1. SPAIN, OUR COUNTRY Spain is settled in the European continent. It limits with France and Portugal. Most of Spain is surrounded by water, so we have the most beautiful seaside of Europe. The capital of Spain is Madrid. Spain has 19 autonomous communities, two of them are islands, Canarias Islands and Baleares Islands. Ceuta and Melilla are communities too but they are in the African continent.

2. EXTREMADURA Extremadura is our community. It is on the west of Spain. It consists on two provinces: Cceres and Badajoz. They are both the biggest pronvinces in Spain. The capital of Extremadura is Mrida, a Roman city. Extremadura has a mediterranean climate, so it hardly ever rains excepting in the north of Extremadura. 3. Some photos of Plasencia 4. The most important cities of our country. 5. MADRID Madrid is the capital of Spain and its largest and most populated city. Seat of government, and residence of the Spanish monarch, Madrid is also the political, economic and cultural centre of Spain. Madrid is located in the centre of Spain. Retiro Park Fountain of Cibeles Gran Va Puerta de Alcal. Royal Palace of Madrid This city is known because of its museums such as: Prado Museum, the Reina Sofa Museum, and the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum. Madrid is also known for its active shopping and nightlife. Its landmarks include the Royal Palace; the Royal Theatre; El Retiro park, 6. BARCELONA Barcelona is a Spanish city, capital of the autonomous community of Catalonia, and the second largest city in the country. Barcelona has a rich cultural heritage, particularly renowned are the architectural works of Antoni Gaud Catalonian modernista architecture (1885 and 1950) left an important legacy in this city. Barcelona is also known for hosting the 1992 Summer Olympics Games. Its influence in commerce, education, media, fashion, science, and the arts all contribute to its status as one of the world's major global cities. Casa Mil Palau de la Msica Sagrada Famlia church, Gaudi's masterpiece. Park Gel, Gaud 7. BILBAO It is situated in the north-central part of Spain. Bilbao has one of the main industrial activities in Spain. Guggenheim Museum is the most important building in this city, being one of the most admired works of contemporary architecture, it includes a wade range of pieces of modern art. Guggenheim Museum. Bascayan government Arriaga Theatre 8. SEVILLA Seville is a Spanish city, the capital and largest one of the autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. Seville was founded as the Roman city of Hispalis. Then it was conquered by the Muslim in 712. In 1519, Fernando de Magallanes departed from Seville for the first circumnavigation of the Earth. Sevillana or Flamenco dancer Torre del oro Alkazar of Sevilla Giralda 9. GRANADA Granada was the last city reconquered by Los Reyes Catlicos(Catholic Monarchs) from the Muslims and nowadays we still preserve The Alhambra, a Moorish palace. It is the most renowned building of the Andalusian Islamic historical legacy with its many cultural attractions that make Granada a popular destination among the touristic cities of Spain. Alhambra Patio de los leones in La Alhambra Gardens of the Generalife (Alhambra) 10. Historica l characte rs. 11. In the XVth century, Spain was reigned by Isabel I of Castilla and Fernando II of Aragon, they were called The Catholic Kings, they unified part of Spain with their marriage, they reconquered the south of the country, which was controllled by the Muslims, in 1492. Catholicism was very important for them and they forced all the country to become catholic. They were the kings who let and paid, the trip of Cristobal Coln to America, discovering a new continent to the world. The Catholic Kings 12. Cristobal Coln was a navigator who wanted to discover a new way for travelling to the Indias; In 1492 the Catholic Kings aproved his trip, which took more than two months, And finally he arrived in the current El Salvador, though he believed he was in the indias. Cristobal Colon took three ships: La Pinta, La Nia y Santamaria He made four trips but he never knew the places where he went were part of another continet. Cristobal Coln 13. WRITERS Miguel de Cervantes was a spanish writer of the XVIth and XVIIth, who is very known for his book Don Quijote de la Mancha, which is considered one of the best books ever written. He is considered one of the most important writers in Spain and we can find a portrait of him in some cents coins. Federico Garcia Lorca was a poet and dramatist of the XXth century . Some of the most famous books he wrote are Romancero Gitano of poetry and La Casa de Bernarda Alba of theatre. He had liberal ideas and he was shooted, at the beginning of the spanish civil war. 14. PAINTERS Diego Velazquez was a Spanish painter of the XVIIth century, who was the main painter of the court, he had a realistic style and he used to paint portraits of the royal family. Francisco de Goya lived in the XVIIIth & XIXth, he suffered the french invasion and he painted about this, apart from the royal family, his style evoluted from realism to a kind of impressionism. 15. PAINTERS Pablo Ruiz Picasso is one of the most important modern painters of the world, he lived in the XXth century. He was the creator of cubism, and he took part in others important movements, he also painted about spanish civil war, as you can see in Guernica: 16. SCIENTISTS Santiago Ramn y Cajal was a doctor specialized in histology who lived at the beginnings of the XXth . He did important discovers and he won the Nobel award of Medicine in 1906 glad to a work related with nerve cells. Severo Ochoa was another spanish scientist that lived that did his most important works at the 50s . He won the Nobel award of Medicine too(1959) with his work about the synthesis of RNA. 17. Sport in Spain in the second half of 20th century has always been dominated by football. Other popular sport activities include basketball, tennis, cycling, motorcycling, Formula One, water sports... Spain has also hosted a number of international events. Sports characters. 18. Football is the most popular sport in Spain. The Spanish League is considered to be one of the world's best competitions. Spanish teams such as Real Madrid or FC Barcelona are the most famous in the country and all over the world. The Spanish national football team has been successful and have qualified for the FIFA World Cup. The Spanish ACB is one of the major European basketball leagues. Spanish teams such as Real Madrid, FC Barcelona and have won international championships. 19. Spain has produced a number of tennis champions, for example, Rafael Nadal is considered the greatest Spanish tennis player of all time. Now , he is the number one tennis player in the world. Spain have hosted four Grand Prix motorcycle racing events. Notable Spanish grand prix motorcycling riders include Dani Pedrosa, Jorge Lorenzo or Marc Mrquez. In Formula One the two world championships of Fernando Alonso, have made the sport popular in Spain. 20. Tour of Spain is one of the most important cycling events in the world, together with the Tour of France and Tour of Italy racing tournaments. The triathlon is becoming increasingly known around the world thanks to Javier Gmez Noya who is a Spanish triathlete. He is the winner of three Triathlon World Championships. The Spain women's national water polo team and the Spain womens national gymnastic are a minority sports but too important, both teams have won the World Champions. Or as swimming , that in Spain we have great champions of the world, for example, Mireia Belmonte, who was the second Spanish woman to win a medal in the Olympic Games . 21. Spanish GastronomyOne of the things that Spain is known worldwide its for the cuisine, is one of the most wholesome, traditional and varied. In it we will be able to find the most varied products, from dishes based on seafood to meats, rice... Now let's see some of these wonderful dishes. 22. PAELLA Maybe it's the international dish of Spanish cuisine, and there is no place where you do not know. Is prepared with cooked rice accompanied by vegetables, meats, seafood and saffron, some of the essential ingredients are prawns and squid. 23. GAZPACHO This is one of the tastiest dishes known in Spanish cuisine. It is composed of a soup ingredients such as bread, olive oil, vinegar and vegetables. TORTILLA DE PATATAS Does anyone not know the omelette? It is the star of the Spanish cuisine. Not a complicated dish, but tasty as could be and inexpensive to prepare. The basic recipe consists of potatoes, eggs and salt. 24. EMBUTIDOS The embutidos, chorizos, morcillas and hams are the kings of the appetizers and snacks that are consumed throughout the country. COCIDO MADRILEO This is probably the best known of cooked Spanish cuisine. It is typical of Madrid. It consists of beans and various vegetables and meats. 25. THREE WISE MEN DAY On January 6th we celebrate the Wise Men Day. Everybody is looking forward to the presents these kings deliver. Melchor,Gaspar and Baltasar are beloved by all children. 26. BULLFIGHTING Bullfighting is considered the National celebration. The bullfighter is the person who fights with the animal. He wears a tight suit with golden ornaments and a red cape and a sword. At the end the bull is killed and the ear is cut to celebrate the triumph. 27. Semana Santa is the Spanish name for Easter. Members of local parishes carry ornate decorated floats depicting the Passion of Christ into the city cathedral. Though Seville and Malaga are the most famous cities for Semana Santa, the Castilla- Leon cities of Valladolid and Leon are also important. SEMANA SANTA 28. (Pamplona Bull Run) The Pamplona Bull Run is a week-long bull running and bullfighting festival. Every morning at 8am, the city's brave and the world's foolhardy run ahead of a group of angry bulls. The rest of us look on in amazement. x SAN FERMIN 29. The Tomatina Tomato Fight is probably the world's biggest food fight. Thousands of people gather in the streets of the tiny town of Buol, in valencia, to fling tomatoes at each other. The origins of the festival are unknown and, to most people who like throwing food at each other, largely unimportant. TOMATINA 30. FALLAS Imagine a bonfire from Guy Fawkes Night or a Homecoming and multiply it by a factor of one hundred: that is Las Fallas. Each neighborhood traditionally gets together to build giant puppets which are then later set fire to. There is usually a satirical nature to these puppets, though not always. 31. FERIA DE ABRIL After all the piety of Easter, the Feria de Sevilla is that holiday everyone needs to get over the previous one! The Feria de Sevilla is a microcosm of everything Andalusia is famous for: flamenco, bullfighting, horses and sherry. Local well-to-do families spend a lot of money on renting marquees (casetas in Spanish) for their friends and families to enjoy their party. The marquees vary greatly; some are open to the public, many are not. 32. Probably, the main reason why Spain and its people have so many stereotypes is because it is the European country after France that has the most tourism. Due to this fact, there are lots of tourist campaigns all over the world that promote sunshine, beaches, flamenco dancing, and bullfighting. Lets have a look at some of them: Stereotypes. 33. The Spanish are lazy and love sleeping the siesta. Yes, its true, the Spanish like sleeping the siesta, but only about 30% of them can do so. Why? In the European Union, Spanish people have one of the longest working timetables and work very hard. Even though, some of them enjoy this tradition a lot, what is really useful because even health authorities say that it is healthy, so that the body can recover from tiredness during the day. 34. Spain is the land of sunshine and beaches. This is partly truth because although Spain has more sunshine than the rest of Europe because of its situation, its geography is very varied. There are plateaus, coasts, huge mountains and valleys too. And its climate also changes a lot depending on the part of the Spanish territory we are staying in. 35. Spain is the land of bullfights, flamenco dancing and party. As regards, free-time activities and tradition, these are some of the most important and world known stereotypes affecting Spanish habits. Bullfighting is no longer considered a sport in Spain, but it is described as a cultural tradition, result of our history and mixture of cultures. It happens something really similar with flamenco and party. Actually, they are an important part of our culture, but not for this reason must we think that all the inhabitants of our country dance flamenco and spent their whole lives going out to drink and eat or clubbing. 36. The sangria is not so popular with the Spanish population, as it is with tourists. We prefer drinking good red wine from nationally famous DOs, such as La Ribera del Duero or La Rioja. But this isnt just the case of wine. It happens the same with other products such as ham, whose sells and exportations have really grown up. Spain is the land of paella , sangria and ham. This is probably the biggest fact that we can find between all these stereotypes. Spanish love good food in general and paella in particular and in almost every part of Spain we can find it in many different forms, though the original comes from Valencia. 37. CONCLUSIONS Spain is much more interesting than the image that the facts and stereotypes we can easily find in brochures and magazines, paint. It has a wonderful biodiversity and mixture of cultures which make it become in a great destination for visitors, that, like you, will have a great opportunity to find out more about our land.