Tags: spain europe largest

April 14th 2020

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Spain is a constitutional monarchy located in southern Europe. It is one of the two countries (the other being Portugal) present on the Iberian Peninsula.
Despite being a monarchy, Spain is known as one of the only few full democracies in the world. According to the 2018 Democracy Index by EIU (Economist Intelligence Unit), Spain is at 19^th spot in the world with score of 8.08 (out of total 10). (Source)
Spain is the 4^th Largest country in Europe by area and 6^thlargest by population.

Cadiz in Spain was founded around 1100 BC. It is one of the oldest cities in Europe. Spain has 3 cities in the list of 10 most ancient European cities. (Source)
In 2005, Spain became the 4^th country in the world (3^rd in Europe) to legalize same-sex marriage. The Spanish parliament voted in favor of gay marriage just a day after Canada’s legalization of such marriage. (Source)
Homosexual behavior is largely accepted in Spain. According to the report on global acceptance of homosexuality by PEW, Spanish society has 88% acceptance rate for LGBT community which is highest in the world. (Source)
Spain has highest homosexual acceptance rate in world
Spain is one of few Roman Catholic-majority countries in Europe. More than 70% population of Spain is adherent to Catholic Christianity. This makes it the 4^th largest Catholic country in Europe and 9^th largest in the world. (Source)
Spanish football team became the first and so far the only team to win three back to back major tournaments after winning UEFA European Championship (2008 and 2012) and FIFA World Cup in 2010.
Real Madrid and FC Barcelona (two biggest Spanish football clubs) are two of the richest football clubs in the world. (Source)
Spain has the lowest fertility rate in Europe. This rate is just over 1.3 in Spain which is far behind the average EU fertility rate of 1.6. (Source)
Spain is the 2^nd largest automotive manufacturing country in Europe (after Germany). (Source)
Spain is Europe's 2nd largest automotive manufacturer
Spain is the world’s 2^nd most visited country (just behind France). Around 82 million tourists visited Spain in 2017. (Source)
Apart from Spain, Spanish language is official language in several countries of the Americas and Caribbean. It is due to capture of these areas by Spanish empire. The whole area comprising of Spanish-speaking population is commonly known as Latin America. (Source)
Spain has the largest high speed rail network in Europe. This 3,100 km long high-speed rail is second largest in the world after China. (Source)
Spain has largest high speed rail network in Europe
Madrid Airport (MAD) and Barcelona Airport (BCN) are respectively the 5^th and 8^th busiest airportsin Europe. (Source)
A church in Spain is under construction for 137 years. Construction of this church started in 1882 and it is expected to complete in 2026. (Source)
L’Oceanografic in Valencia (Spain) is the largest aquarium in Europe and 3^rdlargest in the world. It holds 41.6 million liters (11 million gallons) of water. (Source)
Spain has 3rd largest aquarium in the world
Spain defaulted on its debt 13 times. It is the highest number of defaults by any country in history. (Source)
Spain has highest proportion of oldest first-time mothers in EU. 8.8% of women in Spain gave birth to their first child in their 40s. (Source)
There is no law against public nudity in Spain. (Source)
Spain has the 2^nd highest unemployment rate in EU. The unemployment rate here is 13.8% which is just below Greece. (Source)
Spain has the 3^rd biggest wealth gap among EU members. Income inequality in Spain is 6.6% which is just below Lithuania (7.3%) and Bulgaria (8.2%). (Source)
A Spanish novel is known as the first modern novel in the world. Don Quixote (the knight in the mirror) was published in 1605. (Source)
Spanish novel "Don Quixote" is world's first modern novel
Spain has 48 UNESCO World Heritage sites. These are 3^rd highest number of UNESCO sites in the world just behind Italy and China (55 each). (Source)
Spain is the largest producer of olive oil in the world. (Source)
Spain is the 5^th largest producer of wind power in the world. The country fulfills 18% of its energy requirement through wind power. (Source)
Spain is world's 5th largest wind energy producer
The Tower of Hercules at northwestern coast of Spain was built in 2^nd Century AD. It is known as world’s oldest lighthouse. (Source)
The Spanish Christmas lottery has world’s biggest payout. Total prize money of this lottery is $2.2 billion. (Source)
Spain has highest number of bars in the world. There are around 260,000 bars which is one bar for 175 inhabitants in the country. (Source)
Spain has most bars in the world
A strange tradition and superstition in Spain is eating 12 grapes at midnight on New Year. They consider that it will provide 12 lucky months of coming year. (Source)
Spain has allocated more than10,000 km² of land area for growth of wine grapes. It is the most area dedicated for wine in any country. (Source)
Spain is one of the four countries in the world having National anthem without words. (Source)
Spain has highest rate of organ donations in the world. (Source)
Restaurante Botin in Madrid, Spain, is known as the oldest restaurant in the world. It was established in 1725. (Source)
World's oldest restaurant is in Spain
A restaurant in Spain grills its food over a volcano. The temperature at this volcano is 450 Celsius. (Source)
In 2002, UK accidentally invaded Spain. The Royal marines landed in Spain during a landing exercise in Gibraltar. (Source)
In 2013, the Spanish Paralympics basketball team had to return its gold medals due to exposure of fraud at 2000 Paralympics games. (Source)
In 2015, a town in Spain became the first in the world to provide equal rights for pets along humans. (Source)
A Spanish town providing equal rights to pets was first in the world
About 60,000 animals die during 16,000 religious festivals in Spain every year. (Source)
Basque language is mainly spoken in the Basque area of Spain. It is considered to be the oldest living language in the world with around 900,000 speakers. (Source)
The oldest human tooth was discovered in Spain in 2007. This tooth was at least 1.2 million years old. (Source)
Spain has most blue flag beaches in the world. The country has 669 Blue Flag beaches. (Source)
Finca Cortesin in Spain is the 2^nd best golf destination in Europe. (Source)