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The population of Spain
The last major recording for the population of Spain in 2004 showed that half of the population was roughly female and half male with females coming in it just over 20.5 million and males at nearly 19.7 million. This gave a total population of Spain of around 40.2 million people. The age demographics for the population of Spain was further narrowed down to show that around 5.8 million were aged between 0-14 years, 27.4 million were between 15-64 years old, being the main workforce of Spain and just over 7 million over 65 years old.
The main languages of Spain
There are different regional versions of Spanish spoken throughout the country but the main and official langauge of Spain spoken by over 70 percent of the population is Castilian. The other variations of the Spanish language include Catalan (the next most popular regional Spanish language spoken by around 17 percent), followed by Galician (spoken by about 7 percent) and Basque (spoken by about 2 percent).
Currency of Spain
The currency of Spain used to be the peseta prior to introduction of
the euro on 1st January 2002. The euro is now the sole currency of Spain
and during the introduction many products increased in price. There
was roughly 200 pesetas to the pound and there are around 1.45 euros
to the pound. A coffee for example used to be around 100 pesetas (50
pence) but now a coffee is around 1 euro / 1 euro 20 cents making it
about 83 pence, which is an increase way above any inflation over the
4 years since the introduction of the euro.
The monarchy and the Spanish state
The Spanish Monarchy
Since the 22nd of November 1975 the Spanish throne has been occupied
by King Juan Carlos I who also has the title of the Chief of State.
Due to succeed King Juan Carlos I is his son Prince Felipe (the Prince
of Asturias) who was born on January 30th in 1968. Data on King Juan Carlos I
Born: 5th January 1938 in Rome
From the Royal House of Borbón
Father - Juan de Borbón
Mother - Maria Mercedes de Borbón
Wife - Sofia of Greece
Children - Elena, The Duchess of Lugo, Cristina, The Duchess of Palma de Mallorca and Felipe, The Prince of Asturias
The Spanish Parliment
The current prime minister of Spain is José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero
who represents the Spanish Socialist Workers Party and has been in office
since the spring of 2004. José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero beat the former
prime minister José María Aznar who represented the Partido Popular
in the spring 2004 general election. Prior to this José María Aznar
served two terms as Spain's prime minister from 1996 to 2000 and then
from 2000 to 2004.
The Spanish public lost faith in José María Aznar subsequent to the Madrid train bombings which happened on 11th March 2004, just three days before the general election. It is widely believed that this act of terror against the Spanish people influenced the outcome of the election itself.
Data on José María Aznar
Born: 25th February 1953 in Madrid
Served from 5th May 1996 to 17th April 2004
Survived an assasination attempt by ETA on 19th April 2005
Data on José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero
Born: 14th August 1960 in Vallaolid
Served from 17th April 2004 to present day
Controversial moments include the withdrawal of Spanish troops from the Iraq crisis and legalising same sex marriage in a mainly Catholic country, to the annoyance of the vatican.
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