A Desk In The Sun

• Full Country Name: The Kingdom of Spain
• Area: 510,000 sq km
• Population: 44 million
• Capital City: Madrid
• Languages: Castilian Spanish (official) - 74%, Catalan - 17%, Galician - 7%, Basque - 2%
• Religions: Roman Catholic - 97%; Protestant/other - 3%
• Currency: euro

Government: After the death of General Franco in November 1975, Spain made a rapid transformation from dictatorship to democracy. The monarchy, which had been removed in 1931, was restored, and the first multi-party elections since 1936 were held in 1977. The National Parliament (Cortes Generales), formed by the Congress of Deputies and the Senate, is elected every 4 years. Spain is also divided in to 17 regions. These autonomous communities have varying powers, but each has its own parliament, government and administrative apparatus.
Major political parties: Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE) leader: Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero; Popular Party (PP) leader: Mariano Rajoy; United Left (IU) leader: Gaspar Llamazares; Convergence and Union (CiU) leader: Artur Mas.
Head of State: King Juan Carlos I

Prime Minister: Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero

Minister of Foreign Affairs: Miguel Angel Moratinos

Composition of Parliament: Total seats: 350. PSOE, centre left (164); Partido Popular (PP) centre right (148); others (38).

Membership of international groupings/organisations: European Union (EU), North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), United Nations (UN) and non-permanent member of United Nations Security Council, Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).

GEOGRAPHY

Spain is the second largest country in the EU (after France), with a total surface area of 197,000 square miles (510,000 square kilometres). In addition to mainland Spain, territory includes two island archipelagos – the Balearics and the Canaries – and two enclaves on the North African coast, bordering Morocco – Ceuta and Melilla.

POLITICS

King Juan Carlos I became Spain’s Head of State upon Franco’s death in 1975 and nominated Adolfo Suarez as his first Prime Minister. Suarez’s party, the Democratic Centre Union, won Spain’s first post-Franco elections in 1977 and again in 1979 under the new Constitution, which had been approved the year before.

Between 1982 and 1996, Spain was governed by the Spanish Socialist Workers Party (PSOE), led by Felipe Gonzalez. The PSOE presided over a twelve-year period of economic and political development in Spain. But economic problems and allegations of political corruption discredited the Gonzalez Government towards the end of this period. The 1996 elections were won by the right-of-centre Popular Party (PP) led by José Maria Aznar, although the PP fell short of an overall majority.

On 12 March 2000, the PP was returned to office, this time with a clear overall majority (183 seats out of 350). The scale of the victory meant that there was no longer any need for a pact with smaller, nationalist parties. The PP’s success was attributed to the successful management of the economy and to PSOE’s internal turmoil. In response, in 2000 the PSOE elected a new, young leader, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, as a demonstration of the party’s commitment to modernise and to bring through a new generation of young leaders.

The PP were comfortably ahead in the polls in advance of the 14 March 2004 General Election. However, devastating terrorist attacks by islamic extremists in Madrid three days before the elections threw the elections into turmoil. Unexpectedly, the PSOE won 164 seats to the PP’s 148, forming a minority government. New Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero was sworn in on 18 April 2004.

José Maria Aznar stepped down as leader of the PP in September 2003 and said he would not stand for re-election. Mariano Rajoy is now the leader of the PP in opposition.

Following his election victory, Zapatero lived up to his promise to withdraw Spanish troops from Iraq. He also embarked on significant labour and economic reforms, which have led to a drop in unemployment. Social reforms have been no less radical, including the legalisation of gay marriage in 2005. Modernisation of the autonomous communities’ relationship with central Government has led to occasionally painful negotiations with the Basque Country, Catalunya and Valencia - with others to follow.

On 22 March 2006, the Basque terrorist organisation ETA announced a ‘permanent ceasefire’, effective two days later. Zapatero’s Government is now considering how to take a possible peace process forward.

ECONOMY

Basic economic facts (all figures 2005 unless stated)
GDP: US$1,126 billion (€904 billion)
GDP per head: US$27,225 (€21,854)
Annual growth: 3.4%
Inflation: 3.4%
Major industries: agriculture, fishing, construction, wine, cement, chemicals, engineering, petroleum refining, forestry and timber, iron and steel automobiles,textiles, telecommunications
Major trading partners: EU, Japan, Latin America.

UK Trade & Investment Country Profile: Spain 

Trade and Investment with the UK
UK exports to Spain in 2005 were worth over £10.3 billion. The UK is also the fourth largest foreign investor in Spain. UK imports from Spain were worth over £10.9 billion.

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

Spain’s relations with the UK

Relations with the UK are strong and deep. The two countries work closely together on many key parts of the European agenda. Both have driven the ‘Lisbon’ economic reform agenda since it began.

There are regular bilateral employment seminars involving ministers, senior officials, union leaders, academics and others from the non-governmental sector. There is close co-operation on Justice and Home Affairs: we work closely together on improving Europe’s response to the challenge of immigration; and have agreed on fast-track extradition procedures between our two countries. There is also extensive and valuable co-operation on health (including the recruitment of hundreds of highly-qualified Spanish medical staff now working in the UK), defence, counter-terrorism and education.

These areas of co-operation are reflected in regular bilateral conferences and seminars including the annual Tertulias Conference which brings together influential decision-makers and opinion-formers from the fields of politics, academia and business.
 

Parliamentary Links
The British-Spanish All Party Parliamentary Group meets regularly with their Spanish opposite numbers. Meetings alternate between the UK and Spain. The Chair of the British Group is Lord Brennan.

Cultural Links
The British Council office in Spain is the organisation’s largest in the world, excluding the aid-driven India programme.

Tourism
Around 17 million Britons visit Spain every year. Over 600,000 Britons now live permanently in Spain.

DID YOU KNOW?
The modern day guitar was invented in Spain, when a sixth string was added to the Arab lute.

Last updated: 7 July 2006

This information comes from the country profiles on the UK Foreign Office website