A montage of bull fighting, sangria, exquisite architecture and unique history pervade the country of Spain.  Located on the Iberian Peninsula with Portugal, Spain also borders France to the north and the African country Morocco to the south.  A tour through Spain reveals many languages, traditions and cultures.  Madrid, capital of the city where they speak Castellano (traditional Spanish), possesses some of the best nightlife in the country, as well as holds the political and governmental hub.  Barcelona sits on the northeast coast, and is filled with whimsical architecture from Gaudi, where the locals speak Catalan, similar to Spanish but unique in its own right (and almost impossible for solely Castellano speakers to understand). 

The Basque region to the north speaks nothing similar to Spanish; the Basque language relates to no other language spoken on earth and predates the Indo-European languages spoken in the region.  The Basque people see their culture as unique from Spain and France, and some extremists who believe their culture deserves autonomy have engaged in terrorists acts against the Spanish government and people (specifically the Basque separatist group ETA).

Spain’s recent political history is fascinating; they only recently became a democracy in 1975.  After the Spanish Civil War (1936-39), General Francisco Franco emerged victorious and took control of Spain, with the Falange party ruling.  He instituted rapid industrialization of the country, but also enforced Catholicism and forced Castellano to be the only language taught in schools all over the country.  After Franco’s death in 1975, Prince Juan Carlos became the leader of Spain, and he immediately turned the state into a democracy, giving autonomy back to the country’s regions and instituting a constitution.  Needless to say, King Juan Carlos is widely adored by the Spanish people today.

Map courtesy of: http://www.appliedlanguage.com/country_guides/Spain.shtml