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Juan Carlos (,; Juan Carlos Alfonso Víctor María de Borbón y Borbón-Dos Sicilias, born 5 January 1938) reigned as King of Spain from 1975 to 2014, when he abdicated in favour of his son, Felipe VI.

Generalísimo Francisco Franco, the Spanish dictator, took over the government of Spain from the short-lived Second Spanish Republic following victory in the Spanish Civil War in 1939, and Monarchy of Spain#History|ruled as "Regent to the [exiled] King of Spain". In 1969, he chose Juan Carlos, grandson of King Alfonso XIII, to be the next head of state,  bypassing his father Juan de Borbón and expecting him to continue Franco's own authoritarian regime. Juan Carlos became King on 22 November 1975, two days after Franco's death, the first reigning monarch since 1931; although his exiled father did not officially abdicate in favor of his son until 1977. Soon after enthronement, however, Juan Carlos introduced reforms to dismantle the Francoist regime and begin the Spanish transition to democracy. This led to the approval of the Spanish Constitution of 1978 in a referendum, which established a constitutional monarchy. In 1981, Juan Carlos played a major role in preventing a coup that attempted to revert Spain to Francoist government in the King's name.

During his reign, Juan Carlos served as the president of the Ibero-American States Organization, representing over 700 million people in its 24-member nations of Spain, Portugal, and their former American colonies. In 2008, he was considered the most popular leader in all Ibero-America.  

In 1962, Juan Carlos married Princess Sofía of Greece and Denmark, with whom he has three children. Juan Carlos and Sofía retain the titles and style they enjoyed during his reign.

Early life

Juan Carlos was born to Infante Juan, Count of Barcelona and Princess María Mercedes of Bourbon-Two Sicilies in Rome, Italy, where his grandfather, King Alfonso XIII of Spain, and other members of the Spanish Royal Family lived in exile following the proclamation of the Second Spanish Republic in 1931. He was baptized as Juan Carlos Alfonso Víctor María de Borbón y Borbón-Dos Sicilias. He was given the name Juan Carlos after his father and maternal grandfather, Prince Carlos of Bourbon-Two Sicilies.

His early life was dictated largely by the political concerns of his father and General Franco. He moved to Spain in 1948 to be educated there after his father persuaded Franco to allow it.  He began his studies in San Sebastián and finished them in 1954 at the San Isidro Institute in Madrid. He then joined the army, doing his officer training from 1955 to 1957 at the Military Academy of Zaragoza.

Juan Carlos has two sisters: Infanta Pilar, Duchess of Badajoz (born 1936); and Infanta Margarita, Duchess of Soria (born 1939). He also had a younger brother, Alfonso.

Brother's death

On the evening of Holy Thursday, 29 March 1956, Juan Carlos' younger brother Alfonso died in a gun accident at the family's home Villa Giralda in Estoril, Portugal. The Spanish Embassy in Portugal then issued the following official communiqué: 

Alfonso had won a local junior golf tournament earlier in the day, then went to evening Mass and rushed up to the room to see Juan Carlos who had come home for the Easter holidays from military school. It is alleged that Juan Carlos began playing with a gun that had apparently been given to Alfonso by General Franco.   Rumors appeared in newspapers that the gun had actually been held by Juan Carlos at the moment the shot was fired.

As they were alone in the room, it is unclear how Alfonso was shot, but according to Josefina Carolo, dressmaker to Juan Carlos's mother, Juan Carlos pointed the pistol at Alfonso and pulled the trigger, unaware that it was loaded. Bernardo Arnoso, a Portuguese friend of Juan Carlos, also said that Juan Carlos fired the pistol not knowing that it was loaded, and adding that the bullet ricocheted off a wall, hitting Alfonso in the face. Helena Matheopoulos, a Greek author who spoke with Juan Carlos's sister Pilar, said that Alfonso had been out of the room and when he returned and pushed the door open, the door knocked Juan Carlos in the arm, causing him to fire the pistol.  

Education

In 1957, Juan Carlos spent a year in the naval school at Marín, Pontevedra, and another in the Air Force school in San Javier in Murcia. In 1960–61, he studied Law, International Political Economy and Public Finance at Complutense University.  He then went to live in the Palace of Zarzuela and began carrying out official engagements.

Prince of Spain: 1969–75

The dictatorial regime of Francisco Franco came to power during the Spanish Civil War, which pitted a government of democrats, anarchists, socialists, and communists, supported by the Soviet Union and international volunteers, against a rebellion of conservatives, monarchists, nationalists, and fascists, supported by both Hitler and Mussolini, with the rebels ultimately winning.  Franco's authoritarian government remained dominant in Spain until the 1960s. With Franco's increasing age, left-wing protests increased, while at the same time, the far right factions demanded the return of a hardline absolute monarchy. At the time, the heir to the throne of Spain was Juan de Borbón (Count of Barcelona), the son of the late Alfonso XIII.  However, General Franco viewed him with extreme suspicion, believing him to be a liberal who was opposed to his regime. 

Juan Carlos's first cousin Alfonso, Duke of Anjou and Cádiz was also briefly considered as a candidate. Alfonso was known to be an ardent Francoist and would marry Franco's granddaughter, Doña María del Carmen Martínez-Bordiú y Franco in 1972. 

Ultimately, Franco decided to skip a generation and name Juan de Borbón's son, Prince Juan Carlos, as his personal successor. Franco hoped the young prince could be groomed to take over the nation while still maintaining the ultraconservative nature of his regime. In 1969, Juan Carlos was officially designated heir-apparent and was given the new title of Prince of Spain (not the traditional Prince of Asturias). As a condition of being named heir-apparent, he was required to swear loyalty to Franco's Movimiento Nacional, which he did with little outward hesitation.  His choice was ratified by the Spanish parliament on 22 July 1969. 

Juan Carlos met and consulted Franco many times while heir apparent and often took part in official and ceremonial state functions, standing alongside the dictator, much to the anger of hardline republicans and more moderate liberals, who hoped that Franco's death would bring in an era of reform. During 1969–1975, Juan Carlos publicly supported Franco's regime. Although Franco's health worsened during those years, whenever he did appear in public, from state dinners to military parades, it was in Juan Carlos's company. Juan Carlos continued to praise Franco and his government for the economic growth and positive changes in Spain.   However, as the years progressed, Juan Carlos began meeting secretly with political opposition leaders and exiles, who were fighting to bring liberal reform to the country. He also had secret conversations with his father over the telephone. Franco, for his part, remained largely oblivious to the prince's actions and denied allegations from his ministers and advisors that Juan Carlos was in any way disloyal to his vision of the regime. 

During periods of Franco's temporary incapacity in 1974 and 1975, Juan Carlos was acting head of state. On 30 October 1975, Franco gave full control to Juan Carlos; he died three weeks later, on 20 November. On 22 November, two days after Franco's death, the Cortes Generales proclaimed Juan Carlos King of Spain. In his address to the Cortes, Juan Carlos spoke of three factors: historical tradition, national laws, and the will of the people, and in so doing referred to a process dating back to the Civil War of 1936–39. On 27 November, a Mass of the Holy Spirit was celebrated in the church of San Jerónimo el Real in Madrid to inaugurate his reign. He opted not to call himself Juan III or Carlos V, but Juan Carlos I. 

Restoration of the monarchy

Juan Carlos's accession met with relatively little parliamentary opposition. Some members of the Movimiento Nacional voted against recognising him, and more against the 1976 Law for Political Reform. But even most Movimiento members supported both measures.  Juan Carlos quickly instituted reforms, to the great displeasure of Falangist and conservative (monarchist) elements, especially in the military, who had expected him to maintain the authoritarian state. In July 1976, Juan Carlos dismissed prime minister Carlos Arias Navarro, who had been attempting to continue Francoist policies in the face of the king's attempts at democratisation.  He instead appointed Adolfo Suárez, a former leader of the Movimiento Nacional, as prime minister, who would go on to win the following year's election and become the first democratically elected leader of the new regime. 

On 20 May 1977, the leader of the only recently legalized Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE), Felipe González, accompanied by Javier Solana, visited Juan Carlos in the Zarzuela Palace. The event represented a key endorsement of the monarchy from Spain's political left, who had been historically republican.  Left-wing support for the monarchy grew when the Communist Party of Spain was legalized shortly thereafter, a move Juan Carlos had pressed for, despite enormous right-wing military opposition at that time, during the Cold War.

On 15 June 1977, Spain held its first post-Franco democratic elections. In 1978, the government promulgated a new constitution that acknowledged Juan Carlos as rightful heir of the Spanish dynasty and king; specifically, Title II, Section 57 asserted Juan Carlos' right to the throne of Spain by dynastic succession in the Bourbon tradition, as "the legitimate heir of the historic dynasty" rather than as the designated successor of Franco. Title II, Section 57, Subsection 1:  "The Crown shall be inherited by the successors of H.M. Juan Carlos I de Borbón, the legitimate heir of the historic dynasty."  "La Corona de España es hereditaria en los sucesores de S. M. Don Juan Carlos I de Borbón, legítimo heredero de la dinastía histórica." The Constitution was passed by the democratically elected Constituent Cortes, ratified by the people in a referendum (6 December) and then signed into law by the King before a solemn meeting of the Cortes.

Further legitimacy was restored to Juan Carlos' position on 14 May 1977, when his father (whom many monarchists had recognized as the legitimate, exiled King of Spain during the Franco era) formally renounced his claim to the throne and recognized his son as the sole head of the Spanish Royal House, transferring to him the historical heritage of the Spanish monarchy, thus making Juan Carlos both de facto and de jure king in the eyes of the traditional monarchists. 

23-F 1981 military coup 

There was an attempted military coup, known as 23-F, on 23 February 1981, when the Cortes were seized by members of the Guardia Civil in the parliamentary chamber.  During the coup, the King, in the uniform of the Captain-General of the Spanish armed forces, gave a public television broadcast calling for unambiguous support for the legitimate democratic government. The broadcast is believed to have been a major factor in foiling the coup. The coup leaders had promised many of their potential supporters that they were acting in the King's name and with his approval, but were able to demonstrate neither, and the broadcast – coming just after midnight on the night of the coup – definitively showed the King's opposition to the coup makers.

When Juan Carlos became king, Communist leader Santiago Carrillo nicknamed him Juan Carlos the Brief, predicting that the monarchy would soon be swept away with the other remnants of the Franco era.  After the collapse of the attempted coup, however, in an emotional statement, Carrillo remarked: "Today, we are all monarchists."  Public support for the monarchy among democrats and leftists before 1981 had been limited; following the king's handling of the coup it increased significantly. 

Role in contemporary Spanish politics

The victory of the PSOE in 1982 under González marked the effective end of the King's active involvement in Spanish politics. González would govern for over a decade, and his administration helped consolidate Spanish democracy and thus maintained the stability of the nation.

On paper, Juan Carlos retained fairly extensive reserve powers.  He was the guardian of the constitution, and was responsible for ensuring that it was obeyed. In practice, since the passage of the Constitution (and especially since 1982) he took a mostly ceremonial and representative role, acting almost entirely on the advice of the government.  However, he commanded great moral authority as an essential symbol of the country's unity.

Under the constitution, the King has immunity from prosecution in matters relating to his official duties. This is so because every act of the King as such (and not as a citizen) needs to be undersigned by a government official, thus making the undersigner responsible instead of the king.
The honour of the Royal Family is specifically protected from insult by the Spanish Penal Code.  Under this protection, Basque independentist Arnaldo Otegi[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4407134.stm Basque convicted for king insult], BBC News, 4 November 2005. Retrieved 29 December 2007. and cartoonists from El Jueves were tried and punished.

The King gives an annual speech to the nation on Christmas Eve. He is the commander-in-chief of the Spanish armed forces.

In July 2000, Juan Carlos was the target of an enraged protester when former priest Juan María Fernández y Krohn, who had once attacked Pope John Paul II, breached security and attempted to approach the king. 

When the media asked Juan Carlos in 2005 if he would endorse the bill legalising same-sex marriage that was then being debated in the Cortes Generales, he answered "Soy el Rey de España y no el de Bélgica" ("I am the King of Spain, not of Belgium") - a reference to King Baudouin I of Belgium, who had refused to sign the Belgian law legalising abortion.  The King gave his Royal Assent to Law 13/2005 on 1 July 2005; the law legalising same-sex marriage was gazetted in the Boletín Oficial del Estado on 2 July, and came into effect on 3 July. 

According to a poll in the newspaper El Mundo in November 2005, 77.5% of Spaniards thought Juan Carlos was "good or very good", 15.4% "not so good", and only 7.1% "bad or very bad". Even so, the issue of the monarchy re-emerged on 28 September 2007 as photos of the king were burnt in public in Catalonia by small groups of protesters wanting the restoration of the Republic. 

2007 Ibero-American Summit

In November 2007, at the Ibero-American Summit in Santiago de Chile, during a heated exchange, Juan Carlos interrupted  Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, saying, "¿Por qué no te callas?" ("Why don't you shut up?"). Chávez had been interrupting the Spanish Prime Minister, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, while the latter was defending his predecessor and political opponent, José María Aznar, after Chávez had referred to Aznar as a fascist and "less human than snakes".  The King shortly afterwards left the hall when President Daniel Ortega of Nicaragua accused Spain of intervention in his country's elections and complained about some Spanish energy companies working in Nicaragua.   This was an unprecedented diplomatic incident and a rare display of public anger by the King. 

Botswana hunting trip

In April 2012, Juan Carlos faced criticism for making an elephant-hunting trip in Botswana. Spaniards only found out about the trip after the King injured himself and a special aircraft was sent to bring him home.  Spanish officials stated that the expenses of the trip were not paid by taxpayers or by the palace, but by Mohamed Eyad Kayali, a businessman of Syrian origin. Cayo Lara Moya of the United Left party said the king's trip "demonstrated a lack of ethics and respect toward many people in this country who are suffering a lot" while Tomas Gomez of the Socialist party said Juan Carlos should choose between "public responsibilities or an abdication". In April 2012, Spain's unemployment was at 23 percent and nearly 50 percent for young workers. El País estimated the total cost of a hunting trip at 44,000 euros (USD 57,850), about twice the average annual salary in Spain. A petition called for the king to resign from his position as honorary president of the Spanish branch of the World Wide Fund for Nature. The WWF itself responded by asking for an interview with the King to resolve the situation.  In July 2012, WWF-Spain held a meeting in Madrid and decided with 226 votes to 13 to remove the king from the honorary presidency.  He later apologised for the hunting trip.

Family and private life

Juan Carlos was married in Athens at the Church of Saint Dennis on 14 May 1962, to Princess Sophia of Greece and Denmark, daughter of King Paul of Greece. She converted from her Greek Orthodox religion to Roman Catholicism. Also in 1962, a Roman Catholic wedding was performed in the Pauline Chapel the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome.

They have two daughters and one son.

* Infanta Elena, Duchess of Lugo (born 20 December 1963)
* Infanta Cristina (born 13 June 1965)
* Felipe, Prince of Asturias (born 30 January 1968), later King Felipe VI

Juan Carlos is also the alleged illegitimate father of Alberto Sola, born in Barcelona in 1956, and of a Belgian woman, Ingrid Sartiau, who has filed a paternity suit; complete sovereign immunity had prevented the suit prior to his abdication. 

In 1972, Juan Carlos, a keen sailor, competed in the Dragon class event at the Olympic Games, finishing 15th. In their summer holidays, the whole family meets in Marivent Palace (Palma de Mallorca) and the Fortuna yacht, where they take part in sailing competitions. The king has manned the Bribón series of yachts. In winter, the family often go skiing in Baqueira-Beret and Candanchú (Pyrenees).

Juan Carlos also hunts bears; in October 2004, he angered environmental activists by killing nine bears, one of which was a pregnant female, in central Romania.  It was alleged by the Russian regional authorities that in August 2006 Juan Carlos shot a drunken tame bear (Mitrofan the Bear) during a private hunting trip to Russia; the Office of the Spanish Monarchy denied this claim. 

Juan Carlos and Sofía are fluent in several languages, speaking Spanish, English, and French. The King also speaks fluent Portuguese and Italian, and the Queen speaks German and her native Greek.

Juan Carlos is also an amateur radio operator and holds the call sign EA0JC. His custom of incognito motorbike riding has raised urban legends of people finding him on lonely roads. For example, one story tells that a biker out of petrol stranded on a hot sunny day was assisted by a fellow motorcyclist, who returned with a small container of petrol. The good Samaritan, on removing his helmet, turned out to be Juan Carlos.

Juan Carlos is a member of the World Scout Foundation  and of the Sons of the American Revolution.

Health

A benign 17-19mm tumour was removed under general anaesthetic from King Juan Carlos’ right lung in an operation carried out in the "Hospital Clínic" of Barcelona in May 2010. The operation followed an annual check-up, and Juan Carlos was not expected to need any further treatment.

In April 2012, the King underwent surgery for a triple fracture of the hip at the San Jose Hospital, Madrid, following a fall on a private elephant-hunting trip to Botswana.  He also underwent a hip operation in September 2013 at Madrid's Quirón hospital. 

Budget of the royal house

After the King's son-in-law Iñaki Urdangarín was accused of corruption (the "Urdangarín affair"), the King in 2011 for the first time detailed the yearly royal budget of 8.3 million euros, excluding expenses such as the electricity bill, paid by the State.  

Abdication

Spanish news media speculated about the King's future in early 2014, following criticism and family scandal; the King's chief of staff in a briefing denied that the 'abdication option' was being considered.  On the morning of 2 June 2014, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy made a televised announcement that the King had told him of his intention to abdicate. Later, the King delivered a televised address and announced that he would abdicate the throne in favour of the Prince of Asturias.  Royal officials described the King's choice as a personal decision which he had been contemplating since his 76th birthday at the start of the year. The King said, "[I] don't want my son to grow old waiting like Prince Charles."  As required by the Spanish constitution, any abdication would be settled by means of an organic law.  A draft law was passed with 299 in favour, 19 against and 23 abstaining.  On 18 June, he signed the organic law passed by parliament several hours before his abdication took effect.   Felipe was enthroned on 19 June 2014.

Juan Carlos thus became the fourth European monarch to abdicate in just over a year, following Pope Benedict XVI (28 February 2013), Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands (30 April 2013), and King Albert II of Belgium (21 July 2013). 

The Spanish constitution at the time of the abdication did not grant an abdicated monarch the legal immunity of a head of state,  but the government was planning to make changes to allow this. Legislation has been passed, although unlike his previous immunity, the new legislation does not completely shield the former sovereign. Juan Carlos must answer to the supreme court, in a similar type of protection afforded to many high-ranking civil servants and politicians in Spain. The legislation stipulates that all outstanding legal matters relating to the former king be suspended and passed "immediately" to the supreme court. 

Reactions

The Spanish press gave the announcement a broadly positive reception, but described the moment as an "institutional crisis" and "a very important moment in the history of democratic Spain".  Around Spain and in other major cities including London, the news was met by republican celebration and protests, calling for the end of the monarchy.  

Catalan leader Artur Mas said that the news of the King's abdication would not slow down the process of independence for Catalonia. Iñigo Urkullu, the President of the Basque government, concluded that the King's reign was "full of light yet also darkness" and said that his successor Felipe should remember that "the Basque Question has not been resolved".  Other regional leaders had more positive evaluations of Juan Carlos at his decision to abdicate; Alberto Núñez Feijóo of Galicia called him "the King of Democracy" who "guaranteed the continuation of constitutional monarchy"  and Alberto Fabra of the Valencian Community said that Spaniards are proud of their king who had been "at the forefront of protecting our interests inside and outside of our borders". 

British Prime Minister David Cameron stated "I would like to use this opportunity to make a tribute to King Juan Carlos, who has done so much during his reign to aid the successful Spanish transition to democracy, and has been a great friend of the United Kingdom".  The President of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso, said that Juan Carlos was a "believer in Europeanism and modernity...without whom one could not understand modern Spain". 

The Spanish public also gave a broadly positive opinion not only of the abdication but of his reign as a whole. According to a poll taken by El Mundo, 65 per cent believed the king’s reign was either good or very good, up from 41.3 per cent. Overall, 55.7 per cent of those polled in the 3–5 June survey by Sigma Dos supported the institution of the monarchy in Spain, up from 49.9 per cent when the same question was posed six months ago. 57.5 per cent believed the prince could restore the royal family’s lost prestige. An overwhelming majority of Spaniards believed the new king, Felipe VI, would make a good monarch and more than three-quarters believed King Juan Carlos had been right to hand over the throne to his son. 

Titles, styles, honours and arms

The current Spanish constitution refers to the monarchy as "the Crown of Spain" and the constitutional title of the monarch is simply Rey/Reina de España (King/Queen of Spain). The constitution allows for the use of other historic titles pertaining to the Spanish monarchy, without specifying them.

King Juan Carlos retains the title and style he enjoyed during his reign.  

Arms

Ancestors The 2008 Kosovo declaration of independence was adopted on 17 February 2008 by representatives of the Kosovo people. The participants unanimously declared Kosovo to be independent from Serbia,  while all 11 representatives of the Serb minority boycotted the proceedings.  It was the second declaration of independence by Kosovo's Albanian-majority political institutions; the first was proclaimed on 7 September 1990. 

The legality of the declaration has been disputed. Serbia sought international validation and support for its stance that the declaration was illegal, and in October 2008 requested an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice.  The Court determined that the declaration did not violate international law.

As a result of the ICJ decision, a joint Serbia-EU resolution was passed in the United Nations General Assembly which called for an EU-facilitated dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia to "promote cooperation, achieve progress on the path to the European Union and improve the lives of the people."  The dialogue resulted in the 2013 Brussels deal between Serbia and Kosovo which abolished all of the Republic of Serbia's institutions in Kosovo. Dejan Pavićević is the official representative of Serbia to Kosovo.  Valdet Sadiku is the official representative of Kosovo to Serbia.  
 
History

Background

The Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija took shape in 1946 within Socialist Yugoslavia as a province within Serbia's federal republic. Initially a ceremonial entity, more power was devolved to Kosovan authorities with each constitution. In 1974 it became the Socialist Autonomous Province of Kosovo which enabled the region to function at every administrative level independently of its host republic within Yugoslavia. Increasing ethnic tension throughout Yugoslavia in the late 1980s amid rising nationalism among its nations eventually led to a decentralised state: this facilitated Serbian President Slobodan Milošević in effectively terminating the privileges awarded to the Kosovar assembly in 1974. The move attracted criticism from the leaderships of the other Yugoslav republics but no higher authority was in place to reverse the measure. In response to the action, the Kosovo Assembly voted on 2 July 1990 to declare Kosovo an independent state, and this received recognition from Albania. A state of emergency and harsh security rules were subsequently imposed against Kosovo's Albanians following mass protests. The Albanians established a "parallel state" to provide education and social services while boycotting or being excluded from Yugoslav institutions.  

Kosovo remained largely quiet through the Yugoslav wars. The severity of the Yugoslav government in Kosovo was internationally criticised. In 1996, the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) began attacking federal security forces. The conflict escalated until Kosovo was on the verge of all-out war by the end of 1998. In January 1999, NATO warned that it would intervene militarily against Yugoslavia if it did not agree to the introduction of an international peacekeeping force and the establishment of local government in Kosovo. Subsequent peace talks failed and from 24 March to 11 June 1999, NATO carried out an extensive bombing campaign against FR Yugoslavia including targets in Kosovo itself. The war ended with Milošević agreeing to allow peacekeepers into Kosovo and withdrawing all security forces so as to transfer governance to the United Nations.

Build-up

A NATO-led Kosovo Force (KFOR) entered the province following the Kosovo War, tasked with providing security to the UN Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK). Before and during the handover of power, an estimated 100,000 Serbs and other non-Albanians, mostly Romani, fled the province for fear of reprisals. In the case of the non-Albanians, the Romani in particular were regarded by many Albanians as having assisted federal forces during the war. Many left along with the withdrawing security forces, expressing fears that they would be targeted by returning Albanian refugees and KLA fighters who blamed them for wartime acts of violence. Thousands more were driven out by intimidation, attacks and a wave of crime after the war.

Large numbers of refugees from Kosovo still live in temporary camps and shelters in Serbia proper. In 2002, Serbia and Montenegro reported hosting 277,000 internally displaced people (the vast majority being Serbs and Roma from Kosovo), which included 201,641 persons displaced from Kosovo into Serbia proper, 29,451 displaced from Kosovo into Montenegro, and about 46,000 displaced within Kosovo itself, including 16,000 returning refugees unable to inhabit their original homes.  
Some sources put the figure far lower. In 2004 the European Stability Initiative estimated the number of displaced people as being only 65,000, with 130,000 Serbs remaining in Kosovo, though this would leave a significant proportion of the pre-1999 ethnic Serb population unaccounted-for. The largest concentration of ethnic Serbs in Kosovo is in the north of the province above the Ibar river, but an estimated two-thirds (75,000) of the Serbian population in Kosovo continue to live in the Albanian-dominated south of the province.

On 17 March 2004, serious unrest in Kosovo led to 19 deaths, and the destruction of a 35 Serbian Orthodox churches and monasteries in the province, as Albanians started pogroms against the Serbs. Several thousand more Kosovo Serbs have left their homes to seek refuge in Serbia proper or in the Serb-dominated north of Kosovo.

Since the end of the war, Kosovo has been a major source and destination country in the trafficking of women, women forced into prostitution and sexual slavery. The growth in the sex trade industry was fuelled by NATO forces in Kosovo. 

International negotiations began in 2006 to determine the final status of Kosovo, as envisaged under UN Security Council Resolution 1244 which ended the Kosovo conflict of 1999. Serbia's continued sovereignty over Kosovo was recognised internationally. The vast majority of the province's population sought independence.

Declaration of 2008–present

The 2008 declaration was a product of failed negotiations concerning the adoption of the Ahtisaari plan, which broke down in the fall of 2007. The plan, prepared by the UN Special Envoy and former President of Finland, Martti Ahtisaari, stipulated a sort of supervised independence for Kosovo, without expressly using the word "independence" among its proposals. Under the plan, Kosovo would gain self-governance under the supervision of the European Union, and become obligated to expressly protect its minorities' rights by means of a constitution and a representative government. Kosovo would be accorded its own national symbols such as a flag and a coat of arms, and be obligated to carry out border demarcation on the Kosovo-Republic of Macedonia border. The Albanian negotiators supported the Ahtisaari plan essentially in whole, and the plan gained the backing of the European Union and of the United States. However, Serbia and Russia rejected it outright, and no progress was possible on the United Nations front.

Faced with no progress on negotiations in sight, the Kosovars decided to unilaterally proclaim the Republic of Kosovo, obligating themselves in the process to follow the Ahtisaari plan's provisions in full. As of mid-April 2008, this has largely been the case, with the new Republic adopting a constitution written by local and international scholars protecting minority rights and providing for a representative government with guaranteed ethnic representation, which law is to take effect on 15 June 2008. It also adopted some of its national symbols already, including the flag and coat of arms, while work continues on defining the anthem. It has also engaged, albeit with a delay, in the border demarcation talks with Macedonia, initially insisting on being recognised first, but dropping this condition later on.

The 2008 Kosovo declaration of independence elicited mixed reaction internationally and a polarised one domestically, the latter along the division of Kosovo Serbs vs. the Kosovo Albanians. Accordingly, effective control in Kosovo has also fractured along these lines.

After 13 years of international oversight, Kosovo's authorities formally obtained full unsupervised control of the region (less only North Kosovo) on 10 September 2012 when Western Powers terminated their oversight. The International Steering Group, in its final meeting with the authorities in Pristina, declared that the Comprehensive Proposal for the Kosovo Status Settlement, known as the Ahtisaari plan after its Finnish UN creator, had been substantially implemented.  Nonetheless, as of November 2015, United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo still functions, albeit at a greatly reduced capacity.

Political background

After the end of the Kosovo War in 1999, the United Nations Security Council adopted Resolution 1244 to provide a framework for Kosovo's interim status. It placed Kosovo under transitional UN administration, demanded a withdrawal of Serbian security forces from Kosovo and envisioned an eventual UN-facilitated political process to resolve the status of Kosovo.

In February 2007, Martti Ahtisaari delivered a draft status settlement proposal to leaders in Belgrade and Pristina, the basis for a draft UN Security Council Resolution which proposed 'supervised independence' for the province. By early July 2007 a draft resolution, backed by the United States and the European Union members of the Security Council, had been rewritten four times to try to accommodate Russian concerns that such a resolution would undermine the principle of state sovereignty. However, it had still not found agreement. Russia, which holds a veto in the Security Council as one of five permanent members, stated that it would not support any resolution which was not acceptable to both Serbia and the Kosovo Albanians. While most observers had, at the beginning of the talks, anticipated independence as the most likely outcome, others suggested that a rapid resolution might not be preferable.

The talks finally broke down, late 2007 with the two sides remaining far apart, with the minimum demands of each side being more than the other was willing to accept.

At the turn of 2008, the media started reporting that the Kosovo Albanians were determined to proclaim independence. This came at the time when the ten-year anniversary of the Kosovo War was looming (with the five-year anniversary being marked by violent unrest); the U.S. President George W. Bush was in his last year in power and not able to seek re-election; and two nations which had previously seceded from Yugoslavia were in important political positions (Slovenia presiding over the EU and Croatia an elected member of the UN Security Council). The proclamation was widely reported to have been postponed until after the Serbian presidential election, 2008, held on 20 January and 3 February, given that Kosovo was an important topic of the election campaign.

Adoption and terms of the declaration of independence

"We, the democratically elected leaders of our people, hereby declare Kosovo to be an independent and sovereign state. This declaration reflects the will of our people and it is in full accordance with the recommendations of UN Special Envoy Martti Ahtisaari and his Comprehensive Proposal for the Kosovo Status Settlement. We declare Kosovo to be a democratic, secular and multi-ethnic republic, guided by the principles of non-discrimination and equal protection under the law."

The declaration of independence was made by members of the Kosovo Assembly as well as by the President of Kosovo meeting in Pristina, the capital of Kosovo, on 17 February 2008. It was approved by a unanimous quorum, numbering 109 members. Eleven deputies representing Serbian national minority boycotted the proceedings. All nine other ethnic minority representatives were part of the quorum. 
The terms of the declaration state that Kosovo's independence is limited to the principles outlined by the Ahtisaari plan. It prohibits Kosovo from joining any other country, provides for only a limited military capability, states that Kosovo will be under international supervision and provides for the protection of minority ethnic communities.
The original papyrus version of the declaration signed that day is in the Albanian language.  The Albanian text of the declaration is the sole authentic text.

International disputes

Legality of the declaration

On 18 February 2008 the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia declared Kosovo's declaration of independence as null and void per the suggestion of the Government of the Republic of Serbia, after the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Serbia deemed the act illegal arguing it was not in coordination with the UN Charter, the Constitution of Serbia, the Helsinki Final Act, UN Security Council Resolution 1244 (including the previous resolutions) and the Badinter Commission. 

According to writer Noel Malcolm, the 1903 constitution was still in force at the time that Serbia annexed Kosovo    during the First Balkan War. He elaborates that this constitution required a Grand National Assembly before Serbia's borders could be expanded to include Kosovo; but no such Grand National Assembly was ever held. Constitutionally, he argues, Kosovo should not have become part of the Kingdom of Serbia. It was initially ruled by decree.  

The Contact Group had issued in 2005 the Guiding Principles upon which the final status of Kosovo shall be decided. 

Precedent or special case?

Recognition of Kosovo's independence is controversial. A number of countries fear that it is a precedent, affecting other contested territories in Europe and non-European parts of the former Soviet Union, such as Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

The text of Kosovo's declaration of independence addressed this issue by stating "...Observing that Kosovo is a special case arising from Yugoslavia's non-consensual breakup and is not a precedent for any other situation, Recalling the years of strife and violence in Kosovo, that disturbed the conscience of all civilized people..." However, Ted Galen Carpenter of the Cato Institute stated the view of Kosovo being sui generis and setting no precedent is "extraordinarily naïve". Archived by WebCite at [http://www.webcitation.org/5ajEq8FjY webcitation.org/5ajEq8FjY].

United Nations involvement

The newly proclaimed republic has not been seated at the United Nations, as it is generally believed that any application for UN membership would be vetoed by Russia.  Russia has vowed to oppose Kosovo's independence with a "plan of retaliation" that some have suggested resulted in Russia recognising the hitherto internationally unrecognised breakaway states of Abkhazia and South Ossetia in Georgia and possibly the TRNC in Cyprus.  Serbia has likewise proactively declared the annulment of Kosovo's independence and vowed to oppose Kosovo's independence with a package of measures intended to discourage the international recognition of the republic. 

On 8 October 2008, The UN General Assembly voted to refer Kosovo's independence declaration to the International Court of Justice; 77 countries voted in favour, 6 against and 74 abstained. The ICJ was asked to give an advisory opinion on the legality of Kosovo's declaration of independence from Serbia in February.  The court delivered its advisory opinion on  2010; by a vote of 10 to 4, it declared that "the declaration of independence of the 17th of February 2008 did not violate general international law because international law contains no 'prohibition on declarations of independence'."

Reactions to the declaration of independence

Reactions in Kosovo

Kosovo Albanians

Ethnic Albanians in Kosovo greeted the news with celebration. 

Kosovo Serbs

The bishop of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Kosovo, Artemije, reacted in anger, stating that Kosovo's independence was a "temporary state of occupation", and that "Serbia should buy state of the art weapons from Russia and other countries and call on Russia to send volunteers and establish a military presence in Serbia." 

In Northern Kosovo, a UN building housing a courthouse and jail was attacked by a hand grenade, causing slight damage but no casualties. An unexploded grenade was found across the street, near a hotel that houses EU officials.

An explosive device was detonated in Mitrovica, damaging two vehicles. No casualties or injuries were reported. 

Serb protestors in Kosovo set fire to two border crossings on Kosovo's northern border. Both crossings are staffed by Kosovar and UN police. No injuries were reported in the attacks, but the police withdrew until KFOR soldiers arrived. 

A Japanese journalist wearing a UN uniform was beaten by Serbs in northern Mitrovica.

Hundreds of Serbs protested in the Kosovo town of Mitrovica on 22 February, which was somewhat peaceful aside from some stone-throwing and a little fighting.

On 14 March 2008 Serb protesters forcibly occupied the UN courthouse in the northern part of Kosovska Mitrovica. On 17 March, UN and NATO peacekeepers entered the courthouse to end the occupation. In the following clashes with several hundred protesters one Ukrainian UN police officer was killed, over 50 persons on each side were wounded and one UN and one NATO vehicle were torched. The UN police withdrew from northern Mitrovica leaving NATO troops to maintain order. 

The Community Assembly of Kosovo and Metohija first met on 28 June 2008, to coordinate Serb responses to the new government.

Serbian reaction

Official reaction by the Government of Serbia included instituting pre-emptively on 12 February 2008 an Action Plan, which stipulated, among other things, recalling the Serbian ambassadors for consultations in protest from any state recognising Kosovo,  issuing arrest warrants for Kosovo leaders for high treason,  and even dissolving the government on grounds of lack of consensus to deal with Kosovo, with new elections scheduled for 11 May 2008,   as well as a rogue minister proposing partitioning Kosovo along ethnic lines,  which initiative was shortly thereafter disavowed by the full Government, as well as the President.  Late in March the government disclosed its intent to litigate the issue at the International Court of Justice and seek support at the United Nations General Assembly in September 2008. 

The Prime Minister of Serbia, Vojislav Koštunica, has blamed the United States for being "ready to violate the international order for its own military interests" and stated that "Today, this policy of force thinks that it has triumphed by establishing a false state. [...] As long as the Serb people exist, Kosovo will be Serbia." Slobodan Samardžić, the Serb minister for Kosovo, stated that, "A new country is being established by breach of international law [...] It's better to call it a fake country." However, the Serbian government says they will not respond with violence. 

On 17 February, about 2,000 Serbs protested at the United States Embassy in Belgrade, with some throwing stones and firecrackers at the building before being driven back by riot police. Protestors also broke windows of the embassy of Slovenia, the state that controls the EU presidency. In Belgrade and Novi Sad, McDonald's shops were damaged by protestors.  The Serbian division of U.S. Steel, based in Smederevo, had a false bomb threat called in. 

The Crown Council of House of Karadjordjevic, a former royal family of Serbia and Yugoslavia, rejected Kosovo's declaration of independence, saying that: "Europe had diminished its own morale, embarrassed its own history and shown that it carries within its organism the virus of its own downfall," and that "it is a defeat of the idea of democracy... a defeat of the universally accepted rules of international law," and that a "part of the project of Mussolini and Hitler has finally been accomplished, in the territory of Serbia".

In Montenegro, protests were held in Podgorica on 19 February. Protesters waved flags of the Serb People's Party and the Serbian Radical Party. Serb parties led by the Serb List are calling for a protest on 22 February to protest the independence bid. 

On 21 February, there were large demonstrations by Serbs in Belgrade. There were more than 500,000 protesters. Most protesters were non-violent, but small groups attacked the United States and Croatian embassies. A group broke into The United States embassy, set it on fire, and attempted to throw furniture through the windows. The embassy was empty, except for security personnel. No embassy staff were injured, but a corpse was found; embassy spokeswoman Rian Harris stated that the embassy believes it to be an attacker. Police took 45 minutes to arrive at the scene, and the fire was only then put out. US ambassador to the UN Zalmay Khalilzad was "outraged", and requested the UN Security Council immediately issue a statement "expressing the council's outrage, condemning the attack, and also reminding the Serb government of its responsibility to protect diplomatic facilities." The damage to the Croatian embassy was less serious.

The Turkish and British embassies were also attacked, but police were able to prevent damage. The interior of a McDonald's was damaged. A local clinic admitted 30 injured, half of whom were police; most wounds were minor.

The Security Council responded to these incidents by issuing a unanimous statement that, "The members of the Security Council condemn in the strongest terms the mob attacks against embassies in Belgrade, which have resulted in damage to embassy premises and have endangered diplomatic personnel," noting that the 1961 Vienna Convention requires host states to protect embassies.

On 22 February, the United States embassy in Serbia ordered the temporary evacuation of all non-essential personnel, after the protests and attacks on the embassy. Rian Harris, a U.S. embassy spokeswoman, explained the evacuation to AFP saying that "Dependents are being temporarily ordered to depart Belgrade. We do not have confidence that Serbian authorities can provide security for our staff members."

International reaction

Unlike the 1990 Kosovo declaration of independence, which only Albania recognised,  Kosovo's second declaration of independence has been recognised by  and the Republic of China (Taiwan). However many states have also showed their opposition to Kosovo's declaration of independence, most notably China and Russia. Serbia announced before the declaration that it would withdraw its ambassador from any state which recognised independent Kosovo.  Serbia, however, maintains embassies in many countries which recognise Kosovo, including Albania, Canada, Croatia, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, South Korea, Turkey, the UAE, the UK, and the US. 

Reaction within the European Union

On 18 February 2008 the EU presidency announced after a day of intense talks between foreign ministers that member countries were free to decide individually whether to recognise Kosovo's independence. The majority of EU member states have recognised Kosovo, but Cyprus, Greece, Romania, Slovakia and Spain have not. Some Spanish people (scholars or from the Spanish Government or opposition parties) challenged the comparison made by the Basque Government that way of Kosovo's independence could be a path for the independence of the Basque Country and Catalonia.[http://www.20minutos.es/noticia/772560/l/catalunya/kosovo/independencia/ International Law Teacher from Catalonia argues that Catalonia or Basque Country and Kosovo cases are different.] (22/07)[http://www.20minutos.es/noticia/772875/0/moratinos/independencia/kosovo/ Spanish Foreign Minister says Spain will not recognize Kosovo's independence, not even mentioning comparison to Basque Country or Catalonia] (23/07)[http://www.20minutos.es/noticia/773759/0/ Basque Country politician (EB) states Court decision forces Spanish Government to recognize autodetemination rights] (23/07)Previously in 2008: [http://www.20minutos.es/noticia/349987/0/azkarate/ibarretxe/kosovo/ Basque Government spokeswoman says Kosovo is an example to be followed] (17/022008)[http://www.20minutos.es/noticia/350490/0/llamazares/kosovo/independencia/ Spanish opposition politician denies that cases can be compared] (18/02/2008).

Shortly before Kosovo's declaration of independence, the European Union approved deployment of a non-military 2,000-member Rule of Law mission, "EULEX," to develop further Kosovo's police and justice sector. All twenty-seven members of the EU approved the EULEX mandate, including the minority of EU countries that have still not recognised Kosovo's independence. Serbia has claimed that this is an occupation and that the EU's move is illegal.

Outside of the EU

United States president George W. Bush welcomed the declaration of independence as well as its proclamation of friendship with Serbia, stating: "We have strongly supported the Ahtisaari plan [implying Kosovo's independence …]. We are heartened by the fact that the Kosovo government has clearly proclaimed its willingness and its desire to support Serbian rights in Kosovo. We also believe it's in Serbia's interests to be aligned with Europe and the Serbian people can know that they have a friend in America.” 

Russia reacted with condemnation, stating they "expect the UN mission and NATO-led forces in Kosovo to take immediate action to carry out their mandate [...] including the annulling of the decisions of Pristina's self-governing organs and the taking of tough administrative measures against them.”

In Tirana, the capital of Albania, 'Kosovo Day' was held as a celebration.

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdoğan phoned Prime Minister of Kosovo Hashim Thaçi saying the declaration of independence "will bring to Balkans peace and stability”. 

The Republic of China's (commonly known as Taiwan; non-UN member) Foreign Ministry stated "We congratulate the Kosovo people on their winning independence and hope they enjoy the fruits of democracy and freedom. [...] Democracy and self-determination are the rights endorsed by the United Nations. The Republic of China always supports sovereign countries' seeking democracy, sovereignty and independence through peaceful means."  Taiwan's political rival, the People's Republic of China, responded quickly, saying that "Taiwan, as a part of China, has no right and qualification at all to make the so-called recognition".

Amongst Southeast Asian countries where Muslim separatist movements were active in at least three states, Indonesia, with the world's largest Muslim population, deferred recognition of an independent Kosovo,  while the Philippines declared it will not oppose, but nor will it support Kosovo's independence.   Both countries face pressures from Muslim separatist movements within their territories, notably Aceh and southern Mindanao respectively. Vietnam expressed opposition,  while Singapore reported that it was still studying the situation.  Malaysia, which headed the Organisation of the Islamic Conference at the time, formally recognized Kosovo's sovereignty three days after its independence. 

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd backed Kosovan independence on the morning of 18 February, saying "This would appear to be the right course of action. That's why, diplomatically, we would extend recognition at the earliest opportunity."  New Zealand's Former Prime Minister Helen Clark said that New Zealand would neither recognise nor not recognise an independent Kosovo.  Pro-Independence rallies were held by ethnic Albanians in Canada in the days leading up to the declaration.

On the 9th of November 2009 New Zealand officially accepted Kosovo's independence.

President of Northern Cyprus (a state not recognised by the UN) Mehmet Ali Talat saluted the independence of Kosovo and hopes that the state is respected and assisted, in staunch opposition to the position of the Republic of Cyprus. 

On 23 February, 44 protesters were arrested after burning the Serbian flag, in the main square of Zagreb (Croatia), following Serb protesters attacking the Croatian embassy in Belgrade, Serbia.

Hundreds of Bosnian Serb demonstrators broke away from a peaceful rally in Banja Luka on 26 February 2008 and headed for the United States Embassy's office there, clashing with police along the way.

United Nations

Following a request from Russia, the United Nations Security Council held an emergency session in the afternoon of 17 February.  The United Nations Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, issued a statement that avoided taking sides and urged all parties "to refrain from any actions of statements that could endanger peace, incite violence or jeopardize security in Kosovo or the region." Speaking on behalf of six countries—Belgium, Croatia, France, Germany, Italy and the United States—the Belgian ambassador expressed regret "that the Security Council cannot agree on the way forward, but this impasse has been clear for many months. Today's events... represent the conclusion of a status process that has exhausted all avenues in pursuit of a negotiated outcome." 

ICJ ruling

On July 22, 2010 the International Court of Justice ruled that the declaration did not violate international law, because it was not issued by the Assembly of Kosovo, Provisional Institutions of Self-Government, or any other official body and thus the authors, who named themselves "representatives of the people of Kosovo" were not bound by the Constitutional Framework (promulgated by UNMIK) or by UNSCR1244 that is addressed only to United Nations Member States and organs of the United Nations. Prior to the announcement Hashim Thaçi said there would be no "winners or losers" and that "I expect this to be a correct decision, according to the will of Kosovo's citizens. Kosovo will respect the advisory opinion." For his part, Boris Tadić, the Serbian president, warned that "If the International Court of Justice sets a new principle, it would trigger a process that would create several new countries and destabilise numerous regions in the world." The King of Spain (), constitutionally referred to as the Crown (la Corona) and commonly referred to as the  Monarchy of Spain (Monarquía de España)  or Hispanic Monarchy (Monarquía Hispánica),  is a constitutional institution and an historic office of Spain.  The monarchy comprises the reigning monarch, his or her family, and the royal household organization which supports and facilitates the monarch in the exercise of his royal duties and prerogatives.   The Spanish monarchy is represented by King Felipe VI, his wife Queen Letizia, and their daughters Leonor, Princess of Asturias, and Infanta Sofia.

The Spanish Constitution of 1978 reestablished  a constitutional monarchy as the form of government for Spain. The 1978 constitution affirmed the role of the King of Spain as the personification and embodiment of the Spanish State and a symbol of Spain's enduring unity and permanence. Constitutionally, the king is  the head-of-state and commander-in-chief of the Spanish Armed Forces.  The constitution codifies the use of royal styles and titulary, royal prerogatives, hereditary succession to the crown, compensation, and a regency-guardianship contingency in cases of the monarch's minority or incapacitation. According to the constitution, the monarch is also instrumental in promoting relations with the "nations of its historical community". The King of Spain serves as the president of the Ibero-American States Organization, purportedly representing over 700,000,000 people in twenty-four member nations worldwide. In 2008, Juan Carlos I was considered the most popular leader in all Ibero-America. 

The Spanish monarchy has its roots in the Visigothic Kingdom founded in Spain and Aquitania  in the 5th century, and its Christian successor states which fought the Reconquista following the Umayyad invasion of Hispania in the 8th century. A dynastic marriage between Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon united Spain in the 15th century. The Spanish Empire became one of the first global powers as Isabella and Ferdinand funded Christopher Columbus's exploratory voyage across the Atlantic Ocean. This led to the discovery of America, which became the focus of Spanish colonization.

In 2010, the budget for the Spanish monarchy was 7.4 million euros, one of the lowest public expenditures for the institution of monarchy in Europe.  

History

The monarchy in Spain has its roots in the Visigothic Kingdom and its Christian successor states of Navarra, Asturias (later Leon and Castille) and Aragon, which fought the Reconquista or Reconquest of the Iberian peninsula following the Umayyad invasion of Hispania in the 8th century. One of the earliest influential dynasties was the House of Jiménez which united much of Christian Iberia under its leadership in the 11th century. From Sancho III of Navarre (r. 1000–1035) until Urraca of León and Castile (r.1106–1125), members of the Jiménez family claimed the historic Visigothic title Imperator totius Hispaniae or Emperor of All Spain. The Jiménez rulers sought to bring their kingdoms into the European mainstream and often engaged in cross-Pyrenees alliances and marriages, and became patrons to Cluniac Reforms (c. 950–c.1130).  Urraca's son and heir Alfonso VII of León and Castile, the first of the Spanish branch of the Burgundy Family, was the last to claim the imperial title of Spain, but divided his empire among his sons. The Castilian Civil War (1366 to 1369) ended with the death of King Peter (r. 1334–1369) at the hands of his illegitimate half-brother Henry, 1st Count of Trastámara who ruled as Henry II (r. 1369–1379). Henry II became the first of the House of Trastámara to rule over a Spanish kingdom. King Peter's heiress, his granddaughter Catherine of Lancaster, married Henry III, reuniting the dynasties in the person of their son, King John II.

Marital union of the Catholic Monarchs

In the 15th century, the marriage between Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon, both members of the House of Trastámara, known as the Catholic Monarchs, united two important kingdoms of the Iberian peninsula. Each kingdom retained its basic structure. In 1492 the Catholic Monarchs conquered the Kingdom of Granada in southern Spain, the last Muslim territory in the Iberian peninsula. This date marks the unification of Spain.

The territories of the Spanish empire overseas were dependencies of the crown of Castile, and Castile had an outsize influence there.  Following the Spanish explorations and settlement in the Caribbean, Spanish conquest of Mexico and the Spanish conquest of Peru, the crown established high courts (Audiencias) in important regions and viceroyalties (Mexico, 1535; Peru, 1542) with the viceroy (vice-king) and the Audiencias the effective administrators of royal policy.

Habsburg monarchy

In the early 16th century, the Spanish monarchy controlled several territories in Europe under the Habsburg King Charles I (also Holy Roman Emperor as Charles V), son of Queen Joanna of Castile. His reign ushered in the Spanish Golden Age (1492–1659) a period of great colonial expansion and trade. In 1700, Charles II was the last of the Spanish Habsburgs.

Bourbon Monarchy

With the death of the childless Charles II, the succession to the throne was disputed.  Charles II had designated his sister Maria Theresa's grandson, Philip of France, Duke of Anjou, as his heir. The possible unification of Spain with France, the two big European powers at the time, sparked the Spanish War of Succession in the 18th century, culminating in the treaties of Utrecht (1713) and Rastatt (1714) which preserved the European balance of power.

In the mid-eighteenth century, particularly under Charles III of Spain, the Spanish crown embarked on an ambitious and far reaching project to implement major reforms in the administration of Spain and the Spanish empire.  These changes, collectively known as the Bourbon Reforms attempted to rationalize administration and produce more revenue from its overseas empire. 

Philip V was the first member of the House of Bourbon (Spanish: Borbón) to rule Spain, the dynasty that still rules today under Felipe VI.

During the Napoleonic Wars, the French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte forced Ferdinand VII to abdicate in 1808 and the Bourbons became a focus of popular resistance against French rule. However, Ferdinand's rejection of the liberal Spanish Constitution of 1812, his ministerial appointments, particularly the exclusion of liberals, gradually eroded popular support for the Spanish monarchy. With the Pragmatic Sanction of 1830, Ferdinand set aside the Salic Law, introduced by Philip V, that prohibited women from becoming sovereigns of Spain. Thereby, as had been customary before the arrival of the Bourbons, the Ferdinand VII's eldest daughter Isabella became his heiress presumptive. Opponents of the Pragmatic Sanction argued that it was never officially promulgated, claiming Ferdinand VII's younger brother, Prince Carlos, the rightful heir to the crown according to the Salic Law.

First Spanish Republic

In September 1873 the First Spanish Republic was founded. A coup d'état restored the Bourbon dynasty to the throne in 1874.

Second Spanish Republic and Regime of Francisco Franco

In 1931 local and municipal elections produced victories (particularly in urban areas) for candidates favoring an end to the monarchy and the establishment of a republic. Faced with unrest in the cities, Alfonso XIII went into exile, but did not abdicate. The ensuing provisional government evolved into the relatively short-lived Second Spanish Republic. The Spanish Civil War began in 1936 and ended on 1 April 1939 with the victory of General Francisco Franco and his coalition of allied organizations commonly referred to as the Nationalists. Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany aided Franco in the Spanish Civil War.

General Franco claimed to rule Spain as Regent to the King of Spain.  However, without a king on the throne, he ruled through a coalition of allied organizations from the Spanish Civil War including, but not limited to, the Falange political party, the supporters of the Bourbon royal family, and the Carlists, until his death in 1975.

Re-establishment of the Monarchy

Despite Franco's alliance with the Carlists, Franco appointed Juan Carlos I de Borbón as his successor, who is credited with presiding over Spain's transition from dictatorship to democracy by fully endorsing political reforms.

Impatient with the pace of democratic reforms, the new king, known for his formidable personality, dismissed Carlos Arias Navarro and appointed the reformer Adolfo Suárez as President of the Government in 1977.  

The next year the king signed into law the new liberal democratic Constitution of Spain, which was approved by 88% of voters. Juan Carlos' "quick wit and steady nerve" cut short the attempted military coup in 1981 when the king used a specially designed command communications center in the Zarzuela Palace to denounce the coup and command the military's eleven captains general to stand down.

Following the events of 1981, Juan Carlos led a less eventful life, according to author John Hooper. Juan Carlos did not preside over ceremonies such as the opening of hospitals and bridges as often as monarchs in other nations. Instead, he worked towards establishing reliable political customs when transitioning one government administration to another, emphasizing constitutional law and protocol, and representing the Spanish State domestically and internationally, all the while aiming to maintain a professionally non-partisan yet independent monarchy. 

The Crown, constitution, and royal prerogatives

The historic Crown of Spain, (la Corona de España) with its roots in the Visigothic kingdom from the 5th century and subsequent successor states, is recognized in Title II The Crown, Articles 56 through 65 of the Spanish Constitution of 1978. Constitutionally the monarch embodies and personifies the unity and permanace of the Spanish State, and represents the legal personality of the State and by extension fulfills the role of "Father of the Nation". As a unifying figure for the nation, in 2010 King Juan Carlos worked towards "bridging the gap" between Spain’s rival polarized political parties to develop a unified strategy in response to the country’s on-going late-2000s economic crisis.

According to the Spanish Constitution voted in referendum, the sovereignty power emanates from the people, so it's the very same people who give the king the power to reign:

The monarch "arbitrates and moderates the regular functioning of the institutions" and assumes the highest representation of the Spanish State in international relations. 
The monarch exercises the functions expressly conferred on him by the constitution and the laws.

Upon accession to the crown and being proclaimed before the Cortes Generales, the king swears an oath to faithfully carry out his constitutional duties and to abide by the constitution and laws of the state. Additionally, the constitution gives the king the added responsibility to ensure that the constitution is obeyed. Lastly, the king swears to respect the rights of Spanish citizens and of the self-governing communities. The Prince of Asturias, upon reaching the age of majority, in addition to any regent(s) upon assuming the office, swears the same oath as that of the king along with a further oath of loyalty to the monarch.

The oath reads as follows:

The 1978 Constitution, Title II The Crown, Article 62, delineates the powers of the king, while Title IV Government and Administration, Article 99, defines the king's role in government.  Title VI Judicial Power, Article 117, Articles 122 through 124, outlines the king's role in the country's independent judiciary.  However, by constitutional convention established by Juan Carlos I, the king exercises his prerogatives having solicited government advice while maintaining a politically non-partisan and independent monarchy. Receiving government advice does not necessarily bind the monarch into executing the advice, except where prescribed by the constitution.

Styles, titles, and the Fount of Honour

The 1978 constitution confirms the title of the monarch is the King of Spain, but that he may also use other titles historically associated with the Crown. 

The titles used by Alfonso XIII before his exile in 1931 which, with this provision of the constitution, the king is entitled to use include:

According to Royal Decree 1368/1987, regulating the titles, treatments and honours of the royal family and the regents, the king and the queen consort will formally be addressed as "His Majesty and Her Majesty" (Their Majesties, Spanish: Su Majestad, Su represents His or Her) rather than the traditional "Catholic Majesty" (Su Católica Majestad). A prince consort of a regnant Queen of Spain will have the style "His Royal Highness" (Su Alteza Real).  Additionally, a widowed and unmarried queen consort, now a queen dowager, will continue to be addressed as "Her Majesty". A widowed and unmarried prince consort will continue to be addressed as "His Royal Highness". The heir from birth shall hold the title of Prince of Asturias and the other titles historically associated with the heir apparent. These additional titles include Prince of Viana, historically associated with the heir apparent to the Kingdom of Navarre; with the titles Prince of Girona and Duke of Montblanc historically associated with the heir apparent for the Crown of Aragon, among others. Other children of the monarch, and the children of the heir apparent, shall have the title and rank of Infante or Infanta (prince or princess), and styled His or Her Royal Highness (Su Alteza Real). Children of an Infante or Infanta of Spain "shall have the consideration of Spanish Grandees", and the address of "Your Excellency". The royal decree further limits the ability of any regent to use or create titles during the minority or incapacitation of a monarch. No further constitutional language prescribes titles or forms of address to the fourth generation, or great grandchildren, of a reigning monarch.

Following his abdication in 2014, Juan Carlos I and his wife Sofia retain courtesy titles of King and Queen of Spain.  

The monarch's position as the fount of honour within Spain is codified in Article 62 (f); It is incumbent upon the monarch to "[...] confer civil and military positions and award honors and distinctions in conformity of the law".  According to the Spanish Ministry of Justice, nobility and grandee titles are created by the "sovereign grace of the king", and may be passed on to the recipient's heirs, who may not sell the title. Titles may revert to the Crown when their vacancy is observed. Succession of titles may follow one of several courses listed on the Title of Concession when the title is created. As a general rule, most titles are now inherited by absolute Cognatic Primogeniture (as of 2006), in which the first born inherits all titles regardless of gender. However, a title holder may designate his successor, Succession by Assignment, or disperse his titles among his children – with the eldest getting the highest-ranking title, Succession by Distribution.

During his reign between 1975 and 2014, King Juan Carlos awarded peerages to two of his former prime ministers who had retired from active politics: Adolfo Suárez, who was created 1st Duke of Suárez; and Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelo who was created 1st Marquess of la Ría de Ribadeo.     All successive politicians remain active within politics.

The king grants not only military and civil orders, but also grants awards of distinction, customarily on the advice of government.  The most distinguished order the king may award is the Order of Charles III to "citizens who, with their effort, initiative and work, have brought a distinguished and extraordinary service to the Nation".   The Laureate Cross of Saint Ferdinand is Spain's highest military award for gallantry. Other historic awards and distinctions include the Spanish Order of the Golden Fleece, the Order of Isabella the Catholic, the Order of Alfonso X, the Royal and Military Order of Saint Hermenegild, the Order of Saint Raimundo de Penafort, the Order of Military Merit, the Order of Naval Merit, the Order of Aerial Merit, the Order of Civil Merit, the Order of Cultural Merit, the Order of Calatrava, the Order of the Knights of Santiago, the Order of Sant Jordi d'Alfama, and the Order of Alcántara, among others.

Inviolablity and lèse majesté

The Spanish monarch is personally immune from prosecution for acts committed by government ministers in the king's name. This legal convention mirrors the concept of sovereign immunity which evolved in similar constitutional monarchies. The legal concept of sovereign immunity evolved into other aspects of immunity law in similar liberal democracies, such as parliamentary immunity, judicial immunity, and qualified immunity in the United States.

The concept of lèse majesté (lesa majestad) exists in Spanish jurisprudence, which is the crime or offense violating the dignity of the head-of-state or the State itself. According to Article 56 of the 1978 Constitution the monarch and the dignity of the Spanish State are one and the same: "The King is Head of State, the symbol of its unity and permanence". Breaching Spain's lèse majesté laws may carry fines and up to two years in prison.  The concept is within the same legal sphere as legislation prohibiting flag desecration in other democratic countries. Additionally, lèse majesté extends to any foreign heads-of-state visiting Spain, and other members of the royal family, and to the Spanish President of the Government as the king's appointed officer.

The Spanish satirical magazine El Jueves was fined for violation of Spain's lèse majesté laws after publishing an issue with a caricature of the Prince and Princess of Asturias engaging in sexual intercourse on their cover in 2007.  In 2008, 400 Catalonia separatists burned images of the king and queen in Madrid, and in 2009 two Galician  separatists were fined for burning effigies of the king.

Succession and regency

 

According to Article 57 the Crown of Spain is inherited by the successors of King Juan Carlos I de Borbón through male preference primogeniture Article 57 is also significant in that it omits entirely the Franconist era designation of Juan Carlos as Franco's successor. While drafting the new constitution, lawyer and liberal congressman Joaquín Satrústegui (1909–1992) insisted that the phrase the legitimate heir of the historic dynasty be included in the text to underscore that the monarchy was an historic institution predating the constitution or the prior regime. Additionally, Satrústegui was "anxious to remove" notions that the constitutional monarchy had any Francoist origins, according to author Charles Powell.

Male preference cognatic primogeniture has been practiced in Spain since the 11th century in the various Visigothic successor states and codified in the Siete Partidas, with women able to inherit in certain circumstances.  However, with the succession of Philip V in 1700, the first of the Spanish Bourbons, women were barred from succession until Ferdinand VII reintroduced the right and designated his eldest daughter Isabella as his heiress presumptive by 1833.

The debate on amending the Crown's succession law came to the forefront on 31 October 2005, when the Infanta Leonor was born to then-Felipe, Prince of Asturias and his wife Letizia, the current King and Queen of Spain. Amending the law to absolute cognatic primogeniture, known in French as aînesse intégrale would allow the first-born to inherit the throne, whether the heir be male or female. The Zapatero administration of the day proclaimed its intention to amend the succession law, however with the birth of the king's second daughter the issue was placed on the back burner. Paving the way, in 2006 King Juan Carlos issued a decree reforming the succession to noble titles from male preference primogeniture to absolute and equal cognatic primogeniture. Since the order of succession to the Crown is codified in the Constitution, its reform mandates a complicated process that involves a dissolution of parliament, a constitutional election, and a referendum.

If all lines designated by law become extinct, the constitution reserves the right for the Cortes Generales to provide for the succession "in the manner most suitable for Spain". The 1978 constitution disinherits members of the royal family from succession if they marry against the expressed prohibition of the monarch and the Cortes Generales, as well as their descendants. Lastly, Article 57 further provides that "Abdications and renunciations and any doubt in fact or in law that may arise in connection with the succession to the Crown shall be settled by an organic act".

Constitutionally, the current heirs of Felipe VI are; 

# HRH The Princess of Asturias, elder daughter of the King
# HRH The Infanta Sofía, younger daughter of the King
# HRH The Infanta Elena, Duchess of Lugo, elder daughter of King Juan Carlos I.
# HE Felipe Juan Froilán de Marichalar y de Borbón, son of Infanta Elena.
# HE Victoria Federica de Marichalar y de Borbón, daughter of Infanta Elena.
# HRH The Infanta Cristina, younger daughter of King Juan Carlos I.
# HE Juan Urdangarín y de Borbón, eldest son of Infanta Cristina.
# HE Pablo Urdangarín y de Borbón, middle son of Infanta Cristina.
# HE Miguel Urdangarín y de Borbón, youngest son of Infanta Cristina.
# HE Irene Urdangarín y de Borbón, daughter of Infanta Cristina.

The constitution outlines the regency of the monarchy and guardianship of the person of the monarch in the event of his minority or incapacitation. The office of Regent(s) and the Guardianship of the monarch (whether the monarch is in his minority or incapacitated), may not necessarily be the same person. In the event of the minority of the monarch, the surviving mother or father, or oldest relative of legal age who is nearest in line to the throne, would immediately assume the office of Regent, who in any case must be Spanish. If a monarch becomes incapacitated, and that incapacitation is recognized by the Cortes Generales, then the Prince of Asturias (the heir apparent), shall immediately become Regent, if he is of age. If  the Prince of Asturias is himself a minor, then the Cortes Generales shall appoint a Regency which may be composed of one, three, or five persons. The person of the king in his minority shall fall under the guardianship of the person designated in the will of the deceased monarch, provided that he or she be of age and of Spanish nationality. If no guardian has been appointed in the will, then the father or mother will then assume the guardianship, as long as they remain widowed. Otherwise,  the Cortes Generales shall appoint both the Regent(s) and the guardian, who in this case may not be held by the same person, except by the father or mother of direct relation of the king.

The king, the government, and the Cortes Generales

The constitution defines the government's responsibilities. The government consists of the President of the Government and ministers of state. The government conducts domestic and foreign policy, civil and military administration, and the defense of the nation all in the name of the king. Additionally, the government exercises executive authority and statutory regulations.  The most direct prerogative the monarch exercises in the formation of Spanish governments is in the nomination and appointment process of the President of the Government (Presidente del Gobierno de España).   Following the General Election of the Cortes Generales (Cortes), and other circumstances provided for in the constitution, the king meets with and interviews the political party leaders represented in the Cortes, and then consults with the Speaker of the Congress (who, in this instance, represents the whole of the Cortes Generalas).

Constitutionally, the monarch may nominate anyone he sees fit as his prerogative. However, it remains pragmatic for him to nominate the person most likely to enjoy the confidence of the Cortes and form a government, usually the political leader whose party commands the most seats in the Cortes. For the Crown to nominate the political leader whose party controls the Cortes can be seen as a royal endorsement of the democratic process, a fundamental concept enshrined in the 1978 constitution. By political custom, the king's nominees have all been from parties who hold the most seats in the Cortes. The king is normally able to announce his nominee the day following a General Election.

The king's nominee is presented before the Cortes by the Speaker where the nominee and his  political agenda are debated and submitted for a Vote of Confidence (Cuestión de confianza) by the Cortes. A simple majority confirms the nominee and his program. After the nominee is deemed confirmed by the Speaker of the Congress of Deputies, the king appoints him as the new President of the Government in a ceremony performed at the Salón de Audiencias in the la Zarzuela Palace, the official residence of the king. During the inauguration ceremony, the President of the Government takes an oath of office over an open Constitution next to the Holy Bible. The oath as taken by President Zapatero on his second term in office on 17 April 2004 was;: 

However, if no overall majority was obtained on the first vote of confidence, then the same nominee and program is resubmitted for a second vote within forty-eight hours. Following the second vote, if confidence by the Cortes is still unreached, then the monarch again meets with political leaders and the Speaker, and submits a new nominee for a vote of confidence. If, within two months, no candidate has won the confidence of the Cortes then the king dissolves the Cortes and calls for a new General Election. The king's royal decree is countersigned by the Speaker of the Congress.

In the political life of Spain, the king would already be familiar with the various political leaders in a professional capacity, and perhaps less formally in a more social capacity, facilitating their meeting following a General Election. Conversely, nominating the party leader whose party maintains a plurality and who are already familiar with their party manifesto facilitates a smoother nomination process. In the event of coalitions, the political leaders would customarily have met beforehand to hammer out a coalition agreements before their meeting with the king. Once appointed, the President of the Government forms an administration whose ministers are appointed and removed by the king on the president's advice. No minister may take up his appointment until after they give their oath of office to obey the constitution with loyalty to the king.

As early as 1975, Juan Carlos expressed his view that his role in the government of a "crowned democracy" would be for him to counsel and orient an administration's "thrust in action", but for the government to take the initiative without the need for it to involve the king unnecessarily in its decisions. Therefore, Juan Carlos has abstained from presiding over cabinet meetings except under special occasions or circumstances. Generally, the king presides over cabinet meetings once or twice a year (more regularly if needed) to be directly informed by ministers of non-partisan national and international concerns. However, the king does meet weekly with the President of the Government, usually on Tuesday mornings.  During the late-2000s economic recession which gripped the nation, the king discretly used his influence to facilitate a bi-partisan response to the crisis.

Governments and the Cortes sit for a term no longer than four years when the president tenders his resignation to the king and advises the king to dissolve the Cortes, prompting a General Election. It remains within the king's prerogative to dissolve the Cortes if, at the conclusion of the four years, the president has not asked for its dissolution, according to Title II Article 56.  The president may call for earlier elections, but no sooner than a year after the prior General Election. Additionally, if the Government loses the confidence of the Cortes, then it must resign. In the event that a president dies or becomes incapacitated while in office, then the government as a whole resigns and the process of royal nomination and appointment takes place. The vice president would take over the day-to-day operations in the meantime, even while vice president himself may be nominated by the king.

Royal assent, judiciary, and promulgation of the laws

The constitution vests the sanction (Royal Assent) and promulgation (publication) of the laws with the king, while Title III The Cortes Generals, Chapter 2 Drafting of Bills outlines the method with which bills are passed. According to Article 91, within fifteen days that a bill has been passed by the Cortes Generales, the king shall give his assent and publish the new law. Article 92 invests the king with the right to call for referendum on the advice of the president and the previous authorization of Congress.

No provision within the constitution invests the king with the ability to veto legislation directly, however no provision prohibits the king from withholding royal assent, effectively a veto.  When the media asked King Juan Carlos if he would endorse the 2005 bill legalizing gay marriages (the implication implied that he may not endorse the bill), he answered "Soy el Rey de España y no el de Bélgica" ("I am the King of Spain, not of Belgium") – a reference to King Baudouin I of Belgium who had refused to sign the Belgian law legalising abortion in Belgium. 

According to Title VI of the constitution, Justice in Spain "emanates from the people and is administered on behalf of the King by judges and magistrates members of the Judicial Power..." It remains a royal prerogative for the king to appoint the twenty members to the General Council of the Judicial Power of Spain (Spain's Supreme Court), and then appoint the President of the Supreme Court nominated by the General Council, according to Article 122, Subsection 3, of the constitution. However, by convention the king's nominations have been with the advice of the government of the day.

Additionally, the king appoints the State Public Prosecutor on the advice of the government, according to Article 124. The king may grant clemency in accordance with the law, however the king may not authorize a general pardon of government ministers who have been found criminally liable or guilty of treason by the Criminal Article of the Supreme Court, according to Articles 62 and 102.

The king and international diplomacy

Constitutionally the king accredits Spanish ambassadors to international states and governments, and foreign representatives to Spain are accredited before him. However, the government of the day manages diplomatic policy on behalf of the monarch. Additionally, it remains the responsibility for the monarch to express the state's assent to international commitments and treaties, which must be in conformity with the Spanish constitution.

During his kingship, Juan Carlos followed a foreign policy during the first decade of his kingship coined Reencounter and Reconciliation, which greatly improved Spain's standing on the world stage. The king reconciled long standing historic tensions with the Netherlands and cultivated relationships with France and Germany which led directly to Spain's entry into the European Community and into NATO. Following the tensions between Franco and the Papacy over the reforms of the Second Vatican Council, Juan Carlos' personal relations with successive popes greatly improved diplomatic relations between the Holy See and Spain, and with Pope Paul VI blessing Juan Carlos' democratic reforms.  According to historian Charles Powell, it was the king's goal to win Spain's full acceptance by other European powers. The king, a self-described Europeanist, was awarded the prestigious Charlemagne Award in 1982 for his steadfast work towards democracy and for supporting European unity. The constitution gives the monarch special responsibility in promoting Spanish relations with members of its historic community, the nations formerly part of the Spanish Empire and also relations with Portugal and Brazil. Fulfilling this responsibility, the King of Spain serves as president of the twenty-four member Ibero-American States Organization. With his support of democracy, various elements within Ibero-America political society have sought the king's advice on how to transition from a dictatorship to a democracy. For his efforts, by 2008 the king was voted the most popular leader in all of the Ibero-America community.

The monarch is assisted in his diplomatic missions by the Foreign Ministry, and high-ranking members of the Foreign Ministry are made available to the king when he is abroad representing Spain.  The royal household coordinates with the Foreign Ministry to ensure successful diplomatic engagements. Additionally, other members of the royal family, most notably the Prince of Asturias, may represent the Spanish State internationally. Though the Spanish monarchy is independent of the government, it is important that royal speeches are compatible with government foreign policy to project a unified diplomatic effort. To achieve balance, royal household speechwriters confer with the Foreign Ministry to ensure that the official speeches strike the desired diplomatic tone between the king's views and government policy.   When necessary and appropriate, the king and his government may focus on two different aspects in a diplomatic engagement. The king may emphasize one aspect, such as the promotion of democracy and historic relations; while the government focuses on the details of strategic planning and bilateral coordination.

The king and members of the royal family have represented Spain in Europe, Latin America, in the United States and in Canada, nations in the Middle East and North Africa, in China, Japan, the Philippines, Australia, New Zealand and many countries in sub-Sahara Africa. The king and Prince of Asturias have addressed many international organizations which include the United Nations, the institutions of the European Union, the Council of Europe, the Organization of American States, UNESCO, the International Labour Organization, and the Arab League. Since 2000, Felipe has represented Spain in half of all diplomatic engagements.

The king as Commander-in-Chief

The role of the Crown in the Spanish Armed Forces is rooted in tradition and patriotism as demonstrated in the symbols and the history of the military. The role of the Spanish monarch in the chain of command of the forces is established by the constitution of 1978, and other statutory law ( Acts of Parliament, Royal Decrees etc. ).

However, Title IV of the constitution vests the administration of the armed forces and formulation of national defense policy with the President of the Government, a civil officer who is nominated and appointed by the king, confirmed by the elected Congress of Deputies and, as such, is representative of the Spanish people.

Royal Decree 1310 of 5 October 2007  requires the National Defence Council to report to the monarch, and that the king is to be the Chairman of the Council when he attends its sessions. The National Defence Council is Spain's highest advisory body on security and defense matters and performs the same basic function as the U.S. National Security Council. King Juan Carlos chaired the first full meeting of the council on 10 November 2007, at which the newly proposed National Defence Directive was reviewed along with the ongoing peace missions in Afghanistan, Kosovo, Bosnia and Lebanon.  

As Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces, the king holds the highest-ranking office in the military chain of command. The king's ranks include Captain General of the Army, the Navy and the Air Force. The king is the only officer in the military to hold this 5 Star General rank. The king takes a keen interest in all aspects of military policy as evidenced by "his direct participation in the life of the Spanish Armed Forces".  The king's participation in Spanish military life stems from his constitutional duty to "arbitrate and moderate" the regular working of state institutions. Serving in the armed forces is considered an expectation of the heir apparent, and Juan Carlos served in the various branches of the armed forces before he became king. Likewise, Felipe, as Prince of Asturias, has served in the armed forces.

The monarch has made his desire for a strong rapport with the armed forces clear in speeches to his officer corp:

Contemporary monarchy

Popularity and criticism

Prior to the Spanish financial crisis from 2008, the monarchy traditionally enjoyed wide support and popularity by Spanish citizens since its constitutional restoration in 1978, according to Fernando Villespin,  president of the Centro de Investigaciones Sociológicas (CIS, English: Sociological Research Center)  in 2008.    According to Villespin, the king's traditional approval rating of over 70% through the years consistently out-performed those of elected political leaders, with a similar percentage of respondents considering that the king played an important role in maintaining Spanish democracy. Public trust in Juan Carlos’ kingship "comes only behind that of the National Ombudsman", Villespin continued. Members of the royal family were routinely voted among the most respected public figures in Spain,  and in 2010 as many as 75% of Spanish citizens ranked the monarchy as "above any other public institution in the country", according to Dr Juan Díez-Nicolás, a former president of the CIS and founder of the private consulting firm ASEP (Análisis Sociológicos Económicos y Políticos).   The CIS, a non-partisan government funded independent research institution, has been researching public opinion of the monarchy since 1984 and tracks three basic lines of inquiry; what is public confidence in the monarchy, what is the role of the monarchy in a democratic system, and to what degree has the king contributed to the democratic process.

The king was routinely considered one of the top ten most popular figures in Spain, with as many as 80% of Spanish believing Spain's transition to democracy would not have been made possible without the king's personal intervention. Historian and royal biographer Charles Powell told BBC News in 2008 that "There's a deep-rooted feeling of gratitude for the king's role in the transition to democracy [and] Polls show that he is the individual to whom democratisation is most closely attributed, and the sense of gratitude cuts across class and ideological lines."

Prior to the economic crisis, part of the monarchy's appeal may lay in the personal characteristics of Juan Carlos, whose philosophy on his family, on personal integrity, and on a selfless work ethic were revealed in intimate private letters of fatherly advice to his son Felipe, Prince of Asturias, between 1984 and 1985, when Felipe was then attending university in Canada.   According to Juan Carlos a monarch must not take his position for granted but work for the people's welfare, be kind, attentive and helpful, and "appear animated even when you are tired; kind even when you don't feel like it; attentive even when you are not interested; helpful even when it takes an effort [...] You need to appear natural, but not vulgar; cultivated and aware of problems, but not pedantic or conceited".

Juan Carlos continued;

"I have had to stand snubs and contempt, incomprehension and annoyances that you, thank God, have not known", reminded the king to his son in one letter. The private letters from father to son remain within the royal household, but were copied and released into the public domain without any approval or foreknowledge, according to a Zarzuela palace official who confirmed the letter's authenticity.

However, the monarchy became the focus of acute criticism from part of the left and right of the Spanish political spectrum, and by regional separatists. As many as 22% of Spanish citizens feel that a republic would be the better form of government for Spain, while separatists and independence supporters in the Basque Country and Catalonia routinely protest the monarchy as the living symbol of a united Spain.    Part of the left criticize the institution of monarchy as anachronistic, while the far right criticize King Juan Carlos personally because he has given his royal assent and tacit approval to what they perceive to be a liberal agenda in Spain and a secularism of Spanish life.  

The monarchy became subject to sharpened criticism during the financial crisis, particularly 2012 which became a kind of "annus horribilis" for the monarchy,  as members of the royal family became increasingly seen as out-of-step with the Spanish mainstream or drawn into scandal.   Queen Sofia was criticized in 2008 for inarticulately disclosing her private opinions on gay marriage in a biography publicly released that year.  In 2011 the king’s son-in-law Iñaki Urdangarin, Duke of Palma de Mallorca, was accused of money laundering and impropriety for using his connection to the royal family for personal financial gain.      In April 2012 the king’s grandson, 13-year-old Froilán, shot himself in the foot during target practice at his father’s estate, echoing a similar but far more serious gun accident involving the king in 1956. According to historians, the then 18-year-old Juan Carlos was cleaning a revolver when he accidentally shot to death his 14-year-old brother Alfonso. Also in 2012, the monarchy was seen as out-of-touch during the financial crisis as the king went on a hunting safari in Botswana while Spanish citizens suffered crippling unemployment and austerity measures at home. Furthermore, sporting a hunting vest and rifle the king was photographed over a dead elephant propped against a tree. Despite public knowledge of the king's interest in hunting,      the image this time contrasted sharply with his patronage of the Spanish branch of the conservation group World Wildlife Fund and with Spanish public opinion trending against animal hunting. Though elephant hunting is legal on the game preserve in Botswana, the World Wildlife Fund lists elephants as an endangered species, and the public outcry led to the WWF to strip the king of his honorary patronage in July, 2012.  With the perceived disconnect public support of the monarchy has dropped to a new low of only 49%, according to a December 2011 Metroscopia survey.

The king took measures to reconcile public confidence in the monarchy.  In the wake of the scandal surrounding the Duke of Palma de Mallorca, the king spoke in his 2011 Christmas Eve National Speech that no-one is above the law. Additionally, the king addressed the perennial critique of the monarchy by publishing the budget spent on the monarchy and royal household. In 2012, the king and Prince of Asturias volunteered an additional 7% pay-cut in solidarity with government officials, bringing the king's taxable income for 2012 at about 270,000 euros, and that of the prince at 131,000 euros. Of the events surrounding the safari, the contrite king issued a rare apology and said "I am very sorry. I made a mistake. It will not happen again."  Furthermore, the king and the Prince of Asturias stepped up public engagements, particularly those of a business nature, in an effort to promote "Brand Spain," as the king put it as he answered written questions. The king's mantra for Spanish business; "Export, export, export!" Spanish business magnets rallied to the king's cause; "From a corporate point of view, [King Juan Carlos] is Spain’s No. 1 ambassador," said César Alierta, chairman of the Spanish telecommunications giant Telefónica. The king is also credited with brokering a deal worth $9.9 billion for a Spanish consortium in Saudi Arabia to construct a high-speed rail line by leveraging his personal relationship with Saudi King Abdullah and outmaneuvering a French bid.   “Without the king, this contract would not have gone ahead,” according to former Spanish foreign minister Miguel Angel Moratinos. The king's role as a "business diplomat and deal maker" for his country's interest was brought to light during the safari scandal, as the safari was paid for by Mohamed Eyad Kayali, a Syrian construction magnate and longtime friend of the king. The two worked together on the deal which awarded the Haramain High Speed Rail Project to the Spanish consortium. For supporters of the monarchy the king is an "irreplaceable resource" with unrivaled relationships with other world leaders. Observers credit the king with easing tensions between Spain's former government of José Zapatero and the George W. Bush administration, while also helping to resolve disputes in Latin America.

Opinion polls released in April 2012 revealed that the Spanish public generally forgave the king over the recent scandals, but wished for greater transparency of the monarchy. 
However, criticism grew increasingly strident towards many senior members of the royal family as investigations continued to dominate headlines throughout 2013. In an act to preserve Spanish constitutional stability Juan Carlos I abdicated the throne on June 19, 2014, in favor of his popular son, now reigning as King Felipe VI. 

At the time of his abdication La Razon found that more than 77 per cent of respondents rated the leadership of King Juan Carlos as "good" or "very good." Seventy-two per cent thought the monarchy was an important factor for political stability.  The Spanish public also gave a broadly positive opinion not only of the abdication but of his reign as a whole. According to a poll taken by El Mundo, believed the king’s reign was either good or very good, up from 41.3 per cent. Overall, 55.7 per cent of those polled in the June 3–5 survey by Sigma Dos supported the institution of the monarchy in Spain, up from 49.9 per cent when the same question was posed six months ago. 57.5 per cent believed the Felipe VI could restore the royal family’s lost prestige. An overwhelming majority of Spaniards believe Felipe VI would make a good monarch and more than three-quarters believe Juan Carlos was right to hand over the throne to his son. 

Charitable, cultural, and religious patronage

Members of the royal family are often invited by non-profit charitable, cultural, or religious organizations within Spain or internationally to become their patrons, a role the Spanish constitution recognizes.  Royal patronage conveys a sense of official credibility as the organization is vetted for suitability. A royal presence often greatly raises the profile of the organization and attracts public interest and media coverage that the organization may not have otherwise garnered, aiding in the charitable cause or cultural event. Royals use their considerable celebrity to assist the organization to raise funds or to affect or promote government policy.

Members of the royal family also pursue charitable and cultural causes of special interest to themselves.  As prince, King Felipe chaired the Prince of Asturias Foundation (Fundación Príncipe de Asturias), which aims to promote "scientific, cultural and humanistic values that form part of mankind's universal heritage."  The Prince of Asturias Foundation holds annual awards ceremonies acknowledging the contributions of individuals, entities, and organizations which make notable achievements in the sciences, humanities, or public affairs. Felipe serves as president of the Codespa Foundation, which finances specific economic and social development activities in Ibero-America and other countries, and serves as president of the Spanish branch of the Association of European Journalists, which is composed of achieving communications professionals.   Felipe also serves as honorary chair of the Ministry of Culture National Awards Ceremonies. 

Queen Sofía devotes much of her time to the Queen Sofia Foundation (Fundación Reina Sofia).[http://www.fundacionreinasofia.es/ Queen Sofia Foundation] Established in 1977 out of the queen's private funds, the non-profit aims to assist, promote, and develop the spiritual and physical needs of men and women from diverse backgrounds, with a particular focus on progress, welfare, and justice. Infanta Elena, Duchess of Lugo, the king's eldest daughter, is the Director of Cultural and Social Projects of Mapfre Foundation,  while Infanta Cristina, Duchess of Palma de Mallorca, the king's youngest daughter, served as the Goodwill Ambassador to the United Nations for the 2nd World Assembly on Ageing, and is a member of the Dali Foundation Board of Trustees, president of the International Foundation for Disabled Sailing, and Director of Social Welfare at the La Caixa Foundation in Barcelona where she lives with her family. 

The king, queen, and Infanta Cristina are all members of the Bilderberg Group, an informal think-tank centered on United States and European relations, and other world issues.  

King Juan Carlos built a tradition of presenting annual Christmas Eve National Speeches entitled "Mensaje de S.M. Juan Carlos I," personal messages from himself as king to the nation which are broadcast by radio and television through various media outlets.  King Juan Carlos  usually referred to social or economic challenges facing the nation as well as positive messages of charity, good will, and religious faith. In 2004, the speech was highly related to the 2004 Madrid train bombings; in 2006 he talked about the need to become a united nation against terrorism (in implicit support of Zapatero's anti-terrorist policies), and he mentioned the increasing force of immigrants in Spain and appreciated their contribution to the economy.

Household of H.M. the King

The royal household organization, constitutionally La Casa de Su Majestad el Rey,  supports and facilitates the monarch and members of the royal family in fulfilling their constitutionally hereditary responsibilities and obligations.  The royal household is funded through yearly budgets drafted by the government of the day in consultation with the monarch, and brought before the Cortes for approval, and then paid directly to the monarch. The royal household coordinates with various government administration ministries, and receives their advice and support where needed, though in no way does the royal household form part of the government administration.  Royal household staff serve at the pleasure of the monarch, and does not resign when the Spanish government resigns during election cycles. The royal household is managed by the Head of the Household who inspects and supervises all household operations through various bureaus or offices of the General Secretariat. The Head of the Household is assisted by a Secretary General. The General Secretariat is divided into various departments which includes planning and coordination, the secretariat (bureau) of H.M. the Queen, the secretariat (bureau) of H.R.H. the Princess of Asturias, security services, public relations and the media, protocol, administration, Infrastructure and Services.

The Spanish Armed Forces are represented by the Head of the Military Chamber, who does not advise the king on matters of national defense, which is the portfolio of the Minister of Defence and President of the Government to advise the king. Rather, the Head of the Military Chamber coordinates royal military operations and ceremonies, and prepares the royal family for any military activities. The Military Chamber is directed by a commander who must be an active lieutenant-general or a general within the Spanish military, and is under the direct orders of the king. The commander maintains an office with a military legal advisor, an auditor, and section heads for staffing, protocol, operations and logistics. The king is assigned personal aides-de-camp for his assistance, and by extension to his wife the queen and to Princess Sofia. Aides-de-camp are drawn from all of the services, with four from the Army, two from the Navy, two from the Air Force, and one from the Civil Guard. The Princess of Asturias is entitled to personal aides-de-camp, with one drawn each from the army, the navy and the air force.

The Head of the Household, Secretary General, and Head of the Military Chamber are considered senior management staff and are compensated at the level of senior government administration officials. In 2004, the royal household employed 100 staff members.

The royal household's public relations department manages and maintains an official website on behalf of the royal family known as [http://www.casareal.es/index-iden-idweb.html Casa de S.M. El Rey]. The website lists biographical information on members of the immediate royal family, charts their activities, records speeches given at events, and publishes their expected diary of upcoming events, among other information. Additionally, the public relations department publishes the king's diary of his private meetings and the meeting minutes, so long as the other party agrees.

Residences and royal sites

The king and queen preside over many official functions at the Oriente Palace in Madrid.  However, King Felipe and Queen Letizia and their family reside at the Pavilion, a modest home on the El Pardo estate, near his parents residence at La Zarzuela.  King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia have spent the majority of their time at the La Zarzuela Palace, a former hunting lodge on the El Pardo estate on the outskirts of Madrid. The El Pardo Palace itself has served as the "guest house" for visiting heads of state since the 1980s.

The Oriente Palace and the palaces of the El Pardo estate form part of the  "Spanish royal sites", a collective term used to denote the set of palaces, monasteries, and convents built under royal patronage throughout history. Royal sites are owned by the state and administered by the Patrimonio Nacional (National Heritage) on behalf of the government of the day, and made available for the king as the head of state. Whenever a member of the royal family is not in residence, the royal site is made available for public visitations. The royal household coordinates directly with the National Heritage Council and relevant government ministries or other interests in their planning and staging of state events, with royal sites often providing the setting.

Juan Carlos began a tradition of taking his family on annual holidays to the island of Palma de Mallorca, staying at the Marivent Palace there since the 1960s. Juan Carlos, known as a keen yachtsman, was presented with a yacht by the Balearic Islands and a consortium of local business leaders in 2001 as part of an effort to further associate the royal family with the islands, and to promote the islands as a tourist destination.  The yacht, known as the Fortuna, is also owned by the State and administered by the Patrimonio Nacional.

Annual budget and taxation

Constitutionally the monarch is entitled to compensation from the annual state budget for the maintenance of his family and household administration, and freely distributes these funds in accordance with the laws. According to the Royal Household, "[T]he purpose of these resources is to ensure that the Head of State may carry out his tasks with the independence which is inherent to his constitutional functions, as well as with due effectiveness and dignity". The annual budget pays the remunerations for senior management staff, management staff and career civil servants, other minor staffing positions, and for general office expenses. The Head of Household, Secretary General, and other management staff salaries must be comparable to other administration ministers within the government, though in no way do they form part of the government or administration. As such, the management staff experience increases, decreases, or freezes to their pay in accordance with the fluctuations of government minister salaries. Additionally, the annual budget pays for the maintenance and expenses of senior members of the royal family who undertake royal duties; which includes grocery, clothing, and toiletries allotments.  The budget approved by the Cortes for 2010 was just under 7.4 million euros, a budget only slightly larger than that spent on the Luxembourg monarchy. In 2011 the king addressed the perennial critique of the monarchy; that of how the annual budget awarded to the monarchy and royal household is spent. The report revealed that only 9.6% of the 8.4 million euros budgeted that year for the monarchy are paid to royal family members as 'salaries and representative duties', with the difference marked for royal household operational expenses such as household staff salaries, various insurance premiums and liabilities, services,  and 'supplementals' such as overhead. In 2012, the monarchy volunteered an additional 7% pay-cut in solidarity with government officials.

Not included in the annual budget is the maintenance and upkeep of Spanish royal sites, which are owned by the state and made available to the king as the head-of-state, but administered by Patrimonio Nacional on behalf of the government of the day. Spanish royal sites are open to the public when members of the royal family are not in residence. Maintenance and upkeep includes groundskeeping, domestic staffing and catering. The budget is administered with professional Public Administration accounting procedures, and is audited by government auditors. All members of the royal family are subject to taxation and annually submit Income Tax and Wealth Tax returns and effect the relevant payments. The European Union (EU) is a politico-economic union of  member states that are located primarily in Europe. It has an area of  , and an estimated population of over 510 million. The EU has developed an internal single market through a standardised system of laws that apply in all member states. EU policies aim to ensure the free movement of people, goods, services, and capital within the internal market, enact legislation in justice and home affairs, and maintain common policies on trade,  agriculture,  fisheries, and regional development.  Within the Schengen Area, passport controls have been abolished.  A monetary union was established in 1999 and came into full force in 2002, and is composed of 19 EU member states which use the euro currency.

The EU operates through a hybrid system of supranational and intergovernmental decision-making.   The seven principal decision-making bodies—known as the institutions of the European Union—are the European Council, the Council of the European Union, the European Parliament, the European Commission, the Court of Justice of the European Union, the European Central Bank, and the European Court of Auditors.

The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) and the European Economic Community (EEC), formed by the Inner Six countries in 1951 and 1958, respectively. The community and its successors have grown in size by the accession of new member states and in power by the addition of policy areas to its remit. While no member state has, as yet, ever left the EU, a non-binding referendum in the United Kingdom in June 2016 supported leaving. The Maastricht Treaty established the European Union in 1993 and introduced European citizenship. The latest major amendment to the constitutional basis of the EU, the Treaty of Lisbon, came into force in 2009.

Covering 7.3% of the world population,  the EU in 2014 generated a nominal gross domestic product (GDP) of 18.495 trillion US dollars, constituting approximately 24% of global nominal GDP and 17% when measured in terms of purchasing power parity.  Additionally, 26 out of 28 EU countries have a very high Human Development Index, according to the United Nations Development Program. In 2012, the EU was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.  Through the Common Foreign and Security Policy, the EU has developed a role in external relations and defence. The union maintains permanent diplomatic missions throughout the world and represents itself at the United Nations, the World Trade Organization, the G8, and the G-20. Because of its global influence, the European Union has been described as a current or as a potential superpower. 

History

Preliminary (194557)

After World War II, European integration was seen as an antidote to the extreme nationalism which had devastated the continent.  The 1948 Hague Congress was a pivotal moment in European federal history, as it led to the creation of the European Movement International and of the College of Europe, where Europe's future leaders would live and study together.  1952 saw the creation of the European Coal and Steel Community, which was declared to be "a first step in the federation of Europe."  The supporters of the Community included Alcide De Gasperi, Jean Monnet, Robert Schuman, and Paul-Henri Spaak. 

Treaty of Rome (195792)

In 1957, Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and West Germany signed the Treaty of Rome, which created the European Economic Community (EEC) and established a customs union. They also signed another pact creating the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom) for co-operation in developing nuclear energy. Both treaties came into force in 1958.

The EEC and Euratom were created separately from ECSC, although they shared the same courts and the Common Assembly.  The EEC was headed by Walter Hallstein (Hallstein Commission) and Euratom was headed by Louis Armand (Armand Commission) and then Étienne Hirsch. Euratom was to integrate sectors in nuclear energy while the EEC would develop a customs union among members.  

Through the 1960s, tensions began to show, with France seeking to limit supranational power. Nevertheless, in 1965 an agreement was reached and on 1 July 1967 the Merger Treaty created a single set of institutions for the three communities, which were collectively referred to as the European Communities.   Jean Rey presided over the first merged Commission (Rey Commission). 

In 1973, the Communities enlarged to include Denmark (including Greenland, which later left the Community in 1985, following a dispute over fishing rights), Ireland, and the United Kingdom.  Norway had negotiated to join at the same time, but Norwegian voters rejected membership in a referendum. In 1979, the first direct elections to the European Parliament were held. 

Greece joined in 1981, Portugal and Spain following in 1986.  In 1985, the Schengen Agreement paved the way for the creation of open borders without passport controls between most member states and some non-member states.  In 1986, the European flag began to be used by the Community  and the Single European Act was signed.

In 1990, after the fall of the Eastern Bloc, the former East Germany became part of the Community as part of a reunified Germany.  With further enlargement planned to include the former communist states, as well as Cyprus and Malta, the Copenhagen criteria for candidate members to join the EU were agreed upon in June 1993.

Maastricht Treaty (1992–present) 

The European Union was formally established when the Maastricht Treaty—whose main architects were Helmut Kohl and François Mitterrand—came into force on 1 November 1993.  The treaty also gave the name European Community to the EEC, even if it was referred as such before the treaty. In 1995, Austria, Finland, and Sweden joined the EU. In 2002, euro banknotes and coins replaced national currencies in 12 of the member states. Since then, the eurozone has increased to encompass 19 countries. In 2004, the EU saw its biggest enlargement to date when Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia joined the Union. In 2007, Romania and Bulgaria became EU members. The same year, Slovenia adopted the euro, followed in 2008 by Cyprus and Malta, by Slovakia in 2009, by Estonia in 2011, by Latvia in 2014 and by Lithuania in 2015.

On 1 December 2009, the Lisbon Treaty entered into force and reformed many aspects of the EU. In particular, it changed the legal structure of the European Union, merging the EU three pillars system into a single legal entity provisioned with a legal personality, created a permanent President of the European Council, the first of which was Herman Van Rompuy, and strengthened the position of the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.  In 2012, the EU received the Nobel Peace Prize for having "contributed to the advancement of peace and reconciliation, democracy, and human rights in Europe."   In 2013, Croatia became the 28th EU member.   

From the beginning of 2010s, the European Union is going through a series of tests, including a debt crisis in some Eurozone countries, increasing migration from Middle Eastern countries, Russian military intervention in Ukraine and the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the EU.

Structural evolution

The following timeline illustrates the integration that has led to the formation of the present union, in terms of structural development driven by international treaties:

British withdrawal

A referendum on the UK's membership of the European Union (announced by British Prime Minister David Cameron on 20 February 2016) was held on 23 June 2016, following years of campaigning by eurosceptics. The result gave a majority of with 51.9% to leave, and 48.1% to remain, on a turnout of 72.2% of registered voters. , the UK has not yet initiated the formal withdrawal procedure, and will not leave the EU until either two years after they notify the European Council of their decision to withdraw, or on the coming into force of a withdrawal agreement.[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-36618317 EU Brexit referendum: UK 'must not delay leaving'], BBC News. Retrieved 24 June 2016.

Geography

The EU's member states cover an area of 4423147 km2.This figure includes the extra-European territories of member states which are part of the European Union and excludes the European territories of member states which are not part of the Union. For more information see Special member state territories and the European Union. The EU's highest peak is Mont Blanc in the Graian Alps,  above sea level.  The lowest points in the EU are Lammefjorden, Denmark and Zuidplaspolder, Netherlands, at 7 m (23 ft) below sea level. 
The landscape, climate, and economy of the EU are influenced by its coastline, which is 65993 km long.

Including the overseas territories of France which are located outside the continent of Europe, but which are members of the union, the EU experiences most types of climate from Arctic (North-East Europe) to tropical (French Guyana), rendering meteorological averages for the EU as a whole meaningless. The majority of the population lives in areas with a temperate maritime climate (North-Western Europe and Central Europe), a Mediterranean climate (Southern Europe), or a warm summer continental or hemiboreal climate (Northern Balkans and Central Europe). 

The EU's population is highly urbanised, with some 75% of inhabitants (and growing, projected to be 90% in seven member states by 2020) living in urban areas. Cities are largely spread out across the EU, although with a large grouping in and around the Benelux. An increasing percentage of this is due to low density urban sprawl which is extending into natural areas. In some cases, this urban growth has been due to the influx of EU funds into a region. 

Member states

Through successive enlargements, the European Union has grown from the six founding states—Belgium, France, West Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands—to the current . Countries accede to the union by becoming party to the founding treaties, thereby subjecting themselves to the privileges and obligations of EU membership. This entails a partial delegation of sovereignty to the institutions in return for representation within those institutions, a practice often referred to as "pooling of sovereignty".  

To become a member, a country must meet the Copenhagen criteria, defined at the 1993 meeting of the European Council in Copenhagen. These require a stable democracy that respects human rights and the rule of law; a functioning market economy; and the acceptance of the obligations of membership, including EU law. Evaluation of a country's fulfilment of the criteria is the responsibility of the European Council.  No member state has yet left the Union, although Greenland (an autonomous province of Denmark) withdrew in 1985.  The Lisbon Treaty now contains a clause under Article 50, providing for a member to leave the EU.  On 23 June 2016, the United Kingdom voted by referendum to leave the EU. However, it remains a member until it officially exits, and has not yet begun formal withdrawal procedures.

There are six countries that are recognized as candidates for membership: Albania, Iceland, Macedonia,Referred to by the EU as the "former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia". Montenegro, Serbia, and Turkey, though Iceland suspended negotiations in 2013.  Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo are officially recognised as potential candidates,  with Bosnia and Herzegovina having submitted a membership application.

The four countries forming the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) are not EU members, but have partly committed to the EU's economy and regulations: Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, which are a part of the single market through the European Economic Area, and Switzerland, which has similar ties through bilateral treaties.  The relationships of the European microstates, Andorra, Monaco, San Marino, and the Vatican include the use of the euro and other areas of co-operation.  The following  sovereign states (of which the map only shows territories situated in and around Europe) constitute the European Union: 

File:Member States of the European Union (polar stereographic projection) EN.svg|390px|right|Map showing the member states of the European Union (clickable)
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poly 312 142 307 131 311 123 294 123 279 132 280 142 290 137 295 138 304 141 Estonia
poly 310 164 319 155 318 148 313 142 295 140 298 153 288 149 282 142 277 161 295 158 Latvia
poly 288 180 295 184 301 184 309 178 307 170 312 168 308 162 294 157 279 161 279 174 289 174 Lithuania
poly 300 198 294 182 290 180 270 183 265 184 264 179 250 182 248 186 238 190 238 197 234 199 239 203 241 223 249 225 251 229 255 226 261 230 265 232 268 235 270 237 273 235 276 240 281 237 283 237 289 236 296 242 297 239 297 234 301 223 305 222 304 217 301 214 296 201 Poland
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poly 299 251 291 245 270 252 269 257 258 252 249 268 254 271 260 279 268 278 275 274 290 272 294 258 Hungary
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poly 419 384 415 381 421 378 421 373 428 371 435 365 430 374 434 376 424 383 Cyprus
poly 236 248 224 238 221 231 225 227 236 221 240 220 249 225 254 226 260 231 266 230 267 236 261 243 249 245 244 243 Czech Republic
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poly 249 267 253 273 242 279 244 284 236 282 230 281 227 277 229 271 238 272 Slovenia
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rect 224 394 251 405 Malta
poly 14 333 21 334 24 337 27 339 29 333 36 329 33 325 40 319 39 311 43 312 49 298 57 295 54 292 55 289 43 284 42 281 39 280 36 291 36 292 19 313 24 314 20 317 23 318 19 324 19 327 Portugal
poly 41 358 38 355 35 355 37 345 32 338 28 338 29 333 37 329 33 326 39 319 39 311 42 312 49 300 56 295 55 292 54 290 43 283 39 280 42 270 39 269 45 266 50 268 51 264 58 266 69 274 71 272 80 279 89 280 95 283 99 287 102 287 114 299 119 301 120 298 124 301 124 304 127 305 135 308 140 309 140 314 145 339 140 337 133 343 126 339 116 349 113 342 120 345 128 337 132 335 136 338 143 335 139 312 136 316 131 317 128 317 114 320 116 322 104 331 100 338 106 345 98 346 92 353 92 356 85 354 76 361 73 357 71 361 66 357 53 354 53 357 46 355 Spain
poly 100 286 111 297 118 300 119 298 126 302 128 302 128 305 139 307 140 301 144 298 152 296 155 300 157 298 165 304 169 305 189 328 195 318 195 306 192 312 188 311 187 327 170 305 178 298 180 294 173 292 176 288 174 284 179 281 176 276 179 272 175 266 170 267 175 262 180 258 178 255 182 256 186 244 190 240 178 234 173 232 169 227 169 225 165 225 162 220 157 216 155 212 151 212 147 218 142 222 137 221 137 224 133 223 125 220 121 218 124 225 121 230 113 227 111 223 107 224 101 223 97 223 97 232 109 241 111 251 115 258 107 284 France
poly 202 178 209 178 211 181 218 182 216 185 218 187 231 181 235 184 231 187 238 189 238 197 235 201 238 203 240 222 236 220 234 224 223 228 221 230 224 238 232 247 224 255 217 258 211 259 207 257 203 261 199 256 189 255 183 256 185 244 190 241 181 235 178 224 181 214 180 207 185 201 190 195 192 187 197 187 199 189 202 186 Germany
poly 177 225 174 229 172 235 180 237 180 229 Luxembourg
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poly 102 181 92 179 82 181 79 179 75 173 78 168 89 162 84 159 89 151 98 154 100 153 97 150 104 146 109 147 100 156 108 166 106 174 103 177 Ireland
desc bottom-left

Environment

In 1957, when the EEC was founded, it had no environmental policy.  Over the past 50 years, an increasingly dense network of legislation has been created, extending to all areas of environmental protection, including air pollution, water quality, waste management, nature conservation, and the control of chemicals, industrial hazards and biotechnology.  According to the Institute for European Environmental Policy, environmental law comprises over 500 Directives, Regulations and Decisions, making environmental policy a core area of European politics. 

European policy-makers originally increased the EU's capacity to act on environmental issues by defining it as a trade problem. 
Trade barriers and competitive distortions in the Common Market could emerge due to the different environmental standards in each member state.  In subsequent years, the environment became a formal policy area, with its own policy actors, principles and procedures. The legal basis for EU environmental policy was established with the introduction of the Single European Act in 1987.

Initially, EU environmental policy focused on Europe. More recently, the EU has demonstrated leadership in global environmental governance, e.g. the role of the EU in securing the ratification and coming into force of the Kyoto Protocol despite opposition from the United States. This international dimension is reflected in the EU's Sixth Environmental Action Programme,  which recognises that its objectives can only be achieved if key international agreements are actively supported and properly implemented both at EU level and worldwide. The Lisbon Treaty further strengthened the leadership ambitions.  EU law has played a significant role in improving habitat and species protection in Europe, as well as contributing to improvements in air and water quality and waste management.

Mitigating climate change is one of the top priorities of EU environmental policy. In 2007, member states agreed that, in future, 20% of the energy used across the EU must be renewable, and carbon dioxide emissions have to be lower in 2020 by at least 20% compared to 1990 levels.   The EU has adopted an emissions trading system to incorporate carbon emissions into the economy.  The European Green Capital is an annual award given to cities that focuses on the environment, energy efficiency and quality of life in urban areas to create smart city.

Politics

The European Union operates according to the principles of conferral (which says that it should act only within the limits of the competences conferred on it by the treaties) and of subsidiarity (which says that it should act only where an objective cannot be sufficiently achieved by the member states acting alone). Laws made by the EU institutions are passed in a variety of forms. Generally speaking, they can be classified into two groups: those which come into force without the necessity for national implementation measures (regulations) and those which specifically require national implementation measures (directives). 

Constitutional nature

The classification of the EU in terms of international or constitutional law has been much debated. It began life as an international organisation and gradually developed into a confederation of states. However, since the mid-1960s it has also added several of the key attributes of a federation, such as the direct effect of the law of the general level of government upon the individual  and majority voting in the decision-making process of the general level of government,  without becoming a federation per se. Scholars thus today see it as an intermediate form lying between a confederation and a federation, being an instance of neither political structure.For example, David Marquand says it is ‘less than a federation but more than a confederation’; Brigid Laffan and Kimmo Kiljunen both see it residing ‘between a confederation and a federation’; Thomas Hueglin and Alan Fenna locate it ‘somewhere between federation and confederation’; and Kalypso Nicolaidis argues ‘it is more than a confederation of sovereign states; ... (however, it) should not become a federal state’. 
Michael Burgess enlarges: the EU 'is not a federation but it is also more than a confederation understood in the classical sense. It exists, then, in a kind of conceptual limbo, a twilight zone ... which has no name'. 
Paul Magnette illuminates the nature of the perceived 'in-betweenness': 'Since the seventeenth century, legal theorists have repeated that only two forms of union between states are possible: either the confederation, born of an international treaty concluded between sovereign states, where all decisions are unanimously adopted by state representatives; or the federal state, established by a constitution, where the law voted on by a bicameral parliament applies directly to the citizens. Tertium non datur. There is no third way ... In these, classic, political terms, the European Union is, strictly speaking, inconceivable'. 
Burgess, Michael (2000) Federalism and European Union: The Building of Europe 1950-2000, Routledge, London, pp. 41-2. Hueglin, Thomas and Fenna, Alan (2006) Comparative Federalism: A Systematic Inquiry, Broadview, Peterborough, p. 13. Kiljunen, Kimmo (2004) The European Constitution in the Making, Centre for European Policy Studies, Brussels, p. 22. Laffan, Brigid (2002) The Future of Europe Debate, Institute of European Affairs, Dublin, p. 10. Magnette, Paul (2005) What Is the European Union? Nature and Prospects, Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke, pp. 4-5, 190. Marquand, David (2006) ‘Federalism and the British: Anatomy of a Neurosis’, in Political Quarterly, Vol. 77, No. 2, p. 175. Nicolaidis, Kalypso (2004) ‘We, the Peoples of Europe ...’, in Foreign Affairs, Vol. 83, No. 6, pp. 101-2. For this reason, the organisation is termed sui generis (incomparable, one of a kind),  although some argue that this designation is no longer valid. 

The organisation has traditionally used the terms "Community" and later "Union" to describe itself. The difficulties of classification involve the difference between national law (where the subjects of the law include natural persons and corporations) and international law (where the subjects include sovereign states and international organizations). They can also be seen in the light of differing European and American constitutional traditions. 
Especially in terms of the European tradition, the term federation is equated with a sovereign federal state in international law; so the EU cannot be called a federation — at least, not without qualification. It is, however, described as being based on a federal model or federal in nature; and so it may be appropriate to consider it a federal union of states, a conceptual structure lying between the confederation of states and the federal state.For the derivation of this concept, see the Introduction of the entry on Federalism. 
Law, John (2013) [http://www.on-federalism.eu/attachments/169_download.pdf "How Can We Define Federalism?"]. Perspectives on Federalism, Vol. 5, No. 3, p. E104. The German Constitutional Court refers to the EU as a Staatenverbund, an intermediate structure between the Staatenbund (confederation of states) and the Bundesstaat (federal state), consistent with this concept. 
This may be a long-lived political form. Professor Andrew Moravcsik claims that the EU is unlikely to develop further into a federal state, but instead has reached maturity as a constitutional system. 

Governance

The European Union has seven institutions: the European Council, the Council of the European Union, the European Parliament, the European Commission, the Court of Justice of the European Union, the European Central Bank and the European Court of Auditors. Competence in scrutinising and amending legislation is shared between the Council of the European Union and the European Parliament, while executive tasks are performed by the European Commission and in a limited capacity by the European Council (not to be confused with the aforementioned Council of the European Union). The monetary policy of the eurozone is determined by the European Central Bank. The interpretation and the application of EU law and the treaties are ensured by the Court of Justice of the European Union. The EU budget is scrutinised by the European Court of Auditors. There are also a number of ancillary bodies which advise the EU or operate in a specific area.

European Council

The European Council gives political direction to the EU. It convenes at least four times a year and comprises the President of the European Council (currently Donald Tusk), the President of the European Commission and one representative per member state (either its head of state or head of government). The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy (currently Federica Mogherini) also takes part in its meetings. It has been described by some as the Union's "supreme political authority".  It is actively involved in the negotiation of treaty changes and defines the EU's policy agenda and strategies.

The European Council uses its leadership role to sort out disputes between member states and the institutions, and to resolve political crises and disagreements over controversial issues and policies. It acts externally as a "collective head of state" and ratifies important documents (for example, international agreements and treaties).[https://books.google.com/books?idaMsWxEnaqrUC&pg
PA146 With US or against US?: European trends in American perspective] Parsons, Jabko. European Union Studies Association, p.146:Fourth, the European Council acts a "collective head of state" for the EU.

Tasks for the President of the European Council are ensuring the external representation of the EU,  driving consensus and resolving divergences among member states, both during meetings of the European Council and over the periods between them.

The European Council should not be mistaken for the Council of Europe, an international organisation independent of the EU based in Strasbourg.

Council of the European Union

The Council of the European Union (also called the "Council"  and the "Council of Ministers", its former title)  forms one half of the EU's legislature. It consists of a government minister from each member state and meets in different compositions depending on the policy area being addressed. Notwithstanding its different configurations, it is considered to be one single body.  In addition to its legislative functions, the Council also exercises executive functions in relations to the Common Foreign and Security Policy.

European Parliament

The European Parliament forms the other half of the EU's legislature.
The 751 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) are directly elected by EU citizens every five years on the basis of proportional representation. Although MEPs are elected on a national basis, they sit according to political groups rather than their nationality. Each country has a set number of seats and is divided into sub-national constituencies where this does not affect the proportional nature of the voting system. 

The European Parliament and the Council of the European Union pass legislation jointly in nearly all areas under the ordinary legislative procedure. This also applies to the EU budget. The European Commission is accountable to Parliament, requiring its approval to take office, having to report back to it and subject to motions of censure from it. The President of the European Parliament (currently Martin Schulz) carries out the role of speaker in Parliament and represents it externally. The President and Vice-Presidents are elected by MEPs every two and a half years. 

European Commission

The European Commission acts as the EU's executive arm and is responsible for initiating legislation and the day-to-day running of the EU. The Commission is also seen as the motor of European integration. It operates as a cabinet government, with 28 Commissioners for different areas of policy, one from each member state, though Commissioners are bound to represent the interests of the EU as a whole rather than their home state.

One of the 28 is the President of the European Commission (currently Jean-Claude Juncker) appointed by the European Council. After the President, the most prominent Commissioner is the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, who is ex-officio a Vice-President of the Commission and is also chosen by the European Council.  The other 26 Commissioners are subsequently appointed by the Council of the European Union in agreement with the nominated President. The 28 Commissioners as a single body are subject to a vote of approval by the European Parliament.

Budget

The EU had an agreed budget of €120.7 billion for the year 2007 and €864.3 billion for the period 2007–2013,  representing 1.10% and 1.05% of the EU-27's GNI forecast for the respective periods. By comparison, the United Kingdom's expenditure for 2004 was estimated to be €759 billion, and France was estimated to have spent €801 billion. In 1960, the budget of the then European Economic Community was 0.03% of GDP. 

In the 2010 budget of €141.5 billion, the largest single expenditure item is "cohesion & competitiveness" with around 45% of the total budget.  Next comes "agriculture" with approximately 31% of the total. "Rural development, environment and fisheries" takes up around 11%. "Administration" accounts for around 6%. The "EU as a global partner" and "citizenship, freedom, security and justice" bring up the rear with approximately 6% and 1% respectively.

The Court of Auditors is legally obliged to provide the Parliament and the Council with "a statement of assurance as to the reliability of the accounts and the legality and regularity of the underlying transactions".  The Court also gives opinions and proposals on financial legislation and anti-fraud actions.  The Parliament uses this to decide whether to approve the Commission's handling of the budget.

The European Court of Auditors has signed off the European Union accounts every year since 2007 and, while making it clear that the European Commission has more work to do, has highlighted that most of the errors take place at national level.   In their report on 2009 the auditors found that five areas of Union expenditure, agriculture and the cohesion fund, were materially affected by error.  The European Commission estimated in 2009 that the financial effect of irregularities was €1,863 million. 

Competences

EU member states retain all powers not explicitly handed to the European Union. In some areas the EU enjoys exclusive competence. These are areas in which member states have renounced any capacity to enact legislation. In other areas the EU and its member states share the competence to legislate. While both can legislate, member states can only legislate to the extent to which the EU has not. In other policy areas the EU can only co-ordinate, support and supplement member state action but cannot enact legislation with the aim of harmonising national laws. 

That a particular policy area falls into a certain category of competence is not necessarily indicative of what legislative procedure is used for enacting legislation within that policy area. Different legislative procedures are used within the same category of competence, and even with the same policy area.

The distribution of competences in various policy areas between Member States and the Union is divided in the following three categories:

Legal system

The EU is based on a series of treaties. These first established the European Community and the EU, and then made amendments to those founding treaties.  These are power-giving treaties which set broad policy goals and establish institutions with the necessary legal powers to implement those goals. These legal powers include the ability to enact legislationSee Article 288 (ex Article 249 TEC) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, on [http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uriOJ:C:2010:083:0047:0200:EN:PDF eur-lex.europa.eu] which can directly affect all member states and their inhabitants.According to the principle of Direct Effect first invoked in the Court of Justice's decision in  See: Craig and de Búrca, ch. 5. The EU has legal personality, with the right to sign agreements and international treaties. 

Under the principle of supremacy, national courts are required to enforce the treaties that their member states have ratified, and thus the laws enacted under them, even if doing so requires them to ignore conflicting national law, and (within limits) even constitutional provisions.According to the principle of Supremacy as established by the ECJ in Case 6/64, Falminio Costa v. ENEL [1964] ECR 585. See Craig and de Búrca, ch. 7. See also: Factortame litigation: Factortame Ltd. v. Secretary of State for Transport (No. 2) [1991] 1 AC 603, Solange II (Re Wuensche Handelsgesellschaft, BVerfG decision of 22 October 1986 [1987] 3 CMLR 225,265) and Frontini v. Ministero delle Finanze [1974] 2 CMLR 372; Raoul George Nicolo [1990] 1 CMLR 173.

Courts of Justice

The judicial branch of the EU—formally called the Court of Justice of the European Union—consists of three courts: the Court of Justice, the General Court, and the European Union Civil Service Tribunal. Together they interpret and apply the treaties and the law of the EU. 

The Court of Justice primarily deals with cases taken by member states, the institutions, and cases referred to it by the courts of member states.  The General Court mainly deals with cases taken by individuals and companies directly before the EU's courts,  and the European Union Civil Service Tribunal adjudicates in disputes between the European Union and its civil service.  Decisions from the General Court can be appealed to the Court of Justice but only on a point of law. 

Fundamental rights

The treaties declare that the EU itself is "founded on the values of respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights, including the rights of persons belonging to minorities ... in a society in which pluralism, non-discrimination, tolerance, justice, solidarity and equality between women and men prevail." 

In 2009 the Lisbon Treaty gave legal effect to the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. The charter is a codified catalogue of fundamental rights against which the EU's legal acts can be judged. It consolidates many rights which were previously recognised by the Court of Justice and derived from the "constitutional traditions common to the member states."  The Court of Justice has long recognised fundamental rights and has, on occasion, invalidated EU legislation based on its failure to adhere to those fundamental rights. 

Although signing the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) is a condition for EU membership,It is effectively treated as one of the Copenhagen criteria, [http://assembly.coe.int/Main.asp?link
/Documents/AdoptedText/ta08/ERES1610.htm Assembly.coe.int.] It should be noted that this is a political and not a legal requirement for membership.  previously, the EU itself could not accede to the Convention as it is neither a stateThe European Convention on Human Rights was previously only open to members of the Council of Europe ([http://conventions.coe.int/Treaty/en/Treaties/Html/005.htm Article 59.1 of the Convention]), and even now only states may become member of the Council of Europe ([http://conventions.coe.int/Treaty/en/Treaties/Html/001.htm Article 4 of the Statute of the Council of Europe]). nor had the competence to accede.Opinion (2/92) of the European Court of Justice on "Accession by the Community to the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms" [http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:61994V0002:FR:NOT 1996 E.C.R. I-1759] (in French), ruled that the European Community did not have the competence to accede to the ECHR. The Lisbon Treaty and Protocol 14 to the ECHR have changed this: the former binds the EU to accede to the Convention while the latter formally permits it.

Although, the EU is independent from Council of Europe, they share purpose and ideas especially on rule of law, human rights and democracy. Further European Convention on Human Rights and European Social Charter, the source of law of Charter of Fundamental Rights are created by Council of Europe. The EU also promoted human rights issues in the wider world. The EU opposes the death penalty and has proposed its worldwide abolition. Abolition of the death penalty is a condition for EU membership. 

Acts

The main legal acts of the EU come in three forms: regulations, directives, and decisions. Regulations become law in all member states the moment they come into force, without the requirement for any implementing measures,See: Case 34/73, Variola v. Amministrazione delle Finanze [http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri
CELEX:61973J0034:EN:NOT [1973] ECR 981]. and automatically override conflicting domestic provisions. Directives require member states to achieve a certain result while leaving them discretion as to how to achieve the result. The details of how they are to be implemented are left to member states.To do otherwise would require the drafting of legislation which would have to cope with the frequently divergent legal systems and administrative systems of all of the now 28 member states. See Craig and de Búrca, p. 115 When the time limit for implementing directives passes, they may, under certain conditions, have direct effect in national law against member states.

Decisions offer an alternative to the two above modes of legislation. They are legal acts which only apply to specified individuals, companies or a particular member state. They are most often used in competition law, or on rulings on State Aid, but are also frequently used for procedural or administrative matters within the institutions. Regulations, directives, and decisions are of equal legal value and apply without any formal hierarchy. 

Area of freedom, security and justice

Since the creation of the EU in 1993, it has developed its competencies in the area of freedom, security and justice, initially at an intergovernmental level and later by supranationalism. To this end, agencies have been established that co-ordinate associated actions: Europol for co-operation of police forces,  Eurojust for co-operation between prosecutors,  and Frontex for co-operation between border control authorities.  The EU also operates the Schengen Information System which provides a common database for police and immigration authorities. This co-operation had to particularly be developed with the advent of open borders through the Schengen Agreement and the associated cross border crime.

Furthermore, the Union has legislated in areas such as extradition,  family law,  asylum law,  and criminal justice.  Prohibitions against sexual and nationality discrimination have a long standing in the treaties.See Articles 157 (ex Article 141) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, on [http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uriOJ:C:2010:083:0013:0046:EN:PDF eur-lex.europa.eu] In more recent years, these have been supplemented by powers to legislate against discrimination based on race, religion, disability, age, and sexual orientation.See Article 2(7) of the Amsterdam Treaty on [http://eur-lex.europa.eu/en/treaties/dat/11997D/htm/11997D.html#0001010001 eur-lex.europa.eu]  By virtue of these powers, the EU has enacted legislation on sexual discrimination in the work-place, age discrimination, and racial discrimination.Council Directive 2000/43/EC of 29 June 2000 implementing the principle of equal treatment between persons irrespective of racial or ethnic origin (OJ L 180, 19 July 2000, p. 22–26); Council Directive 2000/78/EC of 27 November 2000 establishing a general framework for equal treatment in employment and occupation (OJ L 303, 2 December 2000, p. 16–22).

Foreign relations

Foreign policy co-operation between member states dates from the establishment of the Community in 1957, when member states negotiated as a bloc in international trade negotiations under the Common Commercial policy.  Steps for a more wide ranging co-ordination in foreign relations began in 1970 with the establishment of European Political Cooperation which created an informal consultation process between member states with the aim of forming common foreign policies. It was not, however, until 1987 when European Political Cooperation was introduced on a formal basis by the Single European Act. EPC was renamed as the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) by the Maastricht Treaty. 

The aims of the CFSP are to promote both the EU's own interests and those of the international community as a whole, including the furtherance of international co-operation, respect for human rights, democracy, and the rule of law.  The CFSP requires unanimity among the member states on the appropriate policy to follow on any particular issue. The unanimity and difficult issues treated under the CFSP sometimes lead to disagreements, such as those which occurred over the war in Iraq. 

The coordinator and representative of the CFSP within the EU is the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy who speaks on behalf of the EU in foreign policy and defence matters, and has the task of articulating the positions expressed by the member states on these fields of policy into a common alignment. The High Representative heads up the European External Action Service (EEAS), a unique EU department  that has been officially implemented and operational since 1 December 2010 on the occasion of the first anniversary of the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon.  The EEAS will serve as a foreign ministry and diplomatic corps for the European Union. 

Besides the emerging international policy of the European Union, the international influence of the EU is also felt through enlargement. The perceived benefits of becoming a member of the EU act as an incentive for both political and economic reform in states wishing to fulfil the EU's accession criteria, and are considered an important factor contributing to the reform of European formerly Communist countries.  This influence on the internal affairs of other countries is generally referred to as "soft power", as opposed to military "hard power".

Military

The predecessors of the European Union were not devised as a military alliance because NATO was largely seen as appropriate and sufficient for defence purposes. 22 EU members are members of NATO  while the remaining member states follow policies of neutrality.  The Western European Union, a military alliance with a mutual defence clause, was disbanded in 2010 as its role had been transferred to the EU. 

According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), the United Kingdom spent $61 billion on defence in 2014, placing it fifth in the world, while France spent $53 billion, the sixth largest.  Together, the UK and France account for approximately 40 per cent of EU's defence budget and 50 per cent of its military capacity.  Both are officially recognised nuclear weapon states holding permanent seats on the United Nations Security Council.

Following the Kosovo War in 1999, the European Council agreed that "the Union must have the capacity for autonomous action, backed by credible military forces, the means to decide to use them, and the readiness to do so, in order to respond to international crises without prejudice to actions by NATO". To that end, a number of efforts were made to increase the EU's military capability, notably the Helsinki Headline Goal process. After much discussion, the most concrete result was the EU Battlegroups initiative, each of which is planned to be able to deploy quickly about 1500 personnel. 

EU forces have been deployed on peacekeeping missions from middle and northern Africa to the western Balkans and western Asia.  EU military operations are supported by a number of bodies, including the European Defence Agency, European Union Satellite Centre and the European Union Military Staff.  Frontex is an agency of the EU established to manage the cooperation between national border guards securing its external borders. It aims to detect and stop illegal immigration, human trafficking and terrorist infiltration. In December 2015 the European Commission presented its proposal for a new European Border and Coast Guard Agency having a stronger role and mandate along with national authorities for border management. In an EU consisting of 28 members, substantial security and defence co-operation is increasingly relying on collaboration among all member states. 

Humanitarian aid

The European Commission's Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection department, or "ECHO", provides humanitarian aid from the EU to developing countries. In 2012, its budget amounted to €874 million, 51% of the budget went to Africa and 20% to Asia, Latin America, the Caribbean and Pacific, and 20% to the Middle East and Mediterranean. 

Humanitarian aid is financed directly by the budget (70%) as part of the financial instruments for external action and also by the European Development Fund (30%).Mikaela Gavas 2010. [http://www.odi.org.uk/resources/details.asp?id
5078&titleeuropean-development-cooperation-financial-perspectives Financing European development cooperation: the Financial Perspectives 2014–2020.] London: Overseas Development Institute The EU's external action financing is divided into 'geographic' instruments and 'thematic' instruments. The 'geographic' instruments provide aid through the Development Cooperation Instrument (DCI, €16.9 billion, 2007–2013), which must spend 95% of its budget on overseas development assistance (ODA), and from the European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument (ENPI), which contains some relevant programmes. The European Development Fund (EDF, €22.7 bn, 2008–2013) is made up of voluntary contributions by member states, but there is pressure to merge the EDF into the budget-financed instruments to encourage increased contributions to match the 0.7% target and allow the European Parliament greater oversight.

However, five countries have reached the 0.7% target: Sweden, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Denmark and the United Kingdom.   In 2011, EU aid was 0.42% of the EU's GNI making it the world's most generous aid donor.  The previous Commissioner for Aid, Louis Michel, has called for aid to be delivered more rapidly, to greater effect, and on humanitarian principles. 

Economy

The five largest economies in the world according to the IMF by nominal GDP in 2014. 

The European Union has established a single market across the territory of all its members representing 508 million citizens. In 2014, the EU had a combined GDP of 18.640 trillion international dollars, a 20% share of global gross domestic product by purchasing power parity (PPP).  As a political entity the European Union is represented in the World Trade Organization (WTO). EU member states own the estimated largest net wealth in the world, equal to 30% of the $223 trillion global wealth.

19 member states have joined a monetary union known as the eurozone, which uses the Euro as a single currency. The currency union represents 338 million EU citizens. The euro is the second largest reserve currency as well as the second most traded currency in the world after the United States dollar.   

Of the top 500 largest corporations in the world measured by revenue in 2010, 161 have their headquarters in the EU.  In 2016, unemployment in the EU stood at 8.9%  while inflation was at 2.2%, and the current account balance at −0.9% of GDP.

There is a significant variance for GDP (PPP) per capita within individual EU states. The difference between the richest and poorest regions (276 NUTS-2 regions of the Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics) ranged, in 2014, from 30% of the EU28 average to 539%, or from €8,200 to €148,000 (about US$9,000 to US$162,000).

Structural Funds and Cohesion Funds are supporting the development of underdeveloped regions of the EU. Such regions are primarily located in the states of central and southern Europe.   Several funds provide emergency aid, support for candidate members to transform their country to conform to the EU's standard (Phare, ISPA, and SAPARD), and support to the Commonwealth of Independent States (TACIS). TACIS has now become part of the worldwide EuropeAid programme. EU research and technological framework programmes sponsor research conducted by consortia from all EU members to work towards a single European Research Area. 

Internal market

Two of the original core objectives of the European Economic Community were the development of a common market, subsequently becoming a single market, and a customs union between its member states. The single market involves the free circulation of goods, capital, people, and services within the EU,  and the customs union involves the application of a common external tariff on all goods entering the market. Once goods have been admitted into the market they cannot be subjected to customs duties, discriminatory taxes or import quotas, as they travel internally. The non-EU member states of Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein and Switzerland participate in the single market but not in the customs union.  Half the trade in the EU is covered by legislation harmonised by the EU. 

Free movement of capital is intended to permit movement of investments such as property purchases and buying of shares between countries.  Until the drive towards economic and monetary union the development of the capital provisions had been slow. Post-Maastricht there has been a rapidly developing corpus of ECJ judgements regarding this initially neglected freedom. The free movement of capital is unique insofar as it is granted equally to non-member states.

The free movement of persons means that EU citizens can move freely between member states to live, work, study or retire in another country. This required the lowering of administrative formalities and recognition of professional qualifications of other states. 

The free movement of services and of establishment allows self-employed persons to move between member states to provide services on a temporary or permanent basis. While services account for 60–70% of GDP, legislation in the area is not as developed as in other areas. This lacuna has been addressed by the recently passed Directive on services in the internal market which aims to liberalise the cross border provision of services.  According to the Treaty the provision of services is a residual freedom that only applies if no other freedom is being exercised.

Monetary union

The creation of a European single currency became an official objective of the European Economic Community in 1969. In 1992, having negotiated the structure and procedures of a currency union, the member states signed the Maastricht Treaty and were legally bound to fulfil the agreed-on rules including the convergence criteria if they wanted to join the monetary union. The states wanting to participate had first to join the European Exchange Rate Mechanism.

In 1999 the currency union started, first as an accounting currency with eleven member states joining. In 2002, the currency was fully put into place, when euro notes and coins were issued and national currencies began to phase out in the eurozone, which by then consisted of 12 member states. The eurozone (constituted by the EU member states which have adopted the euro) has since grown to 19 countries. 

Since its launch the euro has become the second reserve currency in the world with a quarter of foreign exchanges reserves being in euro.  The euro, and the monetary policies of those who have adopted it in agreement with the EU, are under the control of the European Central Bank (ECB). 

The ECB is the central bank for the eurozone, and thus controls monetary policy in that area with an agenda to maintain price stability. It is at the centre of the European System of Central Banks, which comprehends all EU national central banks and is controlled by its General Council, consisting of the President of the ECB, who is appointed by the European Council, the Vice-President of the ECB, and the governors of the national central banks of all 28 EU member states. 

The European System of Financial Supervision is an institutional architecture of the EU's framework of financial supervision composed by three authorities: the European Banking Authority, the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority and the European Securities and Markets Authority. To complement this framework, there is also a European Systemic Risk Board under the responsibility of the ECB. The aim of this financial control system is to ensure the economic stability of the EU. 

To prevent the joining states from getting into financial trouble or crisis after entering the monetary union, they were obliged in the Maastricht treaty to fulfil important financial obligations and procedures, especially to show budgetary discipline and a high degree of sustainable economic convergence, as well as to avoid excessive government deficits and limit the government debt to a sustainable level.

Energy

In 2006, the EU-27 had a gross inland energy consumption of 1,825 million tonnes of oil equivalent (toe). Around 46% of the energy consumed was produced within the member states while 54% was imported. In these statistics, nuclear energy is treated as primary energy produced in the EU, regardless of the source of the uranium, of which less than 3% is produced in the EU.  Nuclear energy and renewable energy are treated differently from oil, gas , and coal in this respect.

The EU has had legislative power in the area of energy policy for most of its existence; this has its roots in the original European Coal and Steel Community. The introduction of a mandatory and comprehensive European energy policy was approved at the meeting of the European Council in October 2005, and the first draft policy was published in January 2007. 

The EU has five key points in its energy policy: increase competition in the internal market, encourage investment and boost interconnections between electricity grids; diversify energy resources with better systems to respond to a crisis; establish a new treaty framework for energy co-operation with Russia while improving relations with energy-rich states in Central Asia  and North Africa; use existing energy supplies more efficiently while increasing renewable energy commercialisation; and finally increase funding for new energy technologies.

The EU imports 82% of its oil, 57% of its natural gas  and 97.48% of its uranium demands. Because of Europe's dependence on Russian energy the EU is attempting to diversify its energy supply. 

Infrastructure

The EU is working to improve cross-border infrastructure within the EU, for example through the Trans-European Networks (TEN). Projects under TEN include the Channel Tunnel, LGV Est, the Fréjus Rail Tunnel, the Öresund Bridge, the Brenner Base Tunnel and the Strait of Messina Bridge. In 2010 the estimated network covers: 75200 km of roads; 78000 km of railways; 330 airports; 270 maritime harbours; and 210 internal harbours.  

Rail transport in Europe is being synchronised with the European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS), an initiative to greatly enhance safety, increase efficiency of trains and enhance cross-border interoperability of rail transport in Europe by replacing signalling equipment with digitized mostly wireless versions and by creating a single Europe-wide standard for train control and command systems.

The developing European transport policies will increase the pressure on the environment in many regions by the increased transport network. In the pre-2004 EU members, the major problem in transport deals with congestion and pollution. After the recent enlargement, the new states that joined since 2004 added the problem of solving accessibility to the transport agenda.  The Polish road network was upgraded such as the A4 autostrada.  

The Galileo positioning system is another EU infrastructure project. Galileo is a proposed Satellite navigation system, to be built by the EU and launched by the European Space Agency (ESA). The Galileo project was launched partly to reduce the EU's dependency on the US-operated Global Positioning System, but also to give more complete global coverage and allow for greater accuracy, given the aged nature of the GPS system. 

Agriculture

The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is one of the long lasting policies of the European Community.  The policy has the objectives of increasing agricultural production, providing certainty in food supplies, ensuring a high quality of life for farmers, stabilising markets, and ensuring reasonable prices for consumers.Article 39 (ex Article 33) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, on [http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri
OJ:C:2010:083:0047:0200:EN:PDF eur-lex.europa.eu] It was, until recently, operated by a system of subsidies and market intervention. Until the 1990s, the policy accounted for over 60% of the then European Community's annual budget, and  accounts for around 34%. 

The policy's price controls and market interventions led to considerable overproduction. These were intervention stores of products bought up by the Community to maintain minimum price levels. To dispose of surplus stores, they were often sold on the world market at prices considerably below Community guaranteed prices, or farmers were offered subsidies (amounting to the difference between the Community and world prices) to export their products outside the Community. This system has been criticised for under-cutting farmers outside Europe, especially those in the developing world.  Supporters of CAP argue that the economic support which it gives to farmers provides them with a reasonable standard of living.

Since the beginning of the 1990s, the CAP has been subject to a series of reforms. Initially, these reforms included the introduction of set-aside in 1988, where a proportion of farm land was deliberately withdrawn from production, milk quotas and, more recently, the 'de-coupling' (or disassociation) of the money farmers receive from the EU and the amount they produce (by the Fischler reforms in 2004). Agriculture expenditure will move away from subsidy payments linked to specific produce, toward direct payments based on farm size. This is intended to allow the market to dictate production levels. One of these reforms entailed the abolition of the EU's sugar regime, which previously divided the sugar market between member states and certain African-Caribbean nations with a privileged relationship with the EU. 

Competition

The EU operates a competition policy intended to ensure undistorted competition within the single market.Article 3(1)(g) of the Treaty of Rome The Commission as the competition regulator for the single market is responsible for antitrust issues, approving mergers, breaking up cartels, working for economic liberalisation and preventing state aid. 

The Competition Commissioner, currently Margrethe Vestager, is one of the most powerful positions in the Commission, notable for the ability to affect the commercial interests of trans-national corporations.  For example, in 2001 the Commission for the first time prevented a merger between two companies based in the United States (GE and Honeywell) which had already been approved by their national authority.  Another high-profile case against Microsoft, resulted in the Commission fining Microsoft over €777 million following nine years of legal action. 

Demographics

As of 1 January 2016, the population of the European Union is about 510.1 million people. In 2013, 5,075,000 live births were registered and 4,999,200 deaths. The net migration to the EU was +653,100. In 2010, 47.3 million people who lived in the EU were born outside their resident country. This corresponds to 9.4% of the total EU population. Of these, 31.4 million (6.3%) were born outside the EU and 16.0 million (3.2%) were born in another EU member state. The largest absolute numbers of people born outside the EU were in Germany (6.4 million), France (5.1 million), the United Kingdom (4.7 million), Spain (4.1 million), Italy (3.2 million), and the Netherlands (1.4 million). 

Urbanisation

The EU contains 16 cities with populations of over one million. Besides many large cities, the EU also includes several densely populated regions that have no single core but have emerged from the connection of several cities and now encompass large metropolitan areas. The largest are Rhine-Ruhr having approximately 11.5 million inhabitants (Cologne, Dortmund, Düsseldorf et al.), Randstad approx. 7 million (Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague, Utrecht et al.), Frankfurt Rhine-Main approx. 5.8 million (Frankfurt, Wiesbaden et al.), the Flemish Diamond approx. 5.5 million (urban area in between Antwerp, Brussels, Leuven and Ghent), Upper Silesia approx. 5.3 million (Katowice, Ostrava) and Øresund approx. 3.7 million (Copenhagen, Malmö). 

Languages

Among the many languages and dialects used in the EU, it has 24 official and working languages: Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Irish, Latvian, Lithuanian, Maltese, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Slovak, Slovene, Spanish, and Swedish.   Important documents, such as legislation, are translated into every official language.

The European Parliament provides translation into all languages for documents and its plenary sessions.  Some institutions use only a handful of languages as internal working languages.  Catalan, Galician, Basque, Scottish Gaelic and Welsh are not official languages of the EU but have semi-official status in that official translations of the treaties are made into them and citizens of the EU have the right to correspond with the institutions using them.

Language policy is the responsibility of member states, but EU institutions promote the learning of other languages.See Articles 165 and 166 (ex Articles 149 and 150) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, on [http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri
OJ:C:2010:083:0047:0200:EN:PDF eur-lex.europa.eu]  English is the most widely spoken language in the EU, being spoken by 51% of the EU population when counting both native and non-native speakers.  German is the most widely spoken mother tongue, being spoken by 16% of the EU population. 56% of EU citizens are able to engage in a conversation in a language other than their mother tongue.  Most official languages of the EU belong to the Indo-European language family, except Estonian, Finnish, and Hungarian, which belong to the Uralic language family, and Maltese, which is a Semitic language. Most EU official languages are written in the Latin alphabet except Bulgarian, which is written in the Cyrillic alphabet, and Greek, which is written in the Greek alphabet.  These are the three official scripts of the European Union. 

Besides the 24 official languages, there are about 150 regional and minority languages, spoken by up to 50 million people. Although EU programmes can support regional and minority languages, the protection of linguistic rights is a matter for the individual member states. The European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages ratified by most EU states provides general guidelines that states can follow to protect their linguistic heritage.

The European Day of Languages is held annually on 26 September and is aimed at encouraging language learning across Europe.

Religion

The EU is a secular body with no formal connection to any religion. The Article 17 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union recognises the "status under national law of churches and religious associations" as well as that of "philosophical and non-confessional organisations".

The preamble to the Treaty on European Union mentions the "cultural, religious and humanist inheritance of Europe".  Discussion over the draft texts of the European Constitution and later the Treaty of Lisbon included proposals to mention Christianity or God, or both, in the preamble of the text, but the idea faced opposition and was dropped. 

Christians in the EU are divided among members of Catholicism (both Roman and Eastern Rite), numerous Protestant denominations, and the Eastern Orthodox Church. In 2009, the EU had an estimated Muslim population of 13 million,  and an estimated Jewish population of over a million.  The other world religions of Buddhism, Hinduism and Sikhism are also represented in the EU population.

According to new polls about religiosity in the European Union in 2012 by Eurobarometer, Christianity is the largest religion in the European Union, accounting for 72% of the EU population. Catholics are the largest Christian group, accounting for 48% of the EU population, while Protestants make up 12%, Eastern Orthodox make up 8% and other Christians make up 4%. 

Eurostat's Eurobarometer opinion polls showed in 2005 that 52% of EU citizens believed in a God, 27% in "some sort of spirit or life force", and 18% had no form of belief.  Many countries have experienced falling church attendance and membership in recent years.  The countries where the fewest people reported a religious belief were Estonia (16%) and the Czech Republic (19%). The most religious countries were Malta (95%, predominantly Roman Catholic) as well as Cyprus and Romania (both predominantly Orthodox) each with about 90% of citizens professing a belief in God. Across the EU, belief was higher among women, older people, those with religious upbringing, those who left school at 15 or 16 and those "positioning themselves on the right of the political scale".

Education and science

Basic education is an area where the EU's role is limited to supporting national governments. In higher education, the policy was developed in the 1980s in programmes supporting exchanges and mobility. The most visible of these has been the Erasmus Programme, a university exchange programme which began in 1987. In its first 20 years, it has supported international exchange opportunities for well over 1.5 million university and college students and has become a symbol of European student life. 

There are now similar programmes for school pupils and teachers, for trainees in vocational education and training, and for adult learners in the Lifelong Learning Programme 2007–2013. These programmes are designed to encourage a wider knowledge of other countries and to spread good practices in the education and training fields across the EU.   Through its support of the Bologna Process, the EU is supporting comparable standards and compatible degrees across Europe.

Scientific development is facilitated through the EU's Framework Programmes, the first of which started in 1984. The aims of EU policy in this area are to co-ordinate and stimulate research. The independent European Research Council allocates EU funds to European or national research projects.  EU research and technological framework programmes deal in a number of areas, for example energy where the aim is to develop a diverse mix of renewable energy to help the environment and to reduce dependence on imported fuels. 

Health care

Although the EU has no major competences in the field of health care, Article 35 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union affirms that "A high level of human health protection shall be ensured in the definition and implementation of all Union policies and activities". The European Commission's Directorate-General for Health and Consumers seeks to align national laws on the protection of people's health, on the consumers' rights, on the safety of food and other products.   

Health care in the EU is provided through a wide range of different systems run at the national level. The systems are primarily publicly funded through taxation (universal health care). Private funding for health care may represent personal contributions towards meeting the non-taxpayer refunded portion of health care or may reflect totally private (non-subsidised) health care either paid out of pocket or met by some form of personal or employer funded insurance.

All EU and many other European countries offer their citizens a free European Health Insurance Card which, on a reciprocal basis, provides insurance for emergency medical treatment insurance when visiting other participating European countries.  A directive on cross-border healthcare aims at promoting co-operation on health care between member states and facilitating access to safe and high-quality cross-border healthcare for European patients.   

Culture 

Cultural co-operation between member states has been a concern of the EU since its inclusion as a community competency in the Maastricht Treaty.  Actions taken in the cultural area by the EU include the Culture 2000 7-year programme, the European Cultural Month event,  the MEDIA Programme,  and orchestras such as the European Union Youth Orchestra.

The European Capital of Culture programme selects one or more cities in every year to assist the cultural development of that city.  53 EU cities have been part of this initiative up to 2016.

Sport

Sport is mainly the responsibility of the member states or other international organisations, rather than of the EU. However, there are some EU policies that have affected sport, such as the free movement of workers, which was at the core of the Bosman ruling that prohibited national football leagues from imposing quotas on foreign players with European citizenship.  The Treaty of Lisbon requires any application of economic rules to take into account the specific nature of sport and its structures based on voluntary activity.  This followed lobbying by governing organisations such as the International Olympic Committee and FIFA, due to objections over the application of free market principles to sport, which led to an increasing gap between rich and poor clubs.  The EU does fund a programme for Israeli, Jordanian, Irish, and British football coaches, as part of the Football 4 Peace project. 

Association Football is the most popular sport in almost all EU countries. Club teams from the EU are the highest paid in the world. Other team sports like rugby, ice hockey, basketball, cricket, handball, volleyball and water polo are also popular in some member states.

Symbols

The flag of the Union consists of a circle of 12 golden stars on a blue background. The blue represents the West, while the number and position of the stars represent completeness and unity, respectively.  Originally designed in 1955 for the Council of Europe, the flag was adopted by the European Communities, the predecessors of the present Union, in 1986.

United in Diversity was adopted as the motto of the Union in the year 2000, having been selected from proposals submitted by school pupils. Since 1985, the flag day of the Union has been Europe Day, on 9 May (the date of the 1950 Schuman declaration). The anthem of the Union is an instrumental version of the prelude to the Ode to Joy, the 4th movement of Ludwig van Beethoven's ninth symphony. The anthem was adopted by European Community leaders in 1985 and has since been played on official occasions. 

Besides naming the continent, the Greek mythological figure of Europa has frequently been employed as a personification of Europe. Known from the myth in which Zeus seduces her in the guise of a white bull, Europa has also been referred to in relation to the present Union. Statues of Europa and the bull decorate several of the Union's institutions and a portrait of her is seen on the 2013 series of Euro banknotes. The bull is, for its part, depicted on all residence permit cards.

Charles the Great, also known as Charlemagne () and later recognized as Pater Europae ("Father of Europe"),      has a symbolic relevance to Europe. The Commission has named one of its central buildings in Brussels after Charlemagne and the city of Aachen has since 1949 awarded the Charlemagne Prize to champions of European unification.  Since 2008, the organisers of this prize, in conjunction with the European Parliament, have awarded the Charlemagne Youth Prize in recognition of similar efforts by young people. 

Media 

Media freedom is a fundamental right that applies to all member states of the European Union and its citizens, as defined in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights as well as the European Convention on Human Rights.  Within the EU enlargement process, guaranteeing media freedom is named a "key indicator of a country's readiness to become part of the EU". Spain (; ), officially the Kingdom of Spain (), is a sovereign state largely located on the Iberian Peninsula in southwestern Europe, with archipelagos in the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea, and several small territories on and near the North African coast. Its Mainland is bordered to the south and east by the Mediterranean Sea except for a small land boundary with Gibraltar; to the north and northeast by France, Andorra, and the Bay of Biscay; and to the west and northwest by Portugal and the Atlantic Ocean. Along with France and Morocco, it is one of only three countries to have both Atlantic and Mediterranean coastlines. Extending to , the Portugal–Spain border is the longest uninterrupted border within the European Union.

Spanish territory includes two archipelagos: the Balearic Islands, in the Mediterranean Sea, and the Canary Islands, in the Atlantic Ocean off the African coast. It also includes two major exclaves, Ceuta and Melilla, in continental North Africa; and the islands and peñones (rocks) of Alborán, Alhucemas, Chafarinas and Vélez de la Gomera. With an area of 505990 km2, Spain is the largest country in Southern Europe, the second largest country in Western Europe and the European Union, and the fourth largest country in the European continent. By population, Spain is the sixth largest in Europe and the fifth in the European Union.

Modern humans first arrived in the Iberian Peninsula around 35,000 years ago. Iberian cultures along with ancient Phoenician, Greek and Carthaginian settlements developed on the peninsula until it came under Roman rule around 200 BCE, after which the region was named Hispania. In the Middle Ages, the area was conquered by Germanic tribes and later by the Moors. Spain emerged as a unified country in the 15th century, following the marriage of the Catholic Monarchs and the completion of the centuries-long reconquest, or Reconquista, of the peninsula from the Moors in 1492. In the early modern period, Spain became one of history's first global colonial empires, leaving a vast cultural and linguistic legacy that includes over 500 million Spanish speakers, making Spanish the world's second most spoken first language, after Chinese and before English.

Spain is a democracy organised in the form of a parliamentary government under a constitutional monarchy. It is a middle power and a developed country with the world's fourteenth largest economy by nominal GDP and sixteenth largest by purchasing power parity. It is a member of the United Nations (UN), the European Union (EU), the Council of Europe (CoE), the Organization of Ibero-American States (OEI), the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the World Trade Organization (WTO) and many other international organisations.

Etymology 
 
The origins of the Roman name Hispania, from which the modern name España was derived, are uncertain due to inadequate evidence. Down the centuries there have been a number of accounts and hypotheses:

The Renaissance scholar Antonio de Nebrija proposed that the word Hispania evolved from the Iberian word Hispalis, meaning "city of the western world".

Jesús Luis Cunchillos argues that the root of the term span is the Phoenician word spy, meaning "to forge metals". Therefore, i-spn-ya would mean "the land where metals are forged".  It may be a derivation of the Phoenician I-Shpania, meaning "island of rabbits", "land of rabbits" or "edge", a reference to Spain's location at the end of the Mediterranean; 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". 

Hispania may derive from the poetic use of the term Hesperia, reflecting the Greek perception of Italy as a "western land" or "land of the setting sun" (Hesperia, Ἑσπερία in Greek) and Spain, being still further west, as Hesperia ultima.

There is the claim that "Hispania" derives from the Basque word Ezpanna meaning "edge" or "border", another reference to the fact that the Iberian Peninsula constitutes the southwest corner of the European continent.

Two 15th-century Spanish Jewish scholars, Don Isaac Abrabanel and Solomon ibn Verga, gave an explanation now considered folkloric. Both men wrote in two different published works that the first Jews to reach Spain were brought by ship by Phiros who was confederate with the king of Babylon when he laid siege to Jerusalem. This man was a Grecian by birth, but who had been given a kingdom in Spain. He became related by marriage to Espan, the nephew of king Heracles, who also ruled over a kingdom in Spain. Heracles later renounced his throne in preference for his native Greece, leaving his kingdom to his nephew, Espan, from whom the country of España (Spain) took its name. Based upon their testimonies, this eponym would have already been in use in Spain by c. 350 BCE. 

History 

Iberia enters written records as a land populated largely by the Iberians, Basques and Celts. After an arduous conquest, the peninsula came under the rule of the Roman Empire. During the early Middle Ages it came under Germanic rule but later, much of it was conquered by Moorish invaders from North Africa. In a process that took centuries, the small Christian kingdoms in the north gradually regained control of the peninsula. The last Moorish kingdom fell in the same year Columbus reached the Americas. A global empire began which saw Spain become the strongest kingdom in Europe, the leading world power for a century and a half, and the largest overseas empire for three centuries.

Continued wars and other problems eventually led to a diminished status. The Napoleonic invasions of Spain led to chaos, triggering independence movements that tore apart most of the empire and left the country politically unstable. Prior to the Second World War, Spain suffered a devastating civil war and came under the rule of an authoritarian government, which oversaw a period of stagnation that was followed by a surge in the growth of the economy. Eventually democracy was peacefully restored in the form of a parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Spain joined the European Union, experiencing a cultural renaissance and steady economic growth.

Prehistory and pre-Roman peoples 

Archaeological research at Atapuerca indicates the Iberian Peninsula was populated by hominids 1.2 million years ago.  In Atapuerca fossils have been found of the earliest known hominins in Europe, the Homo antecessor. Modern humans first arrived in Iberia, from the north on foot, about 35,000 years ago.  The best known artifacts of these prehistoric human settlements are the famous paintings in the Altamira cave of Cantabria in northern Iberia, which were created from 35,600 to 13,500 BCE 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.

The largest groups inhabiting the Iberian Peninsula before the Roman conquest were the Iberians and the Celts. The Iberians inhabited the Mediterranean side of the peninsula, from the northeast to the southeast. The Celts inhabited much of the inner and Atlantic sides of the peninsula, from the northwest to the southwest. Basques occupied the western area of the Pyrenees mountain range and adjacent areas, the Tartessians were in the southwest and the Lusitanians and Vettones occupied areas in the central west. A number of trading settlements of Phoenicians, Greeks and Carthaginians developed on the Mediterranean coast.

Roman Empire and the Gothic Kingdom 

During the Second Punic War, an expanding Roman Republic captured Carthaginian trading colonies along the Mediterranean coast from roughly 210 to 205 BCE. It took the Romans nearly two centuries to complete the conquest of the Iberian Peninsula, though they had control of it for over six centuries. Roman rule was bound together by law, language, and the Roman road. 

The cultures of the Celtic and Iberian populations were gradually Romanised (Latinised) at differing rates in different parts of Hispania. Local leaders were admitted into the Roman aristocratic class.  Hispania 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 CE and it became popular in the cities in the 2nd century CE. Most of Spain's present languages and religion, and the basis of its laws, originate from this period.

The weakening of the Western Roman Empire's jurisdiction in Hispania began in 409, when the Germanic Suebi and Vandals, together with the Sarmatian Alans, crossed the Rhine and ravaged Gaul until the Visigoths drove them into Iberia that same year. The Suebi established a kingdom in what is today modern Galicia and northern Portugal. As the western empire disintegrated, the social and economic base became greatly simplified: but even in modified form, the successor regimes maintained many of the institutions and laws of the late empire, including Christianity.

The Alans' allies, the Hasdingi Vandals, established a kingdom in Gallaecia, too, occupying largely the same region but extending farther south to the Douro river. The Silingi Vandals occupied the region that still bears a form of their name—Vandalusia, modern Andalusia, in Spain. The Byzantines established an enclave, Spania, in the south, with the intention of reviving the Roman empire throughout Iberia. Eventually, however, Hispania was reunited under Visigothic rule.

Isidore of Seville, archbishop of Seville, was an influential philosopher and was much studied in the Middle Ages in Europe. Also, his theories were vital to the conversion of the Visigothic Kingdom to a Catholic one, in the Councils of Toledo. This Gothic kingdom was the first Christian kingdom ruling in the Iberian Peninsula, and in the Reconquista it was the referent for the different kingdoms fighting against the Muslim rule.

Middle Ages: Muslim invasion and Reconquista 

In the 8th century, nearly all of the Iberian Peninsula was conquered (711–718) by largely Moorish Muslim armies from North Africa. These conquests were part of the expansion of the Umayyad Caliphate. Only a small area in the mountainous north-west of the peninsula managed to resist the initial invasion.

Under Islamic law, Christians and Jews were given the subordinate status of dhimmi. This status permitted Christians and Jews to practice their religions as People of the Book but they were required to pay a special tax and had legal and social rights inferior to those of Muslims.  

Conversion to Islam proceeded at an increasing pace. The muladíes (Muslims of ethnic Iberian origin) are believed to have comprised the majority of the population of Al-Andalus by the end of the 10th century.  

The Muslim community in the Iberian Peninsula was itself diverse and beset by social tensions. The Berber people of North Africa, who had provided the bulk of the invading armies, clashed with the Arab leadership from the Middle East. Over time, large Moorish populations became established, especially in the Guadalquivir River valley, the coastal plain of Valencia, the Ebro River valley and (towards the end of this period) in the mountainous region of Granada.

Córdoba, the capital of the caliphate since Abd-ar-Rahman III, was the largest, richest and most sophisticated city in western Europe. Mediterranean trade and cultural exchange flourished. Muslims imported a rich intellectual tradition from the Middle East and North Africa. Muslim and Jewish scholars played an important part in reviving and expanding classical Greek learning in Western Europe. Some important philosophers at the time were Averroes, Ibn Arabi and Maimonides. The Romanised cultures of the Iberian Peninsula interacted with Muslim and Jewish cultures in complex ways, giving the region a distinctive culture. Outside the cities, where the vast majority lived, the land ownership system from Roman times remained largely intact as Muslim leaders rarely dispossessed landowners and the introduction of new crops and techniques led to an expansion of agriculture.

In the 11th century, the Muslim holdings fractured into rival Taifa kingdoms, allowing the small Christian states the opportunity to greatly enlarge their territories. The arrival from North Africa of the Islamic ruling sects of the Almoravids and the Almohads restored unity upon the Muslim holdings, with a stricter, less tolerant application of Islam, and saw a revival in Muslim fortunes. This re-united Islamic state experienced more than a century of successes that partially reversed Christian gains.

The Reconquista (Reconquest) was the centuries-long period in which Christian rule was re-established over the Iberian Peninsula. The Reconquista is viewed as beginning with the Battle of Covadonga won by Don Pelayo in 722 and was concurrent with the period of Muslim rule on the Iberian Peninsula. The Christian army's victory over Muslim forces led to the creation of the Christian Kingdom of Asturias along the northwestern coastal mountains. Shortly after, in 739, Muslim forces were driven from Galicia, which was to eventually host one of medieval Europe's holiest sites, Santiago de Compostela and was incorporated into the new Christian kingdom. The Kingdom of León was the strongest Christian kingdom for centuries. In 1188 the first modern parliamentary session in Europe was held in León (Cortes of León). The Kingdom of Castile, formed from Leonese territory, was its successor as 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 armies had also moved north of the Pyrenees but they were defeated by Frankish forces at the Battle of Poitiers, Frankia. Later, Frankish forces established Christian counties on the southern side of the Pyrenees. These areas were to grow into the kingdoms of Navarre and Aragon.  For several centuries, the fluctuating frontier between the Muslim and Christian controlled areas of Iberia was along the Ebro and Douro valleys.

The break-up of Al-Andalus into the competing taifa kingdoms helped the long embattled Iberian Christian kingdoms gain the initiative. The capture of the strategically central city of Toledo in 1085 marked a significant shift in the balance of power in favour of the Christian kingdoms. Following a great Muslim resurgence in the 12th century, the great Moorish strongholds in the south fell to Christian Spain in the 13th century—Córdoba in 1236 and Seville in 1248. The last Nasrid sultanate of Granada, a Muslim tributary state would finally surrender in 1492 to the Catholic monarchs Queen Isabella I of Castile  and King Ferdinand II of Aragon.   

From the mid 13th century, literature and philosophy started to flourish again in the Christian peninsular kingdoms, based on Roman and Gothic traditions. An important philosopher from this time is Ramon Llull. Abraham Cresques was a prominent Jewish cartographer. Roman law and its institutions were the model for the legislators. The king Alfonso X of Castile focused on strengthening this Roman and Gothic past, and also on linking the Iberian Christian kingdoms with the rest of medieval European Christendom. He worked for being elected emperor of the Holy Roman Empire and published the Siete Partidas code. The Toledo School of Translators is the name that commonly describes the group of scholars who worked together in the city of Toledo during the 12th and 13th centuries, to translate many of the philosophical and scientific works from Classical Arabic, Ancient Greek, and Ancient Hebrew. The Islamic transmission of the classics is the main Islamic contributions to Medieval Europe. The Castilian language—more commonly known (especially later in history and at present) as "Spanish" after becoming the national language and lingua franca of Spain—evolved from Vulgar Latin, as did other Romance languages of Spain like the Catalan, Asturian and Galician languages, as well as other Romance languages in Latin Europe. Basque, the only non-Romance language in Spain, continued evolving from Early Basque to Medieval. The Glosas Emilianenses founded in the monasteries of San Millán de la Cogolla contain the first written words in both Basque and Spanish, having the first become an influence in the formation of the second as an evolution of Latin.

In the 13th and 14th centuries, the Marinid Muslim sect based in North Africa invaded and established some enclaves on the southern coast but failed in their attempt to re-establish Muslim rule in Iberia and were soon driven out. The 13th century also witnessed the Crown of Aragon, centred in Spain's north east, expand its reach across islands in the Mediterranean, to Sicily and even Athens.  Around this time the universities of Palencia (1212/1263) and Salamanca (1218/1254) were established. The Black Death of 1348 and 1349 devastated Spain. 

Imperial Spain 

In 1469, the crowns of the Christian kingdoms of Castile and Aragon were united by the marriage of Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon. 1478 commenced the completion of the conquest of the Canary Islands and in 1492, the combined forces of Castile and Aragon captured the Emirate of Granada, ending the last remnant of a 781-year presence of Islamic rule in Iberia.
That same year, Spain's Jews were ordered to convert to Catholicism or face expulsion from Spanish territories during the Spanish Inquisition. 
The Treaty of Granada guaranteed religious tolerance toward Muslims,  and although the tolerance was only partial, it was not until the beginning of the 17th century, following the Revolt of the Alpujarras, that Muslims were finally expelled. 

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, although he remained convinced that he had reached the Orient. The colonisation of the Americas started, with conquistadores like Hernán Cortés and Francisco Pizarro. Miscegenation was the rule between the native and the European cultures and people.

As Renaissance New Monarchs, Isabella and Ferdinand centralised royal power at the expense of local nobility, and the word España, whose root is the ancient name Hispania, began to be commonly used to designate the whole of the two kingdoms.
With their wide-ranging political, legal, religious and military reforms, Spain emerged as the first world power.

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, in social, political, laws, currency and language.  

Spain was Europe's leading power 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 I (1516–1556) and Philip II (1556–1598). This period saw the Italian Wars, the Revolt of the Comuneros, the Dutch Revolt, the Morisco Revolt, clashes with the Ottomans, the Anglo-Spanish War and wars with France. 

Through exploration and conquest or royal marriage alliances and inheritance, the Spanish Empire expanded to include vast areas in the Americas, islands in the Asia-Pacific area, areas of Italy, cities in Northern Africa, as well as parts of what are now France, Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands. The first circumnavigation of the world was carried out in 1519–1521. It was the first empire on which it was said that the sun never set. This was an Age of Discovery, with daring explorations by sea and by land, the opening-up of new trade routes across oceans, conquests and the beginnings of European colonialism. Spanish explorers brought back precious metals, spices, luxuries, and previously unknown plants, and 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.

In the late 16th century and first half of the 17th century, Spain was confronted by unrelenting challenges from all sides. Barbary pirates, under the aegis of the rapidly growing Ottoman Empire, disrupted life in many coastal areas through their slave raids and the renewed threat of an Islamic invasion.  This was at a time when Spain was often at war with France.

The Protestant Reformation dragged the kingdom ever more deeply into the mire of religiously charged wars. The result was a country forced into 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 the country in continent-wide religious-political conflicts. These conflicts drained it of resources and undermined the economy generally. Spain managed to hold on to most of the scattered Habsburg empire, and help the imperial forces of the Holy Roman Empire reverse a large part of the advances made by Protestant forces, but it was finally forced to recognise the separation of Portugal (with whom it had been united in a personal union of the crowns from 1580 to 1640) and the Netherlands, and eventually suffered some serious military reverses to France in the latter stages of the immensely destructive, Europe-wide Thirty Years' War. 

In the latter half of the 17th century, Spain went into a gradual decline, during which it surrendered several small territories to France and the Netherlands; however, it maintained and enlarged its vast overseas empire, which remained intact until the beginning of the 19th century.

The decline culminated in a controversy over succession to the throne which consumed the first years of the 18th century. The War of the Spanish Succession was a wide-ranging international conflict combined with a civil war, and was to cost the kingdom its European possessions and its position as one of the leading powers on the Continent. 
During this war, a new dynasty originating in France, the Bourbons, was installed. Long united only by the Crown, a true Spanish state was established when the first Bourbon king, Philip V, united the crowns of Castile and Aragon into a single state, abolishing many of the old regional privileges and laws. 

The 18th century saw a gradual recovery and an increase in prosperity through much of the empire. The new Bourbon monarchy drew on the French system of modernising the administration and the economy. Enlightenment ideas began to gain ground among some of the kingdom's elite and monarchy. Military assistance for the rebellious British colonies in the American War of Independence improved the kingdom's international standing. 

Liberalism and nation state 

In 1793, Spain went to war against the revolutionary new French Republic as a member of the first Coalition. The subsequent War of the Pyrenees polarised the country in a reaction against the gallicised elites and following defeat in the field, peace was made with France in 1795 at the Peace of Basel in which Spain lost control over two-thirds of the island of Hispaniola. The Prime Minister, Manuel Godoy, then ensured that Spain allied herself with France in the brief War of the Third Coalition which ended with the British victory at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. In 1807, a secret treaty between Napoleon and the unpopular prime minister led to a new declaration of war against Britain and Portugal. Napoleon's troops entered the country to invade Portugal but instead occupied Spain's major fortresses. The ridiculed Spanish king abdicated in favour of Napoleon's brother, Joseph Bonaparte.

Joseph Bonaparte was seen as a puppet monarch and was regarded with scorn by the Spanish. The 2 May 1808 revolt was one of many nationalist uprisings across the country against the Bonapartist regime.  These revolts marked the beginning of a devastating war of independence against the Napoleonic regime.  Napoleon was forced to intervene personally, defeating several Spanish armies and forcing a British army to retreat. However, further military action by Spanish armies, guerrillas and Wellington's British-Portuguese forces, combined with Napoleon's disastrous invasion of Russia, led to the ousting of the French imperial armies from Spain in 1814, and the return of King Ferdinand VII. 

During the war, in 1810, a revolutionary body, the Cortes of Cádiz, was assembled to co-ordinate the effort against the Bonapartist regime and to prepare a constitution.  It met as one body, and its members represented the entire Spanish empire.  In 1812 a constitution for universal representation under a constitutional monarchy was declared but after the fall of the Bonapartist regime Ferdinand VII dismissed the Cortes Generales and was determined to rule as an absolute monarch. These events foreshadowed the conflict between conservatives and liberals in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

Spain's conquest by France benefited Latin American anti-colonialists who resented the Imperial Spanish government's policies that favored Spanish-born citizens (Peninsulars) over those born overseas (Criollos) and demanded retroversion of the sovereignty to the people. Starting in 1809 Spain's American colonies began a series of revolutions and declared independence, leading to the Spanish American wars of independence that ended Spanish control over its mainland colonies in the Americas. King Ferdinand VII's attempt to re-assert control proved futile as he faced opposition not only in the colonies but also in Spain and army revolts followed, led by liberal officers. By the end of 1826, the only American colonies Spain held were Cuba and Puerto Rico.

The Napoleonic War left Spain economically ruined, deeply divided and politically unstable. In the 1830s and 1840s Anti-liberal forces known as Carlists fought against liberals in the Carlist Wars. Liberal forces won, but the conflict between progressive and conservative liberals ended in a weak early constitutional period. After the Glorious Revolution of 1868 and the short-lived First Spanish Republic, a more stable monarchic period began characterised by the practice of turnismo (the rotation of government control between progressive and conservative liberals within the Spanish government).

In the late 19th century nationalist movements arose in the Philippines and Cuba. In 1895 and 1896 the Cuban War of Independence and the Philippine Revolution  broke out and eventually the United States became involved. The Spanish–American War was fought in the spring of 1898 and resulted in Spain losing the last of its once vast colonial empire outside of North Africa. El Desastre (the Disaster), as the war became known in Spain, gave added impetus to the Generation of 98 who were conducting an analysis of the country.

Although the period around the turn of the century was one of increasing prosperity, the 20th century brought little peace; Spain played a minor part in the scramble for Africa, with the colonisation of Western Sahara, Spanish Morocco and Equatorial Guinea. It remained neutral during World War I (see Spain in World War I). The heavy losses suffered during the Rif War in Morocco brought discredit to the government and undermined the monarchy.

A period of authoritarian rule under General Miguel Primo de Rivera (1923–1931) ended with the establishment of the Second Spanish Republic. The Republic offered political autonomy to the linguistically distinct regions of Basque Country, Catalonia and Galicia and gave voting rights to women and was increasingly dominated by left wing political parties. In the worsening economic situation of the Great Depression, Spanish politics became increasingly chaotic and violent.

Spanish Civil War and dictatorship 

The Spanish Civil War broke out in 1936. For three years the Nationalist forces led by General Francisco Franco and supported by Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy fought the Republican side, which was supported by the Soviet Union, Mexico and International Brigades but it was not supported by the Western powers due to the British-led policy of Non-Intervention. The civil war was viciously fought and there were many atrocities committed by all sides. The war claimed the lives of over 500,000 people and caused the flight of up to a half-million citizens from the country.   In 1939, General Franco emerged victorious and became a dictator.

The state as established under Franco was nominally neutral in the Second World War, although sympathetic to the Axis. The only legal party under Franco's post civil war regime was the Falange Española Tradicionalista y de las JONS, formed in 1937; the party emphasized falangism, a form of fascism that emphasized anti-communism, nationalism and Roman Catholicism. Given Franco's opposition to competing political parties, the party was renamed the National Movement (Movimiento Nacional) in 1949.

After World War II Spain was politically and economically isolated, and was kept out of the United Nations. This changed in 1955, during the Cold War period, when it became strategically important for the US to establish a military presence on the Iberian Peninsula as a counter to any possible move by the Soviet Union into the Mediterranean basin. In the 1960s, Spain registered an unprecedented rate of economic growth which was propelled by industrialization, a mass internal migration from rural areas to cities and the creation of a mass tourism industry. Franco's rule was also characterized by authoritarianism, promotion of a unitary national identity, the favouring of a very conservative form of Roman Catholicism known as National Catholicism, and discriminatory language policies.

Restoration of democracy 

In 1962, Salvador de Madariaga, founder of the Liberal International and the College of Europe, met in the congress of the European Movement in Munich with members of the opposition to Franco's regime inside the country and in the exile. There were 118 politicians from all factions. At the end of the meetings a resolution in favour of democracy was made.   

With Franco's death in November 1975, Juan Carlos succeeded to the position of King of Spain and head of state in accordance with the law. With the approval of the new Spanish Constitution of 1978 and the restoration of democracy, the State devolved much authority to the regions and created an internal organisation based on autonomous communities.

In the Basque Country, moderate Basque nationalism has coexisted with a radical nationalist movement led by the armed organisation ETA. The group was formed in 1959 during Franco's rule but has continued to wage its violent campaign even after the restoration of democracy and the return of a large measure of regional autonomy.
On 23 February 1981, rebel elements among the security forces seized the Cortes in an attempt to impose a military backed government. King Juan Carlos took personal command of the military and successfully ordered the coup plotters, via national television, to surrender.

During the 1980s the democratic restoration made possible a growing open society. New cultural movements based on freedom appeared, like La Movida Madrileña. On 30 May 1982 Spain joined NATO, following a referendum. That year the Spanish Socialist Workers Party (PSOE) came to power, the first left-wing government in 43 years. In 1986 Spain joined the European Economic Community, which later became the European Union. The PSOE was replaced in government by the Partido Popular (PP) after the latter won the 1996 General Elections; at that point the PSOE had served almost 14 consecutive years in office.

On 1 January 2002, Spain fully adopted the euro, and Spain experienced strong economic growth, well above the EU average during the early 2000s. However, well publicised concerns issued by many economic commentators at the height of the boom warned that extraordinary property prices and a high foreign trade deficit were likely to lead to a painful economic collapse. 

On 11 March 2004 a local Islamist terrorist group inspired by Al-Qaeda carried out the largest terrorist attack in Spanish history when they killed 191 people and wounded more than 1,800 others by bombing commuter trains in Madrid.  Though initial suspicions focused on the Basque group ETA, evidence soon emerged indicating Islamist involvement. Because of the proximity of the 2004 election, the issue of responsibility quickly became a political controversy, with the main competing parties PP and PSOE exchanging accusations over the handling of the incident.  At 14 March elections, PSOE, led by José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, obtained a plurality, enough to form a new cabinet with Rodríguez Zapatero as the new Presidente del Gobierno or Prime Minister of Spain, thus succeeding the former PP administration. 

The proportion of Spain's foreign born population increased rapidly from around 1 in 50 in 2000 to almost 1 in 8 in 2010 but has since declined. In 2005 the Spanish government legalised same sex marriage. The bursting of the Spanish property bubble in 2008 led to the 2008–15 Spanish financial crisis and high levels of unemployment, cuts in government spending and Catalan independentism served as a backdrop to the 2011–12 Spanish protests. In 2011 Mariano Rajoy's conservative People's Party won elections with 44.6% of votes and Rajoy became the Spanish Prime Minister after having been the leader of the opposition from 2004 to 2011. On 19 June 2014, the monarch, Juan Carlos, abdicated in favour of his son, who became Felipe VI.

Geography 

At 505992 km2, Spain is the world's fifty-second largest country and Europe's fourth largest country. It is some 47000 km2 smaller than France and 81000 km2 larger than the US state of California. Mount Teide (Tenerife) is the highest mountain peak in Spain and is the third largest volcano in the world from its base.

Spain lies between latitudes 26° 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 (a British overseas territory) and Morocco, through its exclaves in North Africa (Ceuta and Melilla, and the peninsula of Vélez de la Gomera). On the northeast, along the Pyrenees mountain range, it is bordered by France and the Principality of Andorra. Along the Pyrenees in Girona, a small exclave town called Llívia is surrounded by France.

Islands 

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  ("places of sovereignty", or territories under [Spanish] sovereignty), such as the Chafarinas Islands and Alhucemas. The peninsula of 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.

Largest inhabited islands of Spain:

Mountains and rivers 

Mainland Spain is a mountainous country, 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 m high Mulhacén, located in Sierra Nevada, is the highest elevation in the Iberian Peninsula. The highest point in Spain is the Teide, a 3718 m active volcano in the Canary Islands. The Meseta Central (often translated as "Inner Plateau") is a vast plateau in the heart of peninsular Spain.

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.

Climate 

Three main climatic zones can be separated, according to geographical situation and orographic conditions:   
* The Mediterranean climate, characterised by warm and dry summers. It is dominant in the peninsula, with two varieties: Csa and Csb according to the Köppen climate classification. The Csb Zone, with a more extreme climate, hotter in summer and colder in winter, extends to additional areas not typically associated with a Mediterranean climate, such as much of central and northern-central of Spain (e.g. Valladolid, Burgos, León).
* The semi-arid climate (Bsh, Bsk), located in the southeastern quarter of the country, especially in the region of Murcia and in the Ebro valley. In contrast with the Mediterranean climate, the dry season extends beyond the summer.
* The oceanic climate (Cfb), located in the northern quarter of the country, especially in the region of Basque Country, Cantabria, Asturias and partly Galicia. In contrary to the Mediterranean climate, 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 the Pyrenees and Sierra Nevada, and a typical desert climate in the zone of Almería and in most parts of the Canary Islands; while in higher areas of the Canary Islands the predominant climate is subtropical.

The below-listed list covers the average temperatures of three major cities in Spain; Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia along with Santa Cruz de Tenerife which has a significantly different climates to the predominant climate in Spain. More information regarding temperature can be found in city articles and the main article about the Spanish climate.

Fauna and flora 

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 relief, the climate and latitude. Spain includes different phytogeographic regions, each with its own floristic characteristics resulting largely from the interaction of climate, topography, soil type and fire, biotic factors.

Politics 

According to the Democracy Index of the EIU, Spain is one of the 20 full democracies in the world.

The Spanish Constitution of 1978 is the culmination of the Spanish transition to democracy.
The constitutional history of Spain dates back to the constitution of 1812. Impatient with the slow pace of democratic political reforms in 1976 and 1977, Spain's new King Juan Carlos, known for his formidable personality, 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 is now composed of 17 autonomous communities and two autonomous cities with varying degrees of autonomy thanks to its Constitution, which nevertheless explicitly states the indivisible unity of the Spanish nation. The constitution also specifies that Spain has no state religion and that all are free to practice and believe as they wish.

The Spanish administration approved legislation in 2007 aimed at furthering equality between genders in Spanish political and economic life (Gender Equality Act).   However, in the legislative branch, as of July 2010 only 128 of the 350 members of the Congress were women (36.3%).  It places Spain 13th on a list of countries ranked by proportion of women in the lower house. In the Senate, the ratio is even lower, since there are only 79 women out of 263 (30.0%).  The Gender Empowerment Measure of Spain in the United Nations Human Development Report is 0.794, 12th in the world. 

Government 

Spain is a constitutional monarchy, with a hereditary monarch and a bicameral parliament, the Cortes Generales (General Courts). The executive branch consists of a Council of Ministers of Spain presided over by the Prime Minister, nominated and appointed by the monarch and confirmed by the Congress of Deputies following legislative elections. By political custom established by King Juan Carlos since the ratification of the 1978 Constitution, the king's nominees have all been from parties who maintain a plurality of seats in the Congress.

The legislative branch is made up of the Congress of Deputies (Congreso de los Diputados) with 350 members, elected by popular vote on block lists by proportional representation to serve four-year terms, and a Senate (Senado) with 259 seats of which 208 are directly elected by popular vote and the other 51 appointed by the regional legislatures to also serve four-year terms.
* Head of State
** King Felipe VI, since 19 June 2014
* Head of Government
** Prime Minister of Spain (Presidente del Gobierno, literally President of the Government): Mariano Rajoy Brey, elected 20 November 2011.
*** Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for the Presidency: Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría.
* Cabinet
** Council of Ministers (Consejo de Ministros) designated by the Prime Minister.

Spain is organisationally structured as a so-called Estado de las Autonomías ("State of Autonomies"); it is one of the most decentralised countries in Europe, along with Switzerland, Germany and Belgium;  for example, all Autonomous Communities have their own elected parliaments, governments, public administrations, budgets, and resources. Health and education systems among others are managed regionally, and in addition, the Basque Country and Navarre also manage their own public finances based on foral provisions. In Catalonia, the Basque Country, Navarre and the Canary Islands, a full-fledged autonomous police corps replaces some of the State police functions (see Mossos d'Esquadra, Ertzaintza, Policía Foral and Policía Canaria).

Human rights 

The Government respects the human rights of its citizens; although there are a few problems in some areas, the law and judiciary provide effective means of addressing individual instances of abuse. There are allegations that a few members of the security forces abused detainees and mistreated foreigners and illegal immigrants. According to Amnesty International (AI), government investigations of such alleged abuses are often lengthy and punishments were light. Violence against women was a problem, which the Government took steps to address.

Spain provides one of the highest degrees of liberty in the world for its LGBT community. Among the countries studied by Pew Research Center in 2013, Spain is rated first in acceptance of homosexuality, with an 88% of society supporting the gay community compared to 11% who do not. 

Administrative divisions 

The Spanish State is integrated by 17 autonomous communities and 2 autonomous cities, both groups being the highest or first-order administrative division in the country. Autonomous communities are integrated by provinces, of which there are 50 in total, and in turn, provinces are integrated by municipalities. In Catalonia, two additional divisions exist, the comarques (sing. comarca) and the vegueries (sing. vegueria) both of which have administrative powers; comarques being aggregations of municipalities, and the vegueries being aggregations of comarques. The concept of a comarca exists in all autonomous communities, however, unlike Catalonia, these are merely historical or geographical subdivisions.

Autonomies 

Autonomous communities are the first level administrative division in the country. These were created after the 1979 and current constitution came into effect in recognition of the right to self-government to the "nationalities and regions of Spain".  Autonomous communities were to be integrated by adjacent provinces with common historical, cultural, and economical traits. This territorial organisation, based on devolution, is known in Spain as the "State of Autonomies".

The basic institutional law of each autonomous community is the Statute of Autonomy. The Statutes of Autonomy establish the name of the community according to its historical identity, the limits of their territories, the name and organisation of the institutions of government and the rights they enjoy according to the constitution. 

The government of all autonomous communities must be based on a division of powers comprising:
* a Legislative Assembly whose members must be elected by universal suffrage according to the system of proportional representation and in which all areas that integrate the territory are fairly represented;
* a Government Council, with executive and administrative functions headed by a president, elected by the Legislative Assembly and nominated by the King of Spain;
* a Supreme Court of Justice, under the Supreme Court of the State, which head the judicial organisation within the autonomous community.

Catalonia, Galicia and the Basque Country, which identified themselves as "nationalities" were granted self-government through a rapid process. Andalusia also took that denomination in its first Statute of Autonomy, even though it followed the longer process stipulated in the constitution for the rest of the country. Progressively, other communities in revisions to their Statutes of Autonomy have also taken that denomination in accordance to their historical regional identity, such as the Valencian Community,  the Canary Islands,  the Balearic Islands,  and Aragon. 

The autonomous communities have wide legislative and executive autonomy, with their own parliaments and regional governments. The distribution of powers may be different for every community, as laid out in their Statutes of Autonomy, since devolution was intended to be asymmetrical. Only two communities—the Basque Country and Navarre—have full fiscal autonomy. Aside of fiscal autonomy, the "historical" nationalities—Andalusia, the Basque Country, Catalonia, and Galicia—were devolved more powers than the rest of the communities, among them the ability of the regional president to dissolve the parliament and call for elections at any time. In addition, the Basque Country, Catalonia and Navarre have police corps of their own: Ertzaintza, Mossos d'Esquadra and the Policía Foral respectively. Other communities have more limited forces or none at all, like the Policía Autónoma Andaluza  in Andalusia or the BESCAM in Madrid.

Nonetheless, recent amendments to existing Statutes of Autonomy or the promulgation of new Statutes altogether, have reduced the asymmetry between the powers originally granted to the "historical nationalities" and the rest of the regions.

Finally, along with the 17 autonomous communities, two autonomous cities are also part of the State of Autonomies and are first-order territorial divisions: Ceuta and Melilla. These are two exclaves located in the northern African coast.

Provinces and municipalities 

Autonomous communities are subdivided into provinces, which served as their territorial building blocks. In turn, provinces are integrated by municipalities. The existence of both the provinces and the municipalities is guaranteed and protected by the constitution, not necessarily by the Statutes of Autonomy themselves. Municipalities are granted autonomy to manage their internal affairs, and provinces are the territorial divisions designed to carry out the activities of the State. 

The current provincial division structure is based—with minor changes—on the 1833 territorial division by Javier de Burgos, and in all, the Spanish territory is divided into 50 provinces. The communities of Asturias, Cantabria, La Rioja, the Balearic Islands, Madrid, Murcia and Navarre are the only communities that are integrated by a single province, which is coextensive with the community itself. In this cases, the administrative institutions of the province are replaced by the governmental institutions of the community.

Foreign relations 

After the return of democracy following the death of Franco in 1975, Spain's foreign policy priorities were to break out of the diplomatic isolation of the Franco years and expand diplomatic relations, enter the European Community, and define security relations with the West.

As a member of NATO since 1982, Spain has established itself as a participant in multilateral international security activities. Spain's EU membership represents an important part of its foreign policy. Even on many international issues beyond western Europe, Spain prefers to co-ordinate its efforts with its EU partners through the European political co-operation mechanisms.

Spain has maintained its special relations with Hispanic America and the Philippines. Its policy emphasises the concept of an Ibero-American community, essentially the renewal of the historically liberal concept of "Hispanidad" or "Hispanismo", as it is often referred to in English, which has sought to link the Iberian Peninsula with Hispanic America through language, commerce, history and culture.

;Territorial disputes
Spain claims Gibraltar, a 6 km2 Overseas Territory of the United Kingdom in the southernmost part of the Iberian Peninsula. Then a Spanish town, it was conquered by an Anglo-Dutch force in 1704 during the War of the Spanish Succession on behalf of Archduke Charles, pretender to the Spanish throne.

The legal situation concerning Gibraltar was settled in 1713 by the Treaty of Utrecht, in which Spain ceded the territory in perpetuity to the British Crown  stating that, should the British abandon this post, it would be offered to Spain first. Since the 1940s Spain has called for the return of Gibraltar. The overwhelming majority of Gibraltarians strongly oppose this, along with any proposal of shared sovereignty.  UN resolutions call on the United Kingdom and Spain, both EU members, to reach an agreement over the status of Gibraltar.  

The Spanish claim makes a distinction between the isthmus that connects the Rock to the Spanish mainland on the one hand, and the Rock and city of Gibraltar on the other. While the Rock and city were ceded by the Treaty of Utrecht, Spain asserts that the "occupation of the isthmus is illegal and against the principles of International Law".  The United Kingdom relies on de facto arguments of possession by prescription in relation to the isthmus,  as there has been "continuous possession [of the isthmus] over a long period". 

Another claim by Spain is about the Savage Islands, a claim not recognised by Portugal. Spain claims that they are rocks rather than islands, therefore claiming that there is no Portuguese territorial waters around the disputed islands. On 5 July 2013, Spain sent a letter to the UN expressing these views.  

Spain claims the sovereignty over the Perejil Island, a small, uninhabited rocky islet located in the South shore of the Strait of Gibraltar. The island lies 250 m just off the coast of Morocco, 8 km from Ceuta and  from mainland Spain. Its sovereignty is disputed between Spain and Morocco. It was the subject of an armed incident between the two countries in 2002. The incident ended when both countries agreed to return to the status quo ante which existed prior to the Moroccan occupation of the island. The islet is now deserted and without any sign of sovereignty.

Besides the Perejil Island, the Spanish-held territories claimed by other countries are two: Morocco claims the Spanish cities of Ceuta and Melilla and the plazas de soberanía islets off the northern coast of Africa; and Portugal does not recognise Spain's sovereignty over the territory of Olivenza.

Military 

The armed forces of Spain are known as the Spanish Armed Forces (Fuerzas Armadas Españolas). Their Commander-in-chief is the King of Spain, Felipe VI. 

The Spanish Armed Forces are divided into three branches: 
* Army (Ejército de Tierra)
* Navy (Armada)
* Air Force (Ejército del Aire)

Economy 

Spain's capitalist mixed economy is the 16th largest worldwide and the 5th largest in the European Union, as well as the Eurozone's 4th largest.

The centre-right government of former prime minister José María Aznar worked successfully to gain admission to the group of countries launching the euro in 1999. Unemployment stood at 7.6% in October 2006, a rate that compared favourably to many other European countries, and especially with the early 1990s when it stood at over 20%. Perennial weak points of Spain's economy include high inflation,  a large underground economy,  and an education system which OECD reports place among the poorest for developed countries, together with the United States and UK. 

By the mid-1990s the economy had recommenced the growth that had been disrupted by the global recession of the early 1990s. The strong economic growth helped the government to reduce the government debt as a percentage of GDP and Spain's high unemployment began to drop steadily. With the government budget in balance and inflation under control Spain was admitted into the Eurozone in 1999.

Since the 1990s some Spanish companies have gained multinational status, often expanding their activities in culturally close Latin America. Spain is the second biggest foreign investor there, after the United States. Spanish companies have also expanded into Asia, especially China and India. This early global expansion is a competitive advantage over its competitors and European neighbours. The reason for this early expansion is the booming interest toward Spanish language and culture in Asia and Africa and a corporate culture that learned to take risks in unstable markets.

Spanish companies invested in fields like renewable energy commercialisation (Iberdrola was the world's largest renewable energy operator ), technology companies like Telefónica, Abengoa, Mondragon Corporation, Movistar, Hisdesat, Indra, train manufacturers like CAF, Talgo, global corporations such as the textile company Inditex, petroleum companies like Repsol and infrastructure, with six of the ten biggest international construction firms specialising in transport being Spanish, like Ferrovial, Acciona, ACS, OHL and FCC.

In 2005 the Economist Intelligence Unit's quality of life survey placed Spain among the top 10 in the world.   In 2013 the same survey (now called the "Where-to-be-born index"), ranked Spain 28th in the world. 

In 2010, the Basque city of Bilbao was awarded with the Lee Kuan Yew World City Prize,  and its mayor at the time, Iñaki Azkuna, was awarded the World Mayor Prize in 2012.  The Basque capital city of Vitoria-Gasteiz received the European Green Capital Award in 2012. 

Agriculture 

Crop areas were farmed in two highly diverse manners. Areas relying on non-irrigated cultivation (secano), which made up 85% of the entire crop area, depended solely on rainfall as a source of water. They included the humid regions of the north and the northwest, as well as vast arid zones that had not been irrigated. The much more productive regions devoted to irrigated cultivation (regadío) accounted for 3 million hectares in 1986, and the government hoped that this area would eventually double, as it already had doubled since 1950. Particularly noteworthy was the development in Almería—one of the most arid and desolate provinces of Spain—of winter crops of various fruits and vegetables for export to Europe.

Though only about 17% of Spain's cultivated land was irrigated, it was estimated to be the source of between 40-45% of the gross value of crop production and of 50% of the value of agricultural exports. More than half of the irrigated area was planted in corn, fruit trees, and vegetables. Other agricultural products that benefited from irrigation included grapes, cotton, sugar beets, potatoes, legumes, olive trees, mangos, strawberries, tomatoes, and fodder grasses. Depending on the nature of the crop, it was possible to harvest two successive crops in the same year on about 10% of the country's irrigated land.

Citrus fruits, vegetables, cereal grains, olive oil, and wine—Spain's traditional agricultural products—continued to be important in the 1980s. In 1983 they represented 12%, 12%, 8%, 6%, and 4%, respectively, of the country's agricultural production. Because of the changed diet of an increasingly affluent population, there was a notable increase in the consumption of livestock, poultry, and dairy products. Meat production for domestic consumption became the single most important agricultural activity, accounting for 30% of all farm-related production in 1983. Increased attention to livestock was the reason that Spain became a net importer of grains. Ideal growing conditions, combined with proximity to important north European markets, made citrus fruits Spain's leading export. Fresh vegetables and fruits produced through intensive irrigation farming also became important export commodities, as did sunflower seed oil that was produced to compete with the more expensive olive oils in oversupply throughout the Mediterranean countries of the EC.

Tourism 

The climate of Spain, its geographic location, popular coastlines, diverse landscapes, historical legacy, vibrant culture and excellent infrastructure, has made Spain's international tourist industry among the largest in the world. In the last five decades, international tourism in Spain has grown to become the second largest in the world in terms of spending, worth approximately 40 billion Euros or about 5% of GDP in 2006.  

Energy 

Spain is one of the world's leading countries in the development and production of renewable energy. 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 42,976 GWh, which accounted for 16.4% of all electrical energy produced in Spain.    On 9 November 2010, wind energy reached an instantaneous historic peak covering 53% of mainland electricity demand  and generating an amount of energy that is equivalent to that of 14 nuclear reactors.  Other renewable energies used in Spain are hydroelectric, biomass and marine (2 power plants under construction). 

Non-renewable energy sources used in Spain are nuclear (8 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.Energy in Sweden, Facts and figures, The Swedish Energy Agency, (in Swedish: Energiläget i siffror), Table for figure 49. Source: IEA/OECD [http://webbshop.cm.se/System/TemplateView.aspx?p
Energimyndigheten&viewdefault&cat
/Broschyrer&id=e0a2619a83294099a16519a0b5edd26f]. 

Transport 

The Spanish road system is mainly centralised, with six highways connecting Madrid to the Basque Country, Catalonia, Valencia, West Andalusia, Extremadura and Galicia. Additionally, there are highways along the Atlantic (Ferrol to Vigo), Cantabrian (Oviedo to San Sebastián) and Mediterranean (Girona to Cádiz) coasts. Spain aims 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 Minister of Industry Miguel Sebastian said that "the electric vehicle is the future and the engine of an industrial revolution." 

Spain has the most extensive high-speed rail network in Europe, and the second-most extensive in the world after China.   As of October 2010, Spain has a total of 3500 km of high-speed tracks linking Málaga, Seville, Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia and Valladolid, with the trains reaching speeds up to 300 km/h. 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 (98.54% on-time arrival) after the Japanese Shinkansen (99%).  Should the aims of the ambitious AVE program (Spanish high speed trains) be met, by 2020 Spain will have 7000 km of high-speed trains linking almost all provincial cities to Madrid in less than three hours and Barcelona within four hours.

There are 47 public airports in Spain. The busiest one is the airport of Madrid (Barajas), with 50 million passengers in 2011, being the world's 15th busiest airport, as well as the European Union's fourth busiest. The airport of Barcelona (El Prat) is also important, with 35 million passengers in 2011, being the world's 31st-busiest airport. Other main airports are located in Majorca (23 million passengers), Málaga (13 million passengers), Las Palmas (Gran Canaria) (11 million passengers), Alicante (10 million passengers) and smaller, with the number of passengers between 4 and 10 million, for example Tenerife (two airports), Valencia, Seville, Bilbao, Ibiza, Lanzarote, Fuerteventura. Also, more than 30 airports with the number of passengers below 4 million.

Science and technology 

In the 19th and 20th centuries science in Spain was held back by severe political instability and consequent economic underdevelopment. Despite the conditions, some important scientists and engineers emerged. The most notable were Miguel Servet, Santiago Ramón y Cajal, Narcís Monturiol i Estarriol, Celedonio Calatayud, Juan de la Cierva, Leonardo Torres y Quevedo and Severo Ochoa.

See also ASCAMM, Associació Catalana d'Empreses constructores de Motlles i Matrius

Water supply and sanitation 

Water supply and Sanitation in Spain is characterized by universal access and generally good service quality, while tariffs are among the lowest in the EU. 
Almost half of the population is served by private or mixed
private-public water companies, which operate under concession contracts
with municipalities. The largest of the private water companies, with a
market share of about 50% of the private concessions, is Aguas de
Barcelona (Agbar). However, the large cities are all served by public companies except Barcelona and Valencia. The largest public company is Canal de Isabel II, which serves the metropolitan area of Madrid.

Droughts affect water supply in Southern Spain, which increasingly is turning towards seawater desalination to meet its water needs.

Demographics 

In 2008 the population of Spain officially reached 46 million people, as recorded by the Padrón municipal (Spain's Municipal Register).  Spain's population density, at 91/km² (235/sq mi), is lower than that of most Western European countries and its distribution across the country is very unequal. With the exception of the region surrounding the capital, Madrid, the most populated areas lie around the coast. The population of Spain more than doubled since 1900, when it stood at 18.6 million, principally due to the spectacular demographic boom in the 1960s and early 1970s. 

Native Spaniards make up 88% of the total population of Spain. After the birth rate plunged in the 1980s and Spain's population growth rate dropped, the population again trended upward, based initially on 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 12% of the population. The immigrants originate mainly in Latin America (39%), North Africa (16%), Eastern Europe (15%), and Sub-Saharan Africa (4%).  In 2005, Spain instituted a three-month amnesty program through which certain hitherto undocumented aliens were granted legal residency.

In 2008, Spain granted citizenship to 84,170 persons, mostly to people from Ecuador, Colombia and Morocco.  A sizeable portion of foreign residents in Spain also comes from other Western and Central European countries. These are mostly British, French, German, Dutch, and Norwegian. They reside primarily on the Mediterranean coast and the Balearic islands, where many choose to live their retirement or telecommute.

Substantial populations descended from Spanish colonists and immigrants exist in other parts of the world, most notably in Latin America. Beginning in the late 15th century, large numbers of Iberian colonists settled in what became Latin America and at present most white Latin Americans (who make up about one-third of Latin America's population) are of Spanish or Portuguese origin. Around 240,000 Spaniards emigrated in the 16th century, mostly to Peru and Mexico.  Another 450,000 left in the 17th century.  Between 1846 and 1932 it is estimated that nearly 5 million Spaniards emigrated to the Americas, especially to Argentina and Brazil.  Approximately two million Spaniards migrated to other Western European countries between 1960 and 1975. During the same period perhaps 300,000 went to Latin America. 

Urbanisation 

;Metropolitan areas

Source: "Áreas urbanas +50", Ministry of Public Works and Transport (2013) 

|- style="background: #efefef;"
!rowspan="2"| Rank
!rowspan="2"| Metro area
!rowspan="2"| Autonomouscommunity
!colspan="2"| Population
|- style="background: #efefef;"
!Government data
!Other estimates
|- style="text-align:right;"
| 1 || Madrid || Madrid || 6,052,247 || style="text-align:left;"| 5.4 – 6.5 m  
|- style="text-align:right;"
| 2 || Barcelona || Catalonia || 5,030,679 || style="text-align:left;"| 
|- style="text-align:right;"
| 3 || Valencia || Valencia || 1,551,585 || style="text-align:left;"| 1.5 – 2.3 m 
|- style="text-align:right;"
| 4 || Seville || Andalusia || 1,294,867 || style="text-align:left;"| 1.2 – 1.3 m
|- style="text-align:right;"
| 5 || Málaga || Andalusia || 953,251 || style="background:silver;"|
|- style="text-align:right;"
| 6 || Bilbao || Basque Country || 910,578 || style="background:silver;"|
|- style="text-align:right;"
| 7 || Oviedo–Gijón–Avilés || Asturias || 835,053 || style="background:silver;"|
|- style="text-align:right;"
| 8 || Zaragoza || Aragon || 746,152 || style="background:silver;"|
|- style="text-align:right;"
| 9 || Alicante–Elche || Valencia || 698,662 || style="background:silver;"|
|- style="text-align:right;"
| 10 || Murcia || Murcia || 643,854 || style="background:silver;"|
|}

Peoples 

The Spanish Constitution of 1978, in its second article, recognises historic entities—nationalities (a carefully chosen word to avoid the more politically charged "nations")—and regions, within the context of the Spanish nation. For some people, Spain's identity consists more of an overlap of different regional identities than of a sole Spanish identity. Indeed, some of the regional identities may even conflict with the Spanish one. Distinct traditional regional identities within Spain include the Basques, Catalans, Galicians, Andalusians and Valencians,  although to some extent all of the 17 Autonomous Communities will claim a distinct historic identity.

It is this last feature of "shared identity" between the more local level or Autonomous Community and the Spanish level which makes the identity question in Spain complex and far from univocal.

According to the CIA World Factbook (2011), Spain's racial description is presented as "composite of Mediterranean and Nordic types" under "ethnic groups" instead of the usual breakdown of ethnic composition. 

Minority groups 

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 Britons, Germans, French and others. 

The arrival of the gitanos, a Romani people, began in the 16th century; estimates of the Spanish Gitano population fluctuate around 700,000.  There are also the mercheros (also quinquis), a formerly nomadic minority group. Their origin is unclear.

Historically, Sephardi Jews and moriscos are the main minority groups originated in Spain and with a contribution to Spanish culture.  The Spanish government is offering Spanish nationality to sephardi Jews. 

Immigration 

According to the Spanish government there were 5.7 million foreign residents in Spain in 2011, or 12% of the total population. According to residence permit data for 2011, more than 860,000 were Romanian, about 770,000 were Moroccan, approximately 390,000 were British, and 360,000 were Ecuadorian.  Other sizeable foreign communities are Colombian, Bolivian, German, Italian, Bulgarian, and Chinese. There are more than 200,000 migrants from Sub-Saharan Africa living in Spain, principally Senegaleses and Nigerians.  Since 2000, Spain has experienced high population growth as a result of immigration flows, despite a birth rate that is only half the replacement level. This sudden and ongoing inflow of immigrants, particularly those arriving illegally by sea, has caused noticeable social tension. 

Within the EU, Spain had the 2nd highest immigration rate in percentage terms after Cyprus, but by a great margin, the highest in absolute numbers, up to 2008.  The number of immigrants in Spain had grown up from 500,000 people in 1996 to 5.2 million in 2008 out of a total population of 46 million.   In 2005 alone, a regularisation programme increased the legal immigrant population by 700,000 people.  There are a number of reasons for the high level of immigration, including 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.

Another statistically significant factor is the large number of residents of EU origin typically retiring to Spain's Mediterranean coast. In fact, Spain was Europe's largest absorber of migrants from 2002 to 2007, with its immigrant population more than doubling as 2.5 million people arrived.  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. 

In 2008, the government instituted a "Plan of Voluntary Return" which encouraged unemployed immigrants from outside the EU to return to their home countries and receive several incentives, including the right to keep their unemployment benefits and transfer whatever they contributed to the Spanish Social Security.  The program had little effect; during its first two months, just 1,400 immigrants took up the offer.  What the program failed to do, the sharp and prolonged economic crisis has done from 2010 to 2011 in that tens of thousands of immigrants have left the country due to lack of jobs. In 2011 alone, more than half a million people left Spain. For the first time in decades the net migration rate was expected to be negative, and nine out of 10 emigrants were foreigners.[http://www.elpais.com/articulo/sociedad/580000/personas/van/Espana/elpepisoc/20111008elpepisoc_2/Tes 580.000 personas se van de España]. El País. Edición Impresa. 8 October 2011

Languages 

Spain is openly multilingual, and the constitution establishes that the nation will protect "all Spaniards and the peoples of Spain in the exercise of human rights, their cultures and traditions, languages and institutions.Preamble to the Constitution 

Spanish (español)—officially recognised in the constitution as Castilian (castellano)—is the official language of the entire country, and it is the right and duty of every Spaniard to know the language. The constitution also establishes that "all other Spanish languages"—that is, all other languages of Spain—will also be official in their respective autonomous communities in accordance to their Statutes, their organic regional legislations, and that the "richness of the distinct linguistic modalities of Spain represents a patrimony which will be the object of special respect and protection."Third article. 

The other official languages of Spain, co-official with Spanish are:
* Basque (euskara) in the Basque Country and Navarre;
* Catalan (català) in Catalonia, the Balearic Islands and in the Valencian Community, where its distinct modality of the language is officially known as Valencian (valencià); and
* Galician (galego)  in Galicia

As a percentage of the general population, Basque is spoken by 2%, Catalan (or Valencian) by 17%, and Galician by 7% of all Spaniards. 

In Catalonia, Aranese (aranés), a local variety of the Occitan language, has been declared co-official along with Catalan and Spanish since 2006. It is spoken only in the comarca of Val d'Aran by roughly 6,700 people. Other Romance minority languages, though not official, have special recognition, such as the Astur-Leonese group (Asturian – asturianu, also called bable – in Asturias  and Leonese – llionés – in Castile and León) and Aragonese (aragonés) in Aragon.

In the North African Spanish autonomous city of Melilla, Riff Berber is spoken by a significant part of the population. In the tourist areas of the Mediterranean coast and the islands, English and German are widely spoken by tourists, foreign residents, and tourism workers. 

Education 

State education in Spain is free and compulsory from the age of six to sixteen. The current education system was established by the 2006 educational law, LOE (Ley Orgánica de Educación), or Fundamental Law for the Education.[http://noticias.juridicas.com/base_datos/Admin/lo2-2006.html La Ley Orgánica 2/2006]. Retrieved 23 September 2009 In 2014, the LOE was partially modified by the newer 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).[http://noticias.juridicas.com/base_datos/Admin/517990-lo-8-2013-de-9-dic-para-la-mejora-de-la-calidad-educativa.html Ley Orgánica 8/2013]. Retrieved 9 December 2013 Since 1970 to 2014, Spain has had seven different educational laws (LGE, LOECE, LODE, LOGSE, LOPEG, LOE and LOMCE). 

Religion 

Roman Catholicism has long been the main religion of Spain, and 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, and Catholicism is the only religion officially taught. According to an April 2014 study by the Spanish Centre for Sociological Research about 69% of Spaniards self-identify as Catholics, 2% other faith, and about 26% identify with no religion. Most Spaniards do not participate regularly in religious services. This same study shows that of the Spaniards who identify themselves as religious, 59% hardly ever or never go to church, 15% go to church some times a year, 8% some time per month and 14% every Sunday or multiple times per week. Recent polls and surveys have revealed that atheists comprise anywhere from 8% to 20% of the Spanish population.  

Altogether, about 22% of the entire Spanish population attends religious services at least once per month.  Though Spanish society has become considerably more secular in recent decades, the influx of Latin American immigrants, who tend to be strong Catholic practitioners, has helped the Catholic Church to recover.

There have been four Spanish Popes. Damasus I, Calixtus III, Alexander VI and Benedict XIII. Spanish misticism was an important intellectual fight against Protestantism with Teresa of Ávila, a reformist nun, ahead. The Society of Jesus was founded by Ignatius of Loyola.

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 in all regions of the country and has a temple in the Moratalaz District of Madrid. 

A study made by the Union of Islamic Communities of Spain demonstrated that there were about 1,700,000 inhabitants of Muslim background living in Spain , accounting for 3-4% of the total population of Spain. The vast majority was composed of immigrants and descendants originating from Morocco and other African countries. More than 514,000 (30%) of them had Spanish nationality. 

The recent waves of immigration have also led to an increasing number of Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs and Muslims.
After the Reconquista in 1492, Muslims did not live in Spain for centuries. Late 19th-century colonial expansion in northwestern Africa gave a number of residents in Spanish Morocco and Western Sahara full citizenship. Their ranks have since been bolstered by recent immigration, especially from Morocco and Algeria.

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. Most are arrivals in the past century, while some are descendants of earlier Spanish Jews. Approximately 80,000 Jews are thought to have lived in Spain prior to its expulsion. 

Culture 

Culturally, Spain is a Western country. Almost every aspect of Spanish life is permeated by its Roman heritage, making Spain one of the major Latin countries of Europe. Spanish culture is marked by strong historic ties to Catholicism, which played a pivotal role in the country's formation and subsequent identity. Spanish art, architecture, cuisine, and music has been shaped by successive waves of foreign invaders, as well as by the country's Mediterranean climate and geography. The centuries-long colonial era globalised Spanish language and culture, with Spain also absorbing the cultural and commercial products of its diverse empire.

Monuments and World Heritage Sites 

It should be noted that after Italy (49) and China (45), Spain is the third country in the world with the most World Heritage Sites. At the present time it has 44 recognised sites, including the landscape of Monte Perdido in the Pyrenees, which is shared with France, the Prehistoric Rock Art Sites of the Côa Valley and Siega Verde, which is shared with Portugal (the Portuguese part being in the Côa Valley, Guarda), and the Heritage of Mercury, shared with Slovenia.  In addition, Spain has also 14 Intangible cultural heritage, or "Human treasures", Spain ranks first in Europe according to UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage List, tied with Croatia. 

* 1984 — Alhambra, Generalife and Albayzín (Granada, Andalusia).
* 1984 — Burgos Cathedral (Burgos, Castile-León).
* 1984 — Historic Centre of Córdoba (Córdoba, Andalusia).
* 1984 — Monastery and Royal Site of El Escorial (Madrid).
* 1984 — Works of Antoni Gaudí (Barcelona, Catalonia).
* 1985 — Cave of Altamira and Paleolithic Cave Art of Northern Spain (Asturias, Basque Country and Cantabria regions).
* 1985 — Monuments of Oviedo and the Kingdom of Asturias (Asturias).
* 1985 — Old Town of Ávila with its Extra-Muros Churches (Ávila, Castile-León).
* 1985 — Old Town of Segovia and its Aqueduct (Segovia, Castile-León).
* 1985 — Santiago de Compostela (Old Town) (A Coruña, Galicia).
* 1986 — Garajonay National Park (La Gomera, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Canary Islands).
* 1986 — Historic City of Toledo (Toledo, Castile-La Mancha).
* 1986 — Mudéjar Architecture of Aragon (Provinces of Teruel and Zaragoza in Aragon).
* 1986 — Old Town of Cáceres (Cáceres, Extremadura).
* 1987 — Cathedral, Alcázar and Archivo de Indias in Seville (Seville, Andalusia).
* 1988 — Old City of Salamanca (Salamanca, Castile-León).
* 1991 — Poblet Monastery (Tarragona, Catalonia).
* 1993 — Archaeological Ensemble of Mérida (Badajoz, Extremadura).
* 1993 — Route of Santiago de Compostela (Provinces of Burgos, León and Palencia in Castile-León, Provinces of A Coruña and Lugo in Galicia, La Rioja, Navarre, and the Province of Huesca in Aragon).
* 1993 — Royal Monastery of Santa María de Guadalupe (Cáceres, Extremadura).
* 1994 — Doñana National Park (Provinces of Cádiz, Huelva and Seville in Andalusia).
* 1996 — Historic Walled Town of Cuenca (Cuenca, Castile-La Mancha).
* 1996 — Silk Exchange of Valencia (Valencia).
* 1997 — Las Médulas (León, Castile-León).
* 1997 — Palau de la Música Catalana and Hospital de Sant Pau in Barcelona (Barcelona, Catalonia).
* 1997 — Pirineos – Monte Perdido (Huesca, Aragon – Spanish part / Midi-Pyrénées and Aquitaine – French part). (Shared with France).
* 1997 — San Millán Yuso and Suso Monasteries (La Rioja).
* 1998 (2010) — Prehistoric Rock Art Sites in the Côa Valley (Guarda, Norte Region – Portuguese part) and Siega Verde (Salamanca, Castile-León – Spanish part). (Shared with Portugal).
* 1998 — Rock art of the Iberian Mediterranean Basin on the Iberian Peninsula (Andalusia, Aragon, Castile-La Mancha, Catalonia, Murcia and Valencia regions).
* 1998 — University and Historic Precinct of Alcalá de Henares (Madrid).
* 1999 — Ibiza, Biodiversity and Culture (Ibiza, Balearic Islands).
* 1999 — San Cristóbal de La Laguna (Tenerife, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Canary Islands).
* 2000 — Archaeological Ensemble of Tarraco (Tarragona, Catalonia).
* 2000 — Archaeological Site of Atapuerca (Burgos, Castile-León).
* 2000 — Catalan Romanesque Churches of the Vall de Boí (Lleida, Catalonia).
* 2000 — Palmeral of Elche (Alicante, Valencia).
* 2000 — Roman Walls of Lugo (Lugo, Galicia).
* 2001 — Aranjuez Cultural Landscape (Madrid).
* 2003 — Renaissance Monumental Ensembles of Úbeda and Baeza (Jaén, Andalusia).
* 2006 — Vizcaya Bridge (Biscay, Basque Country).
* 2007 — Teide National Park (Tenerife, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Canary Islands).
* 2009 — Tower of Hercules (A Coruña, Galicia).
* 2011 — Cultural Landscape of the Serra de Tramuntana (Majorca, Balearic Islands).
* 2012 — Heritage of Mercury. Almadén (Ciudad Real, Castile-La Mancha – Spanish part) and Idrija (Slovene Littoral – Slovenian part). (Shared with Slovenia).

Literature 

The earliest recorded examples of vernacular Romance-based literature date from the same time and location, the rich mix of Muslim, Jewish, and Christian cultures in Muslim Spain, in which Maimonides, Averroes, and others worked, the Kharjas (Jarchas).

During the Reconquista, the epic poem Cantar de Mio Cid was written about a real man—his battles, conquests, and daily life.

Other major plays from the medieval times were Mester de Juglaría, Mester de Clerecía, Coplas por la muerte de su padre or El Libro de buen amor (The Book of Good Love).

During the Renaissance the major plays are La Celestina and El Lazarillo de Tormes, while many religious literature was created with poets as Luis de León, San Juan de la Cruz, Santa Teresa de Jesús, etc.

The Baroque is the most important period for Spanish culture. We are in the times of the Spanish Empire. The famous Don Quijote de La Mancha by Miguel de Cervantes was written in this time. Other writers from the period are: Francisco de Quevedo, Lope de Vega, Calderón de la Barca or Tirso de Molina.

During the Enlightenment we find names such as Leandro Fernández de Moratín, Benito Jerónimo Feijóo, Gaspar Melchor de Jovellanos or Leandro Fernández de Moratín.

During the Romanticism, José Zorrilla created one of the most emblematic figures in European literature in Don Juan Tenorio. Other writers from this period are Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer, José de Espronceda, Rosalía de Castro or Mariano José de Larra.

In Realism we find names such as Benito Pérez Galdós, Emilia Pardo Bazán, Leopoldo Alas (Clarín) or Vicente Blasco Ibáñez and Menéndez Pelayo. Realism offered depictions of contemporary life and society 'as they were'. In the spirit of general "Realism", Realist authors opted for depictions of everyday and banal activities and experiences, instead of romanticised or stylised presentations.

The group that has become known as the Generation of 1898 was marked by the destruction of Spain's fleet in Cuba by US gunboats in 1898, which provoked a cultural crisis in Spain. The "Disaster" of 1898 led established writers to seek practical political, economic, and social solutions in essays grouped under the literary heading of Regeneracionismo. For a group of younger writers, among them Miguel de Unamuno, Pío Baroja, and José Martínez Ruiz (Azorín), the Disaster and its cultural repercussions inspired a deeper, more radical literary shift that affected both form and content. These writers, along with Ramón del Valle-Inclán, Antonio Machado, Ramiro de Maeztu, and Ángel Ganivet, came to be known as the 'Generation of 98'.

The Generation of 1914 or Novecentismo. The next supposed "generation" of Spanish writers following those of '98 already calls into question the value of such terminology. By the year 1914—the year of the outbreak of the First World War and of the publication of the first major work of the generation's leading voice, José Ortega y Gasset—a number of slightly younger writers had established their own place within the Spanish cultural field.

Leading voices include the poet Juan Ramón Jiménez, the academics and essayists Ramón Menéndez Pidal, Gregorio Marañón, Manuel Azaña, Maria Zambrano, Eugeni d'Ors, and Ortega y Gasset, and the novelists Gabriel Miró, Ramón Pérez de Ayala, and Ramón Gómez de la Serna. While still driven by the national and existential questions that obsessed the writers of '98, they approached these topics with a greater sense of distance and objectivity. Salvador de Madariaga, another prominent intellectual and writer, was one of the founders of the College of Europe and the composer of the constitutive manifest of the Liberal International.

The Generation of 1927, where poets Pedro Salinas, Jorge Guillén, Federico García Lorca, Vicente Aleixandre, Dámaso Alonso. All were scholars of their national literary heritage, again evidence of the impact of the calls of regeneracionistas and the Generation of 1898 for Spanish intelligence to turn at least partially inwards.

The two main writers in the second half of the 20th century were the Nobel Prize in Literature laureate Camilo José Cela and Miguel Delibes. Spain is one of the countries with the most number of laureates with the Nobel Prize in Literature, and with Latin American laureates they made the Spanish language literature one of the most laureates of all. The Spanish writers are: José Echegaray, Jacinto Benavente, Juan Ramón Jiménez, Vicente Aleixandre and Camilo José Cela. The Portuguese writer José Saramago, also awarded with the prize, lived for many years in Spain and spoke both Portuguese and Spanish. He was also well known by his Iberist ideas.

Art 

Artists from Spain have been highly influential in the development of various European artistic movements. Due to historical, geographical and generational diversity, Spanish art has known a great number of influences. The Moorish heritage in Spain, especially in Andalusia, is still evident today and European influences include Italy, Germany and France, especially during the Baroque and Neoclassical periods.

During the Golden Age we find painters such as El Greco, José de Ribera and Francisco Zurbarán. Also inside Baroque period Diego Velázquez created some of the most famous Spanish portraits, like Las Meninas or Las Hilanderas.

Francisco Goya painted during a historical period that includes the Spanish Independence War, the fights between liberals and absolutists, and the raise of state-nations.

Joaquín Sorolla is a well-known impressionist painter and there are many important Spanish painters belonging to the modernism art movement, including Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dalí, Juan Gris and Joan Miró.

Cinema 

Spanish cinema has achieved major international success including Oscars for recent films such as Pan's Labyrinth and Volver.  In the long history of Spanish cinema, the great filmmaker Luis Buñuel was the first to achieve world recognition, followed by Pedro Almodóvar in the 1980s. Spanish cinema has also seen international success over the years with films by directors like Segundo de Chomón, Florián Rey, Luis García Berlanga, Carlos Saura, Julio Medem, Isabel Coixet, Alejandro Amenábar, Icíar Bollaín  and brothers David Trueba and Fernando Trueba.

Actresses Sara Montiel and Penélope Cruz are among those who have become Hollywood stars.

Architecture 

Due to its historical and geographical diversity, Spanish architecture has drawn from a host of influences. An important provincial city founded by the Romans and with an extensive Roman era infrastructure, Córdoba became the cultural capital, including fine Arabic style architecture, during the time of the Islamic Umayyad dynasty.  Later Arab style architecture continued to be developed under successive Islamic dynasties, ending with the Nasrid, which built its famed palace complex in Granada.

Simultaneously, the Christian kingdoms gradually emerged and developed their own styles; developing a pre-Romanesque style when for a while isolated from contemporary mainstream European architectural influences during the earlier Middle Ages, they later integrated the Romanesque and Gothic streams. There was then an extraordinary flowering of the Gothic style that resulted in numerous instances being built throughout the entire territory. The Mudéjar style, from the 12th to 17th centuries, was developed by introducing Arab style motifs, patterns and elements into European architecture.

The arrival of Modernism in the academic arena produced much of the architecture of the 20th century. An influential style centred in Barcelona, known as modernisme, produced a number of important architects, of which Gaudí is one. The International style was led by groups like GATEPAC. Spain is currently experiencing a revolution in contemporary architecture and Spanish architects like Rafael Moneo, Santiago Calatrava, Ricardo Bofill as well as many others have gained worldwide renown.

Music and dance 

Spanish music is often considered abroad to be synonymous with flamenco, a West Andalusian musical genre, which, contrary to popular belief, is not widespread outside that region. Various regional styles of folk music abound in Aragon, Catalonia, Valencia, Castile, the Basque Country, Galicia and Asturias. Pop, rock, hip hop and heavy metal are also popular.

In the field of classical music, Spain has produced a number of noted composers such as Isaac Albéniz, Manuel de Falla and Enrique Granados and singers and performers such as Plácido Domingo, José Carreras, Montserrat Caballé, Alicia de Larrocha, Alfredo Kraus, Pablo Casals, Ricardo Viñes, José Iturbi, Pablo de Sarasate, Jordi Savall and Teresa Berganza. In Spain there are over forty professional orchestras, including the Orquestra Simfònica de Barcelona, Orquesta Nacional de España and the Orquesta Sinfónica de Madrid. Major opera houses include the Teatro Real, the Gran Teatre del Liceu, Teatro Arriaga and the El Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía.

Thousands of music fans also travel to Spain each year for internationally recognised summer music festivals Sónar which often features the top up and coming pop and techno acts, and Benicàssim which tends to feature alternative rock and dance acts.  Both festivals mark Spain as an international music presence and reflect the tastes of young people in the country.

The most popular traditional musical instrument, the guitar, originated in Spain.  Typical of the north are the traditional bag pipers or gaiteros, mainly in Asturias and Galicia.

Cuisine 

Spanish cuisine consists of a great variety of dishes which stem from differences in geography, culture and climate. It is heavily influenced by seafood available from the waters that surround the country, and reflects the country's deep Mediterranean roots. Spain's extensive history with many cultural influences has led to a unique cuisine. In particular, three main divisions are easily identified:

Mediterranean Spain – all such coastal regions, from Catalonia to Andalusia – heavy use of seafood, such as pescaíto frito (fried fish); several cold soups like gazpacho; and many rice-based dishes like paella from Valencia and arròs negre (black rice) from Catalonia. 

Inner Spain – Castile – hot, thick soups such as the bread and garlic-based Castilian soup, along with substantious stews such as cocido madrileño. Food is traditionally conserved by salting, like Spanish ham, or immersed in olive oil, like Manchego cheese.

Atlantic Spain – the whole Northern coast, including Asturian, Basque, Cantabrian and Galician cuisine – vegetable and fish-based stews like caldo gallego and marmitako. Also, the lightly cured lacón ham. The best known cuisine of the northern countries often rely on ocean seafood, like the Basque-style cod, albacore or anchovy or the Galician octopus-based polbo á feira and shellfish dishes.

Sport 

While varieties of football had been played in Spain as far back as Roman times, sport in Spain has been dominated by English style association football since the early 20th century. Real Madrid C.F. and FC Barcelona are two of the most successful football clubs in the world. The country's national football team won the UEFA European Football Championship in 1964, 2008 and 2012 and the FIFA World Cup in 2010, and is the first team to ever win three back-to-back major international tournaments.

Basketball, tennis, cycling, handball, futsal, motorcycling and, lately, Formula One are also important due to the presence of Spanish champions in all these disciplines. Today, Spain is a major world sports powerhouse, especially since the 1992 Summer Olympics that were hosted in Barcelona, which stimulated a great deal of interest in sports in the country. The tourism industry has led to an improvement in sports infrastructure, especially for water sports, golf and skiing.

Rafael Nadal is the leading Spanish tennis player and has won several Grand Slam titles including the Wimbledon 2010 men's singles. In north Spain, the game of pelota is very popular.
Alberto Contador is the leading Spanish cyclist and has won several Grand Tour titles including two Tour de France titles.

Public holidays and festivals 

Public holidays celebrated in Spain include a mix of religious (Roman Catholic), national and regional observances. Each municipality is allowed to declare a maximum of 14 public holidays per year; up to nine of these are chosen by the national government and at least two are chosen locally.  Spain's National Day (Fiesta Nacional de España) is 12 October, the anniversary of the Discovery of America and commemorate Our Lady of the Pillar feast, patroness of Aragon and throughout Spain.

There are many festivals and festivities in Spain. Some of them are known worldwide, and every year millions of people from all over the world go to Spain to experience one of these festivals. One of the most famous is San Fermín, in Pamplona. While its most famous event is the encierro, or the running of the bulls, which happens at 8:00 am from 7 to 14 July, the week-long celebration involves many other traditional and folkloric events. Its events were central to the plot of The Sun Also Rises, by Ernest Hemingway, which brought it to the general attention of English-speaking people. As a result, it has become one of the most internationally renowned fiestas in Spain, with over 1,000,000 people attending every year.

Other festivals include the carnivals in the Canary Islands, the Falles in Valencia or the Holy Week in Andalusia and Castile and León.
Islands of Spain España Reino de España Name of Spain Espagna Espańa Reino de Espana Espana Kingdom of the Spains The Spanish Society Espainia Mountains of Spain Regne d'Espanya The kingdom of Spain SPAIN Regne d'Espanha Espanya Espainiako Erresuma Etymology of Spain Spane ISO 3166-1:ES Spain Spanish Kingdom Kingdom of Spain El Reino de España El Reino de Espana
el reino de españa iso 3166 1 es kingdom of spains reino de espana regne d espanha espagna mountains of spain kingdom of spain name of spain etymology of spain regne d espanya spanish kingdom espainiako erresuma reino de españa espanya espańa spanish society islands of spain spain spane espainia españa espana el reino de espana
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