OFFICIAL NAME:
Kingdom of Spain

Geography
Area: 504,750 sq. km. (194,884 sq. mi.), including the Balearic and Canary Islands; about the size of Arizona and Utah combined.
Cities: Capital--Madrid (pop. 5.0 million est). Other cities--Barcelona (2.0 million), Valencia (739,500), Seville (702,000), Zaragoza (603,000), Bilbao (358,000), Malaga (528,000).
Terrain: High plateaus and mountains.
Climate: Temperate: clear hot summers in interior, more moderate and cloudy along coast; cloudy, cold winters in interior, party cloudy and cool along coast.
Time zone: Spanish mainland and Balearic Isles--local time is 1 hour ahead of GMT in winter and 2 hours ahead in summer. Canary Islands are on GMT.

People
Nationality: Noun--Spaniard(s). Adjective--Spanish.
Population: 40 million.
Annual growth rate: 0.3%.
Ethnic groups: Distinct ethnic groups within Spain include the Basques, Catalans, and Galicians.
Religion: Predominantly Roman Catholic.
Languages: Spanish (official), Catalan-Valenciana 17%, Galician 7%, Basque 2%. Education: Years compulsory--to age 16. Literacy--97%.
Work force (16.2 million): Services--61%; agriculture--8%; construction--9.8%; industry--17.6%.

Government
Type: Constitutional monarchy (Juan Carlos I proclaimed King November 22, 1975).
Constitution: 1978
Branches: Executive--President of government nominated by monarch, subject to approval by democratically elected Congress of Deputies.
Legislative--bicameral Cortes: a 350-seat Congress of Deputies (elected by the d'Hondt system of proportional representation) and a Senate. Four senators are elected in each of 47 peninsular provinces, 16 are elected from the three island provinces, and Ceuta and Melilla elect two each; this accounts for 208 senators. The parliaments of the 17 autonomous regions also elect one senator as well as one additional senator for every 1 million inhabitants within their territory (about 20 senators). Judicial--Constitutional Tribunal has jurisdiction over constitutional issues. Supreme Tribunal heads system comprising territorial, provincial, regional, and municipal courts.
Subdivisions: 47 peninsular and three island provinces; two enclaves on the Mediterranean coast of Morocco (Ceuta and Melilla) and three island groups along that coast--Alhucemas, Penon de Velez de la Gomera, and the Chafarinas Islands.
Political parties: Spanish Socialist Workers Party (PSOE), Popular Party (PP), and the United Left (IU) coalition. Key regional parties are the Convergence and Union (CIU) in Catalonia and the Basque Nationalist Party (PNV) in the Basque country.

Economy
GDP (2000): $558.3 billion in current prices (seventh-largest OECD economy).
Annual growth rate: 4.1%.
Per capita GDP: $13,203.
Natural resources: Coal, lignite, iron ore, uranium, mercury, pyrites, fluorspar, gypsum, zinc, lead, tungsten, copper, kaolin, hydroelectric power.
Agriculture and fisheries (3.28% of GDP): Products--grains, vegetables, citrus and deciduous fruits, wine, olives and olive oil, sunflowers, livestock.
Industry (15.65% of GDP): Types--processed foods, textiles, footwear, petrochemicals, steel, automobiles, consumer goods, electronics.
Trade (2000): Exports--$113.7 billion: automobiles, fruits, minerals, metals, clothing, footwear, textiles. Major markets--EU 70.63%, U.S. 4.4%. Imports--$153.4 billion: petroleum, oilseeds, aircraft, grains, chemicals, machinery, transportation equipment, fish. Major sources--EU 63.14%, U.S. 5.25%.
Average exchange rate (2000): 190.00 pesetas=US$1.

PEOPLE
Spain's population density, lower than that of most European countries, is roughly equivalent to New England's. In recent years, following a longstanding pattern in the rest of Europe, rural populations are moving to cities.

Spain has no official religion. The constitution of 1978 disestablished the Roman Catholic Church as the official state religion, while recognizing the role it plays in Spanish society. More than 90% of the population are at least nominally Catholic.

Educational System
About 70% of Spain's student population attends public schools or universities. The remainder attend private schools or universities, the great majority of which are operated by the Catholic Church.

Compulsory education begins with primary school or general basic education for ages 6-14. It is free in public schools and in many private schools, most of which receive government subsidies. Following graduation, students attend either a secondary school offering a general high school diploma or a school of professional education (corresponding to grades 9-12 in the United States) offering a vocational training program. The Spanish university system offers degree and post-graduate programs in all fields--law, sciences, humanities, and medicine--and the superior technical schools offer programs in engineering and architecture.

HISTORY
The Iberian Peninsula has been occupied for many millennia. Some of Europe's most impressive Paleolithic cultural sites are located there; the famous caves at Altamira contain spectacular paintings which date from about 15,000-25,000 years ago. The Basques are the first identifiable people of the peninsula and are the oldest surviving group in Europe. Iberians arrived from North Africa during a more recent period.

Beginning in the ninth century BC, Phoenicians, Greeks, Carthaginians, and Celts entered the Iberian Peninsula, followed by the Romans, who arrived in the second century BC. Spain's present language, religion, and laws stem from the Roman period. Although the Visigoths arrived in the fifth century AD, the last Roman strongholds along the southern coast did not fall until the seventh century AD. In 711, North African Moors sailed across the straits, swept into Andalusia, and, within a few years, pushed the Visigoths up the peninsula to the Cantabrian Mountains. The Reconquest--efforts to drive out the Moors--lasted until 1492. By 1512, the unification of present-day Spain was complete.

During the 16th century, Spain became the most powerful nation in Europe, due to the immense wealth derived from its presence in the Americas. But a series of long, costly wars and revolts, capped by the defeat by the English of the "Invincible Armada" in 1588, began a steady decline of Spanish power in Europe. Controversy over succession to the throne consumed the country during the 18th century, leading to an occupation by France during the Napoleonic era in the early 1800s, and led to a series of armed conflicts throughout much of the 19th century.

The 19th century saw the revolt and independence of most of Spain's colonies in the Western Hemisphere: three wars over the succession issue; the brief ousting of the monarchy and establishment of the First Republic (1873-74); and, finally, the Spanish-American War (1898), in which Spain lost Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines to the United States. A period of dictatorial rule (1923-31) ended with the establishment of the Second Republic. It was dominated by increasing political polarization, culminating in the leftist Popular Front electoral victory in 1936. Pressures from all sides, coupled with growing and unchecked violence, led to the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in July 1936.

Following the victory of his nationalist forces in 1939, Gen. Francisco Franco ruled a nation exhausted politically and economically. Spain was officially neutral during World War II but followed a pro-Axis policy. The victorious Allies isolated Spain at the beginning of the postwar period, and the country did not join the United Nations until 1955. In 1959, under an International Monetary Fund stabilization plan, the country began liberalizing trade and capital flows, particularly foreign direct investment.

Despite the success of economic liberalization, Spain remained the most closed economy in Western Europe--judged by the small measure of foreign trade to economic activity--and the pace of reform slackened during the 1960s as the state remained committed to "guiding" the economy.

Nevertheless, in the 1960s and 1970s, Spain was transformed into a modern industrial economy with a thriving tourism sector. Its economic expansion led to improved income distribution and helped develop a large middle class. Social changes brought about by economic prosperity and the inflow of new ideas helped set the stage for Spain's transition to democracy during the latter half of the 1970s.

Upon the death of General Franco in November 1975, Prince Juan Carlos de Borbon y Borbon, Franco's personally designated heir, assumed the titles of king and chief of state. Dissatisfied with the slow pace of post-Franco liberalization, in July 1976, the King replaced Franco's last Prime Minister with Adolfo Suarez. Suarez entered office promising that elections would be held within one year, and his government moved to enact a series of laws to liberalize the new regime. Spain's first elections to the Cortes (Parliament) since 1936 were held on June 15, 1977. Prime Minister Suarez's Union of the Democratic Center (UCD), a moderate center-right coalition, won 34% of the vote and the largest bloc of seats in the Cortes.

Under Suarez, the new Cortes set about drafting a democratic constitution that was overwhelmingly approved by voters in a December 1978 national referendum.

GOVERNMENT AND POLITICAL CONDITIONS  
Parliamentary democracy was restored following the death of General Franco in 1975, who had ruled since the end of the civil war in 1939. The 1978 constitution established Spain as a parliamentary monarchy, with the Prime Minister responsible to the bicameral Cortes elected every 4 years. On February 23, 1981, rebel elements among the security forces seized the Cortes and tried to impose a military-backed government. However, the great majority of the military forces remained loyal to King Juan Carlos, who used his personal authority to put down the bloodless coup attempt.

In October 1982, the Spanish Socialist Workers Party (PSOE), led by Felipe Gonzalez Marquez, swept both the Congress of Deputies and Senate, winning an absolute majority. Gonzalez and the PSOE ruled for the next 13 years. During that period, Spain joined NATO and the European Community.

In March 1996, Jose Maria Aznar's Popular Party (PP) won a plurality of votes. Aznar moved to decentralize powers to the regions and liberalize the economy, with a program of privatizations, labor market reform, and measures designed to increase competition in selected markets, principally telecommunications. During Aznar's first term, Spain fully integrated into European institutions, qualifying for the European Monetary Union. During this period, Spain participated, along with the United States and other NATO allies, in military operations in the former Yugoslavia. Spanish planes took part in the air war against Serbia in 1999, and Spanish armed forces and police personnel are included in the international peacekeeping forces in Bosnia and Kosovo. A Spanish general currently commands NATO forces in Kosovo. A former foreign minister, Javier Solana, was Secretary General of NATO during the Kosovo Campaign and currently serves as the head of the European Union's foreign and security policymaking apparatus, with the informal title "Mr. Pesc."

In a landslide victory, President Aznar and the PP won reelection in March 2000, obtaining absolute majorities in both houses of parliament. This mandate has allowed Aznar to form a government unencumbered by the coalition building that characterized his earlier administration. Aznar is expected to continue the policies of economic and political reform that have won his government widespread popular support.

Local Government
The 1978 constitution authorized the creation of regional autonomous governments. By 1985, 17 regions covering all of peninsular Spain, the Canaries, and the Balearic Islands had negotiated autonomy statutes with the central government. In 1979, the first autonomous elections were held in the Basque and Catalan regions, which have the strongest regional traditions by virtue of their history and separate languages. Since then, autonomous governments have been created in the remainder of the 17 regions. The central government continues to devolve powers to the regional governments, which will eventually have full responsibility for health care and education, as well as other social programs.

Terrorism
The Government of Spain is involved in a long-running campaign against Basque Fatherland and Liberty (ETA), a terrorist organization founded in 1959 and dedicated to promoting Basque independence. ETA targets primarily Spanish security forces, military personnel, and Spanish Government officials. The group has carried out numerous bombings against Spanish Government facilities and economic targets, including a car bomb assassination attempt on then-opposition leader Aznar in 1995, in which his armored car was destroyed but he was unhurt. The Spanish Government attributes over 800 deaths to ETA terrorism since its campaign of violence began. In recent years, the Government of Spain has had more success in controlling ETA, due in part to increased security cooperation with French authorities.

In November 1999, ETA ended a "cease-fire" it declared in September 1998. Since that time, ETA has conducted a campaign of violence and has been blamed for the deaths of some 30 Spanish citizens and officials. Each attack has been followed by massive anti-ETA demonstrations around the country, clearly demonstrating that the majority of Spaniards, including the majority of Spain's Basque populace, have no tolerance for continued ETA violence. The government continues to pursue vigorous counterterrorist policy.

Resistance Groups, commonly known as GRAPO. GRAPO is an urban terrorist group that seeks to overthrow the Spanish Government and establish a Marxist state. It opposes Spanish participation in NATO and the U.S. presence in Spain and has a long history of assassinations, bombings and kidnappings, mostly against Spanish interests, during the 1970s and 1980s.

In a June 2000 communiqué following the explosions of two small devices in Barcelona, GRAPO claimed responsibility for several terrorist attacks throughout Spain during the past year. These attacks included two failed armored car robberies, one in which two security officers died, and four small bombings of political party offices during the 1999/2000 election campaign.

Neither ETA nor GRAPO maintains the degree of operational capability they once enjoyed. Most of their members are either in jail or abroad. ETA in particular remains a serious threat but one that must be kept in perspective. Just as Spain has, a quarter-of-a-entury after the death of Franco, largely conformed to European norms in political and economic terms, so too has it in the area of the safety of its citizens. The overall level of terrorist activity is considerably less than in the recent past, and the trend appears to be downward.

Principal Government Officials
Chief of State, Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces--King Juan Carlos I
President of the Government (Prime Minister)--Jose Maria Aznar
Minister of Foreign Affairs--Josep Piqué
Ambassador to the United States--Javier  Ruperez

Spain maintains an embassy in the United States at 2375 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20037 (tel. 202-728-2340) and consulates in many larger U.S. cities.

ECONOMY
Following peak growth years in the late 1980s, the Spanish economy entered into recession in mid-1992. Both investment and private consumption were negative during 1993, while registered unemployment surged to nearly 25%. Four devaluations of the peseta since 1992 have made Spanish exports more competitive and have contributed to a boom in tourism revenues. A modest export-led recovery began in 1994, and later that year investment also picked up. Consolidation of the recovery during the first Aznar administration (1996-2000) was driven by a return of consumer confidence and increased domestic private consumption.

Spain's accession to the European Community--now European Union (EU)--in January 1986 required the country to open its economy, modernize its industrial base, improve infrastructure, and revise economic legislation to conform to EU guidelines. In doing so, Spain increased GDP growth, reduced the public debt to GDP ratio, reduced unemployment from 23% to 15% in 3 years, and reduced inflation to under 3%. The Spanish Government under President Aznar worked to meet Maastricht Treaty requirements for economic and monetary union; the fundamental challenges for Spain remain to continue reducing the public sector deficit, to further decrease unemployment, reform labor laws and investment regulations, lower inflation, and raise per capita GDP.

FOREIGN RELATIONS
After the return of democracy following the death of General Franco in 1975, Spain's foreign policy priorities were to break out of the diplomatic isolation of the Franco years and expand diplomatic relations, enter the European Community, and define security relations with the West.

As a member of NATO since 1982, Spain has established itself as a major participant in multilateral international security activities. Spain's EU membership represents an important part of its foreign policy. Even on many international issues beyond western Europe, Spain prefers to coordinate its efforts with its EU partners through the European political cooperation mechanism.

With the normalization of diplomatic relations with Israel and Albania in 1986, Spain virtually completed the process of universalizing its diplomatic relations. The only country with which it now does not have diplomatic relations is North Korea.

Spain has maintained its special identification with Latin America. Its policy emphasizes the concept of Hispanidad, a mixture of linguistic, religious, ethnic, cultural, and historical ties binding Spanish-speaking America to Spain. Spain has been an effective example of transition from authoritarianism to democracy, as shown in the many trips that Spain's King and Prime Ministers have made to the region. Spain maintains economic and technical cooperation programs and cultural exchanges with Latin America, both bilaterally and within the EU.

Spain also continues to focus attention on North Africa, especially on Morocco. This concern is dictated by geographic proximity and long historical contacts, as well as by the two Spanish enclave cities of Ceuta and Melilla on the northern coast of Africa. While Spain's departure from its former colony of Western Sahara ended direct Spanish participation, it maintains an interest in the peaceful resolution of the conflict brought about there by decolonization. Spain has gradually begun to broaden its contacts with Sub-Saharan Africa. It has a particular interest in its former colony of Equatorial Guinea, where it maintains a large aid program.

In its relations with the Arab world, Spain frequently supports Arab positions on Middle East issues. The Arab countries are a priority interest for Spain because of oil and gas imports and because several Arab nations have substantial investments in Spain.

Spain has been successful in managing its relations with its two European neighbors, France and Portugal. The accession of Spain and Portugal to the EU has helped ease some of their periodic trade frictions by putting these into an EU context. Franco-Spanish bilateral cooperation is enhanced by joint action against Basque ETA terrorism. Ties with the United Kingdom are generally good, although the question of Gibraltar remains a sensitive issue.

U.S.-SPANISH RELATIONS
Spain and the United States have a long history of official relations and are now closely associated in many fields. This association has been cemented in recent years by the exchange of high-level visitors. In April 1997, King Juan Carlos was awarded the World Statesmen Award by the Appeal of conscience Foundation in New York, and in March 2000, he was given the Medal of Democracy by the Center for Democracy in Washington, DC. On January 11, 2001, the United States and Spain signed a Joint Declaration that lays out a roadmap for expanded cooperation in six areas: political consultation; defense; economics and finance; science and technology; culture and combating new threats and security.

In addition to U.S. and Spanish cooperation in NATO, defense and security relations between the two countries are regulated by a 1989 Agreement on Defense Cooperation, which is currently under review. Under this agreement, Spain authorized the United States to use certain facilities at Spanish military installations.

The two countries also cooperate in several other important areas. Under a 1964 agreement (currently being renegotiated), the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Adminstration (NASA) and the Spanish National Institute of Aerospace Technology (INTA) jointly operate the Madrid Deep Space Communications Complex in support of Earth orbital and solar system exploration missions. The Madrid Complex is one of the three-largest tracking and data acquisition complexes comprising NASA's Deep Space Network.

An agreement on cultural and educational cooperation was signed on June 7, 1989. A new element, supported by both the public and private sectors, gives a different dimension to the programs carried out by the joint committee for cultural and educational cooperation. These joint committee activities complement the binational Fulbright program for graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and visiting professors, which, in 1989, became the largest in the world. Besides assisting in these exchange endeavors, the U.S. Embassy also conducts a program of official visits between Spain and the United States.

Principal U.S. Embassy Officials
Charge D'Affaires--Heather Hodges
Counselor for Administrative Affairs--Cathy Chikes
Counselor for Agricultural Affairs--Lloyd J. Fleck
Counselor for Commercial Affairs--Michael W. Liikala
Counselor for Consular Affairs--Philip French
Counselor for Economic Affairs--Laura Lochman, Acting
Counselor for Political Affairs--Michael Butler
Counselor for Public Affairs--Pamela Corey Archer
Chief , Office of Defense Cooperation--Col. Jere S. Medaris, USA
Defense Attache--Col. John B. Gregor
Drug Enforcement Administration Attache--Yvette Torres
Federal Aviation Administration Representative--Mike Galvan
NASA Representative--Ingrid Desilvestre
Regional Security Officer--Stanley Joseph
Consul General Barcelona--Douglas Smith

The US embassy is located at Serrano, 75, 28006 Madrid (tel. 34-1-587-2200; fax 34-1-587-2303). Consulate General, Barcelona, Passeig Reina Elisenda 23, Barcelona 08034 (tel. 34-3-280-2227; fax 34-3-205-5206).

Travelers can check the latest health information with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia. A hotline at 877-FYI-TRIP (877-394-8747) and a web site at http://www.cdc.gov/travel/index.htm give the most recent health advisories, immunization recommendations or requirements, and advice on food and drinking water safety for regions and countries. A booklet entitled Health Information for International Travel (HHS publication number CDC-95-8280) is available from the U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402, tel. (202) 512-1800.