Spain
The heart of Iberia, from Moorish palaces to sun-soaked coasts
Spain dominates the Iberian Peninsula, a country of high central plateau, snow-capped sierras, and sun-soaked Mediterranean and Atlantic coasts. Home to about 49 million people, with Madrid at its geographic center and Barcelona on the Catalan coast, Spain layers Roman aqueducts, Moorish palaces, Gothic cathedrals, and the bold architecture of Gaudí into a landscape of immense regional diversity. From the pilgrimage roads to Santiago and the running of the bulls to flamenco, tapas, and world-class football, few nations project so vivid a cultural identity.
The vast Meseta Central plateau forms the country's core, ringed and crossed by mountain ranges, the Pyrenees along the French border and the Sierra Nevada in the south, where Mulhacén reaches 3,479 meters as mainland Spain's highest peak. The overall summit is Mount Teide, a 3,718-meter volcano in the Canary Islands off the African coast. The Ebro, Tagus, and Guadalquivir are the great rivers. A climate ranging from Atlantic in the green north to arid in the southeast supports olives, citrus, and some of the world's most prized vineyards.
Roman Hispania, eight centuries of Al-Andalus, and the Reconquista that culminated in 1492 shaped Spain, the year it also funded Columbus and built a global empire stretching across the Americas and the Pacific. After the trauma of civil war and the long Franco dictatorship, Spain restored democracy in the 1970s and joined the European Community in 1986. A pioneer of regional autonomy, with Catalan, Basque, and Galician cultures alongside Castilian, Spain remains a global leader in tourism, gastronomy, and the arts.