Learn more about Spain:
- Myths and Misconceptions About Spain
- Essential Facts About Spain
- Interesting Facts About Spain: Geography
- Interesting Facts About Spain: Culture
- Interesting Facts About Spain: Food
- Interesting Facts About Spain: Wine
- The capital of Spain is Madrid, though it didn't have a cathedral until the 19th century and so was not technically a city. See a picture of Madrid cathedral
- Spain is split into 17 autonomous communities: Madrid, Catalonia, Valencia, Andalusia, Basque Country, Asturias, Galicia, Aragon, Balearic Islands, Canary Islands, Castilla-La Mancha, Castilla-Leon, Extremadura, La Rioja, Murcia and Navarra. Madrid is the capital of the region of the same name as well as the capital of the whole country, while Barcelona is the capital of Catalonia and Seville is the capital of Andalusia. See Spanish autonomous community flags
- The Spanish currency is the Euro, a currency it shares with 17 other European countries, including neighboring France, Portugal and Andorra. Before the Euro, the Spanish currency was the peseta. When the Spanish are speaking of large sums of money (such as when talking about salaries), they still use pesetas. See this euro converter
- Spain is a monarchy, which was restored after the death of dictator General Franco in 1975. The present monarch, King Juan Carlos I, is the last monarch in Europe to hold absolute power (which he inherited from Franco) and arguably the only European monarch to voluntarily cede that power.
- The heir to the throne, Felipe, is married to a former TV newsreader. They met while covering the Prestige shipwreck in Galicia.
- Though José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero is called 'presidente' in Spanish, he is actually the Prime Minister ('presidente' is short for 'presidente del gobierno': he is president of the government but Prime Minister of the country, although this term is not generally used in Spanish). The ruling party is the left-of-center PSOE ('Partido Socialista Obrero Español', the Spanish Socialist Worker Party).
- Spain claims sovereignty over Gibraltar, a British enclave on the Iberian peninsula. Read more about the Issue of Gibraltar's Sovereigty
- At the same time, Morocco claims sovereignty over the Spanish enclaves of Ceuta, Melilla in north Africa and the islands of Vélez, Alhucemas, Chafarinas, and Perejil. The Spanish attempt to reconcile the difference between Gibraltar and these territories in a generally confused manner.
- Portugal claims sovereignty over Olivenza, a town on the border between Spain and Portugal.
