Brief Introduction Capital: Madrid Area: total: 505925 sq km National Flower: The important Festival: National day: 12 October Population: 44,110,000 Language: Castilian Spanish 74%, Catalan 17%, Galician 7%, Basque 2% . Currency: euro

Spain

Geography

Southwestern Europe, bordering the Bay of Biscay, Mediterranean Sea, North Atlantic Ocean, and Pyrenees Mountains, southwest of France .

Administrative divisions

19 autonomous communities (comunidades autonomas, singular - comunidad autonoma); Andalucia, Aragon, Asturias, Baleares (Balearic Islands), Ceuta, Canarias (Canary Islands), Cantabria, Castilla-La Mancha, Castilla y Leon, Cataluna, Communidad Valencian, Extremadura, Galicia, La Rioja, Madrid, Melilla, Murcia, Navarra, Pais Vasco (Basque Country)

note: three small Spanish possessions are located off the coast of Morocco: Islas Chafarinas, Penon de Alhucemas, and Penon de Velez de la Gamers; Ceuta and Melilla gained limited autonomous status in 1994

Economy – overview

Spain's mixed capitalist economy supports a GDP that on a per capita basis is 80% that of the four leading West European economies. Its center-right government successfully worked to gain admission to the first group of countries launching the European single currency (the euro) on 1 January 1999. The AZNAR administration has continued to advocate liberalization, privatization, and deregulation of the economy and has introduced some tax reforms to that end. Unemployment has been steadily falling under the AZNAR administration but remains high at 11.7%. The government intends to make further progress in changing labor laws and reforming pension schemes, which are key to the sustainability of both Spain's internal economic advances and its competitiveness in a single currency area. A general strike in mid-2002 reduced cooperation between labor and government. Growth of 2.4% in 2003 was satisfactory given the background of a faltering European economy. Adjusting to the monetary and other economic policies of an integrated Europe - and reducing unemployment - will pose challenges to Spain over the next few years.

Culture and media

Newspaper:

ABC , Aquí Europa, Boletín Oficial del Estado, Corriente Alterna, La , Diario Medico , Euro Weekly News , Hispanidad , Town Crier , Telegrafo, El .

Broadcast: Radio Nacional de España, Onda Cero .

TV Stations:

Antena 3 Noticias , CNN+ , Tele 5 Informativos