Spain

C

Plants and Animals

Only a small part of Spain is forested, and forests are located mainly on mountain slopes, particularly in the northwest. A common Spanish tree is the evergreen oak. Cork oak, from which the bark may be stripped every ten years, is abundant, growing chiefly as second growth on timbered land. Poplar trees are grown throughout the country, and the cultivation of olive trees is a major agricultural activity. Other Spanish trees include the elm, beech, and chestnut. Shrubs and herbs are the common natural vegetation on the central plateau. Grapevines flourish in the arid soil. Esparto grass, used for making paper and various fiber products, grows abundantly in both the wild and cultivated state. On the Mediterranean coast sugarcane, oranges, lemons, figs, almonds, and chestnuts are grown.

The Spanish fauna includes the wolf, lynx, wildcat, fox, wild boar, wild goat, deer, and hare. Among the more famous domesticated animals are the bulls bred near Seville and Salamanca for bullfighting, the Spanish national sport. Birdlife is abundant, with varieties of birds of prey. Insect life abounds. Mountain streams and lakes teem with fish such as barbel, tench, and trout.

D

Soils

Although Spanish soils need careful irrigation and cultivation, they are a rich and valuable resource. Semiarid chestnut-brown soils cover the central plateau, and red Mediterranean soils cover the southern area and the northeastern coastal region. A gray desert soil, often containing salt, is found in the southeast. The forest of northern Spain has gray-brown forest soils, and the forest in the Cantabrian Mountains has leached, infertile soils.

E

Environmental Issues

Spain faces numerous environmental threats. Deforestation and the erosion and river pollution that accompany it are major concerns. Other problems include the encroachment of agriculture onto land designated as protected, desertification in badly managed agricultural zones, and soil salinization (contamination with salt) in irrigated regions. Increased use of nitrogen fertilizers has added to the problem of nitrates in rivers.

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In April 1998 a serious toxic waste spill occurred as the result of a burst reservoir at an iron ore mine in southern Spain. Attempts were made to divert the spillage from an important wetland area toward the Guadalquivir River, which flows into the Atlantic Ocean. It was estimated that the toxic mud from the spill threatened millions of birds and other wildlife. The black toxic mud covered farms, fields, and orchards, causing farmers to suffer enormous economic losses.

In November 2002 a single-hulled oil tanker, the Prestige, ruptured and sank in a storm off the coast of Galicia in northwestern Spain. The ship lost much of its cargo of 77.5 million liters (20.5 million gallons) of fuel oil, spilling nearly twice the amount of oil that was lost in the Exxon Valdez disaster in Alaska in 1989—the worst oil spill in United States history. The oil coated the beaches of Galicia and spread south to Portugal and north to the beaches of southwestern France. The spill devastated fish stocks and destroyed hundreds of thousands of seabirds. Estimates put the cost of cleanup and fishing sector losses at more than $9 billion over a decade.

Spain participates in an international convention on wetlands, with 17 sites designated. Fourteen biosphere reserves have been set aside under the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Man and the Biosphere Program. Spain has ratified international environmental agreements concerning air pollution, biodiversity, climate change, endangered species, environmental modification, hazardous wastes, marine dumping, marine life, the ozone layer, ship pollution, tropical timber, and whaling. Regionally, Spain has designated several protected areas for wild birds as part of the European Wild Bird Directive and six protected marine sites under the Mediterranean Action Plan.

III

People and Society of Spain

The Spanish population is relatively homogeneous in its racial and ethnic composition. Apart from the Basques, a small but ancient group whose origin remains a mystery, the basic stock seems to have consisted of Celtiberians. As their name suggests the Celtiberians were a mixture of Celts and early inhabitants of the Iberian peninsula. They later intermingled with successive waves of conquerors. First came the Romans, then various Germanic tribes of whom the most important were the Visigoths, and finally the Moors, themselves a mixture of North African and Arab elements.

However, Spain has experienced little immigration since it became a nation within its current boundaries, around 1500. Indeed, for much of this period, Spain had limited contact with the rest of the world. Even though marked regional differences form a distinctive feature of the country, they mainly reflect economic and political factors rather than ethnic differences. The country’s gypsy community (gitanos) forms a notable exception.

The estimated population of Spain for 2009 is 40,525,002, giving the country an overall density of 81 persons per sq km (210 per sq mi). Spain is increasingly urban, with 77 percent of the population in towns and cities.

Spain’s population trends have been somewhat unusual as a result of the country’s late economic development. As late as 1960 infant mortality stood at 43 deaths per 1,000 births, a relatively high level usually associated with the developing world. Thereafter, the rate declined rapidly and is now lower than the infant mortality rate in the United States. The reduction in infant mortality brought a dramatic increase in life expectancy, which is now among the highest in the world for both males and females. It also resulted in very rapid population growth during the 20 years after 1955.

Another abrupt demographic change occurred more recently, halting the rapid growth rate. Although Spain’s birth rate remained extremely high into the 1970s, it subsequently decreased. In 2009 it stood at 1.31 children per female, one of the lowest birth rates in the world. As population growth slowed, the average age of Spain’s population increased. By the early 2000s annual population growth had slowed to less than 1 percent, and in 2009 it stood at 0.07 percent. If this trend continues, the number of Spaniards was expected to start falling by 2020.

By European standards Spain has a low population density. The great bulk of the population is concentrated in just a few areas: along the coasts, in the Ebro and Guadalquivir valleys, and around Madrid. Far fewer people live in the rest of the plateau that covers most of the country. In addition, a large migration from rural areas to towns and cities took place between 1960 and 1980. Today, large tracts of the country lie more or less deserted. A small drift back to the land among better-off Spaniards, reacting to overcrowding in the cities, has had no noticeable impact on the overall picture.

A

Principal Cities

Spain’s capital and largest city is Madrid (population, 2007, 3,132,463); it is also the capital of the autonomous (self-governing) region comprising the city and its surroundings. Situated at the country’s geographical heart, Madrid was long a purely administrative center, but since the 1960s it has developed thriving industrial and service sectors. The second largest city is Barcelona (1,595,110), Spain’s largest port and capital of the Catalonia region. A traditional commercial center, Barcelona also has the country’s oldest textile industry. In recent decades the city’s industrial and service base has been greatly extended and diversified.

Valencia (797,654), capital of the Valencia region, is a commercial center with a relatively diverse economy. Seville (699,145) is a major tourist center and, as capital of the country’s most populous region, Andalucía, is a major administrative center. Zaragoza (654,390), capital of Aragón, grew rapidly in the late 20th century, thanks to its strategic location in the Ebro Valley. Málaga (561,250) is the chief center of the country’s major tourist area, the Costa del Sol. Bilbao (353,168) is both a busy port and the Basque Country’s commercial and industrial capital.

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