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Useful Information
About Spain
Spain (Spanish: Espaņa), or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. The Spanish mainland is bordered to the south and east almost entirely by the Mediterranean Sea (except for a tiny land boundary with Gibraltar); to the north by France, Andorra, and the Bay of Biscay; and to the west by the Atlantic Ocean and Portugal. Spanish territory also includes the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean, the Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean off the African coast, and two autonomous cities in North Africa, Ceuta and Melilla, that border Morocco. With an area of 504,030 km², Spain is the second largest country in Western Europe (behind France) and with an average altitude of 650 m, the second highest country in Europe (behind Switzerland).
Spain is a constitutional monarchy organised as a parliamentary democracy and has been a member of the European Union since 1986. It is a developed country with the eighth largest economy in the world and fifth largest in the EU, based on nominal GDP.
With great beaches, fun nightlife, many cultural regions and historic cities, Spain makes a great destination for any kind of trip. A country of large geographical and cultural diversity, Spain is sometimes a surprise to people who know its reputation for great beach holidays. There is everything from lush meadows, snowy mountains, huge marsh and salines and deserts in the south east.
Get in by plane
Spanish national carrier is Iberia.
The busiest airports are Madrid, La Coruņa, Palma de Mallorca, Malaga, Murcia, Barcelona, Jerez de la Frontera, Seville, Valencia, Bilbao, Alicante, Santiago de Compostella, Vigo. Madrid and Bilbao have the most beautiful airports, designed by famous architects.
Low cost carriers operating to Spain are: Brussels Airline, ClickAir (a discount subsidiary of Iberia; operates from Barcelona, Sevilla and Valencia), Vueling, easyJet, RyanAir, Blue Air, Sterling Airlines.
For e-tickets bought from Iberia/ClickAir over Internet with a credit card, it is required to show original credit card upon check-in. Failing to do so, you will have to purchase another ticket with the same fare, and the original ticket will be refunded many weeks or even months later.
Visas
Spain is a member of the European Union and the Schengen Agreement, which governs its visa policies. No visa is required for citizens of other EU member states, and those of nations with whom the European Union has special treaties. There are no border controls between Spain and other Schengen Agreement nations, making travel less complicated.
As of May 2004 citizens of the following countries do not need a visa for entry into Spain. Note that citizens of these countries (except EU nationals) must not stay longer than three months in any 180 day period in any country covered by the Schengen Agreement and they and must not work in Spain: Andorra, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bermuda, Bolivia, Brazil, Brunei, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, El Salvador, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Guatemala, Honduras, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macao, Malaysia, Malta, Mexico, Monaco, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Netherlands, Norway, Panama, Paraguay, Poland, Portugal, Romania, San Marino, Sweden, Switzerland, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, South Korea, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay, Vatican City and Venezuela.
Talk
Unsurprisingly, the official and universal language used in Spain is Spanish (espaņol, castellano), but it's more complicated than that, as it differs in pronunciation and other details. It is part of the Romance family of languages (which together with Portuguese, Italian, French, and Romanian constitutes one of the main branches of that family), and is more properly called Castilian (castellano).
However, there are a number of languages - Catalan, Basque, Galician, Asturian, Valencian, Balear, etc - spoken in various parts of Spain. Some of these languages are dominant in their respective regions, and following their legalization in the 1978 constitution, they are co-official with Castilian. Except Basque (whose origin is still discussed) the languages of the Iberian Peninsula are all associated with the Romance family of languages and are fairly easy to pick up if you know Castilian well. Learning a little of the local languages where you will be traveling will help endear you to the locals.
In addition to the native languages, English or French are commonly studied in school. If you are visiting a touristic area you will find people who are fluent in several languages. You won't be so lucky in other places as most Spaniards speak English rather poorly. Your best bets are young urban people. Speak slowly, use simple words and don't hesitate to use gestures or a notebook to be understood. Chances are people will understand words more easily if you write them down.
International access code for Spain is +34
Money
Euro: Spain is part of the European Union and the Eurozone; as such it replaced Spanish Pesetas with the Euro (symbol: €) in the year 2002. Since it has been only a few years since the introduction of Euro cash, a few people will still use the old national currency conversion. For example, it is entirely possible that a Spaniard would still refer to pesetas (166,386 pts = 1 €, 1.000 pts = 6 €) to convert into Euros later. This is much due to the huge presence of peseta, and "her" many nicknames in colloquial Spanish.
Cash euro: €500 banknotes are not accepted in many stores; always have alternative banknotes.
Business hours
Most shops and public offices close from 1:30pm to 4:30pm or 5pm, excluding those located in large malls or belonging to big stores. If you plan to spend whole day in shopping, a closed shop should remind it's also time for your own lunch. And when you finish your lunch, some shops will be likely open again.