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 2,989,053; female 2,811,350)

15-64 years:

68% (male 13,748,998; female 13,652,852)

65 years and over:

17.6% (male 2,958,387; female 4,120,140) (2004 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 (2004 est.)

noun:

Spaniard(s)

adjective:

Spanish

conventional long form:

Kingdom of Spain

conventional short form:

Spain

local short form:

Espana

• 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 Luis RODRIGUEZ ZAPATERO (since 17 April 2004);
• First Vice President (and Minister of the Presidency) Maria Teresa FERNANDEZ DE LA VEGA(since 18 April 2004) and Second Vice President (and Minister of Economy and Finance) Pedro SOLBES (since 18 April 2004)

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, but its recommendations are non-binding

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 14 March 2004 (next to be held NA March 2008);
• vice presidents appointed by the monarch on the proposal of the president

election results:

Jose Luis RODRIGUEZ ZAPATERO (PSOE) elected president; percent of National Assembly vote - 52.29%

• Basque Nationalist Party or PNV [Josu Jon IMAZ];
• Canarian Coalition or CC (a coalition of five parties) [Paulino RIVERO Baute];
• Convergence and Union or CiU [Artur MAS i Gavarro] (a coalition of the Democratic Convergence of Catalonia or CDC [Artur MAS i Gavarro] and the Democratic Union of Catalonia or UDC [Josep Antoni DURAN y LLEIDA]);
• Entesa Catalonia de Progress (a Senate coalition grouping four Catalan parties - PSC, ERC, ICV, EUA) [leader NA];
• Galician Nationalist Bloc or BNG [Anxo Manuel QUINTANA];
• Party of Independents from Lanzarote or PIL [Dimas MARTIN Martin];
• Popular Party or PP [Mariano RAJOY];
• Republican Left of Catalonia or ERC [Josep-Lluis CAROD-ROVIRA];
• 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 Mas (Galician for "Never Again"; formed in response to the oil tanker Prestige oil spill)

chief of mission:

Ambassador Carlos WESTENDORP

chancery:

2375 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20037

telephone:

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

FAX:

[1] (202) 833-5670

consulate(s) general:

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

chief of mission:

Ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affaires J. Robert MANZANARES

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:

• country code - 34;
• 22 coaxial submarine cables;
• satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (1 Atlantic Ocean and 1 Indian Ocean), NA Eutelsat;
• tropospheric scatter to adjacent countries

total:

14,268 km (7,718 km electrified)

broad gauge:

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

standard gauge:

526 km 1.435-m gauge (526 km electrified)

narrow gauge:

1,910 km 1.000-m gauge (755 km electrified); 28 km 0.914-m gauge (28 km electrified) (2003)

total:

663,795 km

paved:

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

unpaved:

6,638 km (1999)

• since Gibraltar residents voted overwhelmingly by referendum in 2003 against a "total shared sovereignty" arrangement, talks between the UK and Spain over the fate of the 300-year old UK colony have stalled;
• Spain disapproves of UK plans to grant Gibraltar greater autonomy;
• Morocco protests Spain's control over the coastal enclaves of Ceuta, Melilla, and the islands of Penon de Velez de la Gomera, Penon de Alhucemas and Islas Chafarinas, and surrounding waters;
• Morocco serves as the primary launching area of illegal migration into Spain from North Africa;
• Morocco 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, but agreed in 2003 to discuss a comprehensive maritime delimitation;
• some Portuguese groups assert dormant claims to territories ceded to Spain around the town of Olivenza

• key European gateway country and consumer for Latin American cocaine and North African hashish entering the European market;
• destination and minor transshipment point for Southwest Asian heroin;
• money laundering site for European earnings of Colombian narcotics trafficking organizations