2. GENERAL INFORMATION
Spain is an sovereign country, member
of the European Union. It is located in
southwestern Europe, on the Iberian
peninsula, bordered by Portugal,
Morocco, France and Andorra.
Spain is a democracy organised in the
form of a parliamentary government
under a constitutional monarchy.
Current monarch: Felipe VI
Current Prime Minister: Mariano Rajoy
The first official language is Spanish, and in some regions Basque, Catalan and
Galician are also spoken.
Population: over 46 million
Currency: euro
Drives on the right
Time zone: CET+1
S P A I N
Flag National emblem
Madrit - the capital city
Madrit
3. Religions: Most of the population (about 70%) are catholic. There are also
muslims, other minority religions, and irreligious people.
CLIMATE
There are three different climate zones in Spain due to its large size.
Visitors can generally expect a Mediterranean climate, characterized by hot,
dry summers and mild, rainy winters.
The vast central plateau, or Meseta, has a more continental influenced
climate with hot, dry summers and cold winters. Rain generally falls mostly in
spring and autumn. The mountains surrounding the plateau have a higher rainfall
and often experience heavy snowfalls in winter.
North of the Cantabrian mountains, the Basque Country, Cantabria, Asturias
and Galicia have a maritime climate, with cool summers and mild winters. The
weather is often cloudy with frequent rainfall.
RELIGION
Most population is Catholic, and some of official holidays are related to religious
events. The most popular one is The Holy Week. It takes place during the week before
Easter, and the most important days are Holy Thursday and Good Friday. There are
religious parades with effigies of Christ and the Virgin.
Holy Week parade: “Penitentes” carrying candles
Holy Week parade: effigy
4. Today in Spain there are a lot of religions, but the most important religion is
catholicism. It is studied as a subject in many schools in Spain.
The second most important religion in Spain is Islam. For more than eight centuries,
most part of Spain was muslim, and it was called Al-Andalus. Spain has an important
cultural heritage from this period of history, such as the Mosque in Cordoba and the
Alhambra in Granada.
In Spain people are free to choose their religion, so apart from catholics and muslims,
there are buddhists, jews, protestants, and a lot of non-religious people.
Holy Week parade: Effigy of the virgin
Cordoba Mosque La Alhambra in Granada
COURTESY FORMS AND ETIQUETTE
Meeting & Greeting:
When introduced expect to shake
hands.
Once a relationship is established,
men may embrace and pat each
other on the shoulder.
Female friends kiss each other on
both cheeks, starting with the left.
People are often referred to as
Don or Doña and their first name
when in formal occasion as a
general rule.
Many men use a two-handed
shake where the left hand is
placed on the right forearm of the
other person.
Dining & Food:
Remain standing until invited to
sit down. You may be shown to a
particular seat.
Always keep your hands visible
when eating. Keep your wrists
resting on the edge of the table.
Do not begin eating until the
hostess starts.
Use utensils to eat most food. Even
fruit is eaten with a knife and fork.
If you have not finished eating,
cross your knife and fork on your
plate with the fork over the knife.
The host gives the first toast.
An honoured guest should return
the toast later in the meal.
It is acceptable for a woman to
make a toast.
Indicate you have finished eating
by laying your knife and fork
parallel on your plate, tines facing
up, with the handles facing to the
right.
Do not get up until the guest of
honour does.
5. EATING HABITS
Popular dishes:
Different types of meat: pork, chicken, beef, lamb
Different types of fish: sardines, tuna, seafood, squid
Salads
Different types of rice: paella (yellow rice with seafood and/or meat and
vegetables) , black rice (with seafood)
Serrano ham
Spanish omelette (with eggs, potatoes and onion)
Vegetable stews with lentils and chickpeas
Most meals are served with bread
Paella Spanish omelette
Desserts
Rice and milk pudding
Crème caramel
Cheese cake
Custard
Fruit:
Canary banana
Orange
Pomegranate
Strawberry
Avocado
Olives (usually eaten as a snack)
MEALS
The most typical dishes of Spain are serrano ham, paella, Spanish omelette,
gazpacho, olives, stews, soups, etc.
In Spain, for breakfast, people usually have toast with oil and salt or sugar, with
ham, or also with butter. Usually on working days, students have breakfast at 8
a.m., because classes start at 8:30.
At the weekends, they have breakfast later, around 10 o’clock.
Lunch is between 2:00 and 3:00 in the afternoon. The Spanish consider it as
the main meal of the day and most people have two dishes, even three (with the
dessert).
The snack is between 5:00 and 7:00 p.m., and it is usually a sandwich snack.
Dinner is usually at 9:00 at night. And it is usually somewhat lighter, for example,
salad.
6. MOVING AROUND
SHOPS
In shopping centres, shops open at 10:00 a.m. and close at 10:00 p.m.
Outside shopping centres, they ususally close a bit earlier, at 8:30 or 9:00 p.m.
TRANSPORT
Local buses cost approximately 1€
Taxis start from 3€
There are trains to nearby towns (cercanías) from 3€
There are long-distance buses and trains
MAIN AIRPORTS
Madrid: Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas (MAD)
Barcelona: Barcelona-El Prat (BCN)
Málaga: Málaga-Costa del Sol (AGP)
BASIC VOCABULARY AND EXPRESSIONS IN SPANISH
ENGLISH SPANISH
hello hola
Good morning Buenos días
Good afternoon Buenas tardes
Good evening Buenas tardes / noches
Good night Buenas noches
Good bye adiós
Thank you gracias
Please Por favor
TOURISM IN SPAIN
Official tourist information web:
http://www.spain.info/en/
Spain is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Europe.
They have lots of choices:
BIG CITIES
Madrid, the capital of Spain. It has lots of museums, such as El Prado (one of
the greatest museums in the world, with paintings from 11th
-18th
centuries) or Reina
Sofía National Art Centre (modern art). In Madrid you can visit historical palaces
such as the Royal Palace or La Granja Palace. Or you can go for a walk in Buen Retiro
park or in Plaza Nueva square. Besides many historical places in Madrid, there are
also amusement parks, a big zoo, street markets and shops.
7. Barcelona, the capital of Catalonia, is a Mediterranean and cosmopolitan
city with Roman remains, medieval quarters and the most beautiful examples of 20th
century Modernism and avant-garde. It is no surprise that emblematic constructions
by the Catalan architects Antoni Gaudí and Lluís Doménech i Montaner have been
declared World Heritage Sites by UNESCO.
Other big cities worth visiting are Bilbao, Valencia, Seville and Málaga.
SEASIDE DESTINATIONS
Spain has some of the best beaches in the world.
That is the reason Spain comes top every year in the number of Blue Flags awarded.
You’ll find a whole range of different destinations where you can enjoy them all
along the Spanish coast, including everything from large seaside cities to enchanting
fishing villages. They have two island chains which are very popular among Spanish
and foreign tourists: Canary Islands on the Atlantic Ocean and Balear Islands on the
Mediterranean Sea.
RURAL DESTINATIONS
The interior regions of Spain offer beautiful villages with amazing natural
surroundings. Rural tourism is getting more and more popular and there are lots
of places where you can have an active tourist trip, for example, at the Pyrenees (in
Northern Spain) or Sierra Nevada (Southern Spain). Here you can practise winter
sports, go hiking, ride a mountain bike or go climbing.
8. THE “FERIA”
One of the most important events in each town and city of Andalusia is the Feria. Once
a year, and for 4-8 days, in a very large area of the city they will proceed to install
attractions and rides of several kinds for the enjoyment of both children and adults.
But the most important area is in which multitude of stalls (casetas) are placed. Here
people dance to traditional music and also taste the dishes and the most exquisite
products of the land. Many people come to the Feria riding horses and horse-drawn
carriages, and wearing traditional Flamenco dresses.
BULLFIGHTING
The bullfight is a Spanish custom that began in the 18th
century. It takes place in a
big round arena, the bullring. In the centre there is a person with a red blanket; the
bullfighter. And people are around him. The costume worn by the bullfighter is called
the Costume of lights and it usually has gold colors with a black hat that is called
Montera.
The bull follows the red blanket (capote) and the bullfighter tries to kill it or to hurt it.
Many people like this tradition, especially in Andalucia. But not everyone likes it,
there are people who hate it because they consider it a very cruel tradition. There are
lots of associations against bullfighting. Thanks to these associations many bullrings
(plazas) have been closed and in Barcelona bullfights are forbidden.
FLAMENCO
Flamenco is a folk art, around 200 years old. It comes from Southern Spain (Andalusia)
andisindividualistic,yetstructured.Song,danceandguitarareblendedintopassionate
rhythms which are often improvised and spontaneous. Flamenco deals with any
imaginable topics, from up-to-date stories, to politics, love, history or humour.
Flamenco exists in three forms: Cante (the song), baile (the dance) and guitarra
(guitar playing). The source of flamenco, however, lies in the tradition of singing. The
singer’s role is very important, and the guitar playing is an accompaniment to the
song. Sometimes the singing and the playing is like a dialogue.
Flamenco is the best-known Spanish popular art worldwide.
Typical instruments: flamenco guitar, classical guitar, cajón (box), palmas
(clapping).
In 2010 flamenco
was declared
Intangible Human
Heritage by UNESCO.
Flamenco dance and guitar
9. SCHOOL AND EDUCATION
School is compulsory from 6 to 16 years old. During this period, education is free,
and most schools in Spain are public schools. There are also more public universities
than private ones.
Levels of education:
0-3 years old: nursery
3-5 years old: pre-school
6-11 years old: primary school
12-16 years old: secondary school
17-18 years old: bachillerato (upper-secondary school) or Formación
Profesional (profesional school)
from 18 years old: University or upper profesional school
Secondary school starts on 15th
September and finishes 23rd
June.
Classes begin at 8:30 a.m. and finish at 3:00 p.m.
Break time: 11:30-12:00, Marks: 0-10 (5 to pass)
Holidays: Christmas (two weeks), White week (the last week of February, just in
some provinces of Spain), Holy Week (one week of March or April) and Summer
holiday (from 24th
June to 1st
September)
Subjects:
Technology
Maths
Geography
English
French
Spanish language and literature
Biology
Physics and Chemistry
Music
Art
Tutoring and humanity
Secondary school (IES Mercedes Labrador)
10. HEALTH AND ECONOMY
Spanish healthcare system is ranked among the best in the world. It is free and it is
provided by social security payments, which are deducted from wages.
Apart from this, people can choose to pay for a private insurance.
The minimum salary in Spain is 707,60€ per month.
Taxes: General taxes are 21%
Public hospital
Healthcare card
SOCIAL BENEFITS FOR IMMIGRANTS
Spain has absorbed more than 3 million foreigners from places as diverse as Romania,
Morocco, and South America. More than 11% of the country’s 44 million residents
are now foreign-born, one of the highest proportions in Europe.
Immigrants care for children and the elderly, allowing more Spanish women to take
jobs outside the home. They do backbreaking agricultural labor and take minimum-
wage positions in restaurants and hotels.
For its historical formation, Spain has been a nation open to immigration. It has
receivedmanyAmericandescendantsofSpaniards,forwhomthiscountryformulated
the possibility to develop academically and professionally.
ORGANIZATIONS HELPING FOREIGN PEOPLE
ORGANIZATION NAME WEB
SPANISH GOVERNMENT’S INMIGRATION SITE http://extranjeros.empleo.gob.es/es/index.html
Cruz Roja (Red Cross) www.cruzroja.es
ACCEM http://www.accem.es/en
Amnistía Internacional www.es.amnesty.org
ACOGE http://acoge.org
WEBS WITH GENERAL INFORMATION
ABOUT SPANISH CULTURE
NAME OF THE WEB
Comisceo Global https://www.commisceo-global.com/country-guides/spain-guide
World Culture Encyclopedia http://www.everyculture.com/Sa-Th/Spain.html
Universal Class https://www.universalclass.com/articles/self-help/traditions-and-
customs-in-spanish-culture.htm
USA Today. Travel tips http://traveltips.usatoday.com/culture-customs-spain-14450.html
EMERGENCY TELEPHONE NUMBERS
112 is for all kinds of emergencies
061 for health emergencies (ambulance)
092 for local police
091 for national police
080 for fire brigade
11. An information brochure
LIVE LIFE TODAY TOGETHER
was created as
one of the outputs of the project
I CHANGE – INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCES:
HORISONS APPLIED TO NEW GENERATION’S EDUCATION.
The brochure is an effect of cooperation
among the teenagers of the partner schools:
Lycée Marie Joseph in Trouville-sur-Mer, France
Liceum Ogólnokształcące im. Mikołaja Kopernika in Tuchów, Poland
IES Mercedes Labrador in Fuengirola, Spain
N. Serap Ulusoy Mesleki ve Teknik Anadolu Lisesi in Samsun, Turkey
The brochure includes useful information for foreigners
who are planning to settle down in Spain.
