Interesting facts about Spain: history, description and reviews
Spain is one of the oldest countries in Europe,occupies most of the Iberian Peninsula and, along with several islands, is located on the border between Europe and Africa. Here is a brief overview of interesting facts and events about Spain.
Spain tourist
Although the most beloved city of Europe is the capital of France, Paris is the most visited country in Europe.
Spain is truly loved by the sun - almost 280Days in the year there is no cloud and rain. For tourists, this is a very attractive factor, but local farmers are forced to do a lot of work to irrigate crops and protect their magnificent vegetables and fruits from scorching heat.
Spain spans not only a fewnear islands - Canary and Balearic, - but also on the African continent. The cities of Ceuta and Melilla in Africa belong to the Spanish royal court, and from Europe they are separated only 35 minutes by ferry through Gibraltar.
Beaches, deserts and rocks
Also for some tourists will be interesting andunusual facts about Spain and Spanish beaches, where on any beach are allowed to sunbathe nude, and special places for nudists are not given. However, this entertainment is not too popular in the resorts, and fans of continuous tan all the same try to seclude somewhere.
Spain is amazing with its variety of naturalzones. Here are the huge mountains of the Pyrenees with the famous ski resorts in the Sierra Nevada and the extinct volcanoes of Gran Canaria, Calatrava and La Palma.
If climbers are at the same time fans of diving, they will be able to find "2 in 1" in the resort of Costa Brava, where steep cliffs coexist with beautiful sandy beaches and bays.
And those who want to ride camels and find out how the Sahara looks about can visit Maspalomas Park on the island of Gran Canaria, where there is a real piece of arid desert.
And, of course, who would not want to visit Ibiza with his famous entertainment facilities, which all the respectable young people of the world are eager to attend.
Festival of Giants
Every year in March in Valencia passes one of thethe most incendiary festivals of Las Fallas. Fireworks, dances, spectacular shows, the main one of which is a review of giant figures of wood and papier-mache, is a visiting card of Valencia. Each district comes up with incredible scenes, so that his sculpture will win the competition, but the fate of even the most luxurious paper gouverers is the same - at the height of the holiday they are burned in a grand festive fire.
This is not all the most interesting facts aboutSpain and Spanish carnivals. Each province has its own unique customs and holidays, and it is worth looking at it with your own eyes or participating in competitions to experience delight and the best emotions.
Historical interesting and unusual facts about Spain
Translated from the Roman name of the countryis consonant with the "shore of rabbits", since it was these animals that were abundantly seen on the coast by the ancient Romans who, traveling, reached the shore of the neighboring peninsula.
Spain is the only country on the territoryEurope, which practically did not suffer from the last ice age due to its location in the southern latitudes. It was from here that Europe began to re-colonize after the glaciers descended. Of the 9,000 species of plants characteristic of Europe, more than 8,000 can be found in Spain, with more than a quarter of them growing only in this country.
- In 711, almost the whole of Spain was invadedArabs, and only in 1492 the Moors were expelled from the kingdom. However, for 8 centuries of their domination, the Arabs made in the cities of Spain a lot of progressive structures, such as lanterns and running water, left Europeans with astrolabe, instruments for determining the location and studying the planets. Then, in 1209, the first Muslim University in Europe was established in Valencia.
- Spanish women retain their surname by marrying, and traditionally the Spaniards use in their name two names - both mothers and fathers.
Christopher Columbus - Italian, famous for Spain
In 1492, the rulers of Spain, King Ferdinand Vand Queen Isabella gave Christopher Columbus funds for exploring new sea routes to India. By mistake, Columbus reached the Bahamas, then on three more expeditions he mapped Cuba, Jamaica, Haiti, the Antilles and South America, but until the end of his life he was sure he had opened the long-awaited journey to Asia.
Columbus for his services has not received the promisedtitles and titles, his name was named one small country in Central America, and his colleague Amerigo Vespucci after several trips to the New World, held after the death of Columbus, received all the glory of the discoverer of America.
About the ancient Spain, the most interesting facts could be told by the Spaniards, of whom few remember, but who were also the first. The Spaniard Juan Sebastian Elcano in 1522 tookthe command of the flotilla after the death of the head of the expedition Magellan and became the first captain to make a round-the-world trip. In 1603, sailor Gabriel de Castilla, a Spaniard by birth, first saw the Antarctic, and Vasco Nunez de Balboa, also a Spanish navigator, first saw the Pacific Ocean.
World significance of the Spanish language
Spain left yet another deep progressivea trace in the world culture - more than 400 million people in 23 countries now speak Spanish, 40 million of them live in the US. Spanish is the second most common language after the Chinese language of the world.
Only 74% of Spain's population speaks Spanish, the rest speak Catalan, Galician and Basque languages.
The expression "blue blood" was given to the world by the Spanishto know, which led its ancestry for many centuries and was very proud of the purity of the blood. A distinctive feature of the offspring of royal blood was a thin pale skin, through which vessels and veins were perfectly visible, giving it "aristocratic blue".
Schools in Spain - interesting facts
Spain is a country with the most decentralizeddemocracy in Europe. Each autonomous community and province establishes its own procedure for financing and the activities of public institutions - schools, universities, hospitals. This does not affect the growing popularity of education in Spain, since the prevalence of the Spanish language attracts a huge number of students and students.
In recent years, the Spanish government hasa profound reform of primary and secondary education, which made it possible to organically combine historical traditions and modern standards of education and to integrate into the system of European education as soon as possible.
In Spanish universities, women are trained more than men.
Most of Spain's educational institutions are state-owned. In different regions, their number ranges from 65% to 70%. Institutions of higher education are 75% in the jurisdiction of the state.
Children aged 4 to 15 years attend preschool and school educational institutions in 100%. For the past 20 years only 30% of young people study, after 25 years only less than 8% continue their education.
Only 4.5% of Spain's GDP is spent for educational purposes, this is the lowest among the countries of the European Union.
15 interesting facts about Spain's gastronomic
Spain is not only the most visited country in the world, but also holds the first place in the world in the number of different clubs, pubs, bars, cafes and other entertainment venues.
Early to get up in the morning in Spain is not accepted,breakfast there sit not earlier than one o'clock in the afternoon, and dinner at 10 pm is a common occurrence. The reason for this is not only in the scorching day sun, but also in the special character of the Spaniards, who are considered the most carefree nation in the world. Breakfast is usually held in the nearest café, where free morning newspapers are waiting on the tables of visitors.
In Spain it is also unrealistic to die of hunger, asand freeze in the cold: in each bar as a snack free of charge is offered "tapas", usually consisting of French fries, mini burgers and a quaintly chopped chamon.
Hamon is the national Spanish meatThe product, which is prepared from pork ham according to ancient recipes. There are two varieties of hamon - Iberico and Serrano. The first is usually 10 times more expensive than the second and its cost can reach up to 300 euros per 1 kg. The average ham is prepared for about 10 days. Buy hamon can be almost everywhere - from meat shops to large supermarkets, but the cheapest, but no less quality hamons can be purchased directly in the shops. There are even tourist tours, where you can see the whole cycle of cooking and taste the product.
Spain is practically the only country in Europe where bananas are grown.
Together with America, the Spaniards gave Europe such wonderful products as tomatoes, tobacco, cocoa, potatoes and avocados.
National Spanish cuisine is replete with various options for dishes and flat cakes from potatoes, but wheat and corn pastries are not at all popular here.
Olives and wine
In Spain, more than 45% of all oliveoil in the world. In addition, it is the largest exporter of olives - annually from the country more than 250 thousand tons of fruits are exported, of which more than 25% are supplied to the USA and 11% to Russia.
In each province of Spain produce and sellfine grape wines. Even small villages have their own wine museums and tasting rooms, where you can always taste excellent noble wines. For the production of wines, Spain ranks third in the world after France and Italy. The elite center of wine cruises is rightly considered the hotel Marques de Riscal, which is built near the municipality of Elsiego in the Basque Country.
The cost of a bottle of wine can vary from 3up to 300 euros depending on the area where it is grown and cooked, but they will always be magnificent - light and saturated, absorbed in the sun and love of Spain.
Chorizo is another national Spanish dish frompork - fragrant sausage with a lot of spices and paprika. Chorizo cooks a lot of dishes and tapas, cooks a broth and makes delicious bokadillo - sandwiches with cheese, figs or olives.
Turron is Spanish sweet, made from nuts, honey, egg white and sugar. Thurron was already known in the XV century, as his recipes were found in the records of the medieval Gijon of the province of Alicante.
Pans and volcanoes
In Spain, kits forcooking paella - a hearty but light dish of rice with vegetables and pieces of meat, poultry or seafood. The set includes special rice, broth and ... a frying pan! Despite the small cost - from 10 to 25 euros - pans are of good quality and serve the cook for many years.
The most prestigious restaurant in the world is also located inSpain is El Bulli in the city of Rosas in Catalonia. The cost of dishes starts here from 250 euros, but the true gourmets do not stop it - tables in the restaurant are booked on the opening day for the whole season, which lasts only six months.
In the Canary Islands there is a restaurant called El Diablo, famous for its "Devil's steaks", which are fried directly on the mouth of a small volcano.
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