SPAIN
Kingdom of Spain (Reino de España)
Capital – Madrid
Official languages – Spanish
Recognized minority languages – Catalan, Galician, Basque, Occitan
Religion – Catholic (68.9%), No religious (27.1%), Islam (2%)
Government – Unitary parliamentary constitutional monarchy
Area – 505 990 km2 (195 360 sq mi)
Population – 47 431 256
Inter. Tel. prefix – +34
Currency – Euro
Time zone (Summer DST) – UTC +1 (WET), UTC +2 (WEST)
Beach holidays are the main tourism industry in Spain. He began to develop one of the first and still brings the largest profit of all types of tourism in the country. The mild climate of the Spanish coasts and two archipelagos (Balearic Islands, Canary Islands) attracts tourists. In the summer months, the resorts are in demand among the Spaniards themselves.
MOST VISITED AREAS
Spain is a diverse and multifaceted country, even officially it is divided into autonomous regions. Catalonia, which has not lost hope of secession from the country for many years, is famous for its capital, Barcelona, with its city beaches and Gaudí architecture.
The southern region – Andalusia – is considered the most “Spanish” Spain. Here you can see bullfighting banned in Catalonia, flamenco and ancient distinctive Spanish cities with history: Seville, Granada and the birthplace of Antonio Banderas – Malaga.
Valencia is famous for its widest sandy beaches in the country and for its authentic paella with beans. Well, in the Basque Country, you should definitely visit Bilbao with its museums and restaurants, beach-surfer San Sebastian and small port towns on the coast, where other tourists rarely get.
The beaches are the wealth of Spain. This country boasts countless beaches of all kinds – sandy, pebble, rocky, and even volcanic black sand. There are resort beach areas both on the mainland and in the island parts of Spain. In the country, all beaches are municipal and free – access to them is not limited.
From the east, Spain is washed by the Mediterranean Sea, the many kilometers of coastline includes the Catalan resorts of the Costa Brava, Costa del Maresme, Costa del Garraf and Costa Dorada, as well as the Valencian resort region of the Costa Blanca. The southern Spanish coast faces the Strait of Gibraltar. Here is Andalusia with its resorts Costa del Sol and Costa de la Luz. On the stretch of coast between France and Portugal, which is washed by the waters of the Bay of Biscay of the Atlantic Ocean, there are 3 beach zones – Galicia, Costa Verde and Cantabria. In the Mediterranean Sea, there are the beach resorts of the Balearic Islands – Majorca, Menorca, Ibiza and Formentera. All year round, the Canary Islands attract beach lovers. In total, more than 480 beaches throughout Spain have been awarded the European Environmental Association’s distinctive Blue Flag.
CLIMATE
The skilful gaze of a meteorologist divides mainland Spain into three distinct climatic zones at once. The north of the country (from Galicia to Catalonia) is influenced by the Atlantic Ocean: there are mild, wet winters and moderately warm summers. The southeast coast (Andalusia and Extremadura) is, of course, a Mediterranean climate with very mild short winters and dry hot summers. Little precipitation occurs mainly in autumn and winter. Summer in seaside Spain is usually around +25 … + 32 ° С, the swimming season lasts from June to October. Finally, on the central plateau of the country, the climate is sharply continental, with a noticeable difference (sometimes up to 15 ° C) between day and night temperatures. Summers are hot and dry, winters are dry and cold.
