Southern Europe · Europe

Spain

Discover Spain - where siestas meet fiestas, Gaudi's architecture defies physics, and every region has its own language, cuisine, and fierce identity.

Where Is Spain?

Spain is a country in Southern Europe. Its capital is Madrid.

Where Spain isSouthern Europe · Capital Madrid

Plan a trip · 14 guides Compare Spain

Capital Madrid
Population 49.4M
Area 505,992 km²

Spain is the country that invented the concept of living well and never quite got around to abandoning it. Dinner at 10 PM, clubs at 2 AM, Sunday lunch that lasts until sunset. The siesta is not laziness - it's a philosophical position. Life is meant to be savored, not optimized. This attitude has produced extraordinary art: Velazquez, Goya, Picasso, Dali, Gaudi. Extraordinary food: tapas, paella, jamon iberico. And extraordinary sport: FC Barcelona, Real Madrid, and perhaps the greatest national football team ever assembled between 2008 and 2012.

But Spain is not one country in any meaningful cultural sense. Catalonia speaks Catalan and considers itself a nation. The Basque Country has a language unrelated to any other on Earth. Galicia sounds more like Portugal than Madrid. Andalusia is the Spain of flamenco and bullfighting. Castile is the Spain of Don Quixote. Each region guards its identity with passionate intensity. The result is one of the most diverse, contradictory, and endlessly fascinating countries in Europe - a place where you could spend a lifetime and never run out of things to argue about over a glass of Rioja.

At a glance

Language

Spanish (+ Catalan, Basque, Galician)

Currency

Euro (EUR)

Calling Code

+34

Drives On

Right

Internet

.es

Timezone

CET (UTC+1 / UTC+2)

Script

Latin

Government

Parliamentary Constitutional Monarchy

Independence

1479 (unified)

Travel guides

Plan a trip to Spain

All 14 Spain guides

A skier on a groomed Baqueira Beret piste with orange gates and snowy peaks behind

Spain · Val d'Aran · 5 days

5 Days in Baqueira-Beret

Spain's biggest ski resort sits on the Atlantic side of the Pyrenees, in a valley with its own language.

Bases: Baqueira 1500, Vielha, Salardú, Arties

Updated Oct 2026Read the plan →

Teide under a clear blue sky, with the Roque Cinchado rock tower of the Roques de García in the foreground

Spain · Canary Islands · 5 days

5 Days in Tenerife

One volcano, two climates and potatoes boiled in salt. Five days in Tenerife, planned properly.

Bases: Puerto de la Cruz, Costa Adeje

Updated Oct 2026Read the plan →

Palma Cathedral, a sandstone Gothic church with a forest of pinnacles, rising behind the sea wall and water of the Parc de la Mar under a clear blue sky

Spain · Balearic Islands · 5 days

5 Days in Mallorca

Mountains, a cathedral and coves that really are that blue. Five days around the island, with the beaches sorted by coast.

Bases: Palma, Alcúdia, Cala d'Or

Updated Oct 2026Read the plan →

Málaga from the castle walls: the Alcazaba among pines, cathedral roofs, a ferry in the port and mountains behind

Spain · 5 days

5 Days in Málaga

A Moorish castle, a Roman theater, Picasso's hometown and sardines on a stick. Five days in Málaga, planned properly.

Updated Oct 2026Read the plan →

The Metrópolis building with its golden dome under a clear blue sky

Spain · 5 days

5 Days in Madrid

A capital that eats late, shares its art generously and keeps two of Spain's best old cities a short train ride away.

Updated Oct 2026Read the plan →

SightseeingSpain

Madrid vs Barcelona

The Prado, Toledo and late tapas, or Gaudí, a city beach and a milder winter. Most people pick one, and with a week you can do both.

Updated Oct 2026See the verdict →

By population

Largest cities in Spain

Madrid

Capital and geographic heart of Spain, home to the Prado Museum, Real Madrid, and a nightlife that doesn't start until midnight

6,800,000

Barcelona

Catalonia's cosmopolitan capital, defined by Gaudi's Sagrada Familia, La Rambla, and the Mediterranean coast

5,700,000

Valencia

Birthplace of paella on the Mediterranean coast, home to the futuristic City of Arts and Sciences

1,600,000

Seville

Soul of Andalusia - flamenco, the Alcazar, orange trees, and the largest Gothic cathedral in the world

1,100,000

Bilbao

Basque industrial city transformed by the Guggenheim Museum, now one of Spain's most dynamic food and culture destinations

900,000

Malaga

Birthplace of Picasso on the Costa del Sol, an ancient port city reinvented as a cultural hub with over 30 museums

600,000

People

Famous people from Spain

Pablo Picasso
Art
Co-founder of Cubism and the most influential artist of the 20th century, creator of Guernica and over 50,000 works
Miguel de Cervantes
Literature
Author of Don Quixote, considered the first modern novel and one of the most influential works of literature ever written
Antoni Gaudi
Art
Architect of the Sagrada Familia and seven UNESCO-listed buildings in Barcelona, whose organic style defies every convention
Salvador Dali
Art
Surrealist master of The Persistence of Memory, whose melting clocks became one of the most recognizable images in art
Federico Garcia Lorca
Literature
Spain's greatest modern poet and dramatist, whose works like Blood Wedding and Romancero Gitano captured the Andalusian soul
Rafael Nadal
Sport
Won 22 Grand Slam titles including a record 14 French Opens, the greatest clay court tennis player in history
Diego Velazquez
Art
Court painter whose Las Meninas is considered one of the most analyzed paintings in Western art history
Santiago Ramon y Cajal
Science
Father of modern neuroscience who mapped the nervous system, winning the Nobel Prize in 1906 and founding the neuron doctrine

Food

Traditional cuisine of Spain

Paella: Valencia's gift to the world - saffron rice cooked in a wide pan with rabbit, chicken, seafood, or vegetables over an open flame
Jamon Iberico: Acorn-fed Iberian ham aged for years, sliced paper-thin, arguably the finest cured meat on the planet
Tapas: Not a dish but a way of life - small plates of everything from patatas bravas to gambas al ajillo, shared over drinks
Gazpacho: Cold tomato soup blended with peppers, cucumber, and olive oil, Andalusia's answer to summer heat since Roman times
Tortilla Espanola: Thick potato and egg omelet served at room temperature, the backbone of every Spanish kitchen and bar counter
Churros con Chocolate: Fried dough sticks dipped in thick hot chocolate, the classic Spanish breakfast and late-night snack
Pintxos: Basque Country's answer to tapas - elaborate small bites on bread, served on bar counters in San Sebastian and Bilbao
Pulpo a la Gallega: Galician-style octopus boiled tender, sliced, drizzled with olive oil and paprika, served on a wooden plate

Nature

Nature and landmarks in Spain

Picos de EuropaMountain: Dramatic limestone peaks in northern Spain, one of Europe's first national parks and a haven for griffon vultures and chamois
Canary IslandsIsland: Volcanic archipelago off Africa with year-round sunshine, black sand beaches, and the third tallest volcano on an ocean island
Sierra NevadaMountain: Spain's highest mountains reaching 3,479 meters at Mulhacen, where you can ski in the morning and swim in the Mediterranean by afternoon
Donana National ParkNational Park: Vast wetland at the Guadalquivir delta, one of Europe's most important bird habitats and last refuge of the Iberian lynx
Camino de SantiagoLandmark: Thousand-year-old pilgrimage route across northern Spain ending at Santiago de Compostela, walked by 300,000 people annually
MallorcaIsland: Largest Balearic island with turquoise coves, the Serra de Tramuntana UNESCO mountain range, and Chopin's former monastery
Tabernas DesertDesert: Europe's only true desert in Almeria, where Sergio Leone filmed his Spaghetti Westerns and Hollywood still comes to shoot
Ordesa ValleyCanyon: Spectacular glacial canyon in the Pyrenees with 1,000-meter walls, waterfalls, and one of the most dramatic landscapes in Europe

Sport

Sports in Spain

Football: Won the 2010 World Cup and three European Championships (1964, 2008, 2012), with FC Barcelona and Real Madrid among the world's greatest clubs
Tennis: Produced Rafael Nadal, Carlos Alcaraz, and a dynasty of champions who have dominated the sport for two decades
Basketball: Won the 2006 FIBA World Cup and multiple European Championships, one of the strongest basketball nations outside the NBA
Cycling: The Vuelta a Espana is one of cycling's three Grand Tours, and Spain has produced Tour de France winners including Indurain's five consecutive titles

Facts

Did you know?

Spain is in the wrong time zone - it should be on GMT like Britain and Portugal, but Franco changed it to match Nazi Germany and it stuck
La Tomatina festival in Bunol sees 20,000 people throw 120 tons of tomatoes at each other every August
The Sagrada Familia has been under construction since 1882 and is not expected to be completed until the 2030s
Spain has 50 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, among the most of any country in the world
Spanish is the official language of 20 countries and has over 500 million native speakers worldwide
The oldest restaurant in the world is Sobrino de Botin in Madrid, serving food continuously since 1725
Spain produces more olive oil than any other country - roughly half of the world's total supply
The running of the bulls in Pamplona during San Fermin attracts thousands of runners despite injuries being common