SPAIN SPAIN (ESPAÑA(ESPAÑA

) )

• Officially the Kingdom of Spain• Member of the European Union• Located in South-Western

Europe• Capital: Madrid

WHAT IS WHAT IS SPAIN?SPAIN?

GEOGRAPHYGEOGRAPHY

• Located in the Iberian Peninsula(occupies about 85% of it)

• Borders Portugal on the West, Gibraltar and Morocco on the South and France and Andorra on the North-east

• Spain includes the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean Sea, the Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean and a number of uninhabited islands in the Mediterranean Sea.

GEOGRAPHYGEOGRAPHY

• The currency used in Spain is Euro

MONEYMONEY

• The people in Spain are referred to as Spaniards

• Approximately 87.8% of the people are natives and the rest are immigrants

• Part of the Spanish population is the Spanish Roma (formerly-nomadic community that holds importance in Spanish culture and folklore)

• Religion: – Catholics: 76%– Other religions: 5%– Atheists: 19%

• Literacy rate: 97.9%

PEOPLEPEOPLE

• Greetings consist of a handshake and a kiss on both cheeks• Spanish men maintain longer eye contact with females• Life is slow paced• Life begins when the sun goes

down

CONFORMITIECONFORMITIESS

• Spain is very family oriented• Sunday is considered as a“Family Day” and all of

the malls and stores are closed so no one in the family has to work and everybody can spend the time with their loved ones

• Spaniards eat lunch together almost every day• The grandparents usually live with the families• Families usually live near each other

FAMILYFAMILY

• Short nap taken in the early afternoon, often after the midday meal

• Such a period of sleep is a common tradition in Spain

• The real siesta takes place in the bed and in pyjamas, but a suitable sofa is also fine if a bed is not available

• Timing is very important. A siesta should last between 15-30 minutes, not more than that

SIESTASIESTA

• Evenings start with el paseo(a stroll along the street)

• Street bars are open till late night• Nightclubs are the main attraction

for teenagers

NIGHTLIFENIGHTLIFE

• Spanish (Español) is the official language of Spain

• Second most spoken language in the world- 6.15%- percent of world population

LANGUAGELANGUAGE

CHRISTMASCHRISTMAS

• December 23:– Sing, pray, and eat together at every

house– Sing villancicos (carols) together– Asaltos – surprise visits by groups

of friends going from one house to another

– Children ask for aguinaldo (or small gift)

• December 24 “La noche buena”:– Everyone attends midnight mass– Drink, dance, open presents, eat

foods such as tamales and turkey

CHRISTMASCHRISTMAS

CHRISTMAS EVE• The typical courses of this special

dinner are shellfish, fish ( sea bream, gilt head bream, see bass, hake), lamb, turkey, ham

• To drink it is drunk wine, cider and cava (spanish sparkling wine similar to french champagne)

• After dinner are eaten the typical christmas sweets ( nougat candy, marzipan, polvoron…)

Most families eat their main

Christmas meal on the Christmas Eve before the service. The traditional Spanish Christmas dinner is 'Pavo Trufado de Navidad' which is Turkey stuffed with truffles. In Galicia. The most popular meal for Christmas Eve and for Christmas Day is seafood.

After the midnight service, people walk through the streets carrying torches, playing guitars and beating on tambourines and drums. One Spanish saying is 'Esta noche es Noche-Buena, Y no Es noche de dormir' which means 'Tonight is the good night and it is not meant for sleeping!'

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Typical drinks of christmas

• In the Christmas holidays is very popular to have drinks for toasting with the friends and family

• The most common drink is the Cava, which is a sparkling wine

• In Spain the Cava has certificate of origin from the Autonomous community of Cataluña

Christmas sweets• In the Christmas holidays are very typical

sweets made with almonds• The most important sweets in Christmas

are: the nougat candy, the marzipan and polvorones

Christmas dayThe Christmas day is celebrated

with a food similar to the Christmas eve

A few different languages are spoken in different regions in Spain.

In Spanish Happy/Merry Christmas is 'Feliz Navidad';

in Catalan it's 'Bon Nadal'; and

in Galician 'Bo Nadal'.

Día de los santos inocentes

• December 28th is 'Día de los santos inocentes' or 'Day of the Innocent Saints' and is very like Aprils Fools Day in the UK and USA. People try to trick each other into believing silly stories and jokes. Newspapers and TV stations also run silly stories. If you trick someone, you can call them 'Inocente, inocente' which means 'innocent, innocent'. 28th December is when people all over the world remember the babies that were killed on the orders of King Herod when he was trying to kill the baby Jesus.

New Year's EveLike most festivals in Spain, New Year's Eve, known as "Nochevieja" is usually a family affair which takes place at home.

Until midnight people tend to stay at home and on the stroke of midnight it is traditional to eat 12 grapes, one on each stroke of the clock to bring good luck for the New Year.

This tradition began when after a particularly big grape harvest the king of Spain decided to give everybody grapes to eat on New Year's Eve.

• It is traditional to listen to the

clock from Puerta del Sol in Madrid, usually via the television. Even young people won’t go out with their friends until they have seen the New Year in with their families. Throughout the country there are street parties and special nights in hotels and clubs everywhere.

New year day ( 1 of January)

The first day of the year is holiday in Spain and is celebrated by eating with the family.The food for this day is usually fish, lamb,piglet, ham, etc.

Apart from Christmas, there is another festival that is celebrated in Spain that is about the Christmas Story. It is called Epiphany and is celebrated on 6th January. This is the twelfth night after Christmas. In Spanish, Epiphany is called 'Fiesta de Los tres Reyes Mages': in English this means 'The festival of the three Magic Kings'. Epiphany celebrates when the Kings or Wise men brought gifts to the baby Jesus.

• Children fill small boxes with grass for the King’s horses and parents replace the grass with gifts

• Christmas decorations are taken down

• Boys play the part of the three kings and wear fake beards, crowns, and long robes and sit in the plazas of towns where children go to have their pictures taken

DÍA DE LOS TRES DÍA DE LOS TRES REYES (THREE KINGS REYES (THREE KINGS

DAY)DAY)

Some big towns and cities have

Epiphany Parades with each King having a big float that is shaped like a camel. Sometimes there are also real camels in the parade. The Three Kings in the the Spanish Epiphany are:

Gaspar,Melchior,Balthazar

A special cake called 'Roscón' is

eaten at Epiphany. Roscón means 'ring shape roll'. It is very doughy and is bought from a bakery on Epiphany morning. Roscón can be filled with cream or chocolate and contain a little gift.

Christmas in the Basque Country

• In the Basque country (which is a part of northern Spain and southern France), on Christmas Eve, children's presents are delivered by a magical man called Olentzero. He's a big, overweight man wearing a beret and smoking a pipe. He dresses like a Basque farmer.

Christmas in Catalonia

• In the Catalonia province of Spain there's a Christmas character called 'Tió de Nadal' (the Christmas log) or he's sometimes known as 'Caga tio' (the pooping log!). It's a small hollow log propped up on two legs with a smiling face painted on one end.

CUISINECUISINE

CUISINECUISINE• Is influenced by the Phoenicians, Greeks,

Romans, Jews, Moors and Muslim Andulicians

• Their traditional pattern is composed of four meals a day plus some snacks:– A light breakfast (desayuno): coffee or

chocolate, bread, or churros– Midmorning breakfast: grilled sausages,

fried squid, bread with tomato or an omelet

– Light snack: tapas– Lunch (comida): soup or salad, fish or

meat, and dessert– Tea and pastries (merienda)– Supper: soup or omelets and fruit

TAPASTAPAS

• Finger food, or (tapas) can be anything that is served as a finger food usually in a small bowl

• This finger food can be anything from cheese & ham to olives and is usually eaten at the same time as drinking at a tapas bar

• The finger food is usually left out on bars and people will nibble away while drinking and socializing at the bar

THE most famous tapas

Manchego Cheese Jam

“Gambas” Olives

PAELLAPAELLA

• Valencian rice dish• Many non-Spaniards view paella as Spain's

national dish, but most Spaniards consider it to be a regional Valencian dish

• There are three widely known types of paella:– Valencian paella– Seafood paella– Mixed paella

Rice pudding (Arroz con leche )

Fixuelos

CATALAN CATALAN CREAMCREAM• Most famous dish in

Catalonia• Served on Saint

Joseph's Day, March 19 th and is flavored with lemon or orange zest, and cinnamon.

GAZPACHOGAZPACHO

• Raw vegetable soup made of hard bread, tomato, cucumber, bell pepper, garlic, olive oil, vinegar of wine, and salt

PATATAS PATATAS BRAVASBRAVAS

GAMBAS AJILLO GAMBAS AJILLO (GARLIC (GARLIC PRAWNS)PRAWNS)

PESCADO FRITO PESCADO FRITO (FRIED FISH)(FRIED FISH)

TORTILLA TORTILLA ESPAÑOLA ESPAÑOLA

(SPANISH OMELET)(SPANISH OMELET)

GRACIASGRACIAS