Spain

The name of Spain (España) comes from Hispania, the name used by the Ancient Romans for the Iberian Peninsula during the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire. The etymology of the term Hispania remains uncertain.

The Phoenicians referred to the region as i-shphan-im, possibly meaning 'land of rabbits or hyraxes', 'land of metals', or 'northern island'. Roman coins struck in the region from the reign of Hadrian show a female figure with a rabbit at her feet, and Strabo called it the 'land of the rabbits'.

Archaeological research at Atapuerca indicates the Iberian Peninsula was populated by hominids 1.3 million years ago. The Iberian Peninsula was one of the last regions of Europe where Neanderthals persisted during the expansion of modern humans, with Neanderthal populations surviving in parts of Iberia until around 40,000 years ago.

Modern humans had reached northern Iberia by around 42,000 years ago, as indicated by the appearance of the Aurignacian in the region. The best-known artefacts of these prehistoric human settlements are the paintings in the Altamira cave of Cantabria in northern Iberia, which were created from 35,600 to 13,500 BC by Cro-Magnon. Archaeological and genetic evidence suggests that the Iberian Peninsula acted as one of several major refugia from which northern Europe was repopulated following the end of the last ice age. Around 2500–2000 BC, the immigration of Bell Beaker-associated populations led to a major genetic replacement of earlier Neolithic populations in the Iberian Peninsula.

Before the Roman conquest the major cultures along the Mediterranean coast were the Iberians, the Celts in the interior and north-west, the Lusitanians in the west, and the Tartessians in the southwest. The seafaring Phoenicians, Carthaginians, and Greeks successively established trading settlements along the eastern and southern coast. The development of writing in the peninsula took place after the arrival of early Phoenician settlers and traders, tentatively dated 9th century BC or later.

The south of the peninsula was rich in archaic Phoenician colonies, unmatched by any other region in the central-western Mediterranean. They were small and densely packed settlements. The colony of Gadir—which sustained strong links with its metropolis of Tyre—stood out from the rest of the network of colonies, also featuring a more complex sociopolitical organization. Archaic Greeks arrived on the Peninsula by the late 7th century BC. They founded Greek colonies such as Emporion (570 BC).

After the defeat of Carthage in the First Punic War, the Carthaginian general Hamilcar Barca led an expedition to Iberia, where he hoped to gain a new empire for Carthage to compensate for territorial losses. In eight years, by force of arms and diplomacy, Hamilcar secured an extensive territory, covering around half of the Iberian Peninsula. Hamilcar's premature death in battle (228 BC) prevented him from completing the conquest of the Iberian Peninsula.

During the Second Punic War, roughly between 210 and 205 BC, the expanding Roman Republic captured Carthaginian trading colonies along the Mediterranean coast. It took the Romans nearly two centuries to complete the conquest of the Iberian Peninsula. They retained control of it for over six centuries. Roman rule was bound together by law, language, and the Roman road. The cultures of the pre-Roman populations were gradually Romanised (Latinised) at different rates depending on what part of the peninsula they lived in, with local leaders being admitted into the Roman aristocratic class.

Hispania, the Roman name for the Iberian Peninsula, served as a granary for the Roman market, and its harbours exported gold, wool, olive oil, and wine. Agricultural production increased with the introduction of irrigation projects, some of which remain in use. Emperors Hadrian, Trajan, Theodosius I, and the philosopher Seneca were born in Hispania. Christianity was introduced into Hispania in the 1st century AD, and it became popular in the cities in the 2nd century. Most of Spain's present languages and religions, as well as the basis of its laws, originate from this period. Starting in 170 AD, incursions of North-African Mauri in the province of Baetica took place.

The Germanic Suebi and Vandals, together with the Sarmatian Alans, entered the peninsula after 409, weakening the Western Roman Empire's jurisdiction over Hispania. The Suebi established a kingdom in north-western Iberia. The Vandals established themselves in the south of the peninsula by 420, before crossing over to North Africa in 429. As the western Roman Empire disintegrated, the social and economic base became greatly simplified. The successor regimes maintained many of the institutions and laws of the late empire, including Christianity and assimilation into the evolving Roman culture. The Byzantines established an occidental province, Spania, in the south, with the intention of reviving Roman rule throughout Iberia. Eventually Hispania was reunited under Visigothic rule.

From 711 to 718, as part of the expansion of the Umayyad Caliphate which had conquered North Africa from the Byzantine Empire, nearly all of the Iberian Peninsula was conquered by Muslims from across the Strait of Gibraltar, resulting in the collapse of the Visigothic Kingdom. Only a small area in the mountainous north of the peninsula stood out of the territory seized during the initial invasion. The Kingdom of Asturias-León consolidated upon this territory. Other Christian kingdoms, such as Navarre and Aragon in the mountainous north, eventually surged upon the consolidation of counties of the Carolingian Marca Hispanica. For several centuries, the fluctuating frontier between the Muslim and Christian-controlled areas of the peninsula was along the Ebro and Douro valleys.

Conversion to Islam proceeded at an increasing pace. The muladíes (Muslims of ethnic Iberian origin) are believed to have formed the majority of the population of Al-Andalus by the end of the 10th century. A series of Viking incursions raided the coasts of the Iberian Peninsula in the 9th and 10th centuries. In the 11th century, the Caliphate of Córdoba collapsed, fracturing into a series of petty kingdoms (Taifas), often subject to the payment of a form of protection money (Parias) to the Northern Christian kingdoms, which otherwise undertook a southward territorial expansion. The capture of Toledo in 1085 marked a significant shift in the balance of power in favour of the Christian kingdoms. The arrival from North Africa of the Islamic ruling sects of the Almoravids and the Almohads achieved temporary unity upon the Muslim-ruled territory, with a stricter, less tolerant application of Islam, and partially reversed some Christian territorial gains.

The Kingdom of León was the strongest Christian kingdom for centuries. In 1188, a form of modern parliamentary session was held in León (Cortes of León), restricted to the bishops, the magnates, and 'the elected citizens of each city'. The Kingdom of Castile, formed from Leonese territory, was its successor as the strongest kingdom. The kings and the nobility fought for power and influence in this period. The example of the Roman emperors influenced the political objective of the Crown, while the nobles benefited from feudalism.

Muslim strongholds in the Guadalquivir Valley such as Córdoba (1236) and Seville (1248) fell to Castile in the 13th century. The County of Barcelona and the Kingdom of Aragon entered into a dynastic union and gained territory and power in the Mediterranean. In 1229, Mallorca was conquered, as was Valencia in 1238. In the 13th and 14th centuries, the North-African Marinids established some enclaves around the Strait of Gibraltar. Upon the conclusion of the Granada War, the Nasrid Sultanate of Granada (the remaining Muslim-ruled polity in the Iberian Peninsula after 1246) capitulated in 1492 to the military strength of the Catholic Monarchs, and it was integrated from then on in the Crown of Castile.

In 1469, the crowns of the Christian kingdoms of Castile and Aragon were united by the marriage of their monarchs, Isabella I and Ferdinand II, respectively. In 1492, as part of the Spanish Inquisition, Jews were forced to choose between conversion to Catholicism or expulsion; as many as 200,000 Jews were expelled from Castile and Aragon. The year 1492 also marked the arrival of Christopher Columbus in the New World, during a voyage funded by Isabella. Columbus's first voyage crossed the Atlantic and reached the Caribbean Islands, beginning the European exploration and conquest of the Americas.

The Treaty of Granada guaranteed religious tolerance towards Muslims, for a few years before Islam was outlawed in 1502 in Castile and 1527 in Aragon, leading the remaining Muslim population to become nominally Christian Moriscos. About four decades after the War of the Alpujarras (1568–1571), over 300,000 moriscos were expelled, settling primarily in North Africa.

The unification of the crowns of Aragon and Castile by the marriage of their sovereigns laid the basis for modern Spain and the Spanish Empire, although each kingdom of Spain remained a separate country socially, politically, legally, and in currency and language.

Habsburg Spain was one of the leading world powers throughout the 16th century and most of the 17th century, a position reinforced by trade and wealth from colonial possessions and became the world's leading maritime power. It reached its apogee during the reigns of the first two Spanish Habsburgs—Charles V/I (1516–1556) and Philip II (1556–1598). This period saw the Spanish conquest of the Aztec and Inca empires, the Italian Wars, the Schmalkaldic War, the Dutch Revolt, the War of the Portuguese Succession, clashes with the Ottomans, intervention in the French Wars of Religion, and the Anglo-Spanish War.

Through exploration and conquest or royal marriage alliances and inheritance, the Spanish Empire expanded across vast areas in the Americas, the Indo-Pacific, Africa as well as the European continent, including holdings in the Italian Peninsula, the Low Countries and the Franche-Comté. The so-called Age of Discovery featured explorations by sea and by land, the opening-up of new trade routes across oceans, conquests and the beginnings of European colonialism. Precious metals, spices, luxuries, and previously unknown plants brought to the metropole played a leading part in transforming the European understanding of the globe.

The cultural efflorescence witnessed during this period is now referred to as the Spanish Golden Age. The expansion of the empire caused immense upheaval in the Americas as the collapse of societies and empires and new diseases from Europe devastated American indigenous populations. The rise of humanism, the Counter-Reformation and new geographical discoveries and conquests raised issues that were addressed by the intellectual movement now known as the School of Salamanca, which developed the first modern theories of what are now known as international law and human rights.

Spain's 16th-century maritime supremacy was demonstrated by the victory over the Ottoman Empire at the Battle of Lepanto in 1571 and over Portugal at the Battle of Ponta Delgada in 1582, and then after the setback of the Spanish Armada in 1588, in a series of victories against England in the Anglo-Spanish War of 1585–1604. In the middle decades of the 17th century, Spain's maritime power went into a long decline with mounting defeats against the Dutch Republic (Battle of the Downs) and then England in the Anglo-Spanish War of 1654–1660. By the 1660s, Spain was struggling to defend its overseas possessions from pirates and privateers.

The Protestant Reformation increased Spain's involvement in religiously charged wars, forcing ever-expanding military efforts across Europe and in the Mediterranean. By the middle decades of a war- and plague-ridden 17th-century Europe, the Spanish Habsburgs had enmeshed Spain in continent-wide religious-political conflicts. These conflicts drained Spain of resources and undermined the economy generally.

At 505,992 km2 (195,365 sq mi), Spain is the world's fiftieth largest country and Europe's fourth largest country. At 3,715 m (12,188 ft), Mount Teide (Tenerife) is the highest mountain peak in Spain and is the third largest volcano in the world from its base. Spain is a transcontinental country, having territory in both Europe and Africa.

Spain lies between latitudes 27° and 44° N, and longitudes 19° W and 5° E.

On the west, Spain is bordered by Portugal; on the south, it is bordered by Gibraltar and Morocco, through its exclaves in North Africa (Ceuta and Melilla, and the peninsula of de Vélez de la Gomera). On the northeast, along the Pyrenees mountain range, it is bordered by France and Andorra. Along the Pyrenees in Girona, a small exclave town called Llívia is surrounded by France.

Extending to 1,214 km (754 mi), the Portugal–Spain border is the longest uninterrupted border within the European Union.

Spain also includes the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean Sea, the Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean and a number of uninhabited islands on the Mediterranean side of the Strait of Gibraltar, known as plazas de soberanía ("places of sovereignty", or territories under Spanish sovereignty), such as the Chafarinas Islands and Alhucemas. The peninsula of de Vélez de la Gomera is also regarded as a plaza de soberanía. The isle of Alborán, located in the Mediterranean between Spain and North Africa, is also administered by Spain, specifically by the municipality of Almería, Andalusia. The little Pheasant Island in the River Bidasoa is a Spanish-French condominium.

There are eleven major islands in Spain, all of which have their own governing bodies (Cabildos insulares in the Canaries, Consells insulars in Baleares). These islands are specifically mentioned by the Spanish Constitution, when fixing its Senatorial representation (Ibiza and Formentera are grouped, as they together form the Pityusic islands, part of the Balearic archipelago). These islands include Tenerife, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote, Fuerteventura, La Palma, La Gomera and El Hierro in the Canarian archipelago and Mallorca, Ibiza, Menorca and Formentera in the Balearic archipelago.

Mainland Spain is a rather mountainous landmass, dominated by high plateaus and mountain chains. After the Pyrenees, the main mountain ranges are the Cordillera Cantábrica (Cantabrian Range), Sistema Ibérico (Iberian System), Sistema Central (Central System), Montes de Toledo, Sierra Morena and the Sistema Bético (Baetic System) whose highest peak, the 3,478-metre-high (11,411-foot) Mulhacén, located in Sierra Nevada, is the highest elevation in the Iberian Peninsula. The highest point in Spain is the Teide, a 3,718-metre (12,198 ft) active volcano in the Canary Islands. The Meseta Central (often translated as 'Inner Plateau') is a vast plateau in the heart of peninsular Spain split in two by the Sistema Central.

There are several major rivers in Spain such as the Tagus (Tajo), Ebro, Guadiana, Douro (Duero), Guadalquivir, Júcar, Segura, Turia and Minho (Miño). Alluvial plains are found along the coast, the largest of which is that of the Guadalquivir in Andalusia.

Three main climatic zones can be separated, according to geographical situation and orographic conditions:

The Mediterranean climate is characterised by warm or hot and dry summers and is the predominant climate in the country. It has two varieties: Csa and Csb, according to the Köppen climate classification.

The Csa zone is associated with areas with hot summers. It is predominant in the Southern Mediterranean (except southeastern) and Southern Atlantic coast and inland throughout Andalusia, Extremadura and much of the centre of the country. Some areas of Csa, mainly those inland, such as some areas of Castilla-La-Mancha, Extremadura, Madrid and some parts of Andalusia, have cool winters with some continental influences, while the regions with a Mediterranean climate close to the sea have mild winters.

The Csb zone has warm rather than hot summers, and extends to additional cool-winter areas not typically associated with a Mediterranean climate, such as much of central and northern-central of Spain (e.g. western Castile–León, northeastern Castilla-La Mancha and northern Madrid) and into much rainier areas (notably Galicia).

The semi-arid climate (BSk, BSh) is predominant in the southeastern quarter of the country, but is also widespread in other areas of Spain. It covers most of the Region of Murcia, southern and central-eastern Valencia, eastern Andalusia, various areas of Castilla-La-Mancha, Madrid and some areas of Extremadura. Further to the north, it is predominant in the upper and mid reaches of the Ebro valley, which crosses southern Navarre, central Aragon and western Catalonia. It is also found in a small area in northern Andalusia and in a small area in central Castilla-León. Precipitation is limited with the dry season extending beyond the summer and average temperature depending on altitude and latitude.

The oceanic climate (Cfb) is located in the northern quarter of the country, especially in the Atlantic region (Basque Country, Cantabria, Asturias, and partly Galicia and Castile–León). It is also found in northern Navarre, in most highlands areas along the Iberian System and in the Pyrenean valleys, where a humid subtropical variant (Cfa) also occurs. Winter and summer temperatures are influenced by the ocean, and have no seasonal drought.

Apart from these main types, other sub-types can be found, like the alpine climate in areas with very high altitude, the humid subtropical climate in areas of northeastern Spain and the continental climates (Dfc, Dfb / Dsc, Dsb) in the Pyrenees as well as parts of the Cantabrian Range, the Central System, Sierra Nevada and the Iberian System, and a typical desert climate (BWk, BWh) in the zone of Almería, Murcia and eastern Canary Islands. Low-lying areas of the Canary Islands average above 18.0 °C (64.4 °F) during their coolest month, thus having influences of tropical climate, although they cannot properly be classified as tropical climates, as according to AEMET, their aridity is high, thus belonging to an arid or semi-arid climate.

Spain is one of the countries that is most affected by climate change in Europe. In Spain, which already has a hot and dry climate, extreme events such as heatwaves are becoming increasingly frequent. The country is also experiencing more episodes of drought and increased severity of these episodes. Water resources will be severely affected in various climate change scenarios. To mitigate the effects of climate change, Spain is promoting an energy transition to renewable energies, such as solar and wind energy.

The fauna presents a wide diversity that is due in large part to the geographical position of the Iberian peninsula between the Atlantic and the Mediterranean and between Africa and Eurasia, and the great diversity of habitats and biotopes, the result of a considerable variety of climates and well differentiated regions.

The vegetation of Spain is varied due to several factors including the diversity of the terrain, the climate and latitude. Spain includes different phytogeographic regions, each with its own floral characteristics resulting largely from the interaction of climate, topography, soil type and fire, and biotic factors. The country had a 2019 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 4.23/10, ranking it 130th globally out of 172 countries.

Within the European territory, Spain has the largest number of plant species (7,600 vascular plants) of all European countries.

In Spain there are over 17 billion trees, and an average of 284 million new trees grow each year.

The constitutional history of Spain dates back to the constitution of 1812. In June 1976, Spain's new King Juan Carlos dismissed Carlos Arias Navarro and appointed the reformer Adolfo Suárez as Prime Minister. The resulting general election in 1977 convened the Constituent Cortes (the Spanish Parliament, in its capacity as a constitutional assembly) for the purpose of drafting and approving the constitution of 1978. After a national referendum on 6 December 1978, 88% of voters approved of the new constitution. As a result, Spain successfully transitioned from a one-party personalist dictatorship to a multiparty parliamentary democracy composed of seventeen autonomous communities and two autonomous cities. These regions enjoy varying degrees of autonomy thanks to the Spanish Constitution, which nevertheless explicitly states the indivisible unity of the Spanish nation.

According to International IDEA's Global State of Democracy (GSoD) Indices and Democracy Tracker, Spain performs in the high range on overall democratic measures, with particular strengths in inclusive suffrage and access to justice.

The Spanish Constitution provides for a separation of powers between five branches of government, which it refers to as "basic State institutions". Foremost amongst these institutions is the Crown (La Corona), the symbol of the Spanish state and its permanence. Spain's "parliamentary monarchy" is a constitutional one whereby the reigning king or queen is the living embodiment of the Crown and thus head of state.

Unlike in some other constitutional monarchies, namely the likes of Belgium, Denmark, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Norway, or the United Kingdom, the monarch is not the fount of national sovereignty or even the nominal chief executive. Rather, the Crown, as an institution, "...arbitrates and moderates the regular functioning of the institutions..." of the Spanish state. As such, the monarch resolves disputes between the disparate branches, mediates constitutional crises, and prevents abuses of power.

In these respects, the Crown constitutes a fifth moderating branch that does not make public policy or administer public services, functions which rightfully rest with Spain's duly elected legislatures and governments at both the national and regional level. Instead, the Crown personifies the democratic Spanish state, sanctions legitimate authority, ensures the legality of means, and guarantees the execution of the public will.

Put another way, the monarch fosters national unity at home, represents Spaniards abroad (especially with regard to nations of their historical community), facilitates the orderly operation and continuity of the Spanish government, defends representative democracy, and upholds the rule of law. In other words, the Crown is the guardian of the Spanish constitution and of the rights and freedoms of all Spaniards. This stabilising role is in keeping with the monarch's solemn oath upon accession "...to faithfully carry out [my] duties, to obey the Constitution and the laws and ensure that they are obeyed, and to respect the rights of citizens and the Self-governing Communities."

A number of constitutional powers, duties, rights, responsibilities, and functions are assigned to the monarch in their capacity as head of state. However, the Crown enjoys inviolability in the performance of these prerogatives and cannot be prosecuted in the very courts which administer justice in its name. For this reason, every official act done by the monarch requires the countersignature of the prime minister or, when appropriate, the president of the Congress of Deputies to have the force of law. The countersigning procedure or refrendo in turn transfers political and legal liability for the royal prerogative to the attesting parties. This provision does not apply to the Royal Household, over which the monarch enjoys absolute control and supervision, or to membership in the Order of the Golden Fleece, which is a dynastic order in the personal gift of the House of Bourbon-Anjou.

The royal prerogatives may be classified by whether they are ministerial functions or reserve powers. Ministerial functions are those royal prerogatives that are, pursuant to the convention established by Juan Carlos I, performed by the monarch after soliciting the advice of the Government, the Congress of Deputies, the Senate, the General Council of the Judiciary, or the Constitutional Tribunal, as the case may be. On the other hand, the reserve powers of the Crown are those royal prerogatives which are exercised in the monarch's personal discretion. Most of the Crown's royal prerogatives are ministerial in practice, meaning the monarch has no discretion in their execution and primarily performs them as a matter of state ceremonial. Nevertheless, when performing said ministerial functions, the monarch has the right to be consulted before acting on advice, the right to encourage a particular course of policy or action, and the right to warn the responsible constitutional authorities against the same. Those ministerial functions are as follows:

Sanction and promulgate bills duly passed by the Cortes Generales, making them laws. The Spanish Constitution mandates the monarch grant royal assent to each bill within fifteen days of its passage. The monarch does not have a right to veto legislation.

Summon the Cortes Generales into session following a general election, dissolve the same upon the expiration of its four-year term, and proclaim the election of the next Cortes. These functions are performed in accordance with the strictures of the Spanish Constitution.

Appoint and dismiss ministers of state on the advice of the prime minister.

Appoint the president of the Supreme Court on the advice of the General Council of the Judiciary.

Appoint the president of the Constitutional Tribunal from among its members, on the advice of the full bench, for a term of three years.

Appoint the Fiscal General, who leads the Prosecution Ministry, on the advice of the Government. Before tendering advice, the Government is required to consult the General Council of the Judiciary.

Appoint the presidents of the autonomous communities as elected by their respective parliaments.

Issue decrees approved in the Council of Ministers, confer civil service and military appointments, and award honours and distinctions in the gift of the state. These functions are performed on the advice of the prime minister or another minister designated thereby.

Exercise supreme command and control over the Armed Forces, on the advice of the prime minister.

Declare war and make peace on the advice of the prime minister and with the prior authorization of the Cortes Generales.

Ratify treaties, on the advice of the prime minister.

Accredit Spanish ambassadors and ministers to foreign states and receive the credentials of foreign diplomats to Spain, on the advice of the prime minister.

Exercise the right of clemency, but without the authority to grant general pardons, on the advice of the prime minister.

Patronise the Royal Academies.

The aforesaid limitations do not apply to the exercise of the Crown's reserve powers, which may be invoked by the monarch when necessary to maintain the continuity and stability of state institutions. For example, the monarch has the right to be kept informed on affairs of state through regular audiences with the Government. For this purpose, the monarch may preside at any time over meetings of the Council of Ministers, but only when requested by the prime minister. The monarch may prematurely dissolve the Congress of Deputies, the Senate, or both houses of the Cortes in their entirety before the expiration of their four-year term and, in consequence thereof, concurrently call for snap elections. The monarch exercises this prerogative on the request of the prime minister, after the matter has been discussed by the Council of Ministers. The monarch may choose to accept or refuse the request. The monarch may also order national referendums on the request of the prime minister, but only with the prior authorisation of the Cortes Generales. Again, the monarch may choose to accept or refuse the prime minister's request.

The Crown's reserve powers further extend into constitutional interpretation and the administration of justice. The monarch appoints the twenty members of the General Council of the Judiciary. Of these counselors, twelve are nominated by the supreme, appellate and trial courts, four are nominated by the Congress of Deputies by a majority of three-fifths of its members, and four are nominated by the Senate with the same majority. The monarch may choose to accept or refuse any nomination. In a similar vein, the monarch appoints the twelve magistrates of the Constitutional Tribunal. Of these magistrates, four magistrates are nominated by the Congress of Deputies by a majority of three-fifths of its members, four magistrates are nominated by the Senate with the same majority, two magistrates are nominated by the Government, and two magistrates are nominated by the General Council of the Judiciary. The monarch may choose to accept or refuse any nomination.

It is the monarch's reserve powers concerning Government formation that are perhaps the most frequently exercised. The monarch nominates a candidate for prime minister and, as the case may be, appoints or removes them from office based on the prime minister's ability to maintain the confidence of the Congress of Deputies. If the Congress of Deputies fails to give its confidence to a new Government within two months, and is incapable of governing as a result of parliamentary gridlock, the monarch may dissolve the Cortes Generales and call for fresh elections. The monarch makes use of these reserve powers in their own deliberative judgment after consulting the president of the Congress of Deputies.

Legislative authority vests in the Cortes Generales (English: Spanish Parliament, lit. 'General Courts'), a democratically elected bicameral parliament that serves as the supreme representative body of the Spanish people. Aside from the Crown, it is the only basic State institution that enjoys inviolability. It comprises the Congress of Deputies (Congreso de los Diputados), a lower house with 350 deputies, and the Senate (Senado), an upper house with 266 senators.

Deputies are elected by popular vote on closed lists via proportional representation to serve four-year terms. 208 senators are directly elected by popular vote using a limited voting method, with the remaining 58 senators appointed by the regional legislatures to also serve four-year terms.

Executive authority rests with the Government (Gobierno de España), which is collectively responsible to the Congress of Deputies. It consists of the prime minister, one or more deputy prime ministers, and the ministers of state. These characters together constitute the Council of Ministers which, as Spain's central executive authority, conducts the business of the Government and administers the civil service. The Government remains in office so long as it can maintain the confidence of the Congress of Deputies.

The prime minister, as head of government, has primacy over the other ministers by virtue of their ability to advise the monarch as to their appointment and dismissal. The prime minister has plenary authority conferred by the Spanish Constitution to direct and coordinate the Government's policies and administrative actions. The Spanish monarch nominates the prime minister after consulting representatives from the different parliamentary groups and appoints them to office upon a vote of investiture in the Congress of Deputies.

Some political corruption in Spain has been found.

Spain's autonomous communities are the first level administrative divisions of the country.

Spain has a mixed economy that combines elements of free-market capitalism with social welfare and state intervention. It is one of 21 countries with a nominal gross domestic product (GDP) exceeding $1 trillion per year, ranking 12th largest worldwide and fourth largest both in the European Union and within the eurozone. Spain is classified as a high-income economy by the World Bank and an advanced economy by the International Monetary Fund. As of 2024, it is the fastest growing major advanced economy in the world, growing nearly four times higher than the eurozone average.

Spain began industrialising in the late 18th century, albeit more gradually and unevenly than other European countries; industry was limited mostly to Catalonia (primarily textile manufacturing) and the Basque Country (iron and steel production). Overall economic growth was slower than in most major western European countries, and Spain remained relatively underdeveloped by the early 20th century.

The Spanish Civil War, followed by failed autarkic and interventionist policies that were worsened by international isolation, left the economy on the brink of collapse by the late 1950s. Technocratic reforms were enacted to avert the crisis, laying the groundwork for the Spanish economic miracle, a period of rapid growth from 1960 until 1974, during which Spain's economy grew an average of 6.6 percent per year, exceeding every country except Japan.

Since its transition to democracy in the late 1970s, Spain has generally sought to liberalise its economy and deepen regional and international integration. It joined the European Economic Community—now the European Union—in 1986 and implemented policies and reforms that allowed for its participation in the inaugural launch of the euro in 1999. Spain's largest trade and investment partners are within the EU and eurozone, including its four largest export markets; EU membership also coincided with a tripling of foreign direct investment from 1990 to 2000. Spain was among the countries affected most by the 2008 financial crisis and subsequent European debt crisis, leading to the 2008–2014 Spanish financial crisis.

Spain has long struggled with high unemployment, which has never fallen below 8% since the 1980s. In 2013, unemployment hit a peak of 27%. It stood at 9.93% in January 2026, the lowest since 2008. Youth unemployment is particularly severe by both global and regional standards; at 24.90% (as of January 2025), it is the highest among EU members and well above the EU average of 14.6%. Perennial weak points of Spain's economy include a large informal economy; an education system that performs poorly compared to most developed countries; and low rates of private sector investment. Median equivalised disposable income was $26,630 per year (2021, PPP).

Since the 1990s, which saw a wave of privatisations, several Spanish companies have reached multinational status; they maintain a strong and leading presence in Latin America—where Spain is the second-largest foreign investor after the United States—but have also expanded into Asia, especially China and India. As of 2023, Spain was home to eight of the 500 largest companies in the world by annual revenue, according to the Fortune Global 500; these include Banco Santander, the 14th-largest banking institution in the world; electric utility Iberdrola, the world's largest renewable energy operator; and Telefónica, one of the largest telephone operators and mobile network providers. Twenty Spanish companies are listed in the 2023 Forbes Global 2000 ranking of the 2,000 largest public companies, reflecting diverse sectors such as construction (ACS Group), aviation (ENAIRE), pharmaceuticals (Grifols), and transportation (Ferrovial). Additionally, one of Spain's largest private sector entities is Mondragon Corporation, the world's largest worker-owned cooperative.

The automotive industry is one of the largest employers in the country and a major contributor to economic growth, accounting for one-tenth of gross domestic product and 18% of total exports (including vehicles and auto-parts). In 2023, Spain produced 2.45 million automobiles—of which over 2.1 million were exported abroad—ranking eighth in the world and second in Europe (after Germany) by total number. In total, 89% of vehicles and 60% of auto-parts manufactured in Spain were exported worldwide in 2023; the total external trade surplus of vehicles alone reached €18.8bn in 2023. Overall, the automotive industry supports nearly two million jobs, or nine percent of the labour force.

In 2024, Spain was the second most visited country in the world only behind France, recording 94 million tourists. The international tourist expenditure in 2024 was around 126 billion euros. The headquarters of the World Tourism Organization are located in Madrid. Tourism in Spain is a major contributor to national economic life, with foreign and domestic tourism contributing to 12.3% of Spain's GDP in 2023.

Castile and León is the Spanish leader in rural tourism linked to its environmental and architectural heritage which it has kept since 2020.

In 2010 Spain became the solar power world leader when it overtook the United States with a massive power station plant called La Florida, near Alvarado, Badajoz. Spain is also Europe's main producer of wind energy. In 2010 its wind turbines generated 16.4% of all electrical energy produced in Spain.

In November 2010, wind power reached a historic peak, covering 53% of mainland electricity demand and generating 14.2 GW of power, equivalent to that of fourteen nuclear reactors. Other renewable energies used in Spain are hydroelectric, biomass and marine.

Non-renewable energy sources used in Spain are nuclear (eight operative reactors), gas, coal, and oil. Fossil fuels together generated 58% of Spain's electricity in 2009, just below the OECD mean of 61%. Nuclear power generated another 19%, and wind and hydro about 12% each.

The Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC) is the leading public agency dedicated to scientific research in the country. It ranked as the 5th top governmental scientific institution worldwide (and 32nd overall) in the 2018 SCImago Institutions Rankings. Spain was ranked 29th in the Global Innovation Index in 2025.

Higher education institutions perform about a 60% of the basic research in the country. Likewise, the contribution of the private sector to R&D expenditures is much lower than in other EU and OECD countries.

The Spanish road system is mainly centralised, with six highways connecting Madrid to the Basque Country, Catalonia, Valencia, West Andalusia, Extremadura and Galicia. There are highways along the Atlantic (Ferrol to Vigo), Cantabrian (Oviedo to San Sebastián) and Mediterranean (Girona to Cádiz) coasts. Spain aimed to put one million electric cars on the road by 2014 as part of the government's plan to save energy and boost energy efficiency. The former Minister of Industry Miguel Sebastián said that "the electric vehicle is the future and the engine of an industrial revolution." As of 2026, the adoption of electric vehicles in Spain has steadily accelerated, with electrified cars accounting for a growing share of approximately 18% of new monthly vehicle registrations.

As of February 2025, the Spanish high-speed rail network is the longest HSR network in Europe with 3,973 km (2,469 mi) and the second longest in the world, after China's. It is linking Málaga, Seville, Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia and Valladolid, with the trains operated at commercial speeds up to 330 km/h (210 mph). On average, the Spanish high-speed train is the fastest one in the world, followed by the Japanese bullet train and the French TGV. Regarding punctuality, it is second in the world (98.5% on-time arrival) after the Japanese Shinkansen (99%).

There are 49 public airports in Spain. The busiest one is the airport of Madrid (Barajas), with 60 million passengers in 2023, being the world's 15th busiest airport, as well as the European Union's third busiest. The airport of Barcelona (El Prat) is also important, with 50 million passengers in 2024, being the world's 30th-busiest airport. Other main airports are located in Mallorca, Málaga, Las Palmas (Gran Canaria), and Alicante.

In January 2026, Spain had a population of 49,570,725 people. That same month, people born in Spain accounted for 80.7% of the total population and people born abroad accounted for 19.3% of the total population. Spain's population density, at 98/km2 (253.8/sq mi), is lower than that of most Western European countries, and its distribution across the territory is highly uneven. With the notable exception of the region surrounding the capital, Madrid, the most densely populated areas are located along the coast. The population of Spain has risen 2+1⁄2 times since 1900, when it stood at 18.6 million, principally due to the spectacular demographic boom in the 1960s and early 1970s.

In 2024, Spain's total fertility rate (TFR) stood at 1.10 children per woman, the second lowest in the European Union after Malta and among the lowest worldwide. This rate is well below the replacement level of 2.1 and contrasts sharply with the historical maximum of 5.11 children per woman recorded in 1865. As a result, Spain has one of the oldest populations globally, with a median age of 46.8 years.

After the birth rate plunged in the 1980s and Spain's population growth rate dropped, the population again trended upward initially upon the return of many Spaniards who had emigrated to other European countries during the 1970s, and more recently, fuelled by large numbers of immigrants who make up more than 19% of the population today: Among non-EU immigrants, they are mainly from Latin America (39%), North Africa (16%), Eastern Europe (15%), and Sub-Saharan Africa (4%).

In 2024, the number of foreign residents who acquired Spanish nationality increased by 5.1% to 252,476. The most frequent nationalities of origin were Morocco (42,910), Venezuela (30,403) and Colombia (26,224). Spain has a number of descendants of populations from former colonies, especially Latin America and North Africa. Smaller numbers of immigrants from several Sub-Saharan countries have recently been settling in Spain. There are also sizeable numbers of Asian immigrants, most of whom are of Middle Eastern, South Asian and Chinese origin. The single largest group of immigrants are European; represented by large numbers of Romanians, Britons, Germans, French and others.

In 2023, approximately 81.6% of Spain's population lived in urban areas, reflecting a continuing trend of urbanisation that has characterised Spain's demographic landscape in recent decades. This concentration has contributed to the dominance of urban areas in economic, political, and cultural spheres.

As of January 2026, over ten million people in Spain were born abroad, accounting for 20.3% of the total population. Among them, over seven million (15.4%) were born outside Europe, and more than seven million (14.3%) held foreign nationality. By number of immigrants, Spain ranks fourth in Europe and seventh worldwide.

As of December 2024, the largest source of immigrants was Morocco (over one million), Colombia (856,616), Venezuela (599,769), Romania (532,456), and Ecuador (448,643). Most immigrants come from outside the EU, especially Latin America, with sizeable populations from the United Kingdom, Ukraine, China, Russia, Pakistan, Algeria, and Senegal.

Historically a land of emigration, immigration to Spain has increased markedly since the 21st century, with immigrants rising from 1.6% of the population in 1998 to over 12% by 2009; in absolute terms, the number of immigrants grew from 500,000 in 1996 to 5.2 million in 2008. Spain was Europe's top recipient of migrants from 2002 to 2007, with 2.5 million arrivals. In 2005, Spain had the second highest immigration rate in the European Union, after Cyprus, and the highest in absolute numbers, with an amnesty programme increasing the legal immigrant population by 700,000.

The very high level of immigration is driven by Spain's cultural ties with Latin America, its geographical position, the porosity of its borders, the large size of its underground economy, and the strength of the agricultural and construction sectors, which demand more low-cost labour than can be offered by the national workforce. A large number of EU residents retire to Spain's Mediterranean coast; in 2008, prior to the onset of the economic crisis, the Financial Times reported that Spain was the most favoured destination for Western Europeans considering a move from their own country and seeking jobs elsewhere in the EU.

Until 2014, the number of immigrants decreased due to the economic crisis, with more than half a million people leaving Spain in 2011 alone—the first net migration rate in decades. However, notwithstanding economic factors, as well as policies to encourage non-EU unemployed immigrants to voluntarily depart the country, the rate of emigration remained relatively low. By 2015, net immigration had increased, and Spain has again become a major immigration destination, backed by government policies to increase the labour force and promote integration. The Sánchez government planned to legalize around 900,000 undocumented migrants by 2027.

In late July 2026, there was a mass crossing of migrants from Morocco into Ceuta, with at least 141 fatalities among those attempting to reach Spain. By 3 August, Spanish government officials said about 70,000 people had voluntarily returned to Morocco.

Spain is a multilingual state. Spanish—featured in the 1978 Spanish Constitution as castellano ('Castilian')—has effectively been the official language of the entire country since 1931. As allowed in the third article of the Constitution, the other 'Spanish languages' can also become official in their respective autonomous communities. The territoriality created by the form of co-officiality codified in the 1978 Constitution creates an asymmetry, in which Spanish speakers' rights apply to the entire territory whereas vis-à-vis the rest of co-official languages, their speakers' rights only apply in their territories.

Other territorialised languages include Aragonese, Aranese Occitan, Astur-Leonese, Basque, Ceutan Arabic (Darija), Catalan/Valencian, Galician, Portuguese and Tamazight. Romani Caló and the sign languages are also used. The number of speakers varies widely and their legal recognition is uneven, with some of the most vulnerable languages lacking any sort of effective protection. Those enjoying recognition as an official language in some autonomous communities include Catalan/Valencian (in Catalonia and the Balearic Islands officially named as Catalan and in the Valencian Community officially named as Valencian); Galician (in Galicia); Basque (in the Basque Country and part of Navarre); and Aranese in Catalonia.

In 2021, Spanish was the first language of 81.53% of the population, Catalan/Valencian was 10.50%, Galician was 3.77% and Basque was 1.42%. The most spoken foreign language was Arabic with 2.17% of the population considering it as their first language, followed by English with 1.58%, Romanian with 1.44%, French with 0.94%, Portuguese with 0.54%, Chinese with 0.48%, German with 0.44% and Italian with 0.41%. Such diversity of foreign languages is mainly due to international migration.

Spanish is the world's second-most spoken native language and the world's most widely spoken Romance language.

State education in Spain is free and compulsory from the age of six to sixteen. The education system is regulated by the 2006 educational law, LOE (Ley Orgánica de Educación), or Fundamental Law for the Education. In 2014, the LOE was partially modified by the newer and controversial LOMCE law (Ley Orgánica para la Mejora de la Calidad Educativa), or Fundamental Law for the Improvement of the Education System, commonly called Ley Wert (Wert Law). Since 1970 to 2014, Spain has had seven different educational laws (LGE, LOECE, LODE, LOGSE, LOPEG, LOE and LOMCE).

The levels of education are preschool education, primary education, secondary education and post-16 education. In regards to the professional development education or the vocational education, there are three levels besides the university degrees: the Formación Profesional Básica (basic vocational education); the Ciclo Formativo de Grado Medio or CFGM (medium level vocation education) which can be studied after studying the secondary education, and the Ciclo Formativo de Grado Superior or CFGS (higher level vocational education), which can be studied after studying the post-16 education level.

In 2021, the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) coordinated by the OECD ranked the overall knowledge and skills of Spanish 15-year-olds as significantly below the OECD average of 493 in reading literacy, mathematics, and science.

The health care system of Spain, the Spanish National Health System, is considered one of the best in the world, ranked 7th position by the World Health Organisation in 2000. The health care is public, universal and free for any legal citizen of Spain. Health spending is 9.4% of GDP, slightly above the average of 9.3% of the OECD. The life expectancy in Spain has improved from 79.1 years in 2000 to 82.7 years in 2021.

Roman Catholicism, which has a long history in Spain, remains the dominant religion. Although it no longer has official status by law, in all public schools in Spain students have to choose either a religion or ethics class. Catholicism is the religion most commonly taught, although the teaching of Islam, Judaism, and evangelical Christianity is also recognised in law. Recent polls and surveys suggest that around 30% of the Spanish population is irreligious.

The Spanish constitution enshrines secularism in governance, as well as freedom of religion or belief for all, saying that no religion should have a "state character", while allowing for the state to "cooperate" with religious groups. Protestant churches have about 1,200,000 members. There are about 105,000 Jehovah's Witnesses. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has approximately 46,000 adherents in 133 congregations.

A 2019 study made by the Union of Islamic Communities of Spain demonstrated that there were more than 2,100,000 inhabitants of Muslim background living in Spain, accounting for 4–5% of the population of Spain. The vast majority was composed of immigrants and descendants originating from the Maghreb, especially Morocco, and other African countries. More than 879,000 (42%) of them had Spanish nationality.

Judaism was practically non-existent in Spain from the 1492 expulsion until the 19th century, when Jews were again permitted to enter the country. Currently, there are around 62,000 Jews in Spain, or 0.14% of the total population.