Spain

Why Spain works

Spain, officially the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa, featuring the southernmost point of continental Europe and standing as the largest country in Southern Europe. Its territory spans most of the Iberian Peninsula along with the Canary Islands in the Eastern Atlantic, the Balearic Islands in the Western Mediterranean, and the autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla in mainland Africa; peninsular Spain borders France, Andorra, and the Bay of Biscay to the north, the Mediterranean Sea, Gibraltar, and Morocco to the east and south, and Portugal and the Atlantic to the west. Madrid is the capital and largest city, with Barcelona, Valencia, Zaragoza, Seville, Bilbao, and Málaga among the country's other major urban areas.

In early antiquity the Iberian Peninsula was inhabited by Iberians, Celts, and other pre-Roman peoples before the Roman conquest created the province of Hispania, which became deeply Romanised and later Christianised; after the fall of the Western Roman Empire, tribes from Central Europe took the peninsula, setting the stage for the later Muslim era and Reconquista that shaped much of Spain's medieval history. Covering 505,992 square kilometres, Spain is the world's fiftieth-largest country and Europe's fourth-largest, and its highest peak, Mount Teide on Tenerife, rises 3,715 metres as the third-largest volcano in the world measured from its base; the Portugal–Spain border, at 1,214 kilometres, is the longest uninterrupted border within the European Union.

Spanish architecture reflects that layered history: fine examples of Islamicate architecture from the Western Islamic tradition were built in the Middle Ages in Córdoba, Seville, and Granada, with stucco decoration becoming a stylistic mark of Al-Andalus, while the Christian kingdoms developed their own pre-Romanesque style in relative isolation before integrating Romanesque and Gothic influences. Spanish music is often associated abroad with flamenco, a West Andalusian genre not widespread outside that region, alongside a strong classical tradition that has produced composers including Isaac Albéniz, Manuel de Falla, and Enrique Granados and performers such as Plácido Domingo and Montserrat Caballé, supported by more than forty professional orchestras and opera houses including the Teatro Real and the Gran Teatre del Liceu.

Spain's climate divides into three main zones: a Mediterranean climate with warm or hot, dry summers that predominates across the country, in warmer and cooler variants depending on distance from the coast; a semi-arid climate across the southeastern quarter and other scattered regions; and cooler, wetter zones in the north and northwest, including much of Galicia. Spanish cuisine varies along similar geographic lines, with Mediterranean Spain, from Catalonia to Andalusia, built around seafood dishes such as pescaíto frito, cold soups like gazpacho, and rice dishes including paella from Valencia and arròs negre from Catalonia, while inland Castile favours thick soups such as Castilian garlic soup and substantial stews like cocido madrileño, alongside food preserved by salting or immersion in olive oil.

Spain's calendar includes a mix of religious, national, and local public holidays, with each municipality permitted up to fourteen a year, and its National Day falling on 12 October. Among its festivals, San Fermín in Pamplona is best known for the encierro, or running of the bulls, which draws more than a million attendees annually and has become one of the country's most internationally recognised fiestas; other major festivals include La Tomatina tomato fight in Buñol, the carnivals of the Canary Islands, the Falles in Valencia, and Holy Week observances in Andalusia and Castile and León.

• Spain — Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Text adapted from the linked articles under CC BY-SA 4.0; edited for length.

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