LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Spain
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Spain is more than bullfights, flamenco dancers and crowded beaches. It's a spectacular and diverse country, the north resembling the rolling, green hills of Ireland and the south giving you a taste of Moroccan landscapes and architecture. Its tremendous history is reflected in its prehistoric cave paintings, Moorish palaces, crumbling castles, Roman ruins, Gothic and Renaissance cathedrals as well as some very distinctive modern architecture. The uniqueness of Spain lies in the separate kingdoms which made up the original Spanish nation. These regions remain diverse in their language, culture, cuisine and art. They include: Andalucía, Aragon, Asturias, Basque Country, the Balearic Islands, the Canary Islands, Cantabria, Castilla La Mancha, Castilla León, Catalonia, Extremadura, Galicia, La Rioja, Madrid, Murcia, Navarra and Valencia.
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Other major rivers in Spain are the Duero (Douro), Tajo (Tagus), and Guadiana. All three rivers rise on the plateau and flow through Portugal before reaching the Atlantic. The first two, like most of the country’s smaller streams and rivers, flow rapidly mostly along steep-sided valleys. Spain ... has some 2,400 lakes, the majority of them glacial in origin. Almost all the lakes are very small. The largest is the Lago de Sanabria close to the northern Portuguese border.
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With Spain, Philip had ... inherited Sicily, Naples, Sardinia, Milan, Franche-Comté, the Netherlands, and all the Spanish colonies. His religious policies, fiscal demands, and high-handed rule precipitated the Dutch struggle for independence (see the Netherlands). The northern provinces of the Netherlands shook off the Spanish yoke, but the southern provinces (see Netherlands, Austrian and Spanish) were again subjugated. Spanish military power, which achieved its greatest successes against France, leading to the Treaty of Cateau-Cambrésis (1559), and in the naval victory at Lepanto over the Turks (1571), was on the decline. As the champion of Catholicism in Europe, Spain unsuccessfully intervened in the French Wars of Religion by sending an army to support the League against Henry IV. The rivalry on the seas between Spain and England culminated in the attempted conquest of England by the Spanish Armada (1588); its complete failure at immense cost weakened Spain for a decade.
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Spain has several cities, each which offers a glimpse of Spain and Spanish culture with a unique flare. Larger cities, such as Barcelona, Madrid, Pamplona, Valencia, and Zaragoza, all offer the amenities that large cities have a tendency to do, but ... have many unique places and events to take advantage of. The medium sized cities of Spain are constantly balancing between trying to lessen the effects of tourism on the city and its culture while, at the same time, try to bring in more tourists\tourist dollars. There are many medium sized cities that have much to offer- Bilbao, Toledo, Santiago de Compostela, Granada, Sevilla, Cordoba, San Sebastian and Salamanca are some of the more popular. The smaller towns come in two flavours, and those that are no longer Spanish and those that are. Nearly every small town, from Franza to Aguilent to Mojacar, is still very traditional, but there are many that are not, and one should be wary of these.
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Barbara Lynn, Vice-President of Business Development, Spain, has more than 30 years experience in sales, sales training and personnel management. In the early 1980's Ms. Lynn was a Regional Branch Controller for C&A Ltd. London, a large UK based retail chain, where she was responsible for all administrative related systems including cash, stock control, payroll, staff training programs, and new branch openings. From 1983 to 1987 she served as Personnel and Training Manager for two other high-profile UK companies, Bentalls PLC and Bally Group, where she was responsible for all personnel and training activities. And from 1987 to 1992 she was Group Personnel and Training Manager at and Allders International Ltd., where she managed and provided a complete personnel and training service for approximately 2,000 personnel located at the UK Head Office and throughout the Ships and Airport Divisions located in the UK, USA and Australia. In 1992 Ms. Lynn left the corporate world and moved to Spain, where she was instrumental in the launch in Spain of Forever Living Products and has become a highly successful entrepreneur. Ms. Lynn has been and continues to be, a leading force in the launch of eWorld Spain.
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On March 11, 2004, Spain suffered its most horrific terrorist attack: 191 people were killed and 1,400 were injured in bombings at Madrid's railway station. The government at first blamed ETA, but soon evidence emerged that al-Qaeda was responsible. When record numbers of voters went to the polls days later, Aznar's Popular Party experienced a stinging defeat, and José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero of the Socialist Party became the new prime minister. Many Spaniards blamed Aznar's staunch support of the U.S. and the war in Iraq for making Spain an al-Qaeda target. Others were angered by what they saw as the government's politically motivated position that ETA was to blame for the attacks at the same time that links to al-Qaeda were emerging. By April, a dozen suspects, most of them Moroccan, were arrested for the bombings.
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