Facts & Statistics:
Name: Spain
Population: 40,548,753
Capital: Madrid
Languages: Castilian Spanish 74% (official nationwide); Catalan 17%, Galician 7%, Basque 2% (each official regionally)
Currency: Euro

● The running of the bulls in Pamplona takes place during the festival of San Fermin, every year since late 16th century.

● The novel, The Ingenious Hidalgo Don Quixote of La Mancha, is considered to be the world’s first modern novel, written by Miguael n Cervantes in 1605.

● La Sagrada Família, one of the major works of Antoní Gaudí, is still under construction in Barcelona. The construction of the monumental Roman Catholic basilica began in 1882, and Gaudí worked on the architectural gem for over 40 years and devoted the last 15 years of his life solely to the this project.

● Spanish culture greatly influenced modern art from the late 1800’s with artists like Antonio Gaudí (Art Nouveau), Pablo Picasso (expressionism, cubism, surrealism), Joan Miró (surrealism) and Salvador Dalí (surrealism).

● Most of Spain was dominated under Muslim rule from (8th-11th century). The evidence of the influences of Muslim Spain can still be seen today in art, buildings, music, and literature.