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SPAIN
Capital | Madrid 
FLAG DESCRIPTION: 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 is quartered to display the emblems of the traditional kingdoms of Spain (clockwise from upper left, Castile, Leon, Navarre, and Aragon) while Granada is represented by the stylized pomegranate at the bottom of the shield; the arms are framed by two columns representing the Pillars of Hercules, which are the two promontories (Gibraltar and Ceuta) on either side of the eastern end of the Strait of Gibraltar; the red scroll across the two columns bears the imperial motto of "Plus Ultra" (further beyond) referring to Spanish lands beyond Europe; the triband arrangement with the center stripe twice the width of the outer dates to the 18th century * note: the red and yellow colors are related to those of the oldest Spanish kingdoms: Aragon, Castile, Leon, and Navarre
Population | 40,548,753 (July 2010 est.)
Area | 504,782 SQ KM
Official Language | Spanish
Holidays | National Day, 12 October (1492); year when Columbus first set foot in the Americas
Currency | euros (EUR)
Time Zone | UTC+1
Best Time to Visit | May, June and September
Connecting with the Culture | Walking the Camino de Santiago to Santiago de Compostela. Exploting the architecture of Gaudi’s Parc Guell in Barcelona. Partying through the night in Valencia’s Las Fallas. Seeing the Romanesque relics of medieval Aragon at Huesca and San Juan de la Pena. Sipping summering canas (beers) and enjoying the magnificent views to the Sierra de Guadarrama at Las Vistillas.
Read | the 17th century novel Don Quijote de la Mancha by Miguel de Cervantes, or For Whom the Bell Tolls, a terse tale of civil war by Ernest Hemingway.
Listen | to Andres Segovia, who established classical guitar as a genre or flamenco guitarist Paco de Lucia
Watch | Pedro Almodovar’s Todo Sobre Mi Madere (All About My Mother), which portrays the lives of an improbable collection of women.
Eat | home-cooked paella, or fabada asturiana (a heavy white-bean-based stew)
Drink | red wine from the Ribera del Duero region
In a Word | Buenos Dias (Good day)
Characteristics | Flamenco; bull-fighting; Picasso; football; the running of the Bulls festival; Ibiza.
Surprises | Almost every second village has a medieval castle. In Catalunya devil and dragon figures run through the streets spitting fireworks at crowds during the correfoc (fire-running)
