Spain

Official name of country: Kingdom of Spain

Population: 40 million

Capital City: Madrid

Time Difference: Spain is +2 GMT, so it is 6 hours ahead of the east coast and 9 hours ahead of the west coast.

National Anthem: “Royal March”

National Animal: Bull

National Flower: Carnation

National Sport: Soccer

Languages: It is no surprise that the official language of Spain is Spanish! In fact, improving their Spanish language proficiency is usually the main reason students chose to study in Spain. However, there are also a handful of regional languages that are also present in the country. The second most popular language is Catalan and if you study in Barcelona you can be sure you will pick up a few phrases in this romance tongue. Galician is somewhat similar to Portuguese, but it is likely you won’t encounter it unless you are travelling in Galicia in northern Spain. Other smaller groups of languages include Basque, Valencian, Asturian, and Leonese.

Geography: Spain is bordered by France to the northeast and Portugal to the west. The Strait of Gibraltar in the south separates Spain from Morocco. The diverse terrain of the country consists of coastlines, mountains, desserts, and even areas of wetlands. One of the country’s most famed geographic wonders is the Pyrenees Mountain range in the northeast of Spain. Like the terrain, Spain’s climate is also varied throughout the country. The coastal weather of Barcelona is generally pleasant, but is more humid than inland cities. Summers are hot in Madrid and Seville, but thankfully you can always escape to the coast on the weekend! Winters in Spain can be cold with rain and snow mostly falling in the north.

Famous People: Antoni Gaudí (architect), Pablo Picasso (artist), Javier Bardem (actor), Penélope Cruz (actress), Enrique Iglesias (singer), and Miguel de Cervantes (author).

Great Movies: Boca a Boca; 3 días; Los abrazos rotos; Jamon Jamon; The Spirit of the Beehive.