Vital Statistics

Population: 40,450,000 (2007)
Area: 504,880 sq. km (194,885 sq. miles)
Capital: Madrid
Language: Spanish (Castilian), plus Catalan, Basque and Galician
Religion: Roman Catholic
Time Zone: GMT +1 hour except for Canary Islands, which use GMT
Currency: Euro, divided into 100 cents
Electricity: 220 volts
Weights & Measures: Metric
International Dialling Code: +34

The Place

To the ancient Greeks, it was the land where Hercules' golden apples grew; to the Arabs, it was the ground floor of heaven; to writers such as George Orwell and Ernest Hemingway, it was an arena where history skittered between heroic feats and tragedy, and bullfighters flirted with death in the work of an afternoon. Few other places so dramatically stimulate the imagination. Isolated from the rest of Europe behind the Pyrenees, Spain was, for a long time, a mysterious, half-mythical country better-known for fictional inhabitants - Don Juan, Don Quixote and Carmen - than its real ones. Spain has changed beyond recognition since the demise of the ancien régime of General Franco in 1975. It has become a mainstream western European country and in the process of transition the old clichés and the rough charm which so delighted early visitors have been consigned to history. In their place, Spain has vastly improved transport networks, an incredible choice of hotels and restaurants, and an increasing respect for its national heritage, both man-made and natural.

Some things, however, have not changed, and your trip will have a couple of constants. One is light: the sunshine northern Europeans flock to bask in; the burnished red-gold that suffuses whole cities; the lunar contrasts of sun and shadow; the light El Greco, Velázquez and Picasso saw and painted by. The other is the tremendous vitality and sociability of the people, which is observed in cafés and strolling Sunday evening crowds, in exuberant fiesta crowds, and in the dignified courtesy of almost any stranger you ask for directions.

You can visit Spain for its impressive buildings and museums, or its immense landscapes and abundant wildlife; but in the end it is the human, optimistic outpouring of everyday life that often makes the biggest impact on the visitor.

The People

There are marked differences between people from the north, the south, the east and the centre. It has often been said that the Spanish nation is a myth, a dream of politicians and ideologues. Many people in the Basque Country and Catalonia wouldn’t describe themselves as Spanish except in the most reluctant and half-hearted of senses. Only support for Spain’s football team in international competitions seems capable of awakening any sense of national pride. Fun in Spain goes hand in hand with being in a large, noisy crowd. For many reasons, the main one being the sunny weather, which keeps everyone outdoors for most of the year, gregariousness is the norm. The larger the gathering, the larger the potential audience and the potential for showing off. Naturally, there is a fair amount of boasting, but the pillar of Spanish joie de vivre is an internal self-sufficiency that needs no material support. It is expressed through wit, grandiloquence, appearance, courtesy, generosity and pride.

10 Things...

...you probably didn't know about Spain:

1. A full third of the average Spaniard's income is spent on food, drink and tobacco. 
2. It is a fallacy that bulls charge only red. Bulls are colour blind, but they have an innate tendency to attack anything that moves. 
3. Spain's superb but expensive jamón ibérico is made from native black-hooved pigs. The better-known jamón serrano comes from white pigs. 
4. Legend has it that the British will remain in Gibraltar as long as the Barbary apes survive. When extinction threatened them in 1944, Winston Churchill ordered reinforcements. 
5. It is estimated that over the past 500 years one in three Galician men has left their homeland. Most have gone to Cuba, Argentina, Uruguay or Venezuela - perhaps the most famous immigrant's son is Cuban President Fidel Castro. 
6. Bullfighting on foot first began in the Andalusian town of Ronda in the early 18th century when a noble and his horse were upended by a charging bull. A bystander intervened and, using his hat as a lure, managed to draw the bull away from the hapless rider. 
7. Flamenco can trace its roots as far back as the 4th century BC, with the hedonistic Tartessans, who came to Spain from Africa and who were famed for their music and dance. 
8. After Switzerland, Spain is Europe's most mountainous country: the average altitude of the peninsula is around 600 metres (2,000 ft). 
9. Many of Spain's great sherry families were originally from France, England and Scotland.
10. Antoni Gaudí, Spain's most famous architect, died after being hit by a trolley bus. In spite of his great reputation he was mistaken for a tramp and taken to a paupers' hospital ward. a good place to start arranging your climb.

Tourist offices

National

SPAIN

Regional

ANDALUCÍA
ARAGÓN
PRINCIPADO DE ASTURIAS
ISLAS BALEARES 
ISLAS CANARIAS
CANTABRIA 
CASTILLA-LA MANCHA
CASTILLA Y LEÓN 
CATALUÑA 
CEUTA
EXTREMADURA
GALICIA
LA RIOJA 
COMUNIDAD DE MADRID
MELILLA
REGIÓN DE MURCIA
COMUNIDAD FORAL DE NAVARRA
PAÍS VASCO
COMUNIDAD VALENCIANA