A HISTORICAL OUTLINE OF SPAIN

The foundation of the Spanish state is frequently placed at the unification of the kingdoms of Castile and Aragon at the end of the fifteenth century. Absolutism, the strength of the Catholic Church and Inquisition, and the decadence of the colonial empire led to the virtual disconnection of Spain from the European scene. The liberal revolution (1812) implied a renewed link of Spanish society to the rest of Europe and the diffusion of Enlightenment ideas. The defeat of the Republican regime in the Civil War (1936–1939) closed a period of social and cultural progress. The subsequent dictatorship by General Franco imposed social and political conservatism, besides economic and cultural isolation. After Franco's death (1975), the restoration of democracy led to the 1978 constitution and to joining the European Union in 1986. The present population of Spain is 41 million inhabitants living in an area of 506,000 km2. The capital, Madrid, is the largest city, with 3 million inhabitants.

ECOLOGICAL FEATURES

Most of Spanish territory is in the Iberian Peninsula in southwestern Europe. Spain has offshore territories in the Mediterranean Sea, in the Atlantic Ocean opposite the Sahara coast, and in Africa (north of Morocco). The center of the peninsula is a large plateau surrounded by mountains north and south. Its climate is continental with cold and rainy winters and hot and dry summers in the plain; it is mild and rainy in all seasons on the northern and western coast; and it is Mediterranean with hot and dry summers and mild winters on the eastern coast.