Spain

Lore & Background

In early antiquity, the Iberian Peninsula was inhabited by Iberians, Celts, and other pre-Roman peoples. The Roman conquest created the province of Hispania, which became deeply Romanised and later Christianised. After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the peninsula was conquered by tribes from Central Europe, among them the Visigoths, who established the Visigothic Kingdom centred on Toledo. In the early 8th century, most of the peninsula was conquered by the Umayyad Caliphate, with Al-Andalus centred on Córdoba. The northern Christian kingdoms launched the Reconquista, culminating with the fall of the Nasrid Kingdom of Granada. The dynastic union of the Crown of Castile and the Crown of Aragon in 1479 under the Catholic Monarchs is often seen as the de facto unification of Spain as a nation state. During the Age of Discovery, Spain led the exploration and conquest of the New World, completed the first circumnavigation of the globe, and established one of the largest empires in history. In the 18th century, the Nueva Planta decrees centralised Spain under the Bourbons. The 19th century witnessed the victorious Peninsular War (1808–1814) against Napoleonic forces and the loss of most American colonies amid liberal–absolutist conflicts. These struggles culminated in the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939) and the Francoist dictatorship (1939–1975). With the restoration of democracy and entry into the EU, Spain experienced a major economic boom and social transformation.

In Their Own Story

The late afternoon sun bathes the Plaza Mayor in Madrid, casting long shadows against the ochre facades of centuries-old buildings. A street musician plucks the strings of an acoustic guitar, the melancholic notes of a flamenco song drifting through the air, mingling with the scent of roasting chestnuts and fresh coffee from nearby cafes. Tourists wander past the bronze statue of King Charles III, while locals pause to chat, their voices rising in the rhythmic cadence of Castilian Spanish. In this moment, the weight of empires past feels light, replaced by the vibrant pulse of a nation that has mastered the art of living life with passion and color.

Reader's Guide

Spain is a secular parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy, with King Felipe VI as head of state. A developed country, it has a high nominal GDP per capita globally and an advanced economy that ranks among the largest in the world and the fourth-largest in the EU. The official language at the national level is Spanish, the world's second-most spoken native language, although other regional languages have co-official status in their respective autonomous communities.

Did You Know?

• The name of Spain (España) comes from Hispania, the name used by the Ancient Romans for the Iberian Peninsula.
• The etymology of the term Hispania remains uncertain.
• Roman coins struck in the region from the reign of Hadrian show a female figure with a rabbit at her feet.
• Archaeological research at Atapuerca indicates the Iberian Peninsula was populated by hominids 1.3 million years ago.
• The best-known artefacts of prehistoric human settlements are the paintings in the Altamira cave of Cantabria, created from 35,600 to 13,500 BCE by Cro-Magnon.