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Spain: Countries
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Spain is bordered on the north by the Bay of Biscay, part of the Atlantic Ocean, and by the Pyrenees, which form its frontier with France and the tiny country of Andorra. It is bounded by on the east by the Mediterranean Sea; on the south by the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean; and on the west by Portugal and the Atlantic Ocean. The Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean and the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean ... form part of Spain. In addition, Spain administers two cities in Morocco—Ceuta and Melilla—as well as three island groups near Africa—Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera and the Alhucemas and Chafarinas islands. The British dependency of Gibraltar is situated at the southern extremity of Spain.
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Spain is now divided into autonomías or autonomous regions/ plus 2 independent cities. Some of the autonomías - notably the ones with languages other than Spanish as co-official (Basque Country or Euskadi -Basque language-, Galicia -Galician language-, Catalonia or Catalunya, Valencian Country or País Valencià, and Balearic Islands or Illes Balears -Catalan language-) and Andalucía - are historical regions. Travelers to these parts of the Iberian Peninsula will do well to respect their history and language. The Canary Islands are actually off the coast of Morocco and are properly in Africa and so are the two Autonomous cities: Ceuta and Melilla.
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Spain's mixed capitalist economy supports a GDP that on a per capita basis is 87% that of the four leading West European economies. The center-right government of former President Aznar successfully worked to gain admission to the first group of countries launching the European single currency, the euro, on 1 January 1999. The Aznar administration continued to advocate liberalization, privatization, and deregulation of the economy and introduced some tax reforms to that end. Unemployment fell steadily under the Aznar administration but remains high at 11.7%. Growth of 2.4% in 2003 was satisfactory given the background of a faltering European economy. Incoming President Rodr�guez Zapatero, whose party won the election three days after the Madrid train bombings in March, plans to reduce government intervention in business, combat tax fraud, and support innovation, research and development, but ... intends to reintroduce labor market regulations that had been scraped by the Aznar government.
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LONG known to be a tourist haven, Spain has found its niche in the economic realm with the government of Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero. Right after celebrating New Year at the heart of Madrid with massive fireworks for a very grateful tourism and consumer spending turnout in 2007 as well as a vibrant credit industry here as compared to the United States, Zapatero started the year right with lots of forging stronger ties with other countries. The recent one is meeting with Peruvian President Alan Garcia Perez. Of course, the two countries share history together as Peru was a former colony of Spain. Now, the relationship between the two countries is cemented with the signing of several economic agreements which are advantageous to both.
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Spain comprises 50 provinces in 17 autonomous regions: Andalucía, Aragón, Asturias, Balearic Islands, Basque Country (País Vasco), Canary Islands, Cantabria, Castile-La Mancha, Castile-León, Catalonia, Extremadura, Galicia, La Rioja, Madrid, Murcia, Navarra, and Valencia. The regions have a degree of autonomy (self government) and control over half of public spending in Spain. Each region has the right to legislate in certain important fields such as education, health, and economic development, although within a framework set by the national government. Under the 1978 constitution all the regions did not enjoy the same powers. This inequality was later largely leveled off.
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As in most European countries c.1839, progressive circles in Spain looked to Paris as the source of innovation and enlightenment. The announcement of Daguerre's invention was therefore extensively covered, with a predictably optimistic gloss, in the liberal press. In early 1839... the prestigious Academy of Arts and Sciences of Barcelona was also getting direct information about Daguerre's process from its agent in Paris, the doctor and writer Pedro Felipe Monlau y Roca (1808-71), whose reports led it to acquire a daguerreotype outfit, brought to Barcelona by the engraver Ramón Alabern. The academy then organized a public demonstration of the process. On the morning of 10 November 1839, to the accompaniment of a band, and explanations for the spectators of what was going on, Alabern made a successful exposure of a building. The resulting daguerreotype was exhibited, and publicly raffled four days later.
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