Today we will help you out to know about some awesome and interesting facts about Spain, you will be amazed after reading these interesting facts about Spain.
Interesting facts about Spain
Population & Lifestyle
- All Spaniards are not native speakers of what is commonly called “Spanish” (which is actually Castilian). There are four official languages in Spain (Castilian, Catalan, Basque and Galician), three non-official regional languages (Asturian, Aragonese and Aranese) and several dialects of these (Andalusian, Valencian …). Almost all Spaniards, however, master Castilian. The good news is that if you are not fluent in speaking Spanish language, you can definitely get help with Spanish language translation services.
- Real Madrid and FC Barcelona have been ranked as the two richest football clubs in the world since the 2008-2009 seasons. Real Madrid has remained on top of the Deloitte Football Money League since 2004-2005.
- According to the World Drug Report, Spain has the highest cocaine use per capita in the world (3.1% of the population in 2010), and the third highest annual prevalence for cannabis in Europe (10.6%). % in 2010).
- Spaniards are the most frequent radio users in Europe.
- Owning one’s own home is very important for Spaniards, and indeed almost 80% of Spanish households own their homes – one of the highest rates in Europe. 65% of them live in apartments, which is the highest proportion in the EU. Spaniards also have the highest percentage of second homes in the EU. Spain has the third lowest overcrowding rate in the EU (after the Netherlands and Cyprus).
- In 2004, Spain built more homes per capita than any other country. 750,000 new homes were built all over the country, more than in Germany, France and Italy together!
- Spaniards have a rhythm of life completely different from other Europeans. Generally, they eat lunch between 13h and 15h, dine around 22h and rarely sleep before the first hours of the night. The hours of the highest ratings on TV in Spain start at 22h and last until 1am. Similarly, the peak audience for the radio in the morning is around 10am.
- The Spaniards have dominated a surprising number of sports since the early 2000s. In motorsports, they won two Formula 1 championships with Fernando Alonso and six motorcycle world championships with Dani Pedrosa, Jorge Lorenzo, Toni Elías and Marc Márquez . In football, they won the 2010 FIFA World Cup, as well as the 2008 and 2012 European Championships. In tennis, they won five Davis Cups and had two No. 1 ATP singles, including Rafael Nadal who was the youngest player to win all four Grand Slam tournaments. In basketball, they have won medals at six of the last seven FIBA European Championships, including two gold and three silver. Finally, in the cycling race, they won nine Vuelta a España, four consecutive Tours de France,
Culture & Heritage
- Traditionally, Spain has been a strongly religious (Catholic) country. However, nowadays although 76% of Spaniards identify themselves as Catholics, only 20% of the population are regular practitioners. Due to recent immigration, 3% of the population is now Muslim.
- Spanish-speaking cultures have been very conducive to the development of new dance styles, such as flamenco (inspired by Andalusian, Islamic, Sephardic and Gypsy cultures), merengue (Hispanic-African culture), salsa, mambo and cha -cha-cha (African and Cuban cultures), rumba (African, Amerindian and Spanish), etc.
- Spanish culture greatly influenced late-nineteenth-century modern art, with artists such as Antoni Gaudí (Art Nouveau), Pablo Picasso (Expressionism, Cubism, Surrealism), Joan Miró (Surrealism) or Salvador Dalí (Surrealism) .
- 58 million tourists come to Spain each year, making it the fourth most visited country in the world. The foreign tourism industry in Spain accounts for about 40 billion euros a year, or around 5% of GDP.
- According to many opinion polls, the Spaniards generally value King Juan Carlos as an individual, but at the same time are overwhelmingly anti-monarchists.
- Contrary to the image that foreigners often have, the majority of contemporary Spaniards do not approve bullfighting. The practice has even been banned in the Canary Islands (since 1991) and in Catalonia (since 2009). The historical heart of bullfighting is mainly Andalusia and Castile (especially in and around Madrid).
History
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- Almost all Spain lived under Muslim rule from 711 until the middle of the 11th century. The peninsula was not completely reconquered by the Christian kingdoms before 1492.
- The Spanish Inquisition, which aimed to convert non-Christians to Catholicism, began in 1478 and was not abolished until 1834. It is estimated that the Inquisition arrested some 350,000 people, of whom at least 10% were executed ( most often burned at the stake).
- Under the reign of Philip II (1556-1598) and until 1640, Spain ruled over an empire comprising Spain, the Spanish Netherlands (most of Belgium and Picardy today), the south of Italy, most of Central and South America (including Brazil), nearly half of the current United States, the Philippines (named after Philip II), as well as several small colonies in Asia and in Africa (Macao, Malacca, Goa, Daman, Diu …).
- Tomatoes, potatoes, avocados, tobacco and cocoa, were all imported into Europe (then circulated to the rest of the world) by the Spanish via their American colonies. All these words have been introduced in the French language and the other European languages via Spanish (we will notice that they all end with “o” in English).
- The Spanish colonies of the Americas (except Cuba and Puerto Rico, ceded to the United States in 1898) gained independence between 1809 and 1825, mainly because of the Napoleonic occupation of Spain between 1808 and 1814.
- Spain did not participate in either of the two world wars.
- Under the Franco regime (1936-1975), Spain was not very different from Islamic fundamentalist countries in its treatment of women. The Spanish Civil Code stated that a woman needed her husband’s permission to engage in any activity outside the family home. The law prohibits women from having a job, opening a bank account, establishing a business, buying or selling property, or initiating legal proceedings. Until the 1960s, there was no legal recourse against a man abusing his wife.Few countries have changed as quickly and dramatically as Spain since the 1970s. Spain was then one of the poorest and most backward countries in Europe. It has since increased its per capita GDP at the level of Italy and has become one of the most socially liberal and progressive nations in the world. The status of women has improved considerably, as suggested by the Global Gender Gap Report 2012, in which Spain ranked 26th in the world for gender equality, just behind Australia, the United States and Canada.
Legislation & Government
- Spain is one of the most decentralized countries. According to OECD statistics, the Spanish autonomous communities have a higher share of public spending than either the German Länder or the US states.
- In July 2005, Spain became the third country in the world to legalize same-sex marriage, after the Netherlands and Belgium. In the same year the country also legalized joint adoption by same-sex couples.
- Personal cannabis use and cannabis cultivation at home are legal in Spain. Possession of cannabis is decriminalized.
- Spain was one of the first European countries to ban smoking in all workplaces as well as bars and restaurants (from 2006), following the example of Ireland and Norway two years earlier.
- Spain is the only country in the EU, with Portugal, where life imprisonment has been abolished.
- It is a crime in Spain to slander or defame the dead.
