Spain

• temperate;
• clear, hot summers in interior, more moderate and cloudy along coast;
• cloudy, cold winters in interior, partly cloudy and cool along coast

lowest point:

Atlantic Ocean 0 m

highest point:

Pico de Teide (Tenerife) on Canary Islands 3,718 m

• pollution of the Mediterranean Sea from raw sewage and effluents from the offshore production of oil and gas;
• water quality and quantity nationwide;
• air pollution;
• deforestation;
• desertification

0-14 years:

14.4% (male 2,985,705; female 2,808,791)

15-64 years:

68% (male 13,721,053; female 13,626,121)

65 years and over:

17.6% (male 2,962,646; female 4,113,097) (2003 est.)

at birth:

1.07 male(s)/female

under 15 years:

1.06 male(s)/female

15-64 years:

1.01 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

0.72 male(s)/female

total population:

0.96 male(s)/female (2003 est.)

noun:

Spaniard(s)

adjective:

Spanish

conventional long form:

Kingdom of Spain

conventional short form:

Spain

local short form:

Espana

• 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 Gomera; Ceuta and Melilla gained limited autonomous status in 1994

• the Iberian peninsula was characterized by a variety of independent kingdoms prior to the Moslem occupation that began in the early 8th Century A. D. and lasted nearly seven centuries;
• the small Christian redoubts of the north began the reconquest almost immediately, culminating in the seizure of Granada in 1492;
• this event completed the unification of several kingdoms and is traditionally considered the forging of present-day Spain

chief of state:

King JUAN CARLOS I (since 22 November 1975); Heir Apparent Prince FELIPE, son of the monarch, born 30 January 1968

head of government:

• President of the Government Jose Maria AZNAR Lopez (since 5 May 1996);
• First Vice President (and Minister of Economy) Rodrigo RATO Figaredo (since 4 September 2003) and Second Vice President (and Minister of the Presidency) Javier ARENAS (since 4 September 2003)

cabinet:

Council of Ministers designated by the president

note: there is also a Council of State that is the supreme consultative organ of the government

election results:

• Jose Maria AZNAR Lopez (PP) elected president;
• percent of National Assembly vote - 44.54%;
• note - the Popular Party (PP) obtained an absolute majority of seats in both the Congress of Deputies and the Senate as a result of the March 2000 elections

elections:

• the monarch is hereditary;
• following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or the leader of the majority coalition is usually proposed president by the monarch and elected by the National Assembly;
• election last held 12 March 2000 (next to be held NA March 2004);
• vice presidents appointed by the monarch on the proposal of the president

• Basque Nationalist Party or PNV [Xabier ARZALLUS Antia];
• Canarian Coalition or CC (a coalition of five parties) [Paulino RIVERO];
• Convergence and Union or CiU [Jordi PUJOL i Soley, secretary general] (a coalition of the Democratic Convergence of Catalonia or CDC [Jordi PUJOL i Soley] and the Democratic Union of Catalonia or UDC [Josep Antoni DURAN y LLEIDA]);
• Galician Nationalist Bloc or BNG [Xose Manuel BEIRAS];
• Party of Independents from Lanzarote or PIL [Dimas MARTIN Martin];
• Popular Party or PP [Mariano RAJOY];
• Spanish Socialist Workers Party or PSOE [Jose Luis RODRIGUEZ ZAPATERO];
• United Left or IU (a coalition of parties including the PCE and other small parties) [Gaspar LLAMAZARES]

• business and landowning interests;
• Catholic Church;
• free labor unions (authorized in April 1977);
• Socialist General Union of Workers or UGT and the smaller independent Workers Syndical Union or USO;
• university students;
• Workers Confederation or CC.OO;
• Nunca Mais (Galician for "Never Again"; formed in response to the oil tanker Prestige oil spill)

chief of mission:

Ambassador Francisco Javier RUPEREZ Rubio

chancery:

2375 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20037

consulate(s) general:

Boston, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans, New York, San Francisco, and San Juan (Puerto Rico)

FAX:

[1] (202) 833-5670

telephone:

[1] (202) 452-0100, 728-2340

chief of mission:

Ambassador George L. ARGYROS

embassy:

Serrano 75, 28006 Madrid

mailing address:

PSC 61, APO AE 09642

telephone:

[34] (91) 587-2200

FAX:

[34] (91) 587-2303

consulate(s) general:

Barcelona

• three horizontal bands of red (top), yellow (double width), and red with the national coat of arms on the hoist side of the yellow band;
• the coat of arms includes the royal seal framed by the Pillars of Hercules, which are the two promontories (Gibraltar and Ceuta) on either side of the eastern end of the Strait of Gibraltar

lowest 10%:

2.8%

highest 10%:

25.2% (1990)

• grain, vegetables, olives, wine grapes, sugar beets, citrus;
• beef, pork, poultry, dairy products;
• fish

general assessment:

generally adequate, modern facilities; teledensity is 44 main lines for each 100 persons

domestic:

NA

international:

• 22 coaxial submarine cables;
• satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (1 Atlantic Ocean and 1 Indian Ocean), NA Eutelsat;
• tropospheric scatter to adjacent countries

total:

14,189 km

broad gauge:

11,804 km 1.668-m gauge (6,409 km electrified)

standard gauge:

455 km 1.435-m gauge (455 km electrified)

narrow gauge:

1,902 km 1.000-m gauge (781 km electrified); 28 km 0.914-m gauge (28 km electrified) (2002)

total:

663,795 km

paved:

657,157 km (including 10,317 km of expressways)

unpaved:

6,638 km (1999)

• gas 7,290 km;
• oil 730 km;
• refined products 3,110 km;
• unknown (oil/water) 397 km (2003)

• Gibraltar residents vote overwhelmingly in referendum against "total shared sovereignty" arrangement worked out between Spain and UK to change 300-year rule over colony;
• Morocco protests Spain's control over the coastal enclaves of Ceuta, Melilla, and Penon de Velez de la Gomera, the islands of Penon de Alhucemas and Islas Chafarinas, and surrounding waters;
• Morocco also rejected Spain's unilateral designation of a median line from the Canary Islands in 2002 to set limits to undersea resource exploration and refugee interdiction;
• Morocco allowed Spanish fishermen to fish temporarily off the coast of Western Sahara after an oil spill soiled Spanish fishing grounds;
• Portugal has periodically reasserted claims to territories around the town of Olivenza, Spain

• key European gateway country for Latin American cocaine and North African hashish entering the European market;
• destination and minor transshipment point for Southwest Asian heroin