Guide to Spain

Basic information about Spain

Why go to Spain

Here are 10 reasons to visit Spain.

Get to know their food - tapas

Tapas is a great appetizer and can be found on every corner. Tapas are usually served in the middle of the table, allowing one guest to taste the other’s plate and share more than just tasting experiences with friends or family.

Bullfighting: Sport or tradition

This is a very controversial topic. It is important to remain non-partisan and we leave it up to you to decide whether you consider bullfighting to be barbaric bloody entertainment, or rather an artistic discipline and therefore an integral part of Spain’s cultural heritage.

The first mentions of this tradition can be found in antiquity. The matches came to Spain from Rome where their popularity was in gladiatorial games.

To this day, many Spaniards consider ornate bull wrestlers to be celebrities who deserve recognition and admiration. The Faleador fiery season of Las Fallas is in Valencia in mid-March.

Architecture

The Sagrada Família by Antonio Gaudí is an integral part of the famous architectural works. For example, in Madrid, in the Parque del Oeste, you can appreciate the charm of the ancient Egyptian temple of Debod, which was first dismantled and then reassembled in Madrid.

Flamenco

The Spaniards devote a large amount of time to the dance called Flamenco and are among the country’s symbols. The Spaniards are known to love food, singing, music, dance and express their emotions.

They can show their sadness. Their temperament is reflected in the energetic southern Spanish flamenco, a dance full of movement, emphasis, temperament, with which they can show their grief. If you have a moment, sign up for a flamenco course directly in Spain. If you just want to watch remotely, stop by the Corral de la Morería restaurant in Madrid, where the best dancers in Spain will dance for you.

The best restaurant

There are no flaws in Spanish delicacies and all their traditional delicacies, you will immediately love them. Gastronomy is one of the best and oldest in the world.

In 2013, the El Celler de Can Roca restaurant in Girona was named the best restaurant, thanks to the owners and their hospitality.

Madrid is proud to present the oldest restaurant in the world, called Sobrino de Botin, which dates back to 1725. Everything you taste here is highly addictive. How about trying bean pods with jamón iberico, a Spanish ham made from a special breed of Iberian black pigs?

Beaches in every way that everyone will fall in love

The beaches are characterized by their diversity and distinctive charm. Each beach has its own charm and you can spend one day on a deserted beach and the next day watching the constricting cliffs. Experienced travelers will definitely recommend you to visit Fuerteventura. Despite the fact that the island does not have a large area, there are over 150 beaches. Therefore, you can experience each day differently. In the morning you can gain strength on the sandy beach and swim in the turquoise water, and in the evening you can have fun on the wild beach trapped in the arms of the rocks towering over the shore.

If you don’t want to leave Spain and don’t mind crowded beaches, visit Barcelona.

The city’s beaches are among the most beautiful in the world.

Celebrations in the style of tomato battles and escape from the bulls

Although the Spaniards are struggling with high unemployment and have been struggling with the crisis for a long time, this did not make them want to have fun, celebrate, laugh and have pleasant moments. Rarely in the world will you experience such spectacular celebrations as here.

If you want to experience something unconventional, bet on the tomato battle in the Spanish style. La Tomatina has been held since 1945. Every last Wednesday in August, on St. Louis’s Day, 120 tonnes of tomatoes are sprinkled among the delighted participants in the town of Buñol near Valencia.

Adrenaline lovers, on the other hand, have on their list an escape from the bulls through the historic streets of Pamplona. It is an integral part of the festivities of St. Fermin.

Lifestyle a little different way

In the morning, what do you run out of the door with an empty stomach and the feeling that another demanding day full of stress and a lot of tasks awaits you? If you get to know this description, try to be inspired by the Spaniards. Some things just can’t be rushed and you need to set aside enough time for them.

Family-run Spaniards are used to dining together, not just on weekends. They like to talk about everything and there is always a good mood at the table. On Sundays, the shops are closed and parents take their children to confectioneries, a park or the beach instead of shopping centers. It is equally common for coffee and dessert to meet all generations. Grandparents enjoy their grandchildren and parents have more time just for themselves.

Romantic Cities - Madrid and Barcelona

Are you one of those who enjoys extended weekends in European capitals? And have you been to Madrid or Barcelona? Isn’t it? Then is the best time to fix it. Head to Barcelona to find out why it is nicknamed the Catalan jewel of the Mediterranean. With open arms, it welcomes all lovers of history, culture, sunbathing on the beach and fans of non-traditional architecture and design.

It is also wonderful in Madrid to mix everything necessary for a great holiday. Good food, rich nightlife, monuments, art, lots of parks, cozy nooks, nice people. For a while you can admire the flowering of European painting in the Prado Gallery, and for a while you can just hang out in the Retiro leisure park, where there are royal artificial lakes and a crystal palace.

Museums

In bad weather, one of the many Spanish museums and galleries will provide refuge. Like other European countries, it boasts a number of world-famous galleries and art collections housed in them. In Madrid, focus on the Prado National Museum, which is one of the world’s most important galleries. The real jewel of the museum itself are selected triptychs by Hieronymus Bosch. The most famous is called the Garden of Earthly Delights.

In Barcelona, people go to the Picasso Museum for art, which is housed in a beautiful historic palace and hides the earliest paintings of this creative genius. The Guggenheim Museum of Modern Art in Bilbao, Basque Country, will play an aesthetically double game with you. It can feel like a boat or like a headless fish.

The capital of Spain

Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The city’s population is almost 3.2 million and the metropolitan area is home to around 6.3 million people. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and the Madrid metropolitan area is the third largest in the European Union, after Paris and London. The city covers a total area of 604.3 km2.

The city lies on the Manzanares River and is located both in the center of Spain and in the center of the Autonomous Community of Madrid, which consists of Madrid itself, its agglomeration and surrounding towns and villages. This community borders the communities of Castile and León and Castilla-La Mancha. As the capital, seat of government and seat of the King of Spain, Madrid is also the political, economic and cultural center of Spain. The current mayor of the city is Manuela Carmena from Ahora Madrid.

Madrid is home to the top management of many organizations: the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), the Organization of Ibero-American States (OEI), PIOB and SEGIB. The city is also the center of international Spanish language regulators: the leadership of the Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) and the Instituto Cervantes.

Although Madrid has a modern infrastructure, many of its historic districts and streets still retain their original appearance and specific mood. Madrid’s leading landmarks include the Royal Palace (Palacio Real), the Royal Theater, Buen Retiro Park, the National Library building, a number of galleries and museums such as the Museo del Prado, the Museo Reina Sofía and the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza. The palace and fountain in Plaza de Cibeles have become a symbol of the city.

Transport in Madrid

The backbone of public transport is the metro, which serves not only the capital area, but also its metropolitan area. Additional transport is bus transport, which is operated even at night. Historically, trams and even earlier omnibuses have also been operated in Madrid.

The city has three city highway circuits - M30, M40 and M50, supplemented by the southeastern semicircle M45. These are further connected by various radial communications. In addition to individual transport, the use of taxis is frequent.

The city has Adolf Suárez International Airport (MAD, LEMD) and Cuatro Vientos Airport (LECU). Near the city there are military air bases Getafe and Torrejón.

Environment

Madrid is the city with the largest number of trees per capita and has the longest tree line in the world after Tokyo. There are 248,000 trees in the alley. Since 1997, the greenery has grown by 16%. At present, greenery makes up 8.2% of Madrid.

Climate geography

The city of Madrid is located in the geographical center of the Iberian Peninsula. The city has coordinates 40 ° 26 ‘N 3 ° 41’ W and its average altitude is 667 m. Madrid’s climate is continental-Mediterranean and is strongly influenced by urban conditions.

Winters are cold, with temperatures below 4-5 ° C, frequent frosts and occasionally snowing. Summers are hot with an average of around 24 ° C in July and August, sometimes with maxima above 35 ° C. The annual temperature range is high (19 degrees) due to the great distance from the sea and altitude (around 600 m). The annual total precipitation is higher than 400 mm.

Sculpture in Madrid

The streets of Madrid are a made-up museum of outdoor sculpture. Many parts of Buen Retiro Park are beautiful sculptures, mainly thanks to the monument to Alfonso XII. and the statue of Fuente del Ángel Caído.

Sport

Soccer teams

• Real Madrid
• Atletico Madrid
• Getafe CF
• Vallecano Ray
• Real Madrid Castilla

Flag of Spain

The flag of Spain contains three horizontal stripes, which are red, yellow and red in a ratio (1: 2: 1) derived from the Aragonese emblem.

According to King Karel Lysý (848–877), after a fight with the Moors, he dipped his fingers into the blood of his wounded ally, Count Wilfred I of Aragon, and wiped them on his hitherto empty shield; so the character was created.

Above the square shield lies the royal crown, and on either side rise the columns of Hercules, representing Gibraltar and Ceuta. Very interesting are the red ribbons wrapping both columns with the motto Plus ultra (= something further). The original inscription was Non plus ultra (= nothing more). It was assumed that there was no other country behind Gibraltar. We have known the Spanish flag in this form since 1981. The country code is EC.

The origin of the current flag of Spain is a naval battalion from 1785, Pabellón de la Marina de Guerra under Charles III of Spain. It was chosen by Charles III among 12 different flags designed by Antonio Valdés y Bazán (all proposed flags were presented on a drawing, which is in the Maritime Museum in Madrid). The flag remained focused on the sea for most of the next 50 years and other maritime property. During the Peninsular War, the flag was also found on naval regiments fighting inland. It was not until 1820 that the first Spanish ground unit (La Princesa regiment) was equipped once, and it was not until 1843 that Queen Isabella II of Spain was official.

During the 19th and 20th centuries, the color scheme of the flag remained unchanged, except for the period of the Second Republic (1931–1939); the only changes focused on the coat of arms.

Population

As of January 1, 2019, Spain had a total population of 47,007,367, an increase of 0.59% since 2018. Facts The CIA (2011) cites the racial description of the “Mediterranean and Nordic type” under “ethnic groups” instead of the usual ethnic divisions. . This reflects the emergence of the modern Kingdom of Spain with the growth of several independent Iberian empires, such as León, Castile, Navarra, the Crown of Aragon and Granada.

The population of Spain peaked in 2012, at 47,218,216 people. Spain’s official population fell by 206,000 to 47.1 million, mainly due to the return of immigrants home as a result of the consequences of the European economic and fiscal crisis. The population density per 91.4 inhabitants per square kilometer (237 / sq mi) is lower than in most Western European countries. The most densely populated areas, with the exception of the capital Madrid around the coast.

Birth rates have dropped dramatically in the last quarter of a century. The birth rate in Spain of 1.47 (the number of children the average woman will have during her lifetime) is lower than the EU average, but has been rising every year since the late 1990s. The birth rate rose in 10 years from 9.10 births per 1,000 people per year in 1996 to 10.9 in 2006.

Spain has no official religion. The Spanish Constitution of 1978 abolished the Roman Catholic Church as the official state religion, recognizing the role it plays in Spanish society. As of 2018, 68.5% of the population defined themselves as Catholic, 26.4% as non-believers or atheists, and 2.6% other religions. Among believers, 59% say they almost never go to any religious service, while 16.3% attend one or more religious services almost every week. Practical secularization is strong, and most, especially those of the younger generations, ignore religious doctrines on issues such as premarital sex, sexual orientation, or contraception.

Holidays in Spain

Public holidays celebrated in Spain include a mixture of religious (Roman Catholic), national and regional observances. Each municipality can have a maximum of 14 holidays per year; a maximum of nine are selected by the national government and at least two are selected locally.

If one of the “public holidays” takes place on a Sunday, regional governments - the Autonomous Community of Spain - can choose an alternative holiday or local authorities. In practice, with the exception of Sundays, regional governments can choose up to three holidays a year; or they can choose less to allow more options at the local level.

The Puente (bridge) is sometimes made between weekends and holidays that fall on Tuesdays or Thursdays. Puente then creates a long weekend.

Ceuta and Melilla, both autonomous cities of Spain, have declared the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha or the Feast of Sacrifice an official national holiday since 2010. It was the first time a non-Christian religious festival had been officially celebrated in Spain since the Reconquista

Time in Spain

Spain has two time zones and observes daylight saving time. Spain mainly uses Central European Time +01: 00 GMT and Central European Summer Time +02: 00 GMT in Peninsular Spain, the Balearic Islands, Ceuta, Melilla and plazas de soberanía. In the Canary Islands, the time zone is Western European Time 00:00 GMT and Western European Daylight Time +01: 00 GMT. Daylight saving time is observed from the last Sunday in March 01:00 GMT to the last Sunday in October 01:00 GMT throughout Spain.

Spain used Greenwich Mean Time ± 00: 00 UTC before World War II, with the exception of the Canary Islands, which used -01: 00 GMT before that date.

Currency in Spain

The current currency since 2002 is the euro. The Spanish peseta (₧) was the official currency of Spain from 1869 until 1 January 2002. It circulated with the French franc in Andorra, which did not have its own national currency as legal tender.

Prices in Spain

Prices Spain 2020 - Food, drinks, food and holidays in Spain

Interesting facts about Spain

Not all Spaniards are native speakers of (Castilian) Spanish. There are four official languages in Spain - Castilian, Catalan, Basque and Galician, three unofficial regional languages - Asturian, Aragonese and Aran and several other dialects.

• Spaniards have a completely different rhythm of life than other Europeans. They usually have lunch from 13:00 to 15:00 and dinner around 22:00.
• Spanish culture has greatly influenced modern art since the late 1800s, with artists such as Antoni Gaudí (Art Nouveau), Pablo Picasso (expressionism, cubism, surrealism), Joan Miró (surrealism) and Salvador Dali (surrealism).
• Flamenco is not really a dance; it is a musical style that sometimes dances in it.
• Every year, 58 million tourists travel to Spain, making it the fourth most visited country in the world.
• Spain is known for its live festivals, including San Fermín (“bull run”) in Pamplona and Tomatina (“paradise battle”) in Buñol.
• More than 150,000 tomatoes are usually thrown in La Tomatina.
• The official name of Spain is “Kingdom of Spain”.
• The national anthem of Spain has no words.
• There are no laws on public nudity in Spain.
• 43% of world olive oil production is made in Spain.
• From 2008 to 2013, the Spanish national football team was named FIFA Team of the Year.
• Spain won its first football title at the 2010 World Cup, making it the 8th country to ever win.
• In Spain, the tooth fairy is just a rodent, known as Ratoncito Pérez.
• Our favorites of all the interesting facts about Spain - breaks, leisure and siestas are a huge part of everyday Spanish culture.
• Spain was the third most popular tourist destination in the world in 2013 (after France and the USA).
• Don Quixote, the famous book by the Spanish author Miguel de Cervantes in 1605, was selected by the panel of the best authors in 2002 as “the most important book of all time”.
• Traditionally, you have two surnames in Spain - the first from your father and the second from your mother.
• Spaniards celebrate the New Year by eating one grape with their family for each bell clock.
• The pen is considered to have originated in Spain about 1,400 years ago.
• There are fewer marriages in Spain than in any other EU country except Sweden.
• Divorce rate in Spain is 17% (relatively low compared to more than 50% in the EU or US)

Important contacts

Where to call in case of emergency in Spain? Rescue service, fire brigade, police: 112

Spain’s area code is +34.

Contacts at the Embassy of the Czech Republic in Madrid:

Address:

Embassy of the Czech Republic
Avenida Pío XII, 22-24, 28016 Madrid

Phone: +34 91 353 1897

Email: consulate_madrid@mzv.cz

Further contacts can be found at https://www.mzv.cz/madrid