While renowned for its tourism, Spain has much more to offer with breath taking landscapes, untouched countryside and traditions that go back centuries. Located in Southern Europe, the Kingdom of Spain was originally under Islamic control prior to a number of wars that resulted in the independent Spain of today.
Like Britain, Spain had been very progressive in building an Empire that took in the likes of Cuba, Puerto Rica, Philippines and Guam – although these were all lost to the US in the Spanish-American war of 1898. Further colonies were later sold off to German, thereby reducing the span of the Spanish Empire.
The demographics of Spain are still highly influenced by the colonies of old, with the country still proving very popular with Latin America, Eastern Europe and North Africans. Such was the flood of immigrants at the turn of the century that the Spanish Authorities instigated an amnesty whereby all “illegal inhabitants” were granted residency thereby ensuring the government were able to prevent the emergence of an underground culture.
While the political scene in Spain has historically been fairly volatile, with tensions between different areas of the country, this appears to have calmed of late. This has made Spain the second largest country in Western Europe and the European Union. It has also entrenched itself with having the tenth largest economy by nominal GDP and the 15th highest Human Development Index in the world. It is also a member of the United Nations, European Union, NATO, OECD and the WTO. [click to continue…]
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