Spain Practical Information
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 PASSPORT & VISA REGULATIONS: No visa is required for U.S. passport holders for a stay of up to 3 months. For stays exceeding three months, please contact the Consulate of Spain nearest you. If you are not a U.S. Passport holder, contact the Consulate regarding visa requirements.
LANGUAGE: Spanish is spoken throughout the country. However, Català, Gallego, Euskera and Valencià are also official languages in these regions: Catalonia, Galicia, the Basque Country and Valencia, respectively.
MONEY: The national currency of Spain is the peseta. Bills of 1,000, 2,000, 5,000 and 10,000 pesetas are currently in circulation. Coins are made in denominations of 1, 5, 10, 25, 50, 100, 200, and 500 pesetas. Tourists may bring up to 1,000,000 pesetas (approximately $6,250) without declaring the amount at customs. Any amount exceeding 1,000,000 pesetas must be declared on arrival. Upon leaving Spain, tourists carrying more than 1,000,000 pesetas (or equivalent in any other form of currency) must declare it. The current rate of exchange is approximately $1.00=160 pesetas, but it may vary from week to week. For an updated exchange rate, check with newspapers or banks.
Exchange rates vary from bank to bank both in the U.S. and Spain. In general you will be able to get the most favorable rates at any of the exchange facilities at any airport in Spain. Traveler's checks in U.S. dollars should be exchanged in banks or exchange offices as there are not very widely accepted. Banks in Spain are usally open Monday to Friday from 9 am to 2 pm. Traveler's checks in Spanish pesetas can be purchased in the U.S. from specialized banks or in any major banks in Spain. Major credit cards are accepted throughout the country in most restaurants, hotels, gas stations and toll booths. ATM cards can also be used for cash withdrawal in any of the thousands of ATMs available in Spain provided that the signs at the back of the card match the signs on the ATM machine. However, ATMs in Spain only accept four digit PINs so it is very important to make sure you have a four digit PIN before traveling.
The Euro. On January 1, 2002, the Euro will completely replace the peseta, becoming a common European currency. For more information visit the Euro web site at http://europa.eu.int/euro/.
PETS: There is no quarantine in Spain. A certificate stating that an animal is in good health and has been inoculated against rabies (for dogs and cats) is required. The document must be issued by a veterinarian and certified at the nearest Consulate of Spain.
MEDICAL INSURANCE: Before you leave make sure that your medical insurance has coverage overseas. If that is not the case you will need additional insurance since the Spanish Social Security system can only offer free treatment in the event of an emergency. If you are taking any medication it is recommended that you carry a copy of your prescription as well as a letter from your doctor, in case you need additional supplies.
SHOPPING AND SHIPPING: Travelers will find a great variety of items in Spain: ceramics, jerwelry, suede and leather goods, designer clothing, shoes, fans, handicrafts, antiques, art objects, etc. Many shops and all major department stores will ship goods to the United States for a fee. If purchases have to be shipped home, the following recommendations should be kept in mind:
1) Receipts should be obtained from the store indicating the merchandise bought and exact amount paid. These receipts should also indicate how much has been paid for packing, shipping and insurance.
2) shipping costs usually indicate only the expenses as far as a port or airport in the U.S.A. There are additional charges to be paid here for customs, port handling and forwarding to the final destination.
3) If the purchase has been insured, the store should give the buyer the name and address of the insurance company. The tourist should be aware that the company must, in turn, send an inspector to evaluate any damages caused in shipping. The inspector's fee must be paid by the owner of the merchandise. The tourist should also be aware that this cost may run higher than the actual price paid for the merchandise.
OPENING TIMES: Usual shop opening times are 9:30 am - 1:30 pm, Monday-Saturday, and 4:30-8:00 pm, Monday-Friday. Major shopping malls, department stores and supermarkets stay open without a break from 10:00 am - 9:00 pm or in some cases until 10:00 pm. On a fixed number of Sundays in the year (approximately 12 in all), the large department stores and supermarkets also open to the public. Along the coast, during the high season, shops are generally open until well after 10 at night.
Standard museum hours are Tuesday to Saturday from 9:00 am to 7:00 pm, and Sundays and holidays from 9:00 am to 2:00 pm, but check with the Tourist Office of Spain nearest you for hours of specific museums. Museums close on the following holidays: January 1, Good Friday, May 1, and December 25.
Theaters tend to have a single function, with performances beginning at 8/8:30 pm.
Nightlife in Spain is a class of its own, particularly from Thursday to Sunday. Pubs, late night haunts (bares de copas) and discotheques normally keep open until 3 or 4 in the morning, and in the major cities, such as Madrid and Barcelona, there are innumerable night-spots that stay open till dawn.
COMMUNICATION: Telephones
To call Spain from the United States dial the international access code (011) followed by the country code (34) and the phone number. Please note that since April 4, 1998, all phone numbers in Spain have 9 digits and the old area codes now have to be dialed in full even if your call originates from within the same area. This means that in order to call a number in Madrid you now have to dial 91 followed by the number even if you are calling from Madrid. The initial "9" in the code for Spanish cellular phones changed to "6" on November 14, 1998. To call home from Spain dial the international access code (00) followed by the U.S. country code (1) and the phone number preceded by the area code. (The international access code changed from "07" to "00" on November 14, 1998, and it is no longer necessary to wait for a tone before dialing the next numbers). Public telephones take 5-, 25-, 50-, and 100-peseta coins as well as prepaid phone cards which can be bought at post offices (Correos) and tobacco shops (estancos). In the cities, the phone company, Telefónica, also operates public phone sites (locutorios) where you can pay the attendant at the end of your call.
Should you travel with your laptop computer there is no need to bring any special phone jack adaptors since Spanish and U.S. jacks are the same.
Mail
Stamps are available in post offices (Correos)which are usually open from 8:30 am - 2:30 pm, Monday-Friday and usually Saturday mornings, although some are open uninterruptedly from 8:30 am to 8:30 pm. The cost of the postage to the US of a postcard or letter up to 20 grams is 115 Ptas. Stamps can also be purchased at tobacco shops (estancos).
Country name:
conventional long form: Kingdom of Spain
conventional short form: Spain
local short form: Espana
Data code: SP
Government type: parliamentary monarchy
Capital: Madrid
Administrative divisions: 17 autonomous communities (comunidades autonomas, singular - comunidad autonoma); Andalucia, Aragon, Asturias, Baleares (Balearic Islands), Canarias (Canary Islands), Cantabria, Castilla-La Mancha, Castilla y Leon, Cataluna, Communidad Valencian, Extremadura, Galicia, La Rioja, Madrid, Murcia, Navarra, Pais Vasco (Basque Country)
note: there are five places of sovereignty on and off the coast of Morocco: Ceuta and Melilla are administered as autonomous communities; Islas Chafarinas, Penon de Alhucemas, and Penon de Velez de la Gomera are under direct Spanish administration
Independence: 1492 (expulsion of the Moors and unification)
National holiday: National Day, 12 October
Constitution: 6 December 1978, effective 29 December 1978
Legal system: civil law system, with regional applications; does not accept compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal
Executive branch:
chief of state: King JUAN CARLOS I (since 22 November 1975); Heir Apparent Prince FELIPE, son of the monarch, born 30 January 1968
head of government: President of the Government Jose Maria AZNAR Lopez (since 5 May 1996); First Vice President Francisco ALVAREZ CASCOS Fernandez (since 5 May 1996) and Second Vice President (and Minister of Economy and Finance) Rodrigo RATO Figaredo (since 5 May 1996)
cabinet: Council of Ministers designated by the president
note: there is also a Council of State that is the supreme consultative organ of the government
elections: the monarch is hereditary; president proposed by the monarch and elected by the National Assembly following legislative elections; election last held 12 March 2000 (next to be held NA 2004); vice presidents appointed by the monarch on proposal of the president
election results: Jose Maria AZNAR Lopez (PP) elected president; percent of National Assembly vote - 44%
Legislative branch: bicameral; General Courts or National Assembly or Las Cortes Generales consists of the Senate or Senado (259 seats - 208 members directly elected by popular vote and the other 51 appointed by the regional legislatures to serve four-year terms) and the Congress of Deputies or Congreso de los Diputados (350 seats; members are elected by popular vote on block lists by proportional representation to serve four-year terms)
elections: Senate - last held 12 March 2000 (next to be held NA March 2004); Congress of Deputies - last held 12 March 2000 (next to be held NA March 2004)
election results: Senate - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - PP 127, PSOE 61, CiU 8, PNV 6, CC 5, PIL 1; Congress of Deputies - percent of vote by party - PP 44.5%, PSOE 34%, CiU 4.2%, IU 5.4%, PNV 1.5%, CC 1%, BNG 1.3%; seats by party - PP 183, PSOE 125, CiU 15, IU 8, PNV 7, CC 4, BNG 3, other 5
Judicial branch: Supreme Court or Tribunal Supremo
Political parties and leaders: Basque Nationalist Party or PNV [Xabier ARZALLUS Antia]; Canarian Coalition or CC (a coalition of five parties) [Lorenzo OLLARTE Cullen]; Convergence and Union or CiU [Jordi PUJOL i Soley, secretary general] (a coalition of the Democratic Convergence of Catalonia or CDC [Jordi PUJOL i Soley] and the Democratic Union of Catalonia or UDC [Josep Antoni DURAN y LLEIDA]); Galician Nationalist Bloc or BNG [Xose Manuel BEIRAS]; Party of Independents from Lanzarote or PIL [leader NA]; Popular Party or PP [Jose Maria AZNAR Lopez]; Spanish Communist Party or PCE [Francisco FRUTOS]; Spanish Socialist Workers Party or PSOE [Joaquin ALMUNIA Amann, secretary general]; United Left or IU (a coalition of parties including the PCE and other small parties) [Francisco FRUTOS]
Political pressure groups and leaders: business and landowning interests; Catholic Church; Euskal Herritarok or EH [Herri BATASUNA]; free labor unions (authorized in April 1977); on the extreme left, the Basque Fatherland and Liberty or ETA and the First of October Antifascist Resistance Group or GRAPO use terrorism to oppose the government; Opus Dei; Socialist General Union of Workers or UGT and the smaller independent Workers Syndical Union or USO; university students; Workers Confederation or CC.OO
International organization participation: AfDB, AsDB, Australia Group, BIS, CCC, CE, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, ECE, ECLAC, EIB, EMU, ESA, EU, FAO, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, LAIA (observer), NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OPCW, OSCE, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNMIBH, UNMIK, UNTAET, UNU, UPU, WCL, WEU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO, ZC
Diplomatic representation in the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Antonio OYARZABAL MARCHESI
chancery: 2375 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20037
telephone: [1] (202) 452-0100, 728-2340
FAX: [1] (202) 833-5670
consulate(s) general: Boston, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans, New York, San Francisco, and San Juan (Puerto Rico)
Diplomatic representation from the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Edward L. ROMERO
embassy: Serrano 75, 28006 Madrid
mailing address: APO AE 09642
telephone: [34] (91) 587-2200
FAX: [34] (91) 587-2303
consulate(s) general: Barcelona
Flag description: three horizontal bands of red (top), yellow (double width), and red with the national coat of arms on the hoist side of the yellow band; the coat of arms includes the royal seal framed by the Pillars of Hercules, which are the two promontories (Gibraltar and Ceuta) on either side of the eastern end of the Strait of Gibraltar
Economy
Economy - overview: Spain's mixed capitalist economy supports a GDP that on a per capita basis is three-fourths that of the four leading West European economies. Its center-right government successfully worked to gain admission to the first group of countries launching the European single currency on 1 January 1999. The AZNAR administration has continued to advocate liberalization, privatization, and deregulation of the economy and has introduced some tax reforms to that end. Unemployment, nonetheless, remains the highest in the EU at 16%. The government, for political reasons, has made only limited progress in changing labor laws or reforming pension schemes, which are key to the sustainability of both Spain's internal economic advances and its competitiveness in a single currency area. Adjustment to the monetary and other economic policies of an integrated Europe - and reducing the unacceptably high level of unemployment - will pose difficult challenges to Spain in the next few years.
GDP: purchasing power parity - $677.5 billion (1999 est.)
GDP - real growth rate: 3.6% (1999 est.)
GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $17,300 (1999 est.)
GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 3.2%
industry: 33.6%
services: 63.2% (1998 est.)
Population below poverty line: NA%
Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 2.8%
highest 10%: 25.2% (1990)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 2.3% (1999 est.)
Labor force: 16.2 million (1997 est.)
Labor force - by occupation: services 64%, manufacturing, mining, and construction 28%, agriculture 8% (1997 est.)
Unemployment rate: 16% (1999 est.)
Budget:
revenues: $115 billion
expenditures: $125 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (1998 est.)
Industries: textiles and apparel (including footwear), food and beverages, metals and metal manufactures, chemicals, shipbuilding, automobiles, machine tools, tourism
Industrial production growth rate: 2.7% (1999 est.)
Electricity - production: 179.468 billion kWh (1998)
Electricity - production by source:
fossil fuel: 48.23%
hydro: 19.16%
nuclear: 31.23%
other: 1.38% (1998)
Electricity - consumption: 170.306 billion kWh (1998)
Electricity - exports: 5.6 billion kWh (1998)
Electricity - imports: 9 billion kWh (1998)
Agriculture - products: grain, vegetables, olives, wine grapes, sugar beets, citrus; beef, pork, poultry, dairy products; fish
Exports: $112.3 billion (f.o.b., 1999 est.)
Exports - commodities: machinery, motor vehicles; foodstuffs, other consumer goods
Exports - partners: EU 72% (France 20%, Germany 14%, Italy 9%, Portugal 9%, UK 8%), Latin America 7%, US 4% (1998)
Imports: $137.5 billion (f.o.b., 1999 est.)
Imports - commodities: machinery and equipment, fuels, chemicals, semifinished goods; foodstuffs, consumer goods (1997)
Imports - partners: EU 67% (France 18%, Germany 15%, Italy 10%, UK 8%, Benelux 8%), US 6%, OPEC 5%, Japan 3%, Latin America 4% (1998)
Debt - external: $90 billion (1993 est.)
Economic aid - donor: ODA, $1.3 billion (1995)
Currency: 1 peseta (Pta) = 100 centimos
Exchange rates: euros per US$1 - 0.9867 (January 2000), 0.9386 (1999); pesetas (Ptas) per US$1 - 143.39 (January 1999), 149.40 (1998), 146.41 (1997), 126.66 (1996), 124.69 (1995)
note: on 1 January 1999, the EU introduced a common currency that is now being used by financial institutions in some member countries at a fixed rate of 166.386 pesetas per euro; the euro will replace the local currency in consenting countries for all transactions in 2002
Fiscal year: calendar year
Communications
Telephones - main lines in use: 17.336 million (1999)
Telephones - mobile cellular: 8.394 million (1999)
Telephone system: generally adequate, modern facilities
domestic: NA
international: 22 coaxial submarine cables; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (1 Atlantic Ocean and 1 Indian Ocean), NA Eutelsat; tropospheric scatter to adjacent countries
Radio broadcast stations: AM 208, FM 715, shortwave 1 (1998)
Radios: 13.1 million (1997)
Television broadcast stations: 228 (plus 2,112 repeaters); note - these figures include 11 television broadcast stations and 89 repeaters in the Canary Islands (September 1995)
Televisions: 16.2 million (1997)
Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 49 (1999)
Transportation
Railways:
total: 13,950 km
broad gauge: 12,781 km 1.668-m gauge (6,358 km electrified; 2,295 km double track)
standard gauge: 525 km 1.435-m gauge (525 km electrified)
narrow gauge: 644 km 1.000-m gauge (438 km electrified) (1998)
Highways:
total: 346,858 km
paved: 343,389 km (including 9,063 km of expressways)
unpaved: 3,469 km (1997 est.)
Waterways: 1,045 km, but of minor economic importance
Pipelines: crude oil 265 km; petroleum products 1,794 km; natural gas 1,666 km
Ports and harbors: Aviles, Barcelona, Bilbao, Cadiz, Cartagena, Castellon de la Plana, Ceuta, Huelva, La Coruna, Las Palmas (Canary Islands), Malaga, Melilla, Pasajes, Gijon, Santa Cruz de Tenerife (Canary Islands), Santander, Tarragona, Valencia, Vigo
Merchant marine:
total: 130 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 1,131,648 GRT/1,688,996 DWT
ships by type: bulk 11, cargo 24, chemical tanker 9, container 9, liquified gas 2, livestock carrier 1, passenger 1, petroleum tanker 24, refrigerated cargo 5, roll-on/roll-off 36, short-sea passenger 7, specialized tanker 1 (1999 est.)
Airports: 105 (1999 est.)
Airports - with paved runways:
total: 70
over 3,047 m: 15
2,438 to 3,047 m: 11
1,524 to 2,437 m: 17
914 to 1,523 m: 17
under 914 m: 10 (1999 est.)
Airports - with unpaved runways:
total: 35
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1
914 to 1,523 m: 9
under 914 m: 25 (1999 est.)
Heliports: 2 (1999 est.)
Military
Military branches: Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Civil Guard, National Police, Coastal Civil Guard
Military manpower - military age: 20 years of age
Military manpower - availability:
males age 15-49: 10,569,785 (2000 est.)
Military manpower - fit for military service:
males age 15-49: 8,481,690 (2000 est.)
Military manpower - reaching military age annually:
males: 295,335 (2000 est.)
Military expenditures - dollar figure: $6 billion (FY97)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP: 1.1% (FY97)
Transnational Issues
Disputes - international: Gibraltar issue with UK; Spain controls five places of sovereignty (plazas de soberania) on and off the coast of Morocco - the coastal enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla, which Morocco contests, as well as the islands of Penon de Alhucemas, Penon de Velez de la Gomera, and Islas Chafarinas
Illicit drugs: key European gateway country for Latin American cocaine and North African hashish entering the European market; transshipment point for and consumer of Southwest Asian heroin |
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