prompted a period of self-examination that produced a cultural renaissance.
History - World War I to 1938
Under Alfonso XIII (reigned 1886–1931), Spain remained neutral in World War I. In 1923 a new outbreak in Catalonia was suppressed and resulted in the establishment of a military dictatorship under Primo de Rivera. Widespread opposition forced Primo de Rivera’s resignation in 1930; in 1931, after a great republican victory in municipal elections, Alfonso XIII was deposed and the second republic established. Under the new president, the moderate liberal Alcalá Zamora, the regime instituted progressive reforms, including the distribution of church property but met widespread opposition from rightist groups and also from the extreme left. There were serious separatist and Anarcho-Syndicalist uprisings in Catalonia. The government shifted to the right after the 1933 elections, and in 1934 a miners’ uprising in the Asturias was put down with much bloodshed. The Popular Front (republicans, Socialists, Communists, and syndicalists) was victorious in the national elections of 1936. Before the government under Manuel Azaña had time to carry out its program, a military rebellion precipitated the great Spanish Civil War of 1936–1939. The Insurgents, who soon came under the leadership of General Francisco Franco, embraced most conservative groups, notably the monarchists, the Carlists, most of the army officers, the clericalists, the landowners and industrialists, and the fascist Falange (Nationalist Front). Their forces received the immediate military aid of Germany and Italy. The Loyalists were supported by the Popular Front parties and by the nationalists in Catalonia and the Basque country, which had at last been granted autonomy. Because of the nonintervention policy of Britain and France, the Loyalists received virtually no outside support except for an international brigade and some meager aid from the USSR. Despite military inferiority and bloody internal divisions, the Loyalists made a remarkably determined stand, particularly in central Spain.
History - 1938 to 1956
By the beginning of 1938, however, the territory held by the Loyalists had shrunk drastically, and with the fall (January 1939) of Barcelona the war was almost over. Madrid surrendered in March 1939. The Loyalist government and many thousands of refugees fled into France, and the government of Franco was soon recognized by all major powers except the USSR. A dictatorship was set up under Franco. The church was restored to its property and its favored position, although there was much friction between church and state. The Falange was made the sole legal party, and the leftist opposition was energetically suppressed. The Cortes and Catalan and Basque autonomy were abolished. Although it gave aid to the Axis, Spain remained a nonbelligerent in World War II. The Cortes was reestablished in 1942. The UN, refusing to recognize the constitutionality of the Franco regime, urged its members in 1946 to break diplomatic relations with Spain; this resolution was not rescinded until 1950. Spain entered the UN in 1955. An agreement with the U.S. in 1953 provided for U.S. bases in Spain and for economic and military aid.
History - 1956 to 1966
In 1956, Spanish Morocco became part of the independent state of Morocco; in 1968, Spanish Equatorial Guinea became independent; and in 1969 Ifni was ceded to Morocco. Spain has claimed sovereignty over Gibraltar, and in 1968 it closed the frontier with that British colony. The border was reopened in 1985, and in 1987 Spain and the U.K. forged an agreement that would have allowed joint use of the Gibraltar airport, but Gibraltar rejected the agreement. Political unrest, partly over the problem of succession to the Franco regime, became increasingly evident in the 1950s, and at the start of the 1960s the church, which had long been silent, began to voice some opposition to aspects of the dictatorship. In 1962 a series of strikes, beginning in the coal fields of Asturias, gave indication of widespread discontent. Basque separatism posed another serious problem for the regime.
History - 1966 to 1977
A new organic law (constitution) was announced by Franco in 1966. It separated the posts of head of government and chief of state, provided for direct election of about one-quarter of the members of the Cortes, gave married women the vote, made religious freedom a legal right, and ended Falange control of labor unions. The forming of new political parties was still discouraged. Press censorship was ended in 1966, but strong guidelines remained. Economically, Spain progressed dramatically in the 1960s and early 1970s, stimulated in part by the liberal economic policies espoused by Opus Dei; growth was particularly pronounced in the tourist, automotive, and construction industries. The year 1975 was marked by escalating terrorist activity in the Basque country on the part of the militant separatist organization ETA (Euskadi ta Askatasuna), the death of Franco, and the beginning of the reign of King Juan Carlos. These events ushered in a period of political reform and rapid decentralization.
History - 1977 to 1988
Juan Carlos opened the new bicameral Cortes in 1977. The Falange was dissolved in 1977 as well, and the Communist party was legalized shortly thereafter. A new constitution, which replaced the fundamental laws under which Spain had been governed since 1938, was ratified in 1978, giving Spanish politics a more democratic character. The constitution, which formally established a parliamentary monarchy and universal adult suffrage, also introduced a provision for the establishment of autonomous regions. Catalonia and the Basque country were granted limited autonomy in 1977, the Balearic Islands, Castile-León, and Extremadura in 1978, and Andalusia and Galicia in 1980. Regional political parties are active in national politics, and other national parties have emerged since 1975. In 1982, for example, a socialist majority was elected to the Cortes in parliamentary elections. Spain also expanded its international role; it was admitted into NATO in 1982 and was made a member of the European Economic Community (now the EU) in 1986. Spain continued to enjoy economic growth as a result of increased domestic and foreign investment in the 1980s. However, Spain had an unemployment rate of 16.4% in 1990, one of the highest in Europe.
History - 1988 to Present
In 1988, a general strike prompted the government to increase workers’ unemployment benefits and salaries for civil servants. In 1989 six Basque separatists were imprisoned for their participation in terrorist bombings, and three newly elected Cortes members (also members of the ETA) were expelled for failing to pledge allegiance to the Spanish constitution. Thus, the Basque separatist issue remains unresolved. Also in 1989, Spain became head of the European Communities (EC) Council of Ministers and joined the European Monetary System. When parliamentary elections were called by prime minister Gonzalez on October 29, 1989, results indicated that the ruling socialist party was losing its popularity, while the Izquierda Unida, a Communist-led coalition, gained ten more seats in the Cortes. Spain hosted the 1992 Summer Olympics at Barcelona. The March 11,2004 terrorist bomb attacks in Madrid led to the downfall of the Conserative government of Prime Minister, Jose María Aznar and the election of a Socialist, Jose Luis Rodriquez Zapatero.
Government
Spain has had a constitutional monarchy since 1975. King Juan Carlos I, who became the head of state after Franco’s death, has the ability to ratify laws, dissolve the legislature, and propose candidates for the office of prime minister; he is also head of the armed forces. Spain’s bicameral legislature, the Cortes, consists of the congress of deputies and the senate, both of whose representatives are elected every four years in provincial elections. The legislature’s powers include the ability to ratify, repeal, or reform laws and to approve international treaties. Spain’s executive branch consists of the president (prime minister), vice presidents, and heads of ministries. Its responsibilities include the regulation of international and national policies and defense. The king proposes the prime minister, who then must be approved by the Cortes. Each of the autonomous regions forms its own parliament and regional government and exercises legislative and executive authority in the manner outlined by the national constitution. Jose Luis Rodriquez Zapatero continues as head of government with the title of President of the Government.
