Country Facts - Spain

General Conditions
The Spanish medical service is adequate; however, for more serious medical care, try the private hospitals. Pharmacies in urban Spain have all the necessary drugs, but if traveling to more rural regions, come prepared. Travelers should carry insurance, and long-term visitors should have a policy with evacuation services. Most illnesses are preventable either through vaccination, or by taking the necessary precautions against infection. All travelers should visit either a travel health clinic or their personal physician four to eight weeks before departure for regular vaccinations and any specific medications needed for travel.
Vaccinations
Required: none
Suggested : tetanus-diphtheria, measles, chickenpox, influenza
Immediate Concerns

Health risks
Exposure to: Legionnaires' disease, bovine spongiform encephalopathy (mad cow disease), tularemia, mumps, HIV, anthrax, brucellosis, Q fever, echinococcosis (hydatid cyst disease), Mediterranean spotted fever, visceral leishmaniasis, tick-borne relapsing fever, scorpion stings, Black widow spider bites
Food and Water
Do not drink tap water unless boiled or chemically treated or drink anything with ice in it; avoid fruits and vegetables unless they can be peeled or are pre-cooked; and stay away from un-pasteurized dairy products, including ice cream. Do not eat raw or undercooked meat or fish, it may contain harmful poisons or parasites. Regarding bovine spongiform encephalopathy ("mad cow disease"), there is no evidence of any risk from pork, lamb, milk or milk. The Centers for Disease Control do not advise against eating European beef, but suggest that travelers who wish to reduce their risk may either abstain from beef completely while in Europe or eat only solid pieces of muscle meat, such as steak, rather than products like sausage or chopped meat that might be contaminated.
Insects
Leishmaniasis is transmitted by sand flies, which dwell in moist forested areas and the crevices of homes, and typically bite from dusk to dawn. Ticks and fleas also pose the risk of insect-borne disease transmission.

Medical Precautions
It is prudent for travelers to pack a personal medical kit complete with necessary medications, including syringes, and physician's letter documenting their medical usage. This kit should include extra pairs of contact lenses, and glasses, as well as any specific allergy, motion sickness, travelers' diarrhea, or other over the counter medication as particular brands may not be available.
Insect repellents are also recommended, in conjunction with other measures to prevent insect bites, such as protective clothing, and bed-netting, and insect repellent. For additional protection, apply permethrin-containing compounds to clothing, shoes, and bed nets. Avoid contact with stray animals, especially farm animals. If bitten, clean wound thoroughly with soap and water, and seek medical attention immediately.
HIV/AIDS is present. Use condoms for all sexual encounters. Avoid blood transfusions or injections.
Women's Health Issues
Women should pack a personal medical kit to cover a broad range of personal health requirements, including birth control pills and specific medications. Note that differences in climate can cause changes in a woman's ph balance. If prone to bacterial infections, women should pack any necessary supplies to counteract this problem. Women should consider taking extra vitamin, mineral, and food supplements to ensure optimum physical health. See Women's Health Issues .

The People

Nationality Spaniard(s)

Ethnic Composition

Mediterranean and Nordic composite.
Religious Composition

Roman Catholic	94%
Other	6%

Languages Spoken

Castilian Spanish 74%, Catalan 17%, Galician 7%, Basque 2%

Education and Literacy

Spanish society has a high literacy rate with 97 percent of the population 15 years of age and older considered literate. Education is compulsory until 16 years of age.

Labor Force

Total: 17.1 million (2001)

By occupation:

Services	64%
Manufacturing, mining, and construction	29%
Agriculture	7%

Geography

Land Mass Total

194,897 sq mi (504,782 sq km)
Note: Includes Balearic Islands, Canary Islands, and five places of sovereignty (plazas de soberania) on and off the coast of Morocco: Ceuta, Melilla, Islas Chafarinas, Penon de Alhucemas, and Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera.

Land

192,874 sq mi (499,542 sq km)

Water

2,023 sq mi (5,240 sq km)

Land Boundaries

Total: 1,191 mi (1,917 km)
Border countries: Andorra 39 mi (63.7 km), France 387 mi (623 km), Gibraltar 0.7 mi (1.2 km), Portugal 754 mi (1,214 km), Morocco (Ceuta) 4 mi (6.3 km), Morocco (Melilla) 6 mi (9.6 km)

Coastline

3,084 mi (4,964 km)

Maritime claim

Contiguous zone: 24 nm
Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm (applies only to the Atlantic Ocean)
Territorial sea: 12 nm

Climate/Weather

Temperate; clear, hot summers in interior, more moderate and cloudy along coast; cloudy, cold winters in interior, partly cloudy and cool along coast

Terrain

Large, flat to dissected plateau surrounded by rugged hills; Pyrenees in north

Elevation extremes

Lowest: Atlantic Ocean 0 ft (0 m)
Highest: Pico de Teide (Tenerife) on Canary Islands 12,198 ft (3,718 m)

Natural Resources

Coal, lignite, iron ore, uranium, mercury, pyrites, fluorspar, gypsum, zinc, lead, tungsten, copper, kaolin, potash, hydropower, arable land

Land use

Arable land	29%
Permanent crops	9%
Other	62%

(1998)

Natural hazards

Periodic droughts

Environment - current issues

Pollution of the Mediterranean Sea from raw sewage and effluents from the offshore production of oil and gas; water quality and quantity nationwide; air pollution; deforestation; desertification

Geography Note

Strategic location along approaches to Strait of Gibraltar

Demographics

Population

40,077,100 (July 2002)

Age structure

0-14 years:	14.5%	Male: 2,993,747	Female: 2,812,498
15-64 years:	68.1 %	Male: 13,699,383	Female: 13,592,717
65 years and over:	17.4 %	Male: 2,922,452	Female: 4,056,303

(2002))

Growth Rate

0.09% (2002)

Life Expectancy

79.08 years (2002)
female: 82.76 years
male: 75.63 years

GDP Per Capita

Purchasing power parity
US$18,900 (2001)

Infant Mortality

4.85 deaths/1,000 live births (2002)

Sex ratio

At birth:	1.07 male(s)/female
Under 15 years:	1.06 male(s)/female
15-64 years:	1.01 male(s)/female
65 years and over:	0.72 male(s)/female
Total population:	0.96 male(s)/female

(2002)

Net migration rate

0.87 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002)

Economy & Trade

Spain's mixed capitalist economy supports a GDP that on a per capita basis is 80 percent 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 has been steadily falling under the Aznar administration but remains the highest in the E.U. at 13 percent. The government intends to make further progress in changing labor laws and reforming pension schemes, which are key to the sustainability of both Spain's internal economic advances and its competitiveness in a single currency area. Adjusting to the monetary and other economic policies of an integrated Europe - and further reducing unemployment - will pose challenges to Spain over the next few years. Spain is set, however, to post GDP growth in 2003 that will be twice the average rate for the E.U.

Unemployment

13% (2001)

Inflation Rate

3.8% (2001)

Industries

Textiles and apparel (including footwear), food and beverages, metals and metal manufactures, chemicals, shipbuilding, automobiles, machine tools, tourism

Exports

US$118.6 billion (f.o.b., 2001)

Imports

US$150.5 billion (f.o.b., 2001)

Total Trade

Purchasing power parity
GDP US$757 billion (2001)

Top Export Partners

EU 71.2% (France 19.6%, Germany 11.8%, Portugal 9.9%, Italy 9%, UK 9%), US 4.4%, Latin America 4% (January-October 2001)

Top Import Partners

EU 63.1% (France 16.4%, Germany 15.5%, Italy 9%, UK 6.9%, Benelux 3.5%), OPEC 5%, US 4.5%, Japan 2.5%, Latin America 2% (January-October 2001)

Top Exports

Machinery, motor vehicles; foodstuffs, other consumer goods

Top Imports

Machinery and equipment, fuels, chemicals, semifinished goods; foodstuffs, consumer goods

Debt - external

US$90 billion (1993)

Economic aid

Donor: ODA, $1.33 billion (1999)

Fiscal Year:

Calendar year

Business Workweek

	Monday - Friday	Saturday - Sunday
Offices	Winter: 9a.m. to 6p.m. Summer: 8a.m. to 3p.m.	Closed
Retail	10a.m. to 6p.m. Hours can vary for peak tourist season and pre-holiday.	Saturday 10a.m. to 6p.m.
Banks	9a.m. to 2p.m.	Saturday 9a.m. to 1p.m.
Government	9a.m. to 2p.m. Office hours.	Closed

Holidays

Official Holidays

Holidays	2003	2004	2005
New Year's Day	January 1	January 1	January 1
Epiphany	January 6	January 6	January 6
St. Joseph's Day	March 19	March 19	March 19
Holy Thursday¹	April 17	April 8	March 24
Good Friday	April 18	April 9	March 25
Easter²	April 20	April 11	March 27
Easter Monday	April 21	April 12	March 28
Labor Day	May 1	May 1	May 1
Running of the Bulls (Pamplona)	July 7	July 7	July 7
Death of El Cid	July 10	July 10	July 10
Santiago Day	July 25	July 25	July 25
Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary	August 15	August 15	August 15
Spanish National Day	October 12	October 12	October 12
All Saints' Day	November 1	November 1	November 1
Constitution Day	December 6	December 6	December 6
Immaculate Conception	December 8	December 8	December 8
Christmas Day³	December 25	December 25	December 25

¹	Observed the Thursday before Easter. This feast commemorates the institution of the Eucharist, and is one of the oldest rituals of Christian Holy Week. Maundy, or Holy Thursday also marks the beginning of Passover.
²	Easter, a Christian holiday celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ, is the first Sunday after the full moon and the vernal equinox (fixed in the Gregorian calendar at March 21), and often observed with Good Friday and Easter Monday. In the West, Easter is predicted using the Gregorian calendar, while Eastern Orthodox Christians use the much older Julian calendar, and celebrate 13 days later.
³	Christmas celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ. In A.D.320, Pope Julius I fixed the date at December 25 based on the Gregorian calendar. The Orthodox church calculates Christmas using the Julian calendar and celebrates 13 days later on January 7.

Note: Along with the above fixed national holidays, each Autonomous Region in Spain has its own set of holidays.

Country information used by permission of World Trade Press