Spain
Name
| Official name | Kingdom of Spain — Reino de España (Spanish), Regne d'Espanya (Catalan and Valencian), Reino de España (Galician), Espainiako Erresuma (Basque), Reiaume d'Espanha (Aranese); Spain (España) the short form; "the Spanish State" (el Estado español) in the Constitution's own wording of 1978; ESP |
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| Former names | Hispania of Rome (218 BC to the 400s), the provinces of Tarraconensis, Baetica and Lusitania; the Visigothic kingdom of Toledo (507 to 711); al-Andalus of the Umayyads (711 to 1492 — the Emirate of Córdoba of 756, the Caliphate of 929, the taifas, the Almoravids and Almohads, the Nasrid Granada); the Christian kingdoms of Asturias (718), León, Castile, Navarre, Aragon and the County of Barcelona; the Catholic Monarchs' union of 1479 and the "Spanish Monarchy" of the Habsburgs (1516–1700) and the Bourbons (1700–); the First Republic (11 February 1873 to 29 December 1874); the Second Republic (14 April 1931 to 1 April 1939); the "Spanish State" of Franco (1936/39 to 1975); the Kingdom of Spain again from the Law of Succession of 1947 and the Constitution of 1978 |
| Demonym | Spanish; Spaniard — español, española; the Catalans, Basques, Galicians, Andalusians, Valencians and the rest by their nations and regions |
| Meaning of the name | "España" from the Latin "Hispania," Rome's name for the peninsula it took from Carthage — from the Phoenician of Gadir (Cádiz) of about 1100 BC by the usual account, "i-shepan-im," "the land of the hyraxes" (the rabbits the Phoenicians took for them) by the reading of the encyclopedias, "the hidden land" or "the land of metals" by others, the Greek "Hesperia," "the western land," by the poets; "Iberia" from the Iber, the Ebro, the Greeks' name; "Sepharad" in Hebrew; "al-Andalus" from the Vandals by the old guess and from a Berber or Gothic word by the newer; "Plus Ultra" the motto since Charles V; "Las Españas," "the Spains," the plural of the kingdoms until the 1800s |
| Motto | "Plus Ultra" — "Further beyond," in Latin, on the ribbon around the Pillars of Hercules of the coat of arms, the device of Charles V of 1516 that reversed the "Non Plus Ultra," "nothing further," of the Strait of Gibraltar once the Americas lay beyond it; "Una, Grande y Libre" of the Franco years discarded |
Quick facts
| Capital | Madrid — the capital since Philip II's court moved from Toledo in 1561; about 3.4 million in the city and about 7 million in the Community of Madrid, at 650 m on the Meseta, the highest capital of the EU; the Royal Palace, the Moncloa, the Cortes on the Carrera de San Jerónimo, the Supreme and the Constitutional Courts, the Prado; the "kilometer zero" of the Puerta del Sol; Article 5 of the Constitution its warrant |
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| Largest cities | Madrid, about 3.4 million (about 7 million in the metropolis); Barcelona, about 1.7 million (about 5.7 million), the capital of Catalonia; Valencia, about 830,000; Seville, about 690,000, the capital of Andalusia; Zaragoza, about 690,000; Málaga, about 600,000; Murcia, about 470,000; Palma, about 430,000; Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, about 380,000; Alicante, about 360,000; Bilbao, about 350,000; Córdoba, about 320,000; Valladolid, about 300,000; Vigo, about 290,000; Gijón, L'Hospitalet, Vitoria-Gasteiz, A Coruña, Granada, Elche, Oviedo, Badalona, Terrassa, Cartagena, Jerez, Sabadell, Móstoles, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Pamplona, Almería — by the padrón of 2025 the encyclopedias carry, all rounded |
| Official language | Spanish (Castilian, castellano), the language of the state by Article 3 of the Constitution, of about 500 million speakers of the world and the second mother tongue on Earth after Mandarin, watched over by the Royal Spanish Academy of 1713; co-official in their communities — Catalan (Catalonia, the Balearics; about 9 million speakers), Valencian (the Valencian Community; the same language by the academies), Galician (Galicia; about 2.5 million), Basque (Euskara, the Basque Country and part of Navarre; about 750,000 speakers of the one language of Europe with no known kin) and Aranese, the Occitan of the Val d'Aran; Asturian, Aragonese and the Fala protected; the Constitution's "wealth of Spain" that the 2023 Congress let its deputies speak; Catalan, Basque and Galician pressed for EU official status since 2023; English the first foreign language, Arabic, Romanian and Chinese of the migrants |
| Currency | Euro — EUR, €; 100 cents; since 1 January 1999 (the notes and coins 1 January 2002) at 166.386 pesetas; the Bank of Spain of 1782 (Governor José Luis Escrivá since 6 September 2024) within the Eurosystem; the ECB deposit rate 2.50% since 10 September 2026 (the rises of 11 June and 10 September 2026 after the cuts of 2024–25) |
| Time zone | Central European Time, UTC+1 (UTC+2 in summer, the last Sunday of March to the last Sunday of October), on the mainland, the Balearics, Ceuta and Melilla — Franco's alignment with Berlin of 1940 that keeps Galicia's sun setting at 10 p.m. in June; the Canary Islands on Western European Time, UTC+0 (UTC+1 in summer) |
| Calling code | +34 |
| Internet domain | .es; also .cat, .gal, .eus, .eu |
| ISO 3166 codes | ES · ESP · 724 |
| Vehicle registration code | E |
| Driving side | Right |
| Electricity | 230 V, 50 Hz; plug types C and F |
| Independence | No independence day — a state formed, not freed: 20 January 1479, the union of the crowns of Castile and Aragon under Isabella and Ferdinand (married 19 October 1469); 2 January 1492, the fall of Granada; 14 March 1516, Charles I sole king of all the Spanish realms; 9 June 1715, the Nueva Planta decrees that made one state of the crowns; 19 March 1812, the Constitution of Cádiz; 6 December 1978, the referendum on the Constitution (88.5%), in force 29 December 1978; 12 October, the National Day (Fiesta Nacional), of Columbus's landfall of 1492, by the law of 1987 |
| National days | 12 October, the National Day (the Hispanic Day of the military parade in Madrid); 6 December, Constitution Day; 1 January; 6 January, Epiphany (the Three Kings); Maundy Thursday (most regions) and Good Friday (2–3 April 2026); 1 May, Workers' Day; 15 August, the Assumption; 1 November, All Saints; 8 December, the Immaculate Conception; 25 December; the regional days — 23 April (Aragon, Castile and León), 11 September (the Diada of Catalonia), 25 July (Galicia, Santiago), 9 October (Valencia), 28 February (Andalusia), 2 May (Madrid) — and the fiestas of San Fermín (6–14 July), the Fallas (19 March), the Feria de Abril and Holy Week |
| Constitution | The Constitution of 1978 — drafted by the seven "fathers" of the Cortes elected on 15 June 1977, passed by the Cortes on 31 October 1978, approved in the referendum of 6 December 1978 by 88.5% (turnout 67%), sanctioned by King Juan Carlos I on 27 December and in force from 29 December 1978, the charter of the transition from Franco's dictatorship: a parliamentary monarchy, the "indissoluble unity of the Spanish nation" with the right to autonomy of its "nationalities and regions," the Cortes of two houses, the Constitutional Court, the bill of rights of Title I, the co-official languages; amended twice — in 1992 for the Maastricht Treaty (the EU citizens' vote) and on 27 September 2011 for the balanced-budget rule of Article 135 — and a third time in early 2024 to strike "disminuidos" for "personas con discapacidad"; the royal succession still prefers the male (Leonor the heir because she has no brother); the amnesty law of 30 May 2024 the constitutional quarrel of the decade, upheld by the Constitutional Court on 26 June 2025, by the EU's Court of Justice on 16 July 2026 and, on the embezzlement charges, in the Court's vote of 23 September 2026 that clears Puigdemont's way home — the government's "reconciliation" and the PP's "the price of an investiture" both stated (LAW 2) |
| Population | 49,801,559 on 1 July 2026 (the INE's continuous population statistics), up 444,205 (0.90%) in a year and 104,178 in the quarter, the growth all immigration — 10.29 million foreign-born (20.7%) and 7.44 million foreign nationals (14.9%), the Spanish-born 38.99 million and falling; 48.6 million at the start of 2024, 47.4 million at the census of 2021, 46.8 million (2011), 40.8 million (2001), 30.5 million (1960); 50 million within the year at this pace |
| Area | 505,990 km² (195,364 sq mi) by the usual count (506,030 km² by the encyclopedias'), 0.89% water — the 50th or 51st of the world and the fourth of Europe after Russia, Ukraine and France; the peninsula 493,000 km², the Balearics 4,992 km², the Canaries 7,447 km², Ceuta 18.5 km² and Melilla 12.3 km², the plazas de soberanía (Peñón de Vélez, Alhucemas, the Chafarinas); the exclusive economic zone of about 1 million km²; Gibraltar's 6.8 km² British since 1713 and claimed |
Flag & national symbols
| National flag | Three horizontal stripes of red, yellow and red, the yellow twice the width of each red, with the coat of arms set toward the hoist on the state and war flag (the civil flag plain), in the proportion 2:3 — the "rojigualda," chosen by King Charles III by the decree of 28 May 1785 from twelve designs for the navy's ensign so that Spanish ships could be told from the white Bourbon flags of France and Naples at sea, made the national flag for the army and the state by the decree of 13 October 1843 under Isabella II, replaced by the red-yellow-purple tricolor of the Second Republic from 1931 to 1939, restored by Franco with the eagle of Saint John on the arms, and fixed in Article 4 of the Constitution of 1978 with the arms of the law of 5 October 1981; the colors from the arms of Castile (red on gold) and Aragon (the four red bars on gold) by the heralds, "the blood of the Spaniards and the sun" by the folk.Flag of Spain |
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| Coat of arms | The arms of the Law 33/1981 of 5 October 1981 — the shield quartered of Castile (a gold castle on red), León (a purple lion on silver), Aragon (four red bars on gold) and Navarre (the gold chains on red), with Granada (the pomegranate) in the point and the three fleurs-de-lis of the Bourbon-Anjou escutcheon at the center, under the royal crown, between the two Pillars of Hercules crowned imperial and royal and wound with the ribbon "Plus Ultra"; the arms of the Catholic Monarchs' union of 1479 in their descent, the eagle of Saint John of Franco's arms of 1938 to 1981 removed; on the state flag, the coins, the passports and the seals |
| National anthem | The "Marcha Real" ("Royal March"), also the "Marcha Granadera" — a march of the grenadiers first written down in 1761, declared the "March of Honor" by Charles III on 3 September 1770 and the anthem by custom since, one of the four anthems of the world without official words (with San Marino's, Kosovo's and Bosnia's), the "Himno de Riego" of the Second Republic in its place from 1931 to 1939; the arrangement of Bartolomé Pérez Casas of 1908 as revised by Francisco Grau, fixed by Royal Decree 1560/1997 of 10 October 1997 in a full version of 52 seconds and a short one of 30; the lyrics contests of 1928 (Pemán), 2007 and 2018 all abandoned |
| National motto | "Plus Ultra" — "Further beyond," on the arms |
| National colors | Red and yellow (gold), of the flag; the "rojigualda"; the red of La Roja's shirts; the purple of Castile in the republican tricolor |
| National animal | The bull (the toro bravo of the bullring and the Osborne bulls of the roadsides), by custom, none by law; the Iberian lynx, the emblem of the conservation that took it from 94 animals in 2002 to over 2,000 by 2025; the Spanish imperial eagle; the Iberian wolf; the bear of the Cantabrian range; the Pyrenean ibex lost in 2000 |
| National flower and tree | The red carnation (clavel), by custom, of the fairs of Andalusia; the pomegranate of Granada's arms; the holm oak (encina) of the dehesas by custom, the olive of the 300 million trees the country's tree in fact, the cork oak, the Canary pine; none designated by law |
| National dish | Paella of Valencia (the rice of the Albufera with rabbit, chicken and beans), the tortilla de patatas, the jamón ibérico of the acorn-fed pigs, gazpacho and salmorejo, the cocido madrileño, the pintxos of the Basques, the churros, the tapas of everywhere; the wine of Rioja, Ribera and the cava, the sherry of Jerez; the Mediterranean diet on UNESCO's list of 2013 — widely cited, none designated |
| National sport | Football, by every measure — La Liga, Real Madrid's 15 European Cups and Barcelona's five, the national team world champion of 2010 and 2026 and European champion of 1964, 2008, 2012 and 2024 (the women world champions of 2023); basketball (the world champions of 2006 and 2019, the Gasols), tennis (Nadal's 22 Grand Slams, Alcaraz), cycling (Indurain, the Vuelta), motor racing (Alonso, Márquez), golf (Ballesteros, Rahm), the bullfight, defended and banned by turns (Catalonia's ban of 2010 struck down in 2016), the pelota of the Basques, the Olympic hosts of Barcelona 1992 |
| Heritage listings | UNESCO World Heritage ×50 — the fifth-largest number of any country after Italy, China, Germany and France, from the Alhambra, the Generalife and the Albaicín, the Mezquita of Córdoba, the Escorial, Burgos Cathedral, the historic center of Ávila, Segovia and its aqueduct, Santiago de Compostela and Antoni Gaudí's works of the first lists of 1984–86, through Toledo, Cáceres, Salamanca, Cuenca, Mérida, the Camino de Santiago (1993), Doñana (1994), the cave art of Altamira and the north (1985, 2008), Atapuerca (2000), Teide (2007), the Tower of Hercules (2009), the Pyrenees' Mont Perdu (with France, 1997), Ibiza, the Serra de Tramuntana (2011), the Antequera dolmens (2016), Medina Azahara (2018), Risco Caído (2019), the Paseo del Prado and the Retiro (2021) to the Talayotic Menorca of 2023, 44 cultural, 4 natural and 2 mixed by the usual count; the Intangible Cultural Heritage ×27 — flamenco (2010), the human towers of Catalonia (2010), the Mystery Play of Elche, the Patum of Berga, the Fallas of Valencia (2016), the Mediterranean diet (2013), the falconry, the Wine Horses of Caravaca, the manual bell ringing (2022), the glassmaking and the transhumance (2023), the Asturian cider culture (2024); the biosphere reserves ×55, the most of any country |
| Symbol status | The flag by Article 4 of the Constitution and the Law 39/1981 of 28 October 1981; the arms by the Law 33/1981 of 5 October 1981; the anthem by the Royal Decree 1560/1997 of 10 October 1997, without words; the National Day by the Law 18/1987; the animal, the flower, the tree, the dish and the sport by custom alone |
Geography
| Location | Southwestern Europe — the Iberian Peninsula between the Atlantic (the Bay of Biscay, the Gulf of Cádiz) and the Mediterranean, with the Pyrenees to France and Andorra, Portugal to the west and the Strait of Gibraltar of 14 km to Morocco at the south; the Balearic Islands 80 to 300 km off the east coast, the Canary Islands 100 km off the Sahara, 1,000 km from the mainland, Ceuta and Melilla on the African shore; 36° to 43°47′ N (the Canaries to 27°38′), 9°18′ W to 4°19′ E; Madrid 40°25′ N, 3°42′ W |
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| Land borders | 1,952 km by the Factbook — Portugal 1,224 km (the longest uninterrupted border of the European Union, "La Raya," fixed by the Treaty of Alcañices of 1297), France 646 km (623 by the encyclopedias; along the Pyrenees, by the Treaty of the Pyrenees of 1659 and the Bayonne treaties of 1856–68), Andorra 63 km, Morocco 16 km (Ceuta 8 km, Melilla 10.5 km, the fences of 6 m), Gibraltar 1.2 km (the fence of 1908 taken down and the checks lifted on 15 July 2026 under the EU–U.K. treaty); the Olivenza dispute with Portugal since 1801, dormant; Llívia the Spanish enclave in France |
| Coastline | 4,964 km by the Factbook (about 8,000 km by the ministry's count with the islands and the estuaries) — the Cantabrian cliffs and rias of the Atlantic north, the Galician rias, the Gulf of Cádiz and Doñana, the Costa del Sol, Costa Blanca, Costa Brava and the Ebro delta of the Mediterranean, the Balearic and Canary shores; the Blue Flags of about 640 beaches, the most of any country |
| Highest point | Teide, 3,715 m (12,188 ft), the volcano of Tenerife, Spain's and the Atlantic islands' highest, a national park since 1954 and World Heritage since 2007, the third-tallest volcano of the world from its base; Mulhacén, 3,479 m (3,478 by the encyclopedias — both ways), the highest of the mainland, in the Sierra Nevada of Granada; Aneto, 3,404 m, the highest of the Pyrenees; Torre Cerredo, 2,650 m, of the Picos de Europa; Peñalara, 2,428 m, above Madrid; Moncayo 2,314 m; the Puig Major of Mallorca 1,436 m |
| Lowest point | Sea level — the Atlantic and the Mediterranean; on land the marshes of the Guadalquivir, the Ebro delta and the Albufera of Valencia |
| Mean elevation | About 660 m — the second-highest average of Europe after Switzerland, the Meseta plateau of 600 to 900 m the reason; Madrid at 650 m |
| Rivers | The Tagus (Tajo), 1,007 km, the longest of the peninsula, from the Montes Universales through Toledo to Lisbon; the Ebro, 930 km, the longest wholly in Spain, from Cantabria past Zaragoza to its delta on the Mediterranean, the greatest by flow; the Douro (Duero), 897 km, of Valladolid, the Ribera vineyards and the Portuguese border; the Guadiana, 742 km, of Mérida and the Olivenza line; the Guadalquivir, 657 km, of Córdoba and Seville, the one navigable river, to Sanlúcar; the Júcar, the Segura, the Miño (Minho) of Galicia, the Turia of Valencia; the Iberian rivers all born in Spain and four of them ending in Portugal; the reservoirs of one of the most dammed countries of the world (about 1,200 large dams), La Serena the largest |
| Lakes | Sanabria, the largest natural lake, glacial, 3.5 km², in Zamora; Banyoles in Catalonia; the lagoons of Ruidera (Castile-La Mancha), the Albufera of Valencia (the rice fields of the paella), the Mar Menor of Murcia (the largest saltwater lagoon of Europe, 135 km², given legal personhood in 2022), the Laguna de Gallocanta of the cranes, the Tablas de Daimiel; the reservoirs of La Serena (3.2 billion m³), Alcántara, Buendía and Mequinenza; the Ebro delta and Doñana's marshes |
| Terrain | The Meseta Central, the great plateau of 600 to 900 m that is half the country, split by the Sistema Central (Gredos, Guadarrama) into the northern sub-plateau of the Douro and the southern of the Tagus and the Guadiana, ringed by the Cantabrian Mountains, the Iberian System and the Sierra Morena; the Pyrenees along the French border and the Catalan coastal ranges; the Ebro valley and the Guadalquivir valley, the two great depressions; the Betic ranges of the Sierra Nevada and the Costa del Sol; the coastal plains of Valencia and Murcia; the volcanic Canaries and the limestone Balearics; the only desert of Europe at Tabernas |
| Climate | Three Spains — the Mediterranean of the east, the south and the interior (Köppen Csa and Csb; hot dry summers, mild winters, Seville 36 °C in July, Madrid the continental extremes of 33 °C and 2 °C), the oceanic "green Spain" of the Atlantic north (Cfb; Bilbao and Santiago wet all year, 1,200 to 1,900 mm), the semi-arid southeast of Almería and Murcia (BSh/BSk; under 300 mm) — with the alpine Pyrenees and Sierra Nevada and the subtropical Canaries ("the eternal spring," Las Palmas 18 to 25 °C all year); the records 47.6 °C at Montoro (Córdoba) on 14 August 2021 and −32 °C at Estany Gento in the Pyrenees in 1956; the "gota fría" and DANA cloudbursts of the Mediterranean autumn; the droughts of 2022–24 and the heat waves of 2022, 2023, 2025 and 2026; the Mediterranean the fastest-warming sea |
| Natural hazards | The DANA floods of Valencia of 29 October 2024 (about 230 dead, the deadliest flood of the century in Europe, the Mazón government's alert at 8:11 p.m. the scandal that ended his presidency on 3 November 2025) and the DANA of 2019; the wildfires — 2025 the worst season since 1994 with about 382,000 hectares and four dead by 21 August (Ourense, Zamora, León, Cáceres), 2026 about 150,000 hectares and 16 dead by late July (the Guadalajara, Ávila–Madrid and Castellón fires, 60,000 evacuated, the deep-space antennas of Robledo touched); the heat waves (thousands of deaths a summer by the Carlos III Institute's estimates); the droughts of Catalonia and Andalusia of 2022–24; the blackout of 28 April 2025 (the whole peninsula for 10 to 16 hours, 60 million people, 8 dead, the overvoltage the cause by the government's report of 17 June 2025, ENTSO-E's final report of 20 March 2026 and the Senate's inquiry of April 2026 that blamed Red Eléctrica, the ministry and the regulator); the earthquakes of Lorca (11 May 2011, 9 dead) and the Alborán Sea; the eruption of La Palma of 19 September to 13 December 2021 (85 days, 3,000 buildings); the Adamuz rail disaster of 18 January 2026 (46 dead, 292 hurt, a broken rail on the Madrid–Seville high-speed line); the Madrid train bombings of 11 March 2004 (193 dead) |
| Natural resources | Coal (the Asturian and Leonese pits closed by 2018), lignite, iron (the Basque ore of Bilbao's fortune), copper (Riotinto, mined since the Phoenicians, working again), zinc, lead, tungsten, mercury (Almadén, the world's greatest, closed 2003, World Heritage 2012), gold (Asturias), potash (Catalonia), gypsum, sepiolite (Madrid, the world's largest), fluorspar, the lithium of Cáceres in dispute, the uranium of Salamanca left in the ground; the sun and the wind of Europe's renewable power; the olive of the world's largest crop; the fisheries of Galicia (Vigo, Europe's largest fishing port); the cork of Extremadura and Andalusia (the second producer after Portugal); the water of the Pyrenees and the Cantabrian rivers; little oil or gas (the Casablanca field spent) |
| Land use | Arable about 25%, permanent crops about 10% (the 2.7 million hectares of olives, the vineyards of 950,000 hectares, the largest of the world by area, the citrus of Valencia, the almonds), pasture and the dehesas of Extremadura about 20%, forest about 37% (the pines, the holm and cork oaks, the eucalyptus of Galicia), the irrigated huertas of Valencia, Murcia and the Ebro, the plastic sea of Almería's greenhouses (30,000 hectares, seen from space); the "empty Spain" of the interior provinces emptying since the 1950s; about 27% of the land in the Natura 2000 network by the counts |
| National parks | 16 national parks — Picos de Europa (1918, the first, as Covadonga), Ordesa y Monte Perdido (1918), Teide (1954, the most visited, about 4 million a year), Caldera de Taburiente (1954), Aigüestortes (1955), Doñana (1969, the wetland of the lynx and the birds, dried by the droughts and the strawberries), Tablas de Daimiel (1973), Timanfaya (1974), Garajonay (1981), the Archipiélago de Cabrera (1991), Cabañeros (1995), Sierra Nevada (1999), the Islas Atlánticas de Galicia (2002), Monfragüe (2007), the Sierra de Guadarrama (2013) and the Sierra de las Nieves (2021); the natural parks of the regions by the hundred; the biosphere reserves ×55 |
| UNESCO World Heritage | 50 sites (44 cultural, 4 natural, 2 mixed by the usual count) — the newest the Talayotic Menorca of 2023, the Prado–Retiro of 2021, Risco Caído of 2019, Medina Azahara of 2018; the natural — Doñana, Garajonay, Teide, the Pyrenees–Mont Perdu (mixed, with France), Ibiza (mixed), the beech forests of the joint listing; the fifth country of the list; Altamira "the Sistine Chapel of the Paleolithic"; the Camino de Santiago the first European Cultural Route (1987) |
| Administrative divisions | 17 autonomous communities and 2 autonomous cities — Andalusia (Seville), Aragon (Zaragoza), Asturias (Oviedo), the Balearic Islands (Palma), the Basque Country (Vitoria-Gasteiz), the Canary Islands (Las Palmas and Santa Cruz), Cantabria (Santander), Castile and León (Valladolid by seat), Castilla-La Mancha (Toledo), Catalonia (Barcelona), Extremadura (Mérida), Galicia (Santiago), La Rioja (Logroño), Madrid, Murcia, Navarre (Pamplona), the Valencian Community (Valencia), and Ceuta and Melilla — each with its statute, parliament and president, the "State of the Autonomies" of 1979–83; 50 provinces of the division of 1833 (Javier de Burgos), 8,132 municipalities, the comarcas, the islands' cabildos and consells; the presidents of 2026 — the PP's Juanma Moreno (Andalusia, invested 2 July 2026 without a majority), Isabel Díaz Ayuso (Madrid), Juanfran Pérez Llorca (Valencia, since Mazón's fall of November 2025), Alfonso Fernández Mañueco (Castile and León, with Vox, invested 9 June 2026), Jorge Azcón (Aragon, after 8 February 2026), Alfonso Rueda (Galicia), the PSOE's Emiliano García-Page (Castilla-La Mancha), Adrián Barbón (Asturias) and María Chivite (Navarre), the PSC's Salvador Illa (Catalonia, since 8 August 2024), the PNV's Imanol Pradales (the Basque Country, since June 2024) |
People
| Population | 49,801,559 (1 July 2026, INE) — the fourth of the EU after Germany, France and Italy; 10.29 million foreign-born; the growth of 444,205 in a year all from abroad |
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| Population density | About 98 per km² (2026) — the coasts and Madrid dense (Madrid about 860, the Basque Country 300, the Canaries 300), the "empty Spain" of Soria (about 9), Teruel and Cuenca among the least peopled corners of Europe; four in five people on a third of the land |
| Population growth | About 0.9% a year (2025–26), all immigration — the natural change negative since 2015 (−116,056 in 2024, the eighth year running); 318,005 births in 2024 (−0.8%) and a first rise in 2025 by the provisional count; the projections of the INE to 52 to 55 million by 2050 on the migrants alone |
| Median age | About 45 years — among the oldest of the world; about 20% aged 65 and over, about 14% under 15; the "baby boom" of 1958–77 retiring |
| Life expectancy | 84.01 years at birth (2024, INE) — women 86.53, men 81.38, the longest of the European Union and among the four or five longest on Earth with Japan, Switzerland and South Korea; Madrid the region above 86 |
| Fertility rate | 1.10 (2024), among the lowest of the world with South Korea, Taiwan and Italy, from 2.8 in 1975; the mean age at maternity 32.6, the first birth after 31, the oldest of Europe; a third of the births (33.3%) to mothers born abroad; 175,364 marriages in 2024 |
| Urban population | About 81% — the Madrid metropolis of about 7 million, Barcelona's 5.7 million, Valencia's 1.8 million, Seville's 1.5 million; the coast and the islands filling, the interior emptying; the tourist flats and the housing crisis the politics of the cities (the protests of 2024–26) |
| Adult literacy | About 98.6%; the schooling compulsory from 6 to 16; the tertiary attainment of about 52% of 25-to-34-year-olds, above the EU's; the early school-leaving of 13%, the EU's worst after Romania |
| Ethnic groups | Spanish nationals 85.1%, foreign nationals 14.9% (7.44 million, 2026) — Moroccans (about 950,000), Colombians (about 700,000), Romanians (about 620,000), Venezuelans, Italians, Britons (about 300,000), Chinese, Ukrainians (the refugees of 2022), Peruvians, Hondurans, Ecuadorians, Argentines, Pakistanis, Senegalese; 10.29 million born abroad (20.7%), the nationalized Latin Americans among them; the historic nations of the Catalans, Basques and Galicians; the Roma (gitanos), about 750,000, since the 1400s; the regularization of 2026 for about 500,000 without papers (the decree of 14 April 2026, five months' residence before 1 January 2026, a one-year permit) |
| Languages | Spanish of all; Catalan/Valencian, Galician, Basque and Aranese co-official; Asturian, Aragonese; the Silbo Gomero whistle of La Gomera (UNESCO 2009); the Arabic, Romanian, Chinese, English and Ukrainian of the migrants; Spanish the third language of the internet and of 23 countries |
| Religion | By the CIS barometer of 2026 the encyclopedias carry — Catholic 55.4% (about 18% practicing), atheist 15.3%, agnostic 13.4%, "indifferent" 12.0%, other faiths 3.2% (the Muslims about 2.4 million, the Evangelicals about 1.5 million, the Orthodox of the Romanians, the Jews about 45,000); no state religion since 1978 but the Church's concordat of 1979 and its tax box; the Catholic Spain of the Reconquista, the Inquisition of 1478 to 1834, the missions of the Americas, Teresa of Ávila, Ignatius of Loyola, the Camino; the Pope's visit of 6–12 June 2026 (Madrid, Barcelona, the Canaries) and the blessing of the Sagrada Família's tower on 10 June; same-sex marriage since 3 July 2005, euthanasia since 25 June 2021 |
| Human Development Index | 0.918 (2023), "very high," 28th of the world (UNDP's report of 2025); the Gini of 31.2 (2024) |
| Housing and living | Home ownership about 75%, the highest of the big EU states, the mortgage of the 2008 bust remembered; the housing crisis of the 2020s — prices up 12.9% in the year to Q1 2026 (INE) and the resale asking prices up 17.2% to June 2026 (Fotocasa), a 21-year high, San Sebastián at €7,158 a square meter, Madrid €6,630, Barcelona €5,368; the rents doubled in a decade in the cities, the tourist flats of Airbnb ordered off the platforms, the demonstrations of 2024–26, the Housing Law of 2023 and the rent caps of Catalonia; the pensions of 9.4 million at about €1,500 a month the state's largest bill; the minimum wage €1,221 a month in 14 payments (2026); the siesta a myth, the dinner at 10 p.m. a fact; the 20% relative poverty; the smoking bans and the world's most bars per head |
| Learning and letters | The universities of Salamanca (1218, among the oldest of Europe still open), Valladolid, Barcelona, Complutense of Madrid, the Polytechnics, IE, IESE and ESADE of the business rankings; the PISA of the middle; the eight Nobels — Echegaray (1904), Ramón y Cajal (1906), Benavente (1922), Jiménez (1956), Ochoa (1959, American by then), Aleixandre (1977), Cela (1989), Vargas Llosa (2010, Spanish by passport since 1993); Cervantes' "Don Quixote" of 1605, the first modern novel, Lope, Calderón, Góngora, Galdós, Lorca, Machado, the Generation of '27; Velázquez, Goya, Picasso, Dalí, Miró, Sorolla; Almodóvar and Buñuel; the Prado, the Reina Sofía, the Guggenheim of Bilbao; the Cervantes Institute; the world's second language by native speakers |
| Sport | Football — the World Cup of 19 July 2026 won 1–0 over Argentina at MetLife on Ferran Torres's goal of the 106th minute, Spain's second after 2010, the double with Euro 2024, Rodri the Golden Ball, Unai Simón the Golden Glove, Pau Cubarsí the Best Young Player, seven clean sheets, the first nation to hold the men's and women's (2023) cups at once; the Euros of 1964, 2008, 2012 and 2024; Real Madrid's 15 European Cups, Barcelona's five; La Liga; basketball (world champions 2006, 2019); Nadal's 22 Slams and Alcaraz's; Alonso, Márquez and the Grands Prix; the Vuelta; Barcelona 1992; the Olympic medals of Paris 2024 (18); the 2030 World Cup to host with Portugal and Morocco |
| Diaspora | About 3 million Spaniards abroad by the consular rolls (2025) — Argentina (about 500,000), France (about 300,000), the United States, Cuba, Mexico, Venezuela, Germany, the U.K., Switzerland, Brazil; the emigrants of the 1950s–60s to Germany, France and Switzerland, of the 2010s crisis to London and Berlin; the "Hispanic" world of 500 million Spanish speakers; the Sephardic Jews' citizenship law of 2015 (150,000 applications); the "grandchildren law" of 2022 for the descendants of the exiles (about 1 million applied) |
Government
| Form of government | A parliamentary constitutional monarchy under the Constitution of 1978 — the King head of state, "arbiter and moderator," commander in chief in name; the president of the government (prime minister) invested by the Congress and answerable to it, with a Council of Ministers; the Cortes Generales of two houses; the Constitutional Court, the Supreme Court and the General Council of the Judiciary; the "State of the Autonomies" of 17 communities with powers over health, education, police (Catalonia, the Basque Country, Navarre) and taxes (the Basque and Navarrese "concierto"); a member of the European Union since 1 January 1986 and of the euro area from its start |
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| Monarch | King Felipe VI (Felipe Juan Pablo Alfonso de Todos los Santos de Borbón y Grecia), since 19 June 2014 on the abdication of his father Juan Carlos I (king 22 November 1975 to 2014, in Abu Dhabi since August 2020 amid the inquiries into his fortune, all closed without charge, his memoir of 2025); born 30 January 1968; Queen Letizia (Ortiz Rocasolano, the journalist he married in 2004); the heir Leonor, Princess of Asturias, born 31 October 2005, graduated from the General Air and Space Academy of San Javier on 10 July 2026 as an alférez after her three years in the Army, Navy (the Elcano's voyage) and Air Force academies, off to a politics degree at Carlos III; the Infanta Sofía; the King's words of 16 March 2026 on the conquistadors' abuses; the House of Bourbon-Anjou since 1700 |
| Prime Minister | Pedro Sánchez Pérez-Castejón (PSOE), president of the government since 2 June 2018 — sworn in after the no-confidence motion of 1 June 2018 (180 votes) that removed Mariano Rajoy over the Gürtel verdict; re-elected after the elections of 28 April and 10 November 2019 and 23 July 2023, invested on 16 November 2023 by 179 to 171 with the PSOE, Sumar, ERC, Junts, Bildu, PNV, BNG and CC; born 29 February 1972 in Madrid, an economist and Madrid councillor, the PSOE's secretary-general since 2014 (ousted October 2016, back May 2017); the five days of "reflection" of April 2024 over his wife's case; the European voice on Gaza, the Iran war and the migrants; the "no" to Trump on the bases (28 February 2026), the airspace (30 March) and NATO's 5%; the 2027 candidate "if the PSOE decides so" |
| Cabinet | The Sánchez III government of 21 November 2023 as changed — Carlos Cuerpo, first deputy prime minister and minister of economy, trade and business (first deputy since 27 March 2026, when María Jesús Montero left for the Andalusian race; economy since 29 December 2023 after Nadia Calviño went to the European Investment Bank); Yolanda Díaz (Sumar), second deputy and minister of labor; Sara Aagesen, third deputy and minister for the ecological transition (since 25 November 2024, after Teresa Ribera went to the European Commission); Arcadi España, finance (27 March 2026); José Manuel Albares, foreign affairs; Félix Bolaños, presidency, justice and relations with the Cortes; Margarita Robles, defense; Fernando Grande-Marlaska, interior; Óscar Puente, transport; Milagros Tolón, education (22 December 2025, after Pilar Alegría left for the Aragonese race); Jordi Hereu, industry and tourism; Luis Planas, agriculture; Ángel Víctor Torres, territorial policy; Isabel Rodríguez, housing; Ernest Urtasun (Sumar), culture; Mónica García (Sumar), health; Pablo Bustinduy (Sumar), social rights; Diana Morant, science and universities; Ana Redondo, equality; Elma Saiz, inclusion, social security and migration, and spokeswoman (22 December 2025); Óscar López, digital transformation; Sira Rego (Sumar), youth; 22 ministers, 12 of them women; the attorney general Teresa Peramato since 10 December 2025 (Álvaro García Ortiz convicted by the Supreme Court on 20 November 2025 of revealing secrets, the first attorney general ever convicted, and resigned); the Bank of Spain's José Luis Escrivá; the chief of the defense staff Admiral Teodoro López Calderón |
| The last election | 23 July 2023, the 15th Cortes — the PP 137 seats (33.1%), the PSOE 121 (31.7%), Vox 33 (12.4%), Sumar 31 (12.3%), ERC 7, Junts 7, EH Bildu 6, PNV 5, BNG 1, Coalición Canaria 1, UPN 1; turnout 66.6%; Feijóo's investiture lost 27–29 September 2023 (172 to 178), Sánchez's won 16 November 2023 (179 to 171) on the amnesty pact with Junts; the Senate of 266 with the PP's absolute majority (about 145); the European election of 9 June 2024 (PP 22 of 61, PSOE 20, Vox 6, Sumar 3, Ahora Repúblicas 3, "Se Acabó la Fiesta" 3, Podemos 2, Junts 1, CEUS 1); the regionals of 2026 — Aragon, 8 February (PP 26, PSOE 18, Vox 14, CHA 6; Azcón's second government), Castile and León, 15 March (PP 33, PSOE 30, Vox 14, UPL 3; Mañueco invested 9 June with Vox, 47 to 35), Andalusia, 17 May (PP 53 of 109, down 5 and the majority lost, PSOE 28, its worst ever, Vox 15, Adelante Andalucía 8, Por Andalucía 5; turnout 62%; Moreno invested 2 July at the second vote) |
| Parliament | The Cortes Generales — the Congress of Deputies of 350, elected for four years by closed lists in the 52 provinces by the D'Hondt method (a 3% threshold), in the Carrera de San Jerónimo palace of 1850 of the lions; President (Speaker) Francina Armengol (PSOE) since 17 August 2023; the groups as of 2026 — the PP 137, the PSOE 121, Vox 33, Sumar 26, Junts 7, ERC 7, EH Bildu 6, PNV 5, the Mixed Group 8 (Podemos 4 since its walkout of December 2023, BNG, CC, UPN, the ex-Sumar); the Senate of 266 (208 elected by the provinces, 58 named by the communities), President Pedro Rollán (PP) since 17 August 2023, the PP's absolute majority that returns the government's laws and holds the inquiries (the Koldo commission, the blackout inquiry of April 2026); the budget of 2023 rolled over into 2024, 2025 and 2026 (the 2026 deficit path voted down in December 2025 and the plan abandoned), the "legislature of decrees"; the Catalan, Basque and Galician spoken in the chamber since 19 September 2023 |
| The politics of the year | The year the numbers ran out — the government of 121 plus Sumar's 26 governing on the votes of seven parties, Junts gone since its members' vote of 30 October 2025 (87% for the break), no budget for the third year, the laws passed by decree and lost by the dozen; the courts — the Supreme Court's sentence of 22 June 2026 on the "mask" case (José Luis Ábalos, the transport minister of 2018–21, 24 years and 3 months; his aide Koldo García 19 years and 8 months; the businessman Víctor de Aldama 4 and a half suspended for his confession; criminal organization, bribery, embezzlement, influence-peddling; both men jailed since 27 November 2025), Santos Cerdán, the PSOE's organization secretary, jailed 30 June to November 2025 and awaiting trial, the Civil Guard's search of the PSOE's Ferraz headquarters of 27 May 2026 in the Leire Díez case, Begoña Gómez, the prime minister's wife, sent to trial (the hearing of 9 June 2026) for influence-peddling and misappropriation, David Sánchez, his brother, tried in Badajoz in May–June 2026 over his post, the former prime minister Zapatero's Plus Ultra affair, the attorney general's conviction of 20 November 2025 — Euronews' "nine cases"; the elections — the PSOE's worst-ever Andalusia of 17 May 2026 under Montero, the PP's lost majority there and its dependence on Vox in Castile and León and Aragon, Feijóo's no-confidence motion floated in June 2026 and never filed for want of the PNV and Junts; the Iran war — the bases refused (28 February 2026), the tankers gone (2 March), the airspace closed (30 March), Trump's trade threats, the ambassador to Israel withdrawn for good (11 March); the Adamuz crash of 18 January and the rail strike of February; the regularization of 500,000 migrants (14 April); the Gibraltar treaty (15 July); the World Cup (19 July); the wildfires and the heat; the Constitutional Court's vote of 23 September 2026 on the amnesty and the embezzlement that clears Puigdemont's return; the government's case (the fastest growth of the euro area, record jobs, the migrants, the "world champion" summer, the corruption punished by the courts it did not obstruct) and the opposition's ("a government of a hundred and twenty-one," the "sewers" of the PSOE, the amnesty as the price of power, "elections now") both stated (LAW 2) |
| Next elections | General, by 22 August 2027 (the 15th Cortes' term ends 23 July 2027, the decree due by 29 June 2027; Sánchez says the spring or summer of 2027; the PP says now); the municipal and 12 regional elections of May 2027 (the fourth Sunday, 23 May 2027 by the pattern); Catalonia, the Basque Country and Galicia on their own cycles (2028); the Basque and Galician regionals of 2028; the European of 2029; the polls of September 2026 with the PP first (about 33%), the PSOE second (about 27%), Vox third (about 17 to 19%) and a PP–Vox majority of up to 204 seats by one of them |
| Parties | The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE, of 1879, social democratic, the governing party; Pedro Sánchez secretary-general, Rebeca Torró organization secretary since July 2025 after Cerdán); the People's Party (PP, conservative, the main opposition; Alberto Núñez Feijóo since April 2022, re-elected at the congress of July 2025; Ayuso, Moreno, Rueda, Azcón, Mañueco its barons); Vox (national-populist right; Santiago Abascal since 2014); Sumar (the left platform of Yolanda Díaz of 2023, the junior partner); Podemos (Ione Belarra, in the Mixed Group since December 2023); the Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC; Oriol Junqueras); Junts per Catalunya (Carles Puigdemont, from Waterloo, in opposition since 30 October 2025); EH Bildu (Arnaldo Otegi); the Basque Nationalist Party (PNV; Aitor Esteban since 2025); the Galician Nationalist Bloc (BNG; Ana Pontón); Coalición Canaria; UPN of Navarre; Se Acabó la Fiesta (Alvise Pérez, 3 MEPs of 2024); the Communist Party inside Sumar; the "cordon" politics of the PP–Vox governments in five communities |
| Legal system | Civil law of the Napoleonic line with the Civil Code of 1889 and the regional civil laws (the "fueros" of Catalonia, Aragon, Navarre, the Basque Country, Galicia, the Balearics) — the Constitutional Court of 12 (President Cándido Conde-Pumpido since January 2023, the progressive majority of 7 to 5), the Supreme Court (President Isabel Perelló since September 2024, the first woman) and the General Council of the Judiciary renewed on 25 June 2024 after five years of blockade, the National Court (Audiencia Nacional) of the terrorism and the great frauds, the 17 high courts, the provincial courts, the juries since 1995; the death penalty abolished in 1978 (fully 1995); the Amnesty Law of 30 May 2024 for the Catalan independence process of 2012–23 (about 370 beneficiaries) — the Constitutional Court's upholding of 26 June 2025, the CJEU's of 16 July 2026, the vote of 23 September 2026 on the embezzlement; the special prosecutors' quarrels of the "lawfare" years; the Civil Guard and the National Police, the Mossos, the Ertzaintza; the "only yes is yes" law of 2022 and its 2023 repair; the trans law of 2023; the euthanasia law of 2021; the abortion law of 2010 and its 2023 reform; the animal welfare law of 2023 |
| Defense | The Spanish Armed Forces — about 120,000 active (the Army about 70,000, the Navy about 20,000 with the Marines, the Air and Space Force about 20,000) and about 15,000 reservists, all volunteers since the end of conscription on 31 December 2001, under the King as commander in chief, the defense minister Margarita Robles (since June 2018, the longest-serving) and the chief of the defense staff Admiral Teodoro López Calderón; the budget of about €33 billion in 2025, 2.1% of GDP after Sánchez's €10.5 billion plan of 22 April 2025 that reached NATO's 2% in a year, the exemption from the 5% target Spain wrote into the Hague summit of 24–25 June 2025 (Trump's tariff threats in answer), about 2.1 to 2.2% for 2026; the U.S. bases of Rota (the Aegis destroyers, the Sixth Fleet) and Morón under the treaty of 1988 as amended, refused for the Iran war of 28 February 2026, the airspace closed to the war's aircraft on 30 March 2026; NATO since 30 May 1982 (the referendum of 12 March 1986), the EU's PESCO, the Eurofighter, the A400M, the S-80 submarines of Cartagena, the Juan Carlos I carrier, the Leopard tanks to Ukraine, the F-35 not bought; the Civil Guard of 1844 the third force; the missions in Lebanon (UNIFIL), Latvia, the Baltic air policing, the Red Sea and Cyprus (the Cristóbal Colón of 5 March 2026); the defense exports of Navantia, Airbus and Indra (up 184% on the Ibex in 2025) |
| Foreign policy | The European Union first — a founder of the euro and of Schengen, the presidency of July–December 2023, the push for Catalan, Basque and Galician as EU languages, Teresa Ribera the Commission's executive vice president, Nadia Calviño the EIB's president; the Atlantic alliance kept at a distance — the "no" to the 5%, the Iran war's refusals and the tariff threats of Trump, the ambassador to Israel withdrawn on 11 March 2026 after the recognition of Palestine of 28 May 2024, the arms embargo of September 2025 and the "genocide" of Sánchez's speeches (Israel's "standing with tyrants" in reply); Latin America the second home — the Ibero-American summits, the asylum for Edmundo González of Venezuela (September 2024), the quarrels with Milei (2024) and Bukele; Morocco, the neighbor of everything — the Western Sahara turn of 18 March 2022 that backed Rabat's autonomy plan, the fences of Ceuta and Melilla and the Melilla deaths of 24 June 2022, the customs posts reopened, the 2030 World Cup shared; Algeria and the gas; the U.K. and the Gibraltar treaty of 15 July 2026 that ended the fence and the checks after 118 years; Portugal and the Iberian summits; the Ukraine support (about €1 billion a year, the Patriots); the Sahel and the migrant boats of the Canaries (the record 47,000 of 2024, fewer in 2025–26); China courted by Sánchez's three visits |
| United Nations | Member since 14 December 1955 (with the 15 of the "package deal"), after the exclusion of Franco's Spain in 1946; the Security Council 1969–70, 1981–82, 1993–94, 2003–04 and 2015–16; UN Tourism (the UNWTO) at Madrid; the missions in Lebanon since 2006 (UNIFIL, under Spanish command by turns); the Alliance of Civilizations of Zapatero's of 2005; the Human Rights Council; the UNESCO of the 50 sites |
| Other memberships | The European Union (1 January 1986), the euro (1999), Schengen (26 March 1995), NATO (30 May 1982), the OECD (1961), the Council of Europe (24 November 1977), the WTO, the IMF and the World Bank (1958), the OSCE, the G20 as a permanent guest, the Ibero-American Community, the Union for the Mediterranean (secretariat in Barcelona), the Organization of Ibero-American States, the European Space Agency, CERN (1961; left 1969, back 1983), the ESO; the Cervantes Institute in 45 countries |
Economy
| GDP (nominal) | About US$1.90 trillion (2025, IMF World Economic Outlook of April 2026: US$1,904 billion; US$1,725 billion in 2024) and about US$2.09 trillion projected for 2026 — the 14th or 15th largest of the world by the year (14th in the IMF's 2026 table), the fourth of the euro area after Germany, France and Italy and the fifth of Europe; about €1.68 trillion in 2025 by the INE; the fastest-growing large economy of the euro area of 2024–26 |
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| GDP per capita | About US$38,300 (2025, IMF) and US$41,563 projected for 2026, 32nd of the world; about 92% of the EU average at purchasing power (Eurostat 2024); Madrid at 125% and Extremadura at 70% the span |
| GDP per capita (PPP) | About US$57,000 (2025; US$59,187 projected for 2026, 35th) — the PPP GDP of about US$2.84 trillion (2025) and US$2.98 trillion (2026, 15th) |
| GDP growth | 3.5% (2024), 2.8% (2025) and, for 2026, 2.1% by the IMF of April 2026 or 2.4% by the European Commission's Spring 2026 forecast (1.8 and 1.9% for 2027) — both stated, with the INE's +0.7% in the second quarter of 2026 (+2.6% on the year, the household spending and the investment the engines, the trade a drag) and the Bank of Spain near 2.5%; the recession of 2008–13 (−9% in all, unemployment 27% in 2013), the COVID collapse of −11.2% (2020), the rebound of 6.7% (2021); the "locomotive of Europe" by the Commission's word of 2026 |
| Economy by sector | Services about 74% of GDP (the tourism of about 13% with its supply chain, the finance, the transport, the public sector), industry about 20% (manufacturing about 12% — the cars, the food, the chemicals, the pharmaceuticals, the steel, the ships), construction about 6%, agriculture, fishing and forestry about 2.5%; 22.78 million employed (Q2 2026, the record), about 4 million of them foreign; the Ibex 35 of the banks (Santander, BBVA, CaixaBank), Inditex, Iberdrola, Telefónica, Repsol, Naturgy, Aena, Amadeus, Ferrovial, ACS, Indra, Cellnex; the SMEs of 99% of the firms; the "black" economy of about a fifth by the estimates |
| Currency and prices | The euro; inflation 4.3% in August 2026 (the INE flash; the harmonized 4.5%; the core 2.9%), up from 3.6% in July on the fuels of the Iran war, the Commission's 3.0% for 2026 and 2.5% for 2027 against 2.7% in 2025 and 2.8% in 2024; the ECB deposit rate 2.50% (10 September 2026, the second rise of the year after 11 June); the electricity prices of the world's cheapest midday and the blackout's lessons; the Ibex 35 at a record 17,308 on 30 December 2025 (+49.3% in the year, the second-best ever) and above it in 2026; the Euribor mortgages |
| Tourism | 96.8 million international visitors in 2025 (FRONTUR; +3.5%), the record, the second most visited country of the world after France, spending €134.7 billion (+6.8%), about 13% of GDP with the supply chain and one job in eight — the British first (about 18 million), the French, the Germans, the Dutch, the Italians, the Americans rising; Catalonia, the Balearics, the Canaries, Andalusia, the Valencian Community and Madrid the destinations; about 26 million in the first four months of 2026 (+3.7%); the "tourism-phobia" of Barcelona, Palma and the Canaries, the water pistols of 2024, the tourist-flat crackdown; the Camino's 500,000 pilgrims a year; the cruise ports of Barcelona and Palma; the 100 million aimed at |
| Autos, industry and energy | Cars — the second producer of the EU after Germany and about eighth of the world at about 2.4 million vehicles a year (SEAT/Cupra at Martorell, Volkswagen at Pamplona, Renault at Valladolid and Palencia, Stellantis at Zaragoza, Vigo and Madrid, Ford at Almussafes, Mercedes at Vitoria, the Chinese Chery at Barcelona's old Nissan plant since 2024), nine in ten exported, the battery plants of Sagunto (PowerCo) and Navalmoral; the steel of ArcelorMittal at Gijón and Sestao, the ships of Navantia (Ferrol, Cartagena, Cádiz), the aircraft of Airbus (Getafe, Seville), the trains of Talgo and CAF, the chemicals of Tarragona and Huelva, the pharmaceuticals of Grifols, the food of the world's largest olive-oil and pork exporters (the jamón, the wine of 40 million hectoliters), the textiles of Inditex (Zara, the world's largest fashion retailer, from Arteixo); the semiconductor plan; the "PERTE" of the recovery funds |
| Agriculture and fisheries | The olive — about 45% of the world's oil (1.4 million metric tons in a good year, Jaén alone above Italy), the vineyards of the largest area on Earth (Rioja, Ribera del Duero, La Mancha, the cava of the Penedès, the sherry of Jerez), the citrus of Valencia (the EU's largest), the strawberries and berries of Huelva, the greenhouse vegetables of Almería, the wheat and barley of the Meseta, the rice of the Ebro and the Albufera, the almonds, the saffron of La Mancha, the pigs (the largest herd of the EU, 34 million), the hams of the dehesa, the lamb, the sunflowers; the fishing fleet the largest of the EU (Vigo, A Coruña, Bermeo), the tuna of the Basques, the aquaculture of the mussels of Galicia and the sea bass; the common agricultural policy's €7 billion a year; the farmers' tractors of 2024; the water wars of the Tagus–Segura transfer |
| Services and finance | The banks — Santander (the largest of the euro area by market value), BBVA (its bid for Sabadell failed in October 2025), CaixaBank, Sabadell, Bankinter, Unicaja; the Bank of Spain; the Madrid Stock Exchange (the Ibex 35 of 1992, the record of 30 December 2025); the insurers Mapfre and Mutua; the telecoms of Telefónica; the retail of Mercadona, El Corte Inglés and Inditex; the airlines of Iberia (IAG) and Vueling; the hotels of Meliá, NH, Barceló and RIU, the world's biggest resort owners; the consultancies of the "big four" of Madrid; the ports; the remittances out of about €10 billion; the aid economy of NextGenerationEU's €163 billion (€80 billion in grants) through 2026 |
| Trade | Exports of goods about €387 billion (2025, +0.7%) and imports about €425 billion, the deficit widening to €38 billion in the first seven months of 2026 (+30%; the energy and the Chinese imports) — cars and parts, machinery, food and drink (the olive oil, the fruit, the pork, the wine), chemicals and pharmaceuticals, fuels refined, steel, textiles and fashion; to France (about 15%), Germany, Portugal, Italy, the United States (about 5%, hit by the tariffs of 2025–26), the U.K., Morocco, the Netherlands, Belgium, China; from Germany, China (up 21% in 2026), France, Italy, the U.S., the Netherlands, the gas of Algeria and the U.S., the oil of Nigeria, Mexico and the Gulf; the services surplus of the tourism about €90 billion that turns the current account positive (about 2.5 to 3% of GDP in 2025) |
| Energy | The renewable revolution — renewables 55.5% of the power of 2025 (56.6% with self-consumption; wind 21.6%, solar photovoltaic 18.4%, hydro 12.4%, the rest solar thermal and biomass), nuclear 19% (the seven reactors at five plants — Almaraz, Ascó, Cofrentes, Trillo, Vandellós — of the phase-out of 2027–35 the PP and the owners want reopened), gas 16.8%, coal nearly gone (the last plants closing); 75.5% CO2-free; demand 256 TWh (+2.8%); the capacity of 142.5 GW (solar about 50 GW, wind 32 GW); the midday prices at zero and below; the blackout of 28 April 2025 and the grid rules that followed; the gas from Algeria by the Medgaz pipeline and the LNG terminals (six or seven, the most of Europe), the Iran war's price shock of March 2026; the oil imported wholly (Repsol's refineries); the 81% renewable target of 2030 and the 2050 neutrality; the electric cars slow, the solar roofs fast; the world's cheapest industrial power by day |
| Labor and wages | Employed 22.78 million and unemployed 2.50 million (Q2 2026, EPA) — the unemployment rate 9.87%, the lowest since the first quarter of 2008 and below 10% for the first time since, from 27% in 2013 and 12% in 2023, still the highest of the EU with Greece's; the youth rate about 24%; the temporary contracts cut by the labor reform of 2022 (the "fijos discontinuos"); the minimum wage €1,221 a month in 14 payments (€17,094 a year; 2026, +4.4%, the Royal Decree 126/2026 of 18 February), the average wage about €2,400 gross a month; the 37.5-hour week bill of 2025 defeated in the Congress (September 2025) and back by decree in parts; the unions UGT and CCOO, the employers' CEOE; the four million foreign workers; the "Kellys" of the hotels; the pensions reform of 2023 and the retirement age of 67 by 2027 |
| Public finances | No budget of its own since the one for 2023 — the accounts of 2023 rolled over into 2024, 2025 and 2026 (the deficit path voted down 11 December 2025), the spending by decree; the deficit 2.4% of GDP in 2025 and 2.4% projected for 2026, 2.0% for 2027 (the European Commission, May 2026), from 10% in 2020; the public debt 100.7% of GDP in 2025 falling to 99.6% in 2026 and 98.9% in 2027, about €1.7 trillion, the "Article 135" rule suspended and back; the ratings A+ (S&P, mid-September 2025), A3 (Moody's, 26 September 2025) and A (Fitch, 29 September 2025), all upgraded within a fortnight, all stable; the ten-year bond at about 3 to 3.5%; the tax take about 38% of GDP, the regional financing quarrel (the Catalan "singular" deal of 2024–26), the Basque and Navarrese "cupo"; the NextGenerationEU funds of €163 billion; the pension bill of €200 billion; the Court of Auditors |
| Income classification | High income (the World Bank); a developed economy of the IMF's "advanced" group; an OECD member since 1961 and a DAC donor since 1991; the aid of about 0.25% of GNI |
Transport & infrastructure
| Airports | Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas (MAD), 68.2 million passengers in 2025 (+3%), the fifth of Europe, Iberia's hub of the Latin American routes, the Terminal 4 of 2006, the expansion to 90 million under way; Josep Tarradellas Barcelona–El Prat, 57.5 million; Palma de Mallorca, 33.8 million; Málaga–Costa del Sol, 26.8 million; Alicante–Elche, 20.0 million; Gran Canaria, 15.8 million; Tenerife Sur, 14.0 million; Valencia, Seville, Ibiza, Lanzarote, Bilbao, Fuerteventura, Tenerife Norte, Menorca; Aena, the world's largest airport operator by passengers, at 321.6 million in its 46 Spanish airports in 2025 (+3.9%; 384.8 million with London Luton and Brazil), 1.37 million metric tons of cargo; Iberia, Vueling, Air Europa (Turkish Airlines' stake), Ryanair the largest carrier of the country, Binter of the Canaries; the airport of Ciudad Real built for nothing |
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| Ports | Valencia, 5.66 million TEUs in 2025 (+3.4%), the largest container port of Spain and the Mediterranean and the fourth of the EU after Rotterdam, Antwerp and Hamburg; Algeciras, about 4.8 million TEUs, the transshipment gate of the Strait and the largest by tonnage (about 110 million metric tons); Barcelona, about 3.9 million TEUs and the cruise capital of the Mediterranean (3.7 million cruise passengers); Bilbao, Las Palmas, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Tarragona, Cartagena, Huelva, Vigo (Europe's largest fishing port), Palma of the ferries, Ceuta; the state ports of Puertos del Estado (46 ports of general interest, about 600 million metric tons); Balearia, Trasmed and Naviera Armas of the island ferries; the Strait crossings of Algeciras–Tangier |
| Railways | The AVE — 3,973 km of high-speed lines, the longest network of Europe and the second of the world after China's, from the Madrid–Seville line opened for the Expo on 21 April 1992 to the Madrid–Barcelona (2008, 2 h 30 min), Madrid–Valencia (2010), Madrid–Galicia (2021), the Asturias tunnel of Pajares (2023), Murcia (2022) and Burgos–Vitoria of the Basque Y under way; 43.8 million high-speed passengers in 2025, the record, on Renfe's AVE and Avlo, the Italian Iryo and the French Ouigo of the competition of 2021; the Adamuz disaster of 18 January 2026 (46 dead, a broken rail) the deadliest rail accident since Santiago's Alvia of 24 July 2013 (80 dead); the Iberian-gauge network of Renfe and Adif of about 16,000 km, the Cercanías of the cities (Madrid's about a million a day), the Rodalies of Catalonia and its breakdowns (the Gelida crash of 20 January 2026), the Euskotren, the FGC; the Madrid Metro of 1919 (about 295 km, among the ten longest of the world), the Barcelona Metro of 1924, the metros of Valencia, Bilbao, Seville, Málaga, Palma; the Talgo and CAF trains sold the world over; the trains free or cut-price since 2022 |
| Roads | About 166,000 km of road, with about 17,600 km of motorways and dual carriageways (autopistas and autovías), the longest such network of the EU and the third of the world after China's and the U.S.'s, the tolls mostly lifted since 2018–21 (the AP-7 and AP-2 freed in 2021); the radial autovías from Madrid (A-1 to A-6), the AP-7 of the Mediterranean coast, the A-2 to Barcelona, the Vía de la Plata; about 30 million vehicles, 25 million of them cars, the fleet aging (14 years), the electric share about 8% of sales; the DGT and its cameras; the Ceuta–Melilla ferries; the about 1,800 deaths a year on the roads, a third of 2000's |
| City transport | The Madrid Metro, the Cercanías and the EMT buses on the "Abono" of €8 to €20 a month for the young and the old and half-price since 2022; Barcelona's TMB, the T-Casual and the Bicing; the trams of Zaragoza, Seville, Valencia, Bilbao and Tenerife; the taxis and the Cabify–Uber wars; the pedestrianized centers, Pontevedra the model, Barcelona's superblocks, Madrid's low-emission zone; the bicycle lanes of Valencia and Seville; the scooters banned from the trains; the Camino on foot |
| Utilities | Iberdrola, Endesa (Enel's), Naturgy, EDP and Repsol the power and gas, Red Eléctrica the grid (blamed for the blackout of 2025), Enagás the pipes; the water of the Canal de Isabel II of Madrid (1851), the desalination plants of the world's largest fleet after the Gulf (about 700), the Tagus–Segura transfer; Telefónica (Movistar), Orange–MásMóvil, Vodafone; the fiber to 95% of homes, the most of Europe, the 5G of the cities; the recycling and the reservoirs; the post of Correos of 1716 |
| The country | The Alhambra of Granada, the Mezquita of Córdoba, the Giralda and the Alcázar of Seville; the Prado, the Reina Sofía and the Bernabéu of Madrid, the Escorial, Toledo, Segovia's aqueduct, Ávila's walls, Salamanca's Plaza Mayor; Barcelona's Sagrada Família (its central tower of 172.5 m finished and blessed in 2026, the tallest church of the world), the Park Güell, the Ramblas, the Camp Nou; the Camino de Santiago and the cathedral; the Guggenheim of Bilbao and the pintxos of San Sebastián; the Alcázar of Segovia; Valencia's City of Arts and Sciences; the beaches of the Costa Brava, the Costa Blanca, the Costa del Sol, Cádiz and the islands; Ibiza's clubs, Mallorca's Tramuntana, Tenerife's Teide, Lanzarote's Timanfaya; the Picos de Europa and the Pyrenees; Cuenca's hanging houses, Ronda's gorge, the white villages, the Caminito del Rey; the Rioja and the sherry bodegas; San Fermín, the Fallas, the Feria, Holy Week; the Roman Mérida and Tarragona; Altamira and Atapuerca |
History in dates
| c. 1.2 million BC | The oldest human remains of Western Europe at Atapuerca (Homo antecessor of about 850,000 years, the "Sima de los Huesos" of 430,000); the Neanderthals of Gibraltar and El Sidrón; the cave art of Altamira (about 36,000 years, found 1879), El Castillo (40,000, the oldest dated), the Levantine art; the Iberians, the Celts and the Celtiberians, the Tartessos of the Guadalquivir (about 1000 BC), the Basques already there |
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| c. 1100 BC – 218 BC | The Phoenicians found Gadir (Cádiz), the oldest city of Western Europe, and the Greeks Emporion (Empúries, 575 BC); the Carthaginians of Barcid Spain — Cartagena (228 BC), Hannibal's Saguntum of 219 BC and the march on Rome; the Romans land at Empúries in 218 BC and the Second Punic War turns Iberia Roman |
| 218 BC – 409 | Hispania — two centuries of conquest to Numantia (133 BC) and the Cantabrian wars of Augustus (19 BC); the provinces of Tarraconensis, Baetica and Lusitania; the emperors Trajan, Hadrian and Theodosius born in Spain, Seneca, Martial and Quintilian; the aqueduct of Segovia, Mérida, Itálica, Tarraco; Christianity by the 200s, the Council of Elvira of about 306; the Vandals, Suebi and Alans cross the Pyrenees in 409 |
| 507 – 711 | The Visigothic kingdom at Toledo after the loss of Aquitaine — King Reccared's conversion from Arianism at the Third Council of Toledo of 589, the Liber Iudiciorum of 654, Isidore of Seville's "Etymologies"; the Byzantine south (552–624); the kingdom's fall to the Muslims after the Battle of Guadalete of 711 |
| 711 – 1031 | Tariq ibn Ziyad crosses the Strait in 711, Roderic dies at Guadalete, al-Andalus born; Charles Martel at Tours (732); Pelayo's victory at Covadonga of 722 the seed of Asturias and the Reconquista; Abd al-Rahman I founds the Emirate of Córdoba (756) and the Mezquita (785); Abd al-Rahman III proclaims the Caliphate (929), Medina Azahara, Córdoba the greatest city of the West; Almanzor's raids to Santiago (997); the Caliphate's fall of 1031 into the taifas |
| 1085 – 1212 | Alfonso VI of León-Castile takes Toledo (25 May 1085), El Cid takes Valencia (1094); the Almoravids (1086) and the Almohads (1147) of Morocco hold the south; the Cistercians, the Camino, the Toledo school of translators; the crowns of Aragon and Barcelona united by marriage (1137), Portugal independent (1139–43), Navarre; the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa of 16 July 1212 breaks the Almohads — the turning point |
| 1236 – 1348 | Ferdinand III takes Córdoba (1236) and Seville (1248), James I of Aragon Mallorca (1229) and Valencia (1238); the Nasrid Granada the last Muslim kingdom from 1238, the Alhambra; Alfonso X the Wise and the Siete Partidas, the Castilian language of the court; the Mesta of the sheep (1273), the Cortes of León of 1188 the oldest parliament by UNESCO's word; the Aragonese Mediterranean empire of Sicily, Sardinia and Naples; the Black Death of 1348 |
| 1469 – 1492 | Isabella of Castile marries Ferdinand of Aragon (19 October 1469); the union of the crowns (1479); the Inquisition (1478); the war of Granada — Boabdil surrenders on 2 January 1492; the Edict of the Alhambra expels the Jews (31 March 1492); Columbus sails from Palos on 3 August and lands in the Bahamas on 12 October 1492; Nebrija's Castilian grammar, the first of a modern tongue, the same year; the Treaty of Tordesillas divides the world with Portugal (1494) |
| 1516 – 1598 | Charles I (the emperor Charles V), heir to Castile, Aragon, Burgundy and Austria, king from 14 March 1516; the Comuneros crushed at Villalar (1521); Magellan and Elcano round the Earth (1519–22), Cortés takes Tenochtitlan (1521), Pizarro Cusco (1533), the silver of Potosí (1545) and the fleets; Philip II (1556–98) — Madrid the capital (1561), the Escorial, Lepanto (7 October 1571), Portugal annexed (1580), the Armada lost (1588), the Dutch revolt; the "empire on which the sun never set"; the Siglo de Oro of Cervantes, Lope, El Greco |
| 1605 – 1700 | "Don Quixote" (1605, 1615); the expulsion of the Moriscos (1609); Velázquez at court; the Thirty Years' War, Rocroi (1643), the revolts of Catalonia and Portugal (1640), the Peace of the Pyrenees (1659) that fixed the French border, Portugal lost (1668); the decline under Charles II, "the Bewitched," and his death without heir on 1 November 1700 |
| 1700 – 1808 | The War of the Spanish Succession — Philip V of Bourbon against the Habsburg archduke; the Treaty of Utrecht (1713) gives Gibraltar and Menorca to Britain; the Nueva Planta decrees (1707–16) abolish the Aragonese crowns' laws, one Spain; the Bourbon reforms of Charles III (1759–88), the flag of 1785, the anthem of 1770, the Prado, the expulsion of the Jesuits (1767); Trafalgar (21 October 1805) sinks the fleet with France's; Goya |
| 2 May 1808 | The Dos de Mayo rising of Madrid against Napoleon's troops, the shootings of the third; the Peninsular War of 1808–14 with Wellington and the guerrillas, Bailén (1808), the sieges of Zaragoza; the Cortes of Cádiz and the Constitution of 19 March 1812, "La Pepa," the first of Spain and among the first of the world; Ferdinand VII restored (1814) and the Constitution abolished; the American colonies lost from 1810 to Ayacucho (1824), the Philippines, Cuba and Puerto Rico kept |
| 1833 – 1874 | The Carlist Wars (1833–40, 1846–49, 1872–76) over the succession and the fueros; the provinces of 1833; the Glorious Revolution of 1868 deposes Isabella II; the peseta (1868); Amadeo of Savoy (1870–73); the First Republic (11 February 1873 to 29 December 1874); the Bourbon Restoration under Alfonso XII and Cánovas' constitution of 1876, the "turno" of the two parties |
| 1898 | The Disaster — the Spanish–American War, the Maine, Cavite and Santiago de Cuba, the Treaty of Paris (10 December 1898) that ended the empire of 1492 (Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Philippines, Guam); the Generation of '98; Gaudí's Sagrada Família begun 1882; the Tragic Week of Barcelona (1909), the Rif War and the Annual disaster (1921, 10,000 dead), Primo de Rivera's dictatorship (13 September 1923 to 1930), the Ibero-American Exposition of Seville and the Barcelona of 1929 |
| 14 April 1931 | The Second Republic proclaimed after the municipal elections of 12 April; Alfonso XIII into exile; the Constitution of 9 December 1931 — the vote for women (1933), the Catalan statute, the land reform, the Church quarrel; the revolution of Asturias of October 1934; the Popular Front wins on 16 February 1936; the murders of Castillo and Calvo Sotelo of 12–13 July |
| 18 July 1936 | The Civil War — the generals' rising of 17–18 July, Franco flown from the Canaries; the siege of Madrid, Guernica (26 April 1937), the Ebro (1938), the International Brigades and the Condor Legion, the Republic's Barcelona falls (26 January 1939), Madrid on 28 March, "the war is over" on 1 April 1939; about 500,000 dead, half a million exiles, the executions and the prisons of the 1940s; Picasso's "Guernica" (1937) |
| 1939 – 1975 | Franco's dictatorship — the neutrality of the Second World War (Hendaye, 23 October 1940) and the Blue Division, the isolation and the hunger of the 1940s, the Concordat and the U.S. bases pact of 1953, the UN of 1955, the Stabilization Plan of 1959 and the "miracle" of the 1960s (7% a year, the tourism, the SEAT 600, the emigrants to Europe), the Law of Succession of 1947 and Juan Carlos named heir on 22 July 1969, ETA's killing of Carrero Blanco (20 December 1973), the last executions (27 September 1975), Franco dies on 20 November 1975 |
| 22 November 1975 | Juan Carlos I proclaimed king; Adolfo Suárez prime minister (July 1976), the Political Reform Law, the legalization of the Communists (April 1977), the first free elections since 1936 on 15 June 1977, the Moncloa Pacts, the amnesty law of October 1977; the Constitution approved on 6 December 1978 and in force on 29 December; the statutes of Catalonia and the Basque Country (1979); the "Transition" |
| 23 February 1981 | The coup of Lieutenant Colonel Tejero in the Congress and Milans del Bosch in Valencia, defeated by the King's broadcast of 1:14 a.m. (Tejero dies 25 February 2026, aged 93); Felipe González's PSOE wins on 28 October 1982 (202 seats) — 14 years of government, the NATO referendum (12 March 1986), the European Community joined on 1 January 1986, the reconversion and the strikes, the GAL scandal; the Olympics of Barcelona and the Expo of Seville of 1992, the AVE of 21 April 1992, the fifth centenary |
| 1996 – 2004 | José María Aznar's PP (3 March 1996) — the euro (1999), the privatizations, the 5% growth, the Prestige spill (2002), the Iraq war of 2003 with Bush and Blair; ETA's truce and the Ermua of Miguel Ángel Blanco (1997); the Madrid train bombings of 11 March 2004 (193 dead) three days before the election that Zapatero's PSOE won on 14 March |
| 2004 – 2011 | Zapatero — same-sex marriage (3 July 2005), the Catalan statute of 2006 (cut by the Constitutional Court in 2010), the historical memory law (2007), the troops out of Iraq; the boom and the bust of 2008, the unemployment to 20% and past, the "indignados" of the 15-M of 2011, the Article 135 amendment of September 2011; ETA's "definitive cessation" of 20 October 2011; the World Cup of 11 July 2010 (Iniesta's goal) between the Euros of 2008 and 2012 |
| 2011 – 2018 | Rajoy's PP (20 November 2011, 186 seats) — the bailout of the banks (€41 billion, 2012), the cuts, the recovery of 2014; Juan Carlos abdicates and Felipe VI is proclaimed on 19 June 2014; Podemos and Ciudadanos break the two-party system (2015), the two elections of 2015 and 2016; the Catalan referendum of 1 October 2017 and the declaration of 27 October, Article 155, Puigdemont to Brussels, the leaders jailed (the sentences of 14 October 2019, pardoned 2021); the Gürtel verdict and the no-confidence motion of 1 June 2018 (180 votes) that made Sánchez prime minister |
| 2018 – 2023 | Sánchez — the exhumation of Franco from the Valley of the Fallen (24 October 2019), the coalition with Podemos of January 2020 (the first since 1936), COVID-19 (the state of alarm of 14 March 2020, about 120,000 dead by the excess, the −11.2%), the labor reform of 2022, the Ukraine war and the inflation, the Western Sahara turn (March 2022), the Melilla deaths (24 June 2022), La Palma's eruption (2021), the EU presidency (July–December 2023); the election of 23 July 2023 won by Feijóo's PP without a majority, the amnesty pact and Sánchez's investiture of 16 November 2023, the amnesty law of 30 May 2024, Catalonia's Illa (8 August 2024) |
| 29 October 2024 | The DANA of Valencia — 229 dead in the Horta Sud and the Ribera, the alert at 8:11 p.m., the mud, the volunteers, the King and the prime minister pelted at Paiporta on 3 November 2024, Mazón's fall on 3 November 2025; the Sánchez family cases open (Begoña Gómez, April 2024; David Sánchez), the Koldo case (February 2024), the Cerdán bombshell of June 2025; the recognition of Palestine (28 May 2024) |
| 28 April 2025 | The blackout — the peninsula dark at 12:33 for up to 16 hours, 60 million people, 8 dead, the overvoltage; the €10.5 billion defense plan (22 April 2025), the NATO 5% exemption (June); the Cerdán arrest (30 June 2025) and the PSOE crisis; the wildfires of August 2025, the worst since 1994 (382,000 hectares); the arms embargo on Israel (September 2025); the ratings upgrades (September); the ambassador recalled; the Sabadell bid fails (October 2025); Junts breaks (30 October 2025); Mazón resigns (3 November); the attorney general convicted (20 November); Ábalos and Koldo jailed (27 November); the budget plan defeated (11 December); Peramato attorney general (10 December); the Ibex record (30 December 2025) |
| 18 January 2026 | The Adamuz rail disaster — the Iryo train derailed on a broken rail and the Alvia struck it at 19:43 near Córdoba, 46 dead and 292 hurt, three days of mourning, the line closed to 17 February, the drivers' strike of February; the immigration regularization announced (27 January 2026); Aragon votes (8 February); the Adamuz and Gelida inquiries |
| 28 February 2026 | The Iran war — the United States and Israel strike Iran; Spain refuses Rota and Morón for the war, the U.S. tankers leave (2 March), the frigate Cristóbal Colón to Cyprus (5 March), the ambassador to Israel withdrawn for good (11 March), Castile and León votes (15 March), the King's words on the conquistadors (16 March), ENTSO-E's blackout report (20 March), Montero leaves the cabinet for Andalusia and Cuerpo rises (27 March), the airspace closed to the war's aircraft (30 March), Trump's trade threats; the ceasefire of 8 April and the memorandum of 17 June that ended it |
| 14 April 2026 | The regularization decree for about 500,000 migrants; the Senate's blackout report (April); Andalusia votes on 17 May — the PP loses its majority, the PSOE its worst; the Civil Guard at Ferraz (27 May); Feijóo's motion floated and dropped (June); the Pope in Madrid, Barcelona and the Canaries, 6–12 June, and the Sagrada Família's tower blessed on the 10th; Mañueco invested with Vox (9 June); Begoña Gómez's hearing (9 June); the ECB's first rise in three years (11 June); the Supreme Court's sentence on Ábalos and Koldo (22 June); Moreno invested (2 July) |
| 15 July 2026 | The Gibraltar treaty in force, the fence of 118 years down and the checks lifted, Gibraltar inside Schengen's travel area; the CJEU upholds the amnesty (16 July); Spain wins the World Cup at MetLife on 19 July, 1–0 over Argentina, Ferran Torres in the 106th minute, the double with Euro 2024, Rodri the Golden Ball; the wildfires of July (150,000 hectares, 16 dead, the Ávila–Madrid fire of 60,000 evacuated); the house prices at a 21-year high (22 July); the INE's 49.8 million (6 August); the eclipse of 12 August over the north; the CPI to 4.3% (August); the ECB to 2.50% (10 September); the Constitutional Court's vote on the amnesty and the embezzlement (23 September 2026); the general election due by 22 August 2027 — the calendar as it stands |
Records & firsts
| The longest lives of the Union | Life expectancy of 84.0 years (2024), the longest of the European Union and among the four or five longest on Earth; Madrid's above 86; the Mediterranean diet and the health service the usual explanations |
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| The second most visited country | 96.8 million international visitors in 2025, second only to France, spending €134.7 billion; Barajas and El Prat, Palma and Málaga among Europe's busiest airports; Aena the world's largest airport operator by passengers |
| The high-speed rail | 3,973 km of high-speed lines, the longest network of Europe and the second of the world after China's, since the Madrid–Seville of 21 April 1992; 43.8 million passengers in 2025 with three operators on the rails |
| The olive and the vine | About 45% of the world's olive oil and the largest vineyard on Earth by area; the largest pig herd of the EU and the jamón of the dehesa |
| The heritage | 50 World Heritage sites, the fifth-largest number of any country, and 55 biosphere reserves, the most of any; Altamira, the Alhambra, the Camino; the oldest restaurant of the world by the Guinness book, Botín of Madrid (1725); the University of Salamanca of 1218 |
| The tallest church | The Sagrada Família of Barcelona, its central Tower of Jesus Christ of 172.5 m finished and blessed by Pope Leo XIV on 10 June 2026, 144 years after the first stone of 1882 and a century after Gaudí's death — the tallest church of the world |
| The world champions | Football's world champions of 2026 (and 2010) and European champions of 2024, 2012, 2008 and 1964, the women's world champions of 2023 — the first nation to hold both World Cups at once; Real Madrid's 15 European Cups, the most of any club; Nadal's 14 Roland Garros titles |
| The language | Spanish, the mother tongue of about 500 million people, the second of the world after Mandarin and the official language of 21 countries; the Royal Spanish Academy of 1713; Nebrija's grammar of 1492 the first of a modern European language |
| The first constitution | The Constitution of Cádiz of 19 March 1812, among the first written constitutions of the world and the first of Spain; the Cortes of León of 1188, "the cradle of parliamentarism" by UNESCO's Memory of the World listing of 2013 |
| The oldest flag in use | The rojigualda of 28 May 1785, one of the oldest national flags still flown, and the anthem of 1770, one of the four in the world with no words |
| The renewable grid | Renewables 55.5% of the power of 2025 and 75.5% CO2-free, the largest solar fleet of Europe after Germany's, the world's cheapest midday electricity — and the blackout of 28 April 2025, the largest of Europe in decades, 60 million people dark |
| The empire and the first circumnavigation | The first empire "on which the sun never set" (1492–1898); Elcano's completion of the first voyage around the world on 6 September 1522; the Manila galleon of 250 years; the first Atlantic crossing of Columbus of 1492 from Palos |
| The oldest human remains of Western Europe | Atapuerca's Homo antecessor of about 850,000 years and the Sima de los Huesos, the largest trove of fossil humans anywhere; Gadir (Cádiz) the oldest city of Western Europe (about 1100 BC) |
| The lowest births | A fertility rate of 1.10 (2024), among the lowest of the world, and the oldest mothers of Europe at first birth; a population growing all the same, by 444,000 a year, on the immigrants of 20.7% born abroad |
| The motorways and the desalination | About 17,600 km of motorways and dual carriageways, the longest network of the EU and the third of the world; the largest fleet of desalination plants outside the Gulf; the most bars per head of any country, about one for every 175 people |
| The transition | The passage from a 36-year dictatorship to a democracy without a war, by the "Transition" of 1975–82 and the Constitution of 6 December 1978 — the model of the 1980s and 1990s for Latin America and Eastern Europe; the coup of 23 February 1981 undone by a king on television |
Frequently asked questions
What is the official name of Spain?
The Kingdom of Spain — Reino de España in Spanish (Castilian), Regne d'Espanya in Catalan, Reino de España in Galician, Espainiako Erresuma in Basque, the name the Constitution of 29 December 1978 gives the state the Bourbon kings have reigned over since 1700 and the Catholic Monarchs, Isabella of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragon, joined in 1479. "España" descends from the Roman "Hispania," the name Rome gave the whole peninsula it took from Carthage after 218 BC, itself from a Phoenician word the scholars still argue over — "land of hyraxes" (mistaking the rabbits), "hidden land," "land of metals." The medieval kingdoms of Castile, León, Aragon, Navarre and Granada live on in the quarters of the coat of arms, whose motto "Plus Ultra," "further beyond," Charles V took in 1516 to overturn the "Non Plus Ultra" of the Pillars of Hercules at the Strait once the Americas lay past them. It is the country of 49.8 million people, the fourth-largest economy of the euro area and the second most visited on Earth, and the world champion of football since 19 July 2026.
What is the capital of Spain?
Madrid — the capital since Philip II moved the court there from Toledo in 1561 for its place at the center of the peninsula, at 650 m on the Meseta, the highest capital of the European Union: about 3.4 million people in the city, about 7 million in the region and metropolitan area, the second city of the EU after Berlin (the largest by some counts of its urban area); the Royal Palace, the Prado, the Reina Sofía and the Thyssen of the "Paseo del Arte" World Heritage of 2021, the Puerta del Sol and the "kilometer zero" of the roads, the Cortes on the Carrera de San Jerónimo, the Moncloa Palace of the prime minister, the Zarzuela of the king, the Bernabéu and the Metropolitano, Barajas of 68 million passengers; the seat of the government, the Cortes Generales, the Supreme Court and the Constitutional Court, though Spain's Constitution names it only in Article 5. Barcelona (about 1.7 million; 5.7 million in the metropolis), the capital of Catalonia and the second city, of Gaudí's Sagrada Família finished in its central tower in 2026; Valencia (about 830,000), Seville, Zaragoza, Málaga, Murcia, Palma, Las Palmas, Bilbao and Alicante follow.
How big is Spain, and how many people live there?
About 506,000 km² (195,364 sq mi) — 505,990 km² by the usual count and 506,030 by the encyclopedias', the fourth-largest country of Europe after Russia, Ukraine and France and the 50th or 51st of the world, five-sixths of the Iberian Peninsula with the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean, the Canary Islands off Africa, Ceuta and Melilla on the Moroccan coast and the plazas de soberanía, bounded by Portugal, France, Andorra, Gibraltar and Morocco and by 4,964 km of Atlantic and Mediterranean coast. The INE counted 49,801,559 residents on 1 July 2026, up 444,205 in a year, and all of the growth was immigration: 10.29 million residents, 20.7%, were born abroad and 7.44 million, 14.9%, are foreign nationals (Moroccans, Colombians, Venezuelans, Romanians, Britons), while the Spanish-born population fell; 318,005 births against 436,118 deaths in 2024 on a fertility rate of 1.10, among the lowest of the world, a third of the babies born to foreign-born mothers, the median age about 45 and the life expectancy of 84.0 years the longest of the European Union. About 98 people to the square kilometer, four in five in the towns, half of them in the coastal provinces and Madrid; the "empty Spain" of the interior of 10 to 20 to the square kilometer. Spanish (Castilian) is the language of all, Catalan of about 9 million, Galician of 2.5 million, Basque of about 750,000, Valencian and Aranese official beside them.
What are the highest and lowest points of Spain?
Teide, 3,715 m (12,188 ft), the volcano that is the island of Tenerife in the Canaries, the highest mountain of Spain, of any Atlantic island and, measured from the sea floor, the third-highest volcano on Earth, the national park of 1954 and the World Heritage site of 2007, the most visited national park of Spain with about 4 million people a year on its cable car and its trails; Mulhacén, 3,479 m (3,478 by the encyclopedias), the highest of the mainland and of the peninsula, in the Sierra Nevada above Granada and the Alhambra, with Veleta of 3,396 m and the southernmost ski resort of Europe beside it; Aneto, 3,404 m, the highest of the Pyrenees, in Aragon; the Picos de Europa of 2,650 m by the Cantabrian coast; the Sistema Central of the Peñalara (2,428 m) above Madrid; the Meseta, the plateau of 600 to 900 m on which the capital sits, the reason Spain's mean elevation of about 660 m is the second highest of Europe after Switzerland's. The lowest point is the sea, on the 4,964 km of coast, and, on land, the Las Marismas of the Guadalquivir and the Ebro delta at sea level. Between them lie the Ebro and the Guadalquivir valleys, the Pyrenees, the Cantabrian and the Betic ranges, the Tabernas desert of Almería and the volcanoes of the Canaries — La Palma's Cumbre Vieja last erupted for 85 days in 2021.
What currency does Spain use?
The euro (ISO code EUR, €), of 100 cents — since 1 January 1999 as the currency of account and since 1 January 2002 as notes and coins, at 166.386 pesetas to the euro, the peseta of 1868 gone after 134 years; the Spanish euro coins carry the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela (1, 2 and 5 cents), Cervantes (10, 20 and 50 cents) and the king, Juan Carlos I to 2014 and Felipe VI since 2015 (1 and 2 euros); the Bank of Spain, the third-oldest central bank of the world after Sweden's and England's by its descent from the Banco de San Carlos of 1782, under Governor José Luis Escrivá since September 2024, prints and issues for the European Central Bank, whose deposit rate stands at 2.50% after the rises of 11 June and 10 September 2026 against the energy prices of the Iran war — Spain's inflation ran at 4.3% in August 2026 (the harmonized index 4.5%), the fuel the driver, the core rate 2.9%. The Ibex 35 of Madrid rose 49% in 2025 to a record 17,308, the banks and Indra its engines. Clocks keep Central European Time on the mainland and the Balearics (UTC+1, UTC+2 in summer) and Western European Time in the Canaries (UTC+0), the oddity of Franco's alignment with Berlin in 1940; Spain drives on the right.
Who governs Spain?
A parliamentary constitutional monarchy under the Constitution of 1978: King Felipe VI, on the throne since the abdication of his father Juan Carlos I on 19 June 2014, reigns without governing, with his daughter Leonor, Princess of Asturias, the heir, graduated from the third of her three military academies in July 2026; the Cortes Generales of the Congress of Deputies (350) and the Senate (266) make the laws; the prime minister ("president of the government") the Congress invests governs. On 27 September 2026 that is Pedro Sánchez of the Socialist Party (PSOE), in office since the no-confidence motion of 1 June 2018 that toppled Mariano Rajoy, re-invested on 16 November 2023 by 179 votes at the head of a minority coalition with Sumar after the election of 23 July 2023 that the People's Party (PP) of Alberto Núñez Feijóo won with 137 seats to the PSOE's 121 without a majority; the government has ruled without a budget of its own since 2023, lost Junts' seven votes on 30 October 2025, saw its former transport minister José Luis Ábalos sentenced to 24 years on 22 June 2026 and its Andalusian candidate, the finance minister María Jesús Montero, to the party's worst result on 17 May 2026, and has a wife, a brother and a former attorney general of the prime minister's circle before the courts; Carlos Cuerpo is first deputy prime minister and economy minister, Yolanda Díaz the second and labor minister, Sara Aagesen the third and ecological transition minister, José Manuel Albares the foreign minister, Margarita Robles the defense minister, Fernando Grande-Marlaska the interior minister, Arcadi España the finance minister, Francina Armengol the Speaker. The next general election is due by 22 August 2027; Sánchez says he will run. The 17 autonomous communities govern health, schools and much else: the PP holds 11 of them after 2026, Andalusia (Juanma Moreno), Madrid (Isabel Díaz Ayuso), Valencia and Castile and León among them, Coalición Canaria the Canaries, the PSOE Castilla-La Mancha, Asturias and Navarre, the nationalists Catalonia (the PSC's Salvador Illa) and the Basque Country (the PNV's Imanol Pradales).
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