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Spain: Basque Country
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Spain is a diverse country, and so it is its climate. The south is very hot in Summer; especailly in July and August. The central part is dry; hot in summer and cold in winter. The north is wet and green, it can be visited all year round, summers are mild.
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Al Qaeda is known to operate cells in Spain. On March 11, 2004, only three days before national elections, 10 bombs were detonated on crowded commuter trains during rush hour. Three were deactivated by security forces and one was found unexploded. Evidence quickly surfaced that jihadist terrorists with possible ties to the al Qaeda network were responsible for the attack that killed 191 people. Spanish investigative services and the judicial system have aggressively sought to arrest and prosecute suspected al Qaeda members and actively cooperate with foreign governments to diminish the transnational terrorist threat. A Spanish court convicted 18 individuals in September 2005 for their role in supporting al Qaeda, and Spanish police disrupted numerous Islamist extremist cells operating in the country.
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A number of American citizens have been victims of lottery or advance fee scams in which a person is lured to Spain to finalize a financial transaction. Often the victims are initially contacted via internet or fax and informed they have won the Spanish Lottery (El Gordo), inherited money from a distant relative, or are needed to assist in a major financial transaction from one country to another. For more information, please see the Bureau of Consular Affairs website International Financial Scams. Andorra has a low rate of crime.
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The three Wise men are seen everywhere in Spain at Christmas, visiting hospitals, orphanages, etc. The men who dress up in various "Wise men" garments are from all walks of life. The legend tells of the three Wise men traveling through the country on their way to Bethlehem. To properly receive them, the children fill their shoes with straw on Epiphany Eve. For their efforts, they find their shoes filled with presents the following (Epiphany) morning. Spanish children have a great fondness for the three Wise men, especially Balthazar.
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Notwithstanding the measures of disamortization which have deprived them of their property, and the general expulsion effected a second time by the Revolution of 1868, the religious orders of both sexes prosper and possess many establishments in Spain. Owing... to their anomalous legal position, it is extremely difficult to obtain statistics of them, although an approximation may be made. The Liberals assert that, since the Concordat of 1851, only three religious orders of men have any right to be admitted to the country, while the Conservatives and Catholics in general understand that the Concordat places these three orders in a privileged position, but admits all the other orders in a privileged position, but admits all the other orders conformably with the provisions of the canon law to which its stipulations are subject. In 1903 the religious orders in Spain numbered 597 communities of men and 2463 communities of women. The number of male religious was 10,630; of female 40,030. These communities were divided, according to the chief object of their institutions, as follows:—
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Amid the instability and economic crisis that afflicted Spain in the 19th century there arose nationalist movements in the Philippines and Cuba. Wars of independence ensued in those colonies and eventually the United States became involved. Although Spanish military units won respect from American soldiers they fought, for their bravery and skill, the Spanish-American war of 1898 was so badly mismanaged by the highest levels of command and government that it was soon over. "El Desastre", as the war became known in Spain, helped give impetus to the Generation of 98 who were already conducting much critical analysis concerning the country. It ... weakened the stability that had been established during Alfonso XII's reign.
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