Famous landmarks in Spain

Spain is a country in south-western Europe that covers most of the Iberian Peninsula. It borders France and Andorra to the north and Portugal to the west, and it has coasts on both the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. It also includes the Balearic and Canary Islands. The capital, Madrid, sits almost in the middle of the country.

Spain is famous for sunshine, beaches, flamenco, tapas and amazing architecture. On the globe you can visit the Sagrada Família, the Alhambra, the Mosque-Cathedral of Córdoba, the Guggenheim Bilbao, Santiago de Compostela Cathedral, the Aqueduct of Segovia, Seville's Plaza de España and Madrid's Royal Palace, Puerta de Alcalá and Cibeles, as well as the Eurasian eagle-owl.

Geography and nature

The heart of Spain is the Meseta, a high, dry plateau crossed by mountain ranges. The Pyrenees form the border with France, and the Sierra Nevada in the south has snowy peaks. Spain's highest mountain, Mount Teide, is a volcano on the Canary island of Tenerife, about 3,715 metres tall. The north is green and rainy, while the south-east is so dry that the Tabernas area there is often called Europe's only desert. Doñana National Park shelters flamingos and the rare Iberian lynx, one of the world's most endangered wild cats.

People, languages and culture

Spanish, also called Castilian, is spoken everywhere, and some regions also have their own official languages: Catalan, Galician and Basque, which is not related to any other known language. Most people have a Catholic heritage. Spaniards often eat lunch late and dinner even later. Favourite foods include paella, potato omelette, gazpacho and small shared dishes called tapas. Flamenco, with its guitar, singing and dance, comes from Andalusia. Football is a passion, and festivals fill the streets all year.

History in a nutshell

Prehistoric people painted animals in caves such as Altamira. The Romans ruled Hispania for centuries and built the Aqueduct of Segovia. From 711, Muslim rulers governed much of the peninsula, called Al-Andalus, building wonders like Córdoba's great mosque and Granada's Alhambra. Christian kingdoms gradually took the land back, finishing in 1492, the same year Columbus sailed to the Americas. Spain then built a huge empire. In the 1900s it suffered a civil war and a long dictatorship, and it became a democracy after 1975.