SPAINBy Santiago Campoy and

Joaquín Quirós Cancelliere

Spain is a country located in southwestern Europe. Its main city is Madrid. On the west, Spain borders Portugal; on the south, it borders Gibraltar and Morocco. On the northeast, it borders France and the tiny principality of Andorra.At 504,782 km2, Spain is the world's 51st-largest country. It is 47,000 km2 smaller than France and 81,000 km2 larger than the U.S. state of California.

HISTORY

The Iberian Peninsula became a region of the Roman Empire known as Hispania. Later, it was ruled by the Germanic. Later, was conquered by Muslim invaders. The Christian kingdoms in the north was ruled by the Germanic. Finally, was extinguishing in Granada in 1492, the same year Columbus reached the Americas. Spain become to be the strongest kingdom in Europe and the leading world power in the 16th century and first half of the 17th century. The wars and other problems continued. The French invasion of Spain in the early 19th century led to chaos, triggering independence movements that tore apart most of the empire and left the country politically unstable. In the 20th century it suffered a devastating civil war and came under the rule of an authoritarian government, leading to years of stagnation, but finishing in an impressive economic surge.

Spain’s flag

Spain´s shield

The Spanish Constitution of 1978 is the culmination of the Spanish transition to democracy. The constitutional history of Spain dates back to the constitution of 1812. Impatient with the pace of democratic political reforms in 1976 and 1977.

Spain's new King is Juan Carlos The resulting general election in 1977 convened the Constituent Cortes for the purpose of drafting and approving the constitution of 1978. After a national referendum on 6 December 1978, 88% of voters approved of the new constitution. Spain is now composed of 17 autonomous communities and two autonomous cities.

•Head of State: King Juan Carlos I, since 22 November 1975.•Head of Government: Prime Minister of Spain: José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, elected 14 March 2004. First Vice President and Minister of Interior: Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba. Second Vice President and Minister of Economy and Finance: Elena Salgado. Third Vice President and Minister of Territorial Policy: Manuel Chaves.

GOVERNMENT

José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero is the president of Spain. He was born the 4th of August in 1960 (50 years) in Vallalodid, Spain.He was president in the 2004 and he was re-elected in the 2008.

Juan Alfonso Víctor María de Borbón y Borbón-Dos Sicilias is the king of Spain. He was born 5th of January in 1938 (72 years) in Rome, Italy.He was king in the 1975 (until now).

SPORTSSpain best sports are football and tennis.In football, the Spanish national football team has been successful for the FIFA World Cup. In 2010, Spain has won the FIFA World Cup. In the European Championship, they were champions in 1964, runners-up in 1984 and champions once again in 2008. Spain has won 2 medals in football Olympic Games tournament. They have won a silver medal at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, and won a gold medal during the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.In tennis, Spain has produced a number of tennis champions. Spain has won the Davis Cup four times (2000, 2004, 2008, 2009) and the Fed Cup five other times (1991, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1998)Rafael Nadal is considered the greatest Spanish tennis player of all time. He has won the French Open four consecutive times. After defeating then world number #1 Roger Federer, Nadal claimed the Wimbledon trophy and became only the second Spaniard to do so. He also won the 2009 Australian Open, the first male Spaniard to do so. In 2009, he became the first player ever to simultaneously hold Grand Slam titles on clay, grass and hardcourt. Nadal is the Gold Medalist at 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China. He currently has nine grandslam titles to his name; five French Open titles, two Wimbledon titles, one US Open title and one Australia Open title.

David Villa is Spain´s best football player.

Rafael Nadal is Spain´s best tennis player.