Culture And Culture: Spain, The Kingdom Of Spain

Spain, officially known as the Kingdom of Spain, is a distinguished and sprawling country located in south-western Europe. Spain is the sixth most populated country throughout Europe, with roughly 46,000,000 people. This country boasts ample amounts of cultural diversity and historical attributes spanning over nearly 85 percent of the Iberian Peninsula (Spain, 2016). Spain has a strong infrastructure, which contributes to its industrial exportation revenue. This country has the second largest tourism industry in the world, accounting for five percent of its GDP in 2006 (EW World Economy Team, 2010). A significant aspect of the military reorganization was the emphasis on the armed forces’ role in defending the state from external threats

Bringing their own, now defined and cemented cultural lifestyles to light in the way of cuisine, language and architecture. Spain is known for their colorful and showcasing way of buildings and homes, even so to the point that now even the wealthy embody these ideals into their own homes, often known as “Spanish Colonial”. These sophisticated cities, towering stone castles and boundless, colorful monuments make Spain one of the top pick traveling destinations to this day. Bringing in people from all walks of life to experience their culture first hand. With an insurmountable growth and so many different roots and key factors that give them such a distinguished way of life, it becomes clear that this is a desirable tourist attraction. The many and various cultures that have played a significant role in molding Spain into what it is today include Castilians, Catalonians, Lusitanians, Galiians, Basques, Romans, Arabs, Jews, and Roma (Gypsies), among many other peoples (Carr, R., Catherine, D. S., O’Callaghan, J. F., Koenigsberger, H. G., Viguera, M. J., Harrison, R. J., … & Ginés, J. V., 2017). All of this diversity is the reason why Spain is known for their various cuisines and customs. The official language of this diversified country is Castilian, and it is

The area of present-day Spain and the Iberian Peninsula has been inhabited for thousands of years. In the 9th century B.C.E. the Phoenicians, Greeks, Carthaginians, and Celts all entered the region but by the 2nd century B.C.E., the Romans had settled there. (Briney, 2017) The Roman settlement in Spain lasted until the 7th century but many of their settlements were taken over by the Visigoths who arrived in the 5th century. In 711 the North African Moors enter Spain and pushed the Visigoths to the north. The Moors remained in the area until 1492, despite several attempts to push them out. Present-day Spain was then unified by 1512 according to the U.S. Department of State. By the 16th century, Spain had become the most powerful country in all of Europe because of the wealth obtained during their exploration of North and South America. In the early 1800s, it was occupied by France and it was involved in multiple wars, including the Spanish-American War in the year 1898. In addition to these wars, many of Spain’s overseas colonies had taken up arms and gained their independence during this time. All of these problems led to a period of dictatorial rule in the country in 1923 and ended in 1931 with the establishment of the Second Republic. With all the growing tensions and volatility developing in Spain, the Spanish Civil War had erupted in July