Spain
Top Sights & Landmarks
Background
Spain's powerful world empire of the 16th and 17th centuries ultimately yielded command of the seas to England. Spain remained neutral during both World Wars but suffered through a devastating civil war (1936-39) resulting in a dictatorship. A peaceful transition to democracy after the death of dictator Francisco FRANCO in 1975 and rapid economic modernization after Spain joined the EU in 1986 gave Spain a dynamic and rapidly growing economy. After a severe recession in the wake of the global financial crisis in 2008, Spain has posted solid years of GDP growth above the EU average. Unemployment has fallen but remains high, especially among youth. Spain is the euro-zone's fourth-largest economy. The country has faced increased domestic turmoil in recent years due to the independence movement in its restive Catalonia region.
Location
Southwestern Europe, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, North Atlantic Ocean, Bay of Biscay, and Pyrenees Mountains; southwest of France
Area
Elevation
Detailed Geography Information
Coastline
4,964 km
Geography - note
strategic location along approaches to Strait of Gibraltar; Spain controls a number of territories in northern Morocco, including the enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla and the islands of Penon de Velez de la Gomera, Penon de Alhucemas, and Islas Chafarinas; Spain's Canary Islands are one of four North Atlantic archipelagos that make up Macaronesia; the others are the Azores (Portugal), Madeira (Portugal), and Cabo Verde
Irrigated land
38,012 sq km (2022)
Land boundaries
Major rivers (by length in km)
Tagus river source (shared with Portugal [m]) - 1,006 km note: [s] after country name indicates river source; [m] after country name indicates river mouth
Maritime claims
territorial sea: 12 nm contiguous zone: 24 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm (applies only to the Atlantic Ocean)
Natural hazards
periodic droughts, occasional flooding volcanism: volcanic activity in the Canary Islands, located off Africa's northwest coast; Teide (3,715 m) has been deemed a Decade Volcano by the International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth's Interior, worthy of study due to its explosive history and close proximity to human populations; La Palma (2,426 m) is the most active of the Canary Islands volcanoes; Lanzarote is the only other historically active volcano
Natural resources
Terrain
large, flat to dissected plateau surrounded by rugged hills; Pyrenees Mountains in north
Population & Growth
Age Distribution
Demographic Longevity
Vital Dynamics
Detailed People & Society Information
Alcohol consumption per capita
10.72 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
Currently married women (ages 15-49)
50.2% (2021 est.)
Dependency ratios
total dependency ratio: 51.5 (2025 est.) youth dependency ratio: 19.3 (2025 est.) elderly dependency ratio: 32.3 (2025 est.) potential support ratio: 3.1 (2025 est.)
Education expenditure
4.6% of GDP (2022 est.) 9.9% national budget (2022 est.)
Ethnic groups
Gross reproduction rate
0.65 (2025 est.)
Health expenditure
10.7% of GDP (2021) 15.2% of national budget (2022 est.)
Hospital bed density
2.9 beds/1,000 population (2021 est.)
Infant mortality rate
total: 2.4 deaths/1,000 live births (2025 est.) male: 2.7 deaths/1,000 live births female: 2.1 deaths/1,000 live births
Languages
Literacy
total population: 99.7% (2021 est.) male: 99.8% (2021 est.) female: 99.6% (2021 est.)
Major urban areas - population
6.751 million MADRID (capital), 5.687 million Barcelona, 838,000 Valencia (2023)
Maternal mortality ratio
3 deaths/100,000 live births (2023 est.)
Mother's mean age at first birth
31.2 years (2020 est.)
Nationality
noun: Spaniard(s) adjective: Spanish
Obesity - adult prevalence rate
23.8% (2016)
Physician density
4.29 physicians/1,000 population (2022)
Population distribution
with the notable exception of Madrid, Sevilla, and Zaragoza, the largest urban agglomerations are found along the Mediterranean and Atlantic coasts; numerous smaller cities are spread throughout the interior; very dense settlement around the capital of Madrid, as well as the port city of Barcelona
Refugees and internally displaced persons
Religions
School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education)
total: 18 years (2023 est.) male: 17 years (2023 est.) female: 18 years (2023 est.)
Sex ratio
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female 0-14 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.76 male(s)/female total population: 0.95 male(s)/female (2024 est.)
Tobacco use
total: 23.9% (2025 est.) male: 25.8% (2025 est.) female: 22% (2025 est.)
Climate & Issues
temperate; clear, hot summers in interior, more moderate and cloudy along coast; cloudy, cold winters in interior, partly cloudy and cool along coast
Land Cover
Air & Carbon Emissions
Water Resources & Use
Detailed Environmental Information
Geoparks
total global geoparks and regional networks: 18 (2025) global geoparks and regional networks: Basque Coast UNESCO; Cabo de Gata-Níjar; Cabo Ortegal; Calatrava Volcanoes. Ciudad Real; Central Catalonia; Costa Quebrada; Courel Mountains; El Hierro; Granada; Lanzarote and Chinijo Islands; Las Loras; Maestrazgo; Molina-Alto; Origens; Sierra Norte de Sevilla; Sierras Subbéticas; Sobrarbe-Pirineos: Villuercas Ibores Jara (2025)
International environmental agreements
Urbanization
urban population: 81.6% of total population (2023) rate of urbanization: 0.24% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.) note: data include Canary Islands, Ceuta, and Melilla
Waste and recycling
municipal solid waste generated annually: 22.409 million tons (2024 est.) percent of municipal solid waste recycled: 27.7% (2022 est.)
Capital & State Profile
Executive Branch
Legislative Branch
National Identity & Symbols
three horizontal bands of red (top), yellow (double-width), and red, with the national coat of arms on the left side of the yellow band; the coat of arms shows the emblems of the area's former kingdoms (clockwise from upper left: Castile, Leon, Navarre, and Aragon), which also used red and yellow as their colors; the stylized pomegranate at the bottom of the shield represents Granada; the two columns represent the Pillars of Hercules, which are promontories (Gibraltar and Ceuta) on the Strait of Gibraltar; a red scroll bears the imperial motto of "Plus Ultra" (further beyond), referring to Spanish lands outside Europe
Detailed Government Information
Administrative divisions
17 autonomous communities (comunidades autonomas, singular - comunidad autonoma) and 2 autonomous cities* (ciudades autonomas, singular - ciudad autonoma); Andalucia; Aragon; Asturias; Canarias (Canary Islands); Cantabria; Castilla-La Mancha; Castilla-Leon; Cataluña (Castilian), Catalunya (Catalan), Catalonha (Aranese) [Catalonia]; Ceuta*; Comunidad Valenciana (Castilian), Comunitat Valenciana (Valencian) [Valencian Community]; Extremadura; Galicia; Illes Baleares (Balearic Islands); La Rioja; Madrid; Melilla*; Murcia; Navarra (Castilian), Nafarroa (Basque) [Navarre]; Pais Vasco (Castilian), Euskadi (Basque) [Basque Country] note: Spain administers the autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla and the three small islands of Islas Chafarinas, Peñón de Alhucemas, and Peñón de Velez de la Gomera, which are all located along the coast of Morocco; they are collectively referred to as Places of Sovereignty (Plazas de Soberania)
Citizenship
citizenship by birth: no citizenship by descent only: at least one parent must be a citizen of Spain dual citizenship recognized: only with select Latin American countries residency requirement for naturalization: 10 years for persons with no ties to Spain
Constitution
history: several previous; latest approved by the General Courts 31 October 1978, passed by referendum 6 December 1978, signed by the king 27 December 1978, effective 29 December 1978 amendment process: proposed by the government, by the General Courts (the Congress or the Senate), or by the self-governing communities submitted through the government; passage requires three-fifths majority vote by both houses and passage by referendum if requested by one tenth of the members of either house; proposals disapproved by both houses are submitted to a joint committee, which submits an agreed upon text for another vote; passage requires two-thirds majority vote in Congress and simple majority vote in the Senate
Country name
conventional long form: Kingdom of Spain conventional short form: Spain local long form: Reino de España local short form: España etymology: derivation of the name España is uncertain; the Basque words ezpain or espan ("edge," as in a river bank) are possible sources, or the Punic word span, meaning "rabbit;" some academics tie it to the god Hesperus from Greco-Roman mythology
International law organization participation
accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations; accepts ICCt jurisdiction
International organization participation
Judicial branch
highest court(s): Supreme Court or Tribunal Supremo (consists of the court president and organized into the Civil Room, with a president and 9 judges; the Penal Room, with a president and 14 judges; the Administrative Room, with a president and 32 judges; the Social Room, with a president and 12 judges; and the Military Room, with a president and 7 judges); Constitutional Court or Tribunal Constitucional de Espana (consists of 12 judges) judge selection and term of office: Supreme Court judges appointed by the monarch from candidates proposed by the General Council of the Judiciary Power, a 20-member governing board chaired by the monarch; judges can serve until age 70; Constitutional Court judges nominated by the National Assembly, executive branch, and the General Council of the Judiciary, and appointed by the monarch for 9-year terms subordinate courts: National High Court; High Courts of Justice (in each of the autonomous communities); provincial courts; courts of first instance
Legal system
civil law system with regional variations
National heritage
total World Heritage Sites: 50 (44 cultural, 4 natural, 2 mixed) selected World Heritage Site locales: Cave of Altamira and Paleolithic Cave Art of Northern Spain (c); Works of Antoni Gaudí (c); Santiago de Compostela (Old Town) (c); Historic City of Toledo (c); Archaeological Ensemble of Mérida (c); Tower of Hercules (c); Doñana National Park (n); Pyrénées - Mont Perdu (m); Alhambra, Generalife, and Albayzín in Granada (c); Old City of Salamanca (c); Teide National Park (n); Historic Walled Town of Cuenca (c); Old Town of Segovia and its Aqueduct (c); Historic Cordoba (c); Royal Site of Saint Lorenzo de El Escorial (c); Cathedral, Alcázar, and Archivo de Indias in Seville
Political parties
Asturias Forum or FAC Basque Country Unite (Euskal Herria Bildu) or EH Bildu (coalition of 4 Basque pro-independence parties) Basque Nationalist Party or PNV or EAJ Canarian Coalition or CC (coalition of 5 parties) Ciudadanos Party (Citizens Party) or Cs Compromis - Compromise Coalition Navarrese People's Union or UPN Together for Catalonia or Junts People's Party or PP Republican Left of Catalonia or ERC Spanish Socialist Workers Party or PSOE Teruel Existe or TE Unidas (Unite) or Sumar (electoral coalition formed in March 2022) (formerly Unidas Podemos or UP) Vox or VOX
Suffrage
18 years of age; universal
Economic Overview
high-income, core-EU and eurozone economy; strong growth driven by public consumption, tourism, and other service exports; tight labor market despite high structural unemployment; efforts to narrow persistent fiscal deficits through tax and spending measures; high but declining unemployment supported by job growth and immigration
Size & Performance
GDP Sector Breakdown
Trade Balance
Budget Balance
Export Profile
Top Export Partners
Major Export Commodities
Labor & Employment
Income Inequality
Family Income / Consumption Share
Detailed Economic Data
Agricultural products
Current account balance
$52.182 billion (2024 est.) $43.012 billion (2023 est.) $4.482 billion (2022 est.) note: balance of payments - net trade and primary/secondary income in current dollars
Exchange rates
euros (EUR) per US dollar - Exchange rates: 0.924 (2024 est.) 0.925 (2023 est.) 0.95 (2022 est.) 0.845 (2021 est.) 0.876 (2020 est.)
GDP - composition, by end use
Industrial production growth rate
2.6% (2024 est.) note: annual % change in industrial value added based on constant local currency
Industries
Inflation rate (consumer prices)
2.8% (2024 est.) 3.5% (2023 est.) 8.4% (2022 est.) note: annual % change based on consumer prices
Public debt
107.3% of GDP (2023 est.) note: central government debt as a % of GDP
Remittances
0.4% of GDP (2024 est.) 0.3% of GDP (2023 est.) 0.3% of GDP (2022 est.) note: personal transfers and compensation between resident and non-resident individuals/households/entities
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold
$107.774 billion (2024 est.) $103.089 billion (2023 est.) $92.905 billion (2022 est.) note: holdings of gold (year-end prices)/foreign exchange/special drawing rights in current dollars
Taxes and other revenues
15% (of GDP) (2023 est.) note: central government tax revenue as a % of GDP
Grid Infrastructure
Generation Mix
Fossil Fuels Production
Intensity & Nuclear
Digital Access
Active internet users as a percentage of the total population.
Fixed Broadband
Mobile Cellular
Broadcast Media
Aviation
Railways
Ports & Harbors
Merchant Marine
Military Expenditures
Active Duty Strengths
approximately 120,000 active-duty military personnel; approximately 80,000 Guardia Civil (2025)
Service & Defense Details
Spanish Armed Forces (Fuerzas Armadas de España): Army (Ejército de Tierra), Spanish Navy (Armada Espanola; includes Marine Corps), Air and Space Force (Ejército del Aire y del Espacio), Emergency Response Unit (Unidad Militar de Emergencias); Civil Guard (Guardia Civil) Ministry of the Interior: Spanish National Police (Cuerpo Nacional de Policía, CNP) (2025) note 1: the Civil Guard is a military force with police duties (including coast guard) under both the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of the Interior; it also responds to the needs of the Ministry of Finance; the CNP and the Civil Guard maintain internal security as well as migration and border enforcement under the authority of the Ministry of the Interior; the regional police under the authority of the Catalan and the Basque Country regional governments and municipal police throughout the country also support domestic security note 2: the Emergency Response Unit was established in 2006 as a separate branch of service for responding to natural disasters and providing disaster relief both domestically and abroad; it has personnel from all the other military services note 3: the Royal Guard is an independent joint-service regiment of the military dedicated to the protection of the King and members of the royal family
Spain has up to 3,000 military personnel deployed on 17 missions supporting the EU, NATO, and the UN on four continents, as well as naval missions in the Mediterranean and the seas off the Horn of Africa; its largest deployments are up to 700 troops in Lebanon (UNIFIL) and about 1,700 personnel in Eastern Europe supporting NATO missions in Latvia, Romania, and Slovakia (2025)
the military's inventory is comprised of weapons and equipment that were produced domestically, co-produced with or imported from other European countries, or acquired from the US; key suppliers of major armaments include Germany and the US; Spain's defense industry manufactures land, air, and sea weapons systems and is integrated within the European defense-industrial sector (2025)
the Spanish military has a wide range of responsibilities, including protecting the country’s national interests, sovereignty, and territory, providing support during natural disasters, and fulfilling Spain’s responsibilities to European and international security; it maintains garrisons in the Balearic Islands, the Canary Islands, Ceuta, and Melilla, conducts operations worldwide, and participates in a variety of EU-, NATO-, and UN-led missions; Spain joined NATO in 1982 and is fully integrated into the NATO structure; it routinely conducts exercises with NATO (and EU) partners, and hosts one of NATO’s two combined air operations centers the Spanish military's history goes back to the 13th century; the Army has an infantry regiment, formed in the 13th century, that is considered the oldest still active military unit in the Western world; the Marine Corps, which traces its roots back to 1537, is the oldest naval infantry force in the world; Spain created a Spanish Legion for foreigners in 1920, but early on the Legion was primarily filled by native Spaniards due to difficulties in recruiting foreigners, and most of its foreign members were from the Republic of Cuba; it was modeled after the French Foreign Legion and its purpose was to provide a corps of professional troops to fight in Spain's colonial campaigns in North Africa; in more recent years, it has been used in NATO peacekeeping deployments; today’s Legion includes a mix of native Spaniards and foreigners with Spanish residency (2025)
18 years of age for voluntary military service for men and women (upper age limits depend on branch of service, roles, specialties, etc); 24-36 month initial obligation; no conscription, but the Spanish Government retains the right to mobilize citizens 19-25 years of age in a national emergency; 18-58 for the voluntary reserves (2026) note 1: as of 2024, women comprised about 13% of the military's full-time personnel; they serve in all branches, including combat arms note 2: the military recruits foreign nationals with residency in Spain from countries of its former empire, including Argentina, Costa Rica, Bolivia, Colombia, Chile, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, and Venezuela
Space Agency
Spanish Space Agency (AEE; became operational in 2023); Center for the Development of Industrial Technology (CDTI) (2025) note 1: the CDTI coordinates the activities of the commercial space sector note 2: prior to the establishment of the AEE, the National Institute of Aerospace Technology (Instituto Nacional de Técnica Aeroespacial or INTA, established 1942), a public research organization that depends on the Ministry of Defense, acted as Spain’s space agency