Spain

 

Country in Europe

Spain, on Europe’s Iberian Peninsula, is really 17 autonomous regions, each with its own geography and culture. The capital, Madrid, is home to the Royal Palace and singular Prado museum, housing works by European masters, and Segovia to the north has a fairy-tale medieval castle and Roman aqueduct. Catalonia’s capital, Barcelona, is defined by Antoni Gaudí’s quirky modernist architecture, including the Sagrada Família basilica.

Capital: Madrid

Dialing code: +34

ISO code: ESP

Currency: Euro

Official language: Spanish

Tourism

Although historical sites and unique cultural features have always made Spain attractive to foreign visitors, the tourist boom that began in the mid-1950s was based primarily on the recreational assets of the Mediterranean seashore areas. The most popular areas are the Costa Brava, Costa del Maresme, Costa Dorada in the east and Costa del Sol in the south of Spain. The popularity of the Costa de la Luz in the south along the Atlantic Ocean is growing fast over the last few years. But the government tries to prevent too much building of supersized luxurious hotels and apartments (like the Mediterranean coast) because the biggest and most beautiful nature reserve of Europe is also in this area, the Coto Doñana. Every year, millions of migratory birds stay here for the winter. But the winter of 1999 was so dry that most of the swamps dried out and the birds left to another place.
Next to it's beautiful climate, beaches and nature, Spain alshas a rich cultural history. The many beautiful cities, like Sevilla and Córdoba in Andalucia and Barcelona, are very popular among tourists who want to see something more than only sea and beaches.