Introduction
It is a country located on the Iberian Peninsula at the southwestern tip of Europe. After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, it was divided into many small kingdoms and was dominated by Islamic forces from the early 8th century. Unification was achieved in 1492 with the success of the national recovery movement that sought actual recovery from Islam.
The official name is ‘Estado Espanol’ and the English name is ‘Kingdom of Spain’. Spain, nicknamed the “Land of the Sun,” borders Portugal to the west, France to the north, and Morocco in Africa to the south across the Strait of Gibraltar. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the east, the Bay of Biscay to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the northwest. The country occupies most of the Iberian Peninsula and is scattered across the Balearic Islands and Canary Islands. In northern Morocco, there are also the Spanish territories of Ceuta and Melilla, and three small islands off the Moroccan coast: Chafarinas, Penon de Alhucemas, and Penon de Veles de la Gomera. Velez de la Gomera). The administrative region consists of 17 autonomous regions (comunidad autonoma) and 2 overseas autonomous cities (ciudad autonoma), Ceuta and Melilla.
Citizens of Spain
Cathedral of San Gerenimo el RealCathedral of San Gerenimo el Real
Spain is a complex of racially and culturally diverse elements. The indigenous people are the Iberian people belonging to the Mediterranean race, but colonization was accomplished by the Phoenicians and Greeks who came along the south and east coasts before BC, and the Celts came from the north across the Pyrenees. It is believed that the Iberian people came to the Iberian Peninsula from Africa around 3,000 BC. Celtic elements are still strong in areas such as Galicia in the north. Afterwards, following the Romans, Germanic peoples such as the Vandals and West Goths arrived, and as Islamic power expanded, Arabs and African Berbers invaded, resulting in a complex mix of blood.
Racially and culturally, the reason Spain has a stronger Oriental and African flavor compared to other countries is due to the influence of Islamic rule for 800 years. Spaniards are generally short, have dark eyes and hair, and have dark skin compared to Caucasians. However, there are large regional differences due to historical characteristics such as invasions by various ethnic groups and the Reconquista Movement. For example, in the north and east coast, you can see Celtic and northern ethnic characteristics.
Spanish is a slang version of Latin introduced during the Roman colonial period, including the Castilian dialect of the Meseta and Castilla regions, including Andalucia, and the Catalan dialect centered around Barcelona. It is broadly classified into the Galician dialect of the northwest. The Galician dialect is close to Portuguese, and the Catalan dialect has a strong Provençal influence. The standard language of Spanish is the Castilian dialect of Madrid, the political center. Minorities include the Basque people of the Pyrenees Mountains, and the Basque language appears to have retained the greatest influence from the Iberian people, the indigenous people of the Iberian Peninsula.
Spain is a fervently Catholic country. 99% of the entire population receives infant baptism according to Catholicism, the state religion, and the reason why Catholicism has such a great influence in Spanish society is because the national restoration movement was based on the power of Catholicism. This trend is especially noticeable in the Meseta. Catholicism is a spiritual ruler, a huge property owner, and has a strong political voice. Because Spain has a history of fierce struggle against Islam and Protestantism, the Catholic Church in Spain is the most conservative among Catholic countries. Politically, it is right-wing, and socially, it is combined with the pre-modern ruling class such as large landowners and aristocrats. there is.
Royal family of Spain
The Spanish royal family is a constitutional institution, and the king, as head of state, symbolizes the unity and permanence of Spain. Since the 16th century, Spain has been under the rule of the Habsburg Empire, but today’s Spanish royal family is ironically descended from the French Bourbon family. Philip VI, who succeeded to the throne in 2014, can be seen as succeeding Philip V, the grandson of Louis XIV of France, who announced the beginning of the Bourbon dynasty in Spain. Philip V was appointed King of Spain after the War of Spanish Succession and started the first Bourbon dynasty in Spain.
The Spanish monarchy went through two periods of rupture. The first break began in February 1873 and lasted about 1 year and 10 months. The Bourbon monarchy, which returned to Spain following the restoration of the monarchy in December 1974, was cut off again when Alfonso However, Franco, who took power in a coup in 1939, brought Juan Carlos, the grandson of Alfonso XIII, from exile into the country in 1947 and declared Spain a kingdom. However, the kingdom without a king was maintained by ruling directly as the head of state. According to Franco’s will, Spain became a monarchy again when Carlos I ascended the throne after Franco’s death in 1975.
In monarchical countries in Europe since the 20th century, the king was a symbolic figure and had minimal political influence. However, Carlos I played a decisive role in changing Spain from the Franco dictatorship to a democratic system. He is credited with abandoning existing conservatism and contributing to transforming Spain into a parliamentary democracy through liberal reforms.
Economy
Spain, with a population of 46.3 million people, is the world’s 13th largest economy based on GDP in 2018. Within the European Union, it is the fifth largest economy after Germany, the United Kingdom, France, and Italy. GDP per capita is approximately $30,000, ranking 31st in the world, and in 2018, exports were approximately $348 billion and imports were approximately $387 billion, resulting in a trade deficit of approximately $40 billion. Export volume is about 50% of Korea’s, but GDP per capita is at a similar level. The major exporting countries are France (15.1%), Germany (11.3%), Italy (7.8%), Portugal (7.1%), the United Kingdom (6.9%), and the United States (4.4%), with the European Union accounting for the overwhelming majority. The major importing countries are Germany (14.2%), France (11.9%), China (6.9%), Italy (6.8%), the Netherlands (5.1%), and the UK (4%), with the European Union accounting for a large portion. Major export products include automobiles, chemical products, processed foods, electrical equipment, and leather products, while imported products include petroleum, automobile parts, automobiles, and electrical devices.
Spain has been a representative high-growth country since the 1960s. After joining the OECD, IMF, and World Bank in 1958 and 1959, the economy began to revive as international funds flowed in and the tourism market became active due to market opening. Since then, it has recorded rapid growth of more than 7% every year, to the point where it was nicknamed the ‘Miracle of Spain.’ This rapid growth began to show limits after the mid-1970s. Accordingly, the ‘Agreement for Economic Recovery (El Pacto de la Moncloa)’ was established in 1977 and achieved encouraging results such as increased production and employment, reduced inflation, and increased exports. This high level of economic growth led to an increase in income even to the lowest class, which became a factor in political stability.
After joining the European Union in 1986, the Spanish economy developed dramatically due to entry into the European market and the growth of the tourism industry. At the time of joining the European Union, Spain’s GDP per capita was 72% of the average of all 12 European Union countries. However, in 2007, it grew to 105% of the average of all 28 member countries, recording a GDP per capita higher than Italy (103%). In particular, the GDP per capita of Madrid, Navarre, and the Basque Country, which are wealthy regions in Spain, reaches 125%. The economic growth rate continued to remain in the 1% range, but has since continued to record economic growth rates of over 3-5%. Inflation was also well above 10% before joining the European Union, but fell to less than 5% afterward.
In the 1990s, the Spanish economy focused on joining the European Union’s Economic and Monetary Union (EMU). In order to join the Economic and Monetary Union, four conditions had to be met: inflation rate, interest rate, fiscal deficit, and government debt, but Spain was far from meeting these conditions. Spain had to meet conditions, especially in terms of inflation rate and fiscal deficit.
The Asnar government, which took office in 1996, made reducing the fiscal deficit and suppressing inflation the mainstay of its economic policy. Accordingly, the fiscal deficit was reduced from 6.7% in 1993 to 1.8% in 1998. Thanks to the improving global economy that began to recover after the mid-1990s, Spain was once called one of Europe’s Big 3 (France, Germany, and Spain). Based on these improvements in the economic environment, Korea joined EMU as a founding member in 1999. In the early 2000s, the Spanish economy maintained a high growth rate while maintaining a high growth rate during the so-called Gold Locks boom, when inflation was kept low thanks to joining the Eurozone.
The Spanish economy has been pointed out as having problems such as high unemployment, the prevalence of the underground economy, and a structurally weak economic structure. With the introduction of the euro in 2002, the structural weaknesses of the Spanish economy began to be revealed. During the global financial crisis that began in 2008, the country was pushed to the brink of bankruptcy. Real estate prices began to rise rapidly in the early 2000s. Due to the low interest rates maintained with the introduction of the euro, real estate investment using bank loans was widespread, but as bank interest rates rose after the 2008 U.S. financial crisis, banks that were unable to collect loans began to go bankrupt. In the end, the growth rate in 2009 was -3.6%.
The financial crisis originating in the United States affected the finances of southern European countries in 2010, resulting in the so-called Eurozone crisis of the PIIGS (Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Greece, and Spain) countries. As government bond interest rates rose, Spain’s credit rating was downgraded from AA+ to AA, and in 2012, it fell three levels to Baa3, making it a risky investment area. In the end, Spain entered a bailout management system after receiving 100 billion euros in bailout money from the European Union. Since then, the fiscal deficit has grown explosively, and government debt has also more than doubled. Although the country was released from the bailout management system in December 2013, it was only in 2014 that the negative economic growth rate returned to positive. As housing prices stabilized and restructuring took place, the economy slowly began to recover.
Spain’s financial crisis brought about many changes to Spain’s politics, economy, and society. First, political chaos continued. As the conflict between political forces intensified over the fiscal austerity demanded by the bailout management system, early general elections were held and governments were replaced from time to time. In November 2014, the Catalonia region finally held a referendum with the goal of independence, and finally declared independence in 2017. The central government canceled Catalonia’s declaration of independence, but it remains a potential problem.
Economically, the country has recovered to its past growth rate, recording an economic growth rate of around 3% since 2015. Through structural reforms (financial, labor, and public finance), domestic demand revived and tourism and manufacturing began to pick up steam. After 2017, it has become a leading country in Europe, which has suffered an overall recession due to Brexit and Italy’s debt crisis. However, despite the Spanish economy’s boom, there are still chronic problems, such as high unemployment. Jobs are increasing only in limited fields, such as the tourism industry. Even these are mostly filled with unstable jobs. In particular, youth unemployment has reached 50%, and social unrest remains. However, with recent increases in investment and competitiveness in the renewable energy industry, a bright future is expected.
Conclusion
It is a country located on the Iberian Peninsula at the southwestern tip of Europe. Many small kingdoms had been ruled by Islamic forces since the early 8th century, but were unified in 1492 through the success of the national recovery movement that sought to recover land from Islam.