Spain is one of the most popular tourism destinations in the world with more than 50 million visitors every year. Rich history, amazing architecture, more than 300 days of sunshine, fabulous landscapes, golden sandy beaches, crystal water, sports activities like golf, windsurfing, skydiving, paragliding and one of the most favorable climates in the world makes Spain the top place for vacation, leisure and living.

 

Country details

Territory: 504,782 square kilometers. Population: 40,491,052 residents, according to 2008 est. Capital city: Madrid, with 3,200,000 inhabitants. Larger cities: Barcelona, Valencia, Sevilla, Bilbao, M?laga. Airports: Spain has more than 25 international airports. Monetary unit: euro (EUR). Climate: temperate; clear, hot summers in interior, more moderate and cloudy along coast; cloudy, cold winters in interior, partly cloudy and cool along coast.

Relief: Flat to dissected plateau surrounded by rugged hills; Pyrenees in north. Highest point - Pico de Teide (Tenerife) on Canary Islands 3,718 m. Border countries: Andorra 63.7 km, France 623 km, Gibraltar 1.2 km, Portugal 1,214 km, Morocco (Ceuta) 6.3 km, Morocco (Melilla) 9.6 km Water boundaries: the Mediterranean Sea on the south and east from Gibraltar to the French border; and the Atlantic Ocean on the northwest and southwest - in the south as the Gulf of Cadiz and in the north as the Bay of Biscay. Coastline 4,964 km.

 

Location The Kingdom of Spain is situated in the southwest of Europe and covers area of more than 500 000 square kilometers. Spain has very favorable geo-strategic position for relationships with EMEA region (Europe, Middle East and Africa).

Country profile

The Kingdom of Spain is home to 40,491,052 residents, according to July 2008 estimates from the CIA World Factbook. The population was estimated to be increasing at a rate 0.096 % per year Spanish is the official language of the country and Aranese, Catalan, Galician, Basque are official regionally languages. The vast majority of the population is Roman Catholic (99 %).
Spain is a parliamentary monarchy, with a hereditary monarch and a bicameral parliament. Head of the state is King Juan Carlos I. The President of the government is José Luis Rodr?guez Zapatero reelected in April of 2008. The President is proposed by the monarch and elected by the National Assembly; the President presides at Council of Ministers. Spain has 17 autonomous communities (comunidades autónomas) and 2 autonomous cities (ciudades autónomas) - Ceuta and Melilla. Administratively Spain is divided into 50 provinces.

 

Spain's economy

The Spanish economy boomed from 1986 to 1990 averaging 5% annual growth. After a European-wide recession in the early 1990s, the Spanish economy resumed moderate growth starting in 1994. Spain's mixed capitalist economy supports a GDP that on a per capita basis is equal to that of the leading West European economies. The center-right government of former President Jose Maria AZNAR successfully worked to gain admission to the first group of countries launching the European single currency (the euro) on 1 January 1999. The AZNAR administration continued to advocate liberalization, privatization, and deregulation of the economy and introduced some tax reforms to that end. Unemployment fell steadily under the AZNAR administration but remains high at 7.6%. Growth averaging more than 3% annually during 2003-07 was satisfactory given the background of a faltering European economy. The Socialist president, RODRIGUEZ ZAPATERO, has made mixed progress in carrying out key structural reforms, which need to be accelerated and deepened to sustain Spain's economic growth. Despite the economy's relative solid footing, significant downside risks remain including Spain's continued loss of competitiveness, the potential for a housing market collapse, the country's changing demographic profile, and a decline in EU structural funds.

Spain is one of the top tourism destinations in the world with more than 50 million foreign visitors each year. Tourism is the second largest industry in Spain and provides around 11 % of country’s GDP. The country offers a wide variety of landscapes, activities and entertainments. The most popular place for tourists is Barcelona. The city is famous by amazing architecture, many monuments from different stages of history and great number of museums. Barcelona enjoys a mild climate all the year with average temperature of 25oC in the summer and 10oC in winter. The largest city and the capital of Spain is Madrid with more than 3 million inhabitants. The city also is the seat to the Spanish government institutions and to the main Spain’s companies. Madrid is also famous for its nightlife with nightclubs and dances all night long.

Spain is attracting tourist with lots of sunshine days, beaches, golf courses and many other tourists’ destinations. One of the most popular regions is Andalusia in the south of Spain. Andalusia offers great places to stay like Almeria and Cabo de Gata at the Mediterranean coast. In addition, favorite places are Granada, Costa del Sol and of course the birth place of Picasso – Malaga.  

The Kingdom of Spain has two groups of islands – Balearic Islands and Canary Islands. The most popular and the most developed islands are Majorca and Ibiza from Balearic group, Gran Canaria, Tenerife and La Palma of Canary Islands group.

 

Real estate market

Spain was booming market in the past decade. Since 1998, property prices were going up more than 10 % each year, but in 2007, the Spanish market started to cool and now is in Freefall. Despite the crisis Spain remains one of the most popular places to live and buy property abroad.

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Purchasing real estate

There are no restrictions on foreigners buying property in Spain, however all foreigners who want to buy property in Spain must apply to NEI number (Numero de Identificación de Extranjeros). This is your personal tax number that must appear on all issued documents.

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