Although the prices are still dropping, the bargains are drying up. One exclusion to the lowering of property prices is golf properties. They have held their prices and are hard to obtain.  I was surprised to find that properties in Vistabella Golf where in fact priced very low. Detached Villas three bedroom two bathroom from less than £130,000. Very reasonably priced for golf properties of such a high standard of finish.

 Vistabella Golf is in between several small villages and just 20 minutes to a selection of white sandy beaches, shops, bars, restaurants and chemists are a short walking distance.  The club has a top quality driving range , paddle tennis courts and  bowling.

The course is open all the year round and welcomes guests and members alike.
Villa owners have discounted prices and the first years golf for free.

Paramount Theme Park has now started to being built. On my next blog will be lots more information of one of the largest theme parks in Europe.

The ladies and gents were dressed up in typical Spanish costumes full of colour and very pretty. The gents wear mainly black and grey outfits. Good fun was had by all and the fiesta lasted 4 days and nights, finishing with the usual large fireworks display.

Spain is a religious country and the Spanish folks take it very seriously Yesterday I was asked by our very good friends to film part of the first communion of Luis who was born in the UK but has lived in Spain most of his life. Luis and his two younger brothers speak Spanish as well as English.

Hey they even look Spanish and have a great life here with all their Spanish school friends.  Luis was the only non Spanish boy in his class going through his first Holy Communion. I gladly agreed to record the ceremony as Luis is our God Child along with his two brothers. Their grandad (Gary) promised to treat me to a big plate of chips after the mass, which he did. Thanks Gary. Nanna Carol stole a lot of my chips (bad girl).

Luis other two grandparents (Eileen and Bruno) could not come over for the ceremony as his grandpa could not travel due to illness. Get well soon Bruno. Here is a short video of the ceremony and the Communion video will be shown next week

100th Blog today Yes it’s my one hundredth blog today after just starting to blog on the 19th September 2011 just 8 months ago.  I started without a clue how to do blogging or designing a blog, without any programing knowledge of any kind and without any ideas what I was going to write.  NOW I  know what to write and how to blog so it can only get better.
I have kept it going producing the blog, producing videos, adding photographs etc without any monitory gain. It has been a long learning curve and a lot of travelling to record the videos for the blog, but it was worth it. Heres to the next 100 blogs.

How about the viewers over 5000 I am told by Google. What would you like to say preferably about Spain. Any ideas or suggestions. Would you like to write something for the blog. I can’t pay you but will acknowledge your name if you wish.

Coming soon will be a video on Granada which I have been told is one of the most beautiful cities in the world. The caves at Busot, The colourful towns of Javea,  Altea and Denia.

The waterfalls at Algar, more fiestas, more Spanish people and interviews from ex pats staying in Spain and the latest interesting news from Spain.
So keep on looking me up and register if you want me to let you know when a new blog has been added to the site.

On a finishing note 52 students from my Spanish language school here in Crevillent go to Glasgow for a four-day visit. Not many of them can speak English, none of them speak Glasweigian. Good luck to them all and have a great time.

My NEW introduction to Harry in Spain videos.

See you soon

Harry

My free e-book with lots of information on holidaying in Spain and moving to Spain to reside.  (please e-mail me for your free copy)  harry@perspective-espana.com

Good morning everyone it’s going to be a lovely day here in the Costa Blanca, not a cloud in sight and the forecast is the same for the rest of the week with the temperature climbing into the high twenties and perhaps the thirties. What is so special about Spain? I can not put into words what is special about Spain, so I edited a short 4 minute video showing what goes on in Spain. The fiestas, fun, happiness, good food, weather, colourful, friendly, health and the 320 days of sun on average every year.

Coming on holiday? coming to stay permanently?  whatever,  you will love it, the climate, the people, the fab beaches and the life style it’s all worth a visit.

I will continue to bring you news on what Spain is like through my eyes as an ex-pat. The adventures and misadventures of my life in Spain. The places I visit, the life in Spain as I see it, good and bad. Keep watching and please send me your comments good and bad. Coming to Spain on holiday or thinking of residing in Spain?  Soon I will be giving away a free e-book on Information on Spain. But first you will need to send me your e-mail address ( I will not give it to anyone). As soon as it is ready I will   e-mail you it free of charge. e-mail me at harry@perspective-espana.com

Please note I allow companies and the public to use my videos but only if they ask permission and give me an acknowledgement. Some people have done so without permission. The music on these videos are copyright which I have paid for or have permission to use. Copying without permission is breaking copyright and is a criminal offence worldwide.
Please just drop me a note for permission. It’s free if you ask.

This was the start of a long relationship with making videos both amateur and professional. It was early days then with editing slow and painfully boring. I then went in a long learning curve with Betamax the Sony format, super 8 video, super VHS, Beta-cam and now full digital high definition. 

Editing is very easy and quick and the quality is fantastic.Video has changed so much since I started all those years ago. Who would have thought back then that people would go about with a mobile phone in their pocket or handbag that they could also take good photographs with?  I certainly did not. Now we have the iPad and I stupidly sometimes take video with my new iPad 3  I must look like a prat, holding up my tablet to take photos and videos. The quality is excellent but nearly impossible to hold steady. Yes everything has changed now,  but all these years later I still love taking photographs and videos for this blog and I am able to send them out by internet the same day now that’s progress for you.

Below is a short video showing how lovely Spanish flowers and fruits look even in the winter. I wish I knew the names of them but unfortunately I don’t (sorry). They smell and look lovely who knows you might be able to see them in 4D in the near future. I look forward to it and all the other advances coming our way soon.

This is a world of fast progress, can we afford it, that is the problem. I can always dream as Margaret keeps telling me she is going to win the Euro Lottery. Ha ha and pigs can fly?

The Costa Blanca is the most visited region of Spain for various reasons.·  Alicante and Murcia airports receive daily flights from most parts of the UK.
All budget airlines have the Costa Blanca as their main Spanish destination.·It takes less than three hours to get here, the flights are daily and it is ideal for long weekends.
Hugh potential for residents when their dream home is less than three hours away.
Over 350,000 ex-pats have chosen the Costa Blanca as their permanent residence.
The cost of living is a lot cheaper.
 The Costa Blanca is regarded as one of the healthiest places in the world to live.
This is due to the good food. the red wine and the salt lakes some of which are pink and produce chemicals which rise into the air and are good for many types of arthritis.

The Costa Blanca is the second most visited place in the world after Florida. It is known as the California of Europe, It’s infrastructure of roads, hospitals and healthcare services are second to no one. Millions of tourist who come every year can’t be wrong. The Spanish people are very friendly and the food is not only cheap but of excellent quality. Most of the beaches have the blue flag status showing how high a quality the beach is. The English language is spoken in most shops, restaurants and banks.

And finally      The weather, 320 days of sunshine a year, yes lots of sun all the year round and no more weeks on end of rain, frost, de icing car windows and snow and also lots of things I am not allowed to say here.  We do miss our family’s and the other comforts we were used to but the main important difference here is our health.
The health system here is very good and the lifestyle is also very good. You get used to the laid back life the Spanish people lead and the stress free atmosphere around you is good for your health as well. There are lots of other things that made us decide on Spain,  The property is much cheaper and running costs are low.
The Spanish are proud of their country and rightly so. They have a proud history and hold fiestas all over Spain to celebrate their history as well as their patron saints. Every week somewhere in Spain there is a fiesta.

Do we have any regrets? of course we do but the benefits far out-weigh the regrets. Did we make the right decision? Yes we did and we would do the same again. Perhaps with hindsight differently and with more studying and knowledge, especially speaking the language.  I just wish I made more of an effort to learn to speak Spanish. Margaret speaks Spanish very good now and in fact teaches the Spanish language to others.  You can only decide yourself what to do, but life here is a lot better than in the UK that’s for sure. We have many more friends here of all nationalities than we had in the UK.  We still miss Scotland of course and as I mentioned our families. When they visit us here we spend more quality time with them and enjoy their company and hopefully they feel the same when they are here.  Why Spain?
Above is some of the reasons why we choose Spain,  Have a great day.

Harry

Please feel free to ask us information on Spain for holidays or thinking of becoming residents, it’s not that difficult.  harry@perspective-espana.com

Fiestas don’t come much bigger, more colourful or much louder than the Moors and Christians festival held in Alcoy,  Spain. It is held over three days and nights in April.

More than a hundred bands take part all being cheered and applauded and covered with confetti,  thrown from the buildings by thousands of onlookers from all over Europe. The only part I did not like was the queues of traffic when you arrive at Alcoy.  Park anywhere you can we were told by the very obliging policeman. Its all uphill or downhill depending which way you are going, but it’s worth it. Unfortunately I was with my wife and our friends Maurice and Ann who all walk a lot and are very fit . Me?  I am unfit and was in agony for three days after the fiesta, did I say it was worth it?  Next time training before going to a town like Alcoy which is all built on hills is a must.

The summer has arrived and it’s warm, well what did you expect it’s SPAIN you know. From now on it just get’s warmer and warmer. The flowers are out, the palm trees are looking good and everyones gone to the beach. Not me I will stay at the pool and chill out before the tourist come.

The water in the pool is getting warmer to but still not warm enough for me, but lots of people are going for a dip, cold or not. These brave souls dared it and followed young Drew into the pool.  Drew has moved over to Spain to stay with his grandpa and Sarah. He started school just on Wednesday and already three days later he has picked up a lot of Spanish words. Kids just say it as they hear it and don’t question it. I was amazed how much Spanish he has picked up at school. He already has made some Spanish friends. Last Wedensday morning he did not know any Spanish. Now he just loves it here with his new friends and of course the sun helps.

BBQs have already started and the smell from our Spanish nieghbours is just to die for. A typical BBQ for the Spanish is wood burnt for hours and the cinders used to cook the food which is mainly fish, chicken and paela. Plenty of beer, sangria and water plus lots of salads, which are so fresh and crispy it makes you wonder why our salads in the UK are so bland.
What about the Brits, well we eat hamburgers of course and chicken with various other meats on skewers.  The only thing in common is the beer. (lots of it)

It does rain here now and again and the other day we saw one months rain come down in an hour. It was amazing and finished with two beautiful rainbows, one in top of the other and the sun came out. Thats probably the last rain we will see for quite a while. The odd shower of course as the farmers need some rain to keep us all supplied with the lovely fresh salads and other vegtables.

Alicante marina is one of the largest in Spain with boats costing millions of euros. The marina has many famous restaurants and places of entertainment all the year round.
If you visit Spain be sure to visit Alicante, it is worth viewing.

HAPPY EASTER  ( Semana Santa)

Easter is celebrated with processions and fiestas and is the biggest religious festival in Spain. Thousands take part over the week of Easter with not an Easter egg in sight.
Chocolate is not on the agenda nor rolling eggs. The families all go to church at least once each day in their best clothes. On the Sunday as well as parades and processions the Spanish people  have a large family meal. Semana Santa is the Spanish name for Easter and means ‘Holy Week’. As the name implies, Semana Santa in Spain is longer than our Easter. In fact, it goes on for longer than a week.

Between the crucifixion of Christ, the inquisitions that made Spain a nearly pure Catholic nation, revolutions and the nation’s iconic bull fights, no doubt remains that the dry plains of the Iberian peninsula have been liberally irrigated with blood through the centuries. A few hours strolling through the galleries of the Prado in downtown Madrid further confirmed the passion of the nation and the Christ story. Huge oil paintings by Goya and other European masters captured some of the dynamic stories of the New Testament of the Bible in graphic detail. They also mixed those stories with important chapters in Spanish history.

It’s solemn, colourful, it’s celebrating the death and resurrection of Christ, It’s an occasion not to be missed if you are in Spain at this time of the year. Be warned though it is very busy and hotels can be fully booked. It is worth it to see and admire the processions, both during the day and candle lit at night.

Have a Happy and Peaceful Easter no matter where you are in the World and may your God be good to you.

When the weather is nice but not too warm you always get some gardening done and yesterday it was haircut day for the palm trees. I hate doing the trimming of palm trees, you get more cuts and bruises doing this than if you fell off a bike.  Today we are walking wounded, cuts, scratches, thorns stuck in your hands and face. It has to be done and it’s a horrible job. No matter what kind of gloves you wear they get you, it’s as if they don’t like getting cut back and they attack you.  I have spoken to many gardeners stating it must be nice to be a gardener in this country due to the nice weather. Rubbish they tell me. Every plant here has huge thorns and a lot of them are poisoness.  Well that’s it done for another year, all we have to do is keep using tea tree oil to take down the swelling oops.
You would not believe it, you could not see the bottom of the trees for palm leaves and we had to cut them all.  Now for the other jaggies, bougainevilla and yucca trees, Oh no.
NEWS FROM SPAIN.
The new Corvera airport due to open next month has been put back a year due to some technical difficulties . Well over 1000 to be exact. Will it ever open? It’s called manana, any day but today but definitely not tomorrow. How about the new terminal at Alicante airport. It opened on time, how did they do it?  They did not tell anyone the opening date so they could not be late. It’s a huge terminal, spacious and nearly all glass.
£ vs €  Yes the pound is getting stronger against the euro and with VAT being reduced by half for new houses and house prices at their lowest in ten years,  it is a good time to invest in property in Spain.  New property two bedrooms on a superb golf course just £58.000. Wish I had some spare cash as the new theme park will open and you could rent it out all the year round for a good price. Sound investment.

Habla Espanol, do you speak Spanish. I have been here over 9 years now and I still don’t speak very good Spanish.. Margaret my wife speaks Spanish very good and in fact teaches it to ex-pats.It is a very difficult language to learn with so many verbs and male and female words to learn as well. The Spanish speak very fast and sometimes shorten their words as well. But it is so important to learn the basics if you are staying here permanently. Although a large number of Spanish people speak English, there are still a lot who don’t and if you go inland most do not speak any English at all.  I am still taking Spanish lessons and slowly but surely my Spanish is getting better. (muy bien)
Below Margaret preparing for her next pupils coming.
iPad and me.
I love it Margaret said to me she is expecting me to take it to bed with me,ha ha. Don’t tempt me as the iPad must be the gadget of the century. I read the newspapers with it, my magazines which used to cost me 12€ now cost me 2.99€ and they are interactive as well. This blog for instance the iPad is used for photos and information I need for the editing of it. Everyone wants to know the weather, the iPad gives me the latest weather here in Spain and in the UK. I also play the odd game of chess and that’s not including watching movies and listening to music.  The pictures are edited with Adobe I Touch which cost me only 6.99€, the Photoshop version is over £695 now it is saving me money. Some of it I can’t work out yet but it is a big learning curve.
Do I recomend the iPad?  YES YES YES.

It is late March and already the plants are flowering, this photograph was taken on the 30th March 2012 in my garden, it is one of many plants stating to flower. There are not many flowering plants with such beauty.

Robyn my 14-year-old granddaughter who is 5′ 8 inches tall and a very good dancer, choreographed her School dance routine to dance against other schools in the region.
As you can gather this is not her normal dress-ware or makeup, came straight from the competition to announce they won the championship for the second time in a row. Her mum and dad were proud of her and I just had to get my picture taken with her as we were in Scotland at the time of the competition.  Note I did not ask her to bend to hide how tall she was. Next time I will be looking up at Robyn, her brother Adam who is twelve is already taller than me. But guess what their dad is 6′ 5 inches tall, I am just a small guy.
New iPad.  Well I have ben playing with the new iPad for two weeks now and I am still learning and struggling with some items. I love it to bits but why do Apple not give you an instruction manual with it?  It’s easy they say (who are they kidding) I have yet to find out an easy way to transfer my videos from my PC to the iPad. (help please) Photographs are easy and they look great on the iPad, especially the new one with the high quality graphics and Retina display.  Four times the pixels as the previous iPad means that there is much to be gained from apps moving to high-resolution art and doing what they can to take advantage of the upgraded display..  It also has a new camera for taking photographs direct.  It has not arrived in Spain as yet so all the Spanish students in my Spanish class could not wait to try it. To be fair there is not much between the and the new iPad.  Although the big announcement at the Apple event  was the new iPad 2. Details also dropped about the third generation Apple TV. Highlights of the latest version of the tiny media box include a streamlined user interface and full support for 1080p streaming. iCloud also plays a part with Photostream and Movies. Adam my grandson purchased an Apple TV and set it up. It was incredible and shown on a 50 inch plasma was something else. He is a big gamer and seeing his Apple TV and X Box is amazing. That must be next on my shopping list. Next Christmas can’t come soon enough.

We had a great night there and we met a few of our neighbours at the restaurant.
We have been before and we will certainley go back again. 10 out of ten for food and prices. The retaurant was very busy and it was out of season as well.

Well the clocks went forward last night and the nights will be longer now. It just got dark at 9pm and with a beautiful skyline. The summer is definitely coming and even in the UK the weather has been good. The bird of paradise flowers are now blooming and everyone is looking forward to a nice summer.  I am sure we will not be disappointed, especially here in Spain. I hope you all had a nice weekend.

We found out it is far more expensive to eat out in Glasgow than here in Spain. Even a small English breakfast in Asda supermarkets is £3.60 (and I mean small) nearly double what it cost here.

Restaurants are much more expensive for eating out including Chinese, Indian, Italian and a fish supper £8.00. Most of the time we ate in with my daughter and her family and she is an excellent cook. Taties and mince to die for.

Two weeks later and I am back in Spain to the oddest weather I have seen. High temperatures and sun one day, the next cold and a lot of rain. This has been an odd time of the year as far as weather goes. We are glad to be back and our friends Maurice and Ann met us at the airport all tanned (where did you get that tan from)  obviously it was very warm when we were away. Next stop home and se how our dog Saturn was, this is the first time we have been away so long, how would he react?  We arrived and he was nowhere to be seen, I called out his name and he came running from his kennel were he was sleeping and boy was he excited. He tried his best to jump over the 8 foot gate and he howled like a baby. It is so nice to see you were missed. Our Spanish neighbours played and fed him every day but he obviously missed us.

What about the Apple stores, queues mile long waiting for the new iPad ?
I just visited the local Curry’s store walked in to the shop and with no waiting at all got my new iPad which my children had given me money at Christmas to buy when it arrived and guess what this blog was produced with my iPad. Just like having Christmas all over again. Now you can’t get it out of my hands. It also teaches me Spanish, lets me get my e-mail on the move and edit my videos and photographs. I love it (don’t let the wife know this)

Will let you know soon what I think about the software for my new iPad and more information on what’s going on in Spain.

A town and municipality in the Alicante province of Spain, Crevillente is well known for the production of carpets and esparto grass mats, the town has a population of around 26,000 (2003) and a municipal area of 103.30 square kilometres. Located to the west of Elche (the city of palms), Crevillente is sandwiched between the El Hondo Nature Reserve and the Sierra de Crevillente mountains.
These days a busy industrial town, Crevillente was settled as long ago as the Paleolithic Era. Later settlements by the Iberians were further extended and improved by the Romans, when they arrived in Spain. During the Arab conquest of the Iberian Peninsular, the town was known as Qirbilyan, and the occupying Moors improved the irrigation of the area using techniques brought from the deserts of North Africa, enabling crops to be grown and formerly unusable land to be cultivated.
Reconquered by the Christian forces of Jaime I in 1244, Crevillente was subject to numerous skirmishes and exchanges over its control. Many of its former Muslim occupants, stayed on in the town after the reconquest until they were finally expelled in 1609, resulting in a serious decline in the town’s population.
The carpet industry began in the 18th century, early carpets were made from esparto grass and called Spanish Carpets, many of these were exported for use abroad, even from these early days.

Though it is mostly a modern industrial town, Crevillente still has old sections, with narrow winding streets, some with flat-roofed buildings dating from the times of the Moors, also worth a look in the town is the Ayuntamiento (Town Hall) and the Nuestra Señora de Belen church.

Close to Crevillente you will find the El Hondo nature reserve and reservoir, an important wetland area which is used by a variety of migratory birds, among the species that can be seen are flamingos and imperial herons. In the waters you may find carp, eel, mosquitofish, toothcarp and grey mullet. Apart from carpets, the area produces almonds, olives and citrus fruit.
Crevillente (Crevillent) is located on the N-340 near to the A-7 motorway, it is about 25 kilometres from Alicante.

Hasta Luego

What about Barcelona and that man Messi. He scored 5 goals and the total aggregate scores were 10-2. What a score for the Spanish against good quality opposition from Germany in the European Championship.  The man is a genius but he is from Argentina not Spain. The game was all one-sided but good to watch form a neutral point of view.
Spain has many great teams, Real Madrid who are top of the league, Valencia etc.

Spain has many great sports competitors at present in a lot of sports, you all will have heard of Rafael Nadal, they also have many great golfers and of course the football world champions, Spain. The country is just a residence for world champion sportsmen and women. Perhaps it’s the weather all that 320 days a year sunshine and lovely beaches.

Have a great weekend and enjoy your new iPad if you managed to get your hands on one.

Hasta Luego

I want one and I am determined to get one, it will help me gather information for the blog and store details and pictures of Spain and whats going on in Spain. Ha ha I can hear my wife saying who are you kidding, it’s just a toy and any excuse will do as you want one. Probably right but it will help the business, help me with my Spanish, help me communicate with my colleagues and of course my family whom some have an iPad 2.

Well today at 5-45 GMT we will all know what we have been waiting for and then there is the wait for the delivery time.  Exciting times with the technology getting better and better all the time. I am typing this out with an  iPad 2 belonging to my grandson as he is at school.  He gave me permission honest. its great fun as well, I have had a Spanish lesson on it already and read the newspapers. Yes you can do these on your computer but it is much easier on an iPad tablet with no messy cables and it just sits on your lap.

Tomorrow morning I will upload all the details and photographs if I can and of course prices.  I am just like a little kid at Christmas and can’t wait. If anyone else is ordering an iPad 3 please let me know.

What about Spain. It is quiet and everyone is counting down the days till the big fiestas (Semana Santa) the Easter religious celebrations.  They are big and solomn parades, yet still very colourful and everyone joins in from the grannies to the youngest of children.
Watch over the next few weeks for lots of pictures and videos of the parades.

Hasta Luego.

This Picture was taken at 10-30am this morning 2nd March 2012.

We were in Ireland last weekend ( to have a break from the sun) for 5 days visiting my youngest granddaughter and her mum and dad of course. She is 14 months old and we were amazed how much she has grown. She walks, talks and runs if there is something she wants.   By the way she has lots of teeth and you do not want to put your fingers in her mouth as Margaret will tell you.  Why should you try to steal her treat even though it was a piece of paper, naughty Margaret ha ha. She even telephones her mum to tell her she has done the house work, clever girl.
It was a short five day stay and it went in very quickly. It was a joy to have spent some time with Holly and we will hopefully see her again shortly. It is a strange world, my mother was Irish and now I have an Irish granddaughter. I can’t wait till she talks in sentences with an Irish accent plus a bit of Scottish as well.

I was taken to a Gaelic football match and saw MJ, Holly’s dad play. He has been one of the top goalscorers in Ireland for the last few years. Boy is this game fast and physical. There was a few casualties that night and it was a friendly match. You have got to be fit for this game. Michael eats and sleeps pasta. I have never seen anyone eat so much pasta. I suppose it gives him the much-needed energy his body requires.

Now back in Spain and catching up with my e-mails and waiting for the new iPad 3 being released next week.  Thank you Michael, Nicola and Holly for such a wonderful 5 days and thanks to Michael’s family for making us so welcome when we visited them.

Hast Luego

You would have thought I knew a lot more than this, so I started looking for information about Spain and here is just some of the items I discovered. I hope you to can learn a little more about Spain.

Madrid is Spain’s largest city by far, with three million people in the city and another two million in the surrounding urban area (2003). This center of art, culture, nightlife, government and commerce is home to a remarkable variety of people and institutions.
Even with its sprawling size, Madrid is a fine place to visit or study. The city center is easily navigable, very dense, and always bustling. Students need never stray too far beyond the city’s dense center to have a rich and exciting experience in Madrid.
Be warned that Madrid does feel like a big city, complete with all of the traffic and social problems that accompany three million people. Crime, congestion, long trips on the subway, and rude cab drivers are all par for the course. If you want a tame and comfortable experience, avoid Madrid.

What about the rest of Spain?

Official name: The Kingdom of Spain
Capital of Spain: Madrid
Top 3 Largest cities in Spain: Madrid 5.9 million inhabitants, Barcelona 5.3 million inhabitants, Valencia 1.6 million inhabitants.
Population size: 44,7 million in 2006.
Density: 88,39 inhabitants per square kilometer.
Size: 506,000M square meters (Spain is the second largest country in Europe after France).
Mean Altitude: 600 m. (which makes Spain the second highest country in Europe after Switzerland).
Highest Point: Pico de Teide in Tenerife 3,719 m.
Tourism: Over 52 million tourists visit Spain each year, Spain is in the top 3 most visited countries in the world.
Foreigners Living in Spain: officially there were 3.7 million foreign residents in 2005. Independent organisations such as Red Cross put the number at 4.8 million.
Political Structure: Parliamentary monarchy (since 1978).
Regions: Spain is made up of 17 autonomous regions.
Time zone: +1 GMT except Canary Islands +2 GMT.
Currency: The introduction of the Euro in 2002 replaced the former Spanish Peseta.
Economy size: eighth largest economy worldwide with a Gross Domestic Product just over 1 trillion euros.
Labor force: approximately 20 million.
Gross Domestic Product per Capita: €27,767 per year, 25th on world ranking
Religion: approximately 90% of the population are Catholic and there is freedom of religion in Spain.
Measures: Weight measured in kilograms, distances measured by the metric system, temperature measured in degrees Celsius.
Spanish Gastronomy: typical for Spain is its Paella read more about Spain’s Gastronomy in our Spanish Food section.
History: to read extensively about the history of Spain please see the section history of Spain
Electricity: 220volts.
Emergency numbers: They are all toll-free. General emergency services 112. Ambulance 061. Fire service 080. National police 091 (this number is used when there is serious trouble). Municipal police 092. Civil guard 062.
Telephone country code: (00)34
Opening hours: in most of Spain the siesta is honoured, but the hours differ between regions. Stores open around 9am and close around one for the siesta, stores then open again around 5pm. More to the south the the stores open later and therefore the siesta starts around half past 2pm.
Opening hours banks: In general banks are open Monday to Friday from 9am to 2pm and on Saturday until 1pm.
Public transportation: Taking the bus is by far the cheapest way of transportation. You can get a city bus ride for only €0,95 and if you buy a card where you can buy prepaid rides for they are only €0,59. Taking the bus from city to city is far cheaper than travelling by train, e.g., the bus ride of 6 hours from Malaga to Madrid is approximately 20 euros while a train can cost up to an astonishing 150 euros. Taxi’s are reasonably priced; a 5 minute city ride costs around 3 euro.
Tipping: Spanish people aren’t used to big tips, you can just leave a few coins and they are already more than happy with you.
Language: Spanish (Catalan, Valencian, Gallego, Euskera are independent languages spoken in Catalonia, Valencia, Galicia and The Basque Country).

Spain – Largest Cities

Next time we will find out more about places to visit, the citizens of Spain and why so many tourists visit Spain. It is a beautiful country and worth finding out more.