The most interesting facts about Spain

One of the oldest European monarchies, one of the most beautiful countries of modern Europe, Spain can please both a lover of cultural tourism, and a student looking for new experiences. She will also please the fan of outdoor activities and natural attractions. Interesting facts about Spain, whose traditions go back to the time of the Roman Empire, are popular with lovers of antiquity.

One language for twenty-nine countries

Assuming that the language is one of the most important components of any culture, it can be safely asserted that Spain has become the ancestor of national cultures in more than twenty-nine countries where the Spanish language is recognized as official.

The most important interesting fact about Spain is that the national language of the country appeared in the medieval kingdom of Castile, which occupied the central part of the Iberian peninsula, and quickly spread around the world, together with the Spanish conquistadors, who discovered new lands for their king.

Active Spanish colonization has led to the fact that ninety percent of Hispanic people live today in the Western Hemisphere. For example, in Mexico, where Spanish is the official language, one hundred and nine million people live, while in Spain there are forty-seven million.

Interesting facts about Spain: briefly

Despite the widest distribution of Spanish around the world, Spain itself is not linguistically so monotonous. And here it is worth adding to the interesting facts about Spain that in the state they speak in eight languages, which include: Spanish, Catalan, Galician, Aragonese, Aran, Asturian, Basque and Valencian, which some linguists consider just the dialect of the Catalan language.

Today, in the small national languages, very few people speak the country, since during Franco's time a policy of violent assimilation of national minorities was conducted. However, in the late eighties, attempts were made to revive some national languages, and newspapers and radio stations broadcasting in Catalan and Aragonese began to be created for this purpose.

Basque Country

Telling interesting and unusual facts about Spain, one can not but mention the fact that separatist tendencies are extremely strong in the country. For example, in the Basque country there is a nationalist party whose main task is to separate the region from the rest of the kingdom.

Basque nationalists, not satisfied with the autonomous status of their region, have repeatedly committed terrorist attacks on Spanish state institutions, but never achieved independence. The territory of a small nation is still controlled by Spain.

Interesting facts about the Basque country are popular with lovers of European history and philology, because the national language of this historical region not only does not belong to the Romance languages, but is not even part of the group of Indo-European languages, which makes it unique and mysterious.

One of the oldest monarchies

A list of interesting facts about Spain can not do without the story of the royal dynasty that ruled Spain since the XVlll century. It may seem that this is a very short time for European monarchies, but it should be taken into account that this is a Bourbon dynasty, which is known in Europe since the Xlll century.

This is one of the oldest royal dynasties, which dates back to the family of the Capetian dynasty, which made a huge contribution to the creation of the French statehood. For more than a thousand-year history, the dynasty ruled in France, in Sicily, in Naples and Spain. And since 1964 the representatives of the dynasty gained power over the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. Thus, we can talk about the kinship of the rulers of Spain and Luxembourg.

Shards of the Empire

Once, one of the greatest empires in the history of mankind ceased to exist, but has left a legacy throughout the world in memory of itself. From Mexico to the Philippines, one can find perfectly preserved examples of colonial architecture. The churches, ports and fortresses built during the heyday of Spanish power still serve people.

Although the time of the colonial empires remains in the past, Spain still continues to manage certain territories that are not on the European continent. First of all, we are talking about the Canary Islands, lying in the Atlantic Ocean and remote from Africa, at most, for a hundred kilometers.

However, there are more interesting cases. For example, in the territory of the Kingdom of Morocco, Spain still owns two territories. Ceuta and Melilla have a special status and very great importance for the Spanish statehood. They serve as a kind of reminder of past greatness, and the Spaniards in no way want to part with them, although this creates some problems.

Ceuta and Melilla. European borderlands

The autonomous city of the Spanish Kingdom is located on the territory of Africa and on the one side it borders the Kingdom of Morocco, and on the other it is washed by the waters of the Mediterranean Sea.

Such unusual geographical position of the 85 thousandth city requires a special management system. And this is a very interesting fact about Spain and its relations with Morocco, which, due to the special proximity of the two countries, are very important for the whole European Union.

When it comes to the relationship between Spain and Morocco, first of all the issue of illegal migration from Africa to Europe is raised. In order to prevent the entry of migrants into Ceuta, a special wall has been built, and the port of the city has border and passport control.

Approximately the same border rules also apply in the territory of another half-enclave of Spain - the port city of Melilla, founded in the Vl. BC. E. The Phoenicians. For a long time the city was under the control of the Carthaginians, then passed under the authority of the Roman Empire, and today it is the border city of the European Union, so desired for the numerous refugees from Africa.

What else we do not know about this country

In the next 2 sections we will present 10 interesting facts about Spain.

The fact is number one: no matter how strange it may seem, Spain has a common land border with Great Britain. This is possible due to the fact that on the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula is the British colony - Gibraltar, which is the cause of long-standing disputes between the two countries.

The second fact: Spain is a multinational country, whose inhabitants speak eight languages, and some regions of the country have achieved independence for many decades. Catalonia and the Basque Country require full sovereignty and insist on holding a referendum on independence.

The third interesting fact is that the country is ruled by the oldest royal dynasty of Europe, and its kings are related to other monarchs.

Tourism: cultural and environmental

Spain is the fourth most popular tourist destination in the world, behind in this rating only France, China and the US, and this is the fourth interesting fact about Spain.

At the same time, the list of objects considered to be in the global domain and located on the territory of Spain, consists of forty-four positions, and this is only three objects less than in Italy.

An interesting fact number six: the oldest rock painting in Europe, is located in the northern region of Cantabria. The cave of El Castillo is painted with colorful drawings, which, according to some scientists, appeared there more than 40,000 years ago.

Spain has possessions on the territory of Africa and has not only a sea border but also a land border with Morocco, and this is one of the most interesting facts of the political history of Europe.

Spain is considered one of the sunniest countries in Europe and this, of course, pleases beach lovers. However, farmers have a hard time, because they require tremendous efforts to grow hygienic crops. Do not forget that the only desert of Europe is in the Spanish region of Almeria.

The ninth interesting point, which is worth mentioning, is that most Spanish speakers live not in Spain but in Mexico, and this was made possible by the active colonial policies of the kingdom of Castile.

In addition, Spain is rightly considered the most mountainous country in the European Union, because more than half of its territory falls on mountains and plateaus, and on the Canary Islands there are even active volcanoes.

In Spain, interesting facts and events are very popular among tourists, and numerous festivals, religious holidays attract travelers from all over the world.