History UsefulNotes / Spain

Spain ('''Spanish:''' ''España''), officially known as the Kingdom of Spain ('''Spanish:''' ''Reino de España''), is a Southern European country inhabited by more than 40 million people, home of the ''Conquistadores'' and the first language of over 400 million people, and, including the Canary Islands, is the southernmost country in Europe.

Spain is bordered by {{UsefulNotes/France}} and the tiny {{UsefulNotes/Andorra}} in the north-east, UsefulNotes/{{Portugal}} in the west, and the [[UsefulNotes/UnitedKingdom British]] territory of UsefulNotes/{{Gibraltar}} in the south. It is bathed by the Mediterranean Sea at its east, the North Atlantic Ocean at the west and north and the Straits of Gibraltar at the south, where the Mediterranean joins the Atlantic. Most of Spain is located in the Iberian Peninsula, but the country also has a few overseas territories, the biggest being the Canary Islands off the western coast of Africa, followed by the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean Sea, as well as the North African cities of UsefulNotes/{{Ceuta}} and UsefulNotes/{{Melilla}}, which border UsefulNotes/{{Morocco}}.

Spain ('''Spanish:''' ''España''), officially known as the Kingdom of Spain ('''Spanish:''' ''Reino de España''), is a Southern European country inhabited by more than 40 million people, home of the ''Conquistadores'' and the first language of over 400 million people, and, including the Canary Islands, is the southernmost country in Europe. The modern day Spanish trace their descent from many peoples, [[CultureChopSuey including but not limited to]] Celts, [[AncientRome Romans]], [[UsefulNotes/AncientGreece Greeks]], [[UsefulNotes/PunicWars Phoenicians]], [[UsefulNotes/TheMigrationPeriod Visigoths, Suebians]], [[UsefulNotes/MoorishSpain Jews, and Muslims]], and the modern nation-state was formed with the union of the Kingdom of Castille and the Kingdom of Aragon in 1469 by the marriage of their respective monarchs, [[UsefulNotes/TheCatholicMonarchs Queen Isabella and King Fernando]] and the siege of Granada in 1492, which would complete the ''Reconquista'' and end 700 years of Muslim rule in the Iberian Peninsula. Through the discovery and later conquest of the Western Hemisphere that same year, an empire grew and soon became the one of the most powerful on the planet until its eventual decline over the course of the 1800's, culminating in [[UsefulNotes/SpanishAmericanWar a war]] with the UsefulNotes/UnitedStates at the very end of the century.[[note]]Although Spain still managed to keep some colonies in Africa until the 1970's.[[/note]] This, along with the failure of the conquest of Morocco and the feuds between political factions led to the [[BloodierAndGorier last and bloodiest]] of five [[UsefulNotes/SpanishCivilWar Civil Wars]]. The winner of the war, UsefulNotes/FranciscoFranco, ruled the country as a dictator for no less than 36 years until his death in 1975[[note]]and, yes, [[Series/SaturdayNightLive he is still dead]][[/note]], after which the current Constitutional Monarchy was installed, first led by Juan Carlos I before Felipe VI took over after his abdication in 2014. Spain thus became one of the few examples in the modern day in which a monarchy is restored after being overthrown for quite some time, the other being UsefulNotes/{{Cambodia}} (although to be fair, the Spanish monarchy never actually renounced their rights for their country when the Republicans took over in 1931).

Spain is bordered by {{UsefulNotes/France}} and the tiny {{UsefulNotes/Andorra}} in the north-east and UsefulNotes/{{Portugal}} in the west. It is bathed by the Mediterranean Sea at its east, the North Atlantic Ocean at the west and north and the Straits of Gibraltar at the south, where the Mediterranean joins the Atlantic. [[NeverLiveItDown There is also the matter of the little British colony known as]] UsefulNotes/{{Gibraltar}}.

* '''Area:''' 505,990 km
(195,360 sq mi) (51st)

** President of the Senate: Pilar Llop
** President of the Congress of Deputies: Meritxell Batet
** President of the Supreme Court: Carlos Lesmes Serrano

* '''Area:''' 505,990 km
(195,360 sq mi) (51st)

->''"Plus Ultra!"''
-->-- '''National Motto'''[[note]]Means "further beyond", an IronicEcho of the legendary warning carved on the Pillars of Hercules at the mouth of the Mediterranean: ''Nec Plus Ultra'' - "nothing further beyond".[[/note]]

* [[UsefulNotes/AngloSpanishWar15851604 Anglo-Spanish War]]

* UsefulNotes/ItalianWars
** UsefulNotes/GonzaloFernandezDeCordoba
** UsefulNotes/DiegoGarciaDeParedes

* UsefulNotes/TheSpanishInquisition (which [[Series/MontyPythonsFlyingCircus nobody expected]])
** UsefulNotes/TomasDeTorquemada
** UsefulNotes/ZugarramurdiWitchTrials

* Spanish Conquest of America

** UsefulNotes/FernandoAlvarezDeToledoYPimentel

*** UsefulNotes/LopeDeAguirre

* Spanish America

Spain ('''Spanish:''' ''España''), officially known as the Kingdom of Spain ('''Spanish:''' ''Reino de España''), is a Southern European country inhabited by more than 40 million people, home of the ''Conquistadores'' and the first language of over 400 million people, and, including the Canary Islands, is the southernmost country in Europe. The modern day Spanish trace their descent from many peoples, [[CultureChopSuey including but not limited to]] [[BarbarianTribe Celts]], [[AncientRome Romans]], [[UsefulNotes/AncientGreece Greeks]], [[UsefulNotes/PunicWars Phoenicians]], [[UsefulNotes/TheMigrationPeriod Visigoths, Suebians]], [[UsefulNotes/MoorishSpain Jews, and Muslims]], and the modern nation-state was formed with the union of the Kingdom of Castille and the Kingdom of Aragon in 1469 by the marriage of their respective monarchs, [[UsefulNotes/TheCatholicMonarchs Queen Isabella and King Fernando]] and the siege of Granada in 1492, which would complete the ''Reconquista'' and end 700 years of Muslim rule in the Iberian Peninsula. Through the discovery and later conquest of the Western Hemisphere that same year, an empire grew and soon became the one of the most powerful on the planet until its eventual decline over the course of the 1800's, culminating in [[UsefulNotes/SpanishAmericanWar a war]] with the UsefulNotes/UnitedStates at the very end of the century.[[note]]Although Spain still managed to keep some colonies in Africa until the 1970's.[[/note]] This, along with the failure of the conquest of Morocco and the feuds between political factions led to the [[BloodierAndGorier last and bloodiest]] of five [[UsefulNotes/SpanishCivilWar Civil Wars]]. The winner of the war, UsefulNotes/FranciscoFranco, ruled the country as a dictator for no less than 36 years until his death in 1975[[note]]and, yes, [[Series/SaturdayNightLive he is still dead]][[/note]], after which the current Constitutional Monarchy was installed, first led by Juan Carlos I before Felipe VI took over after his abdication in 2014. Spain thus became one of the few examples in the modern day in which a monarchy is restored after being overthrown for quite some time, the other being UsefulNotes/{{Cambodia}} (although to be fair, the Spanish monarchy never actually renounced their rights for their country when the Republicans took over in 1931).

-->-- '''National Motto''' [[labelnote:*]]Means "further beyond", an IronicEcho of the legendary warning carved on the Pillars of Hercules at the mouth of the Mediterranean: ''Nec Plus Ultra'' - "nothing further beyond".[[/labelnote]]

* UsefulNotes/TheKingdomOfSpain, for a brief introduction to Spanish kings and queens

** UsefulNotes/FranciscoDeCarvajal

* UsefulNotes/SchoolOfSalamanca

** UsefulNotes/CharlesV

** UsefulNotes/PhilipII

** UsefulNotes/BernardoDeGalvez
* Bourbon Spain

* ''VideoGame/PokemonScarletAndViolet'''s Paldea is based on Spain.

* ''Literature/DigitalFortress'' by Creator/DanBrown presents a, well, DanBrowned version of Spain, and quite an insulting one at that. Namely, it presents Spain as being a WretchedHive full of crimes and having an inadequate healthcare system. Spain has one of the best healthcare institutions in Europe (and indeed the world) and its living standards are very high too. Maybe he confused it with some BananaRepublic in the Americas.

** UsefulNotes/VascoNunezDeBalboa
** UsefulNotes/FranciscoVazquezDeCoronado

** UsefulNotes/BartolomeDeLasCasas

** UsefulNotes/VascoNunezDeBalboa

** UsefulNotes/HannibalBarca