España
3) Geography
 Spain is located at the southeast of Europe
 Spain together with Portugal forms the
Iberian Peninsula
 Neighbors?
 Portugal at the edge of the peninsula
 Spain
 France
 Temperature/climate of the different regions
Northeast lots of rain, the south very dry
Spanish mountains
 Excluding Switzerland, Spain is the
most mountainous country in Europe
 Snow covers the mountains of the
Sierras
 The Pyrenees mountains separates
Spain from the rest of Europe
 The Pyrenees separates Spain from
France
Pyrenees Mountains
Las Sierras
Spanish Cities and Regions
 North (Galicia, Asturias, Euskadi (el País Vasco), Navarro
 East (Cataluña, Aragon, Valencia)
 West (Extremadura, Valencia)
 Center of Spain (Castilla -Leon and Castilla – La Mancha)
 South - Andalucía
 Mediterranean Sea (Las Islas Baleares, Mallorca,
Menorca, Ibiza, Formentera)
Languages of Spain
 Barcelona and Catulaña – Catalan
and Castellano
 Euskadi – Euskera and Castellano
 Galicia – Gallego, Gallego-Portugues,
Castellano
(Prehistoric) History of
Spain
The Iberians
 First recorded to be in Spain around 6th
century BC
 They were warrior like and an individualistic
society
 People were short and brown
 Also occupied England, Ireland, France, and
other places in Europe
 They were believed to be the precursors to
the Basque people because of the names of
the rivers, cities, and mountains
The Iberians
The Celtics
 They arrived at the Iberian Peninsula
around 6th century
 They were fair skinned and came
from the Northern and central parts
of Europe
 They were a conglomerate of
disorganized warrior like tribes. They
were brave and usually fought unto
their deaths
The Celtics
The Phoenicians
They were the first to organized
trading on the peninsula
They originated from the
Mediterranean islands
Phoenicians were traders, sailors
and Semites
They were the founders of the
oldest City in Spain, Cadiz
Phoenicians were generally
peaceful and calm
They taught the residents of the
peninsula how to use money,
alphabet, metalwork and
cloth/fabric
The Greeks
Toward the 7th century,
the Greeks began to
move to the Iberian
peninsula and were
the first to begin to
plant grapes and
olives, in what is
Spain today
They founded schools
and Academies
The Carthaginians
 Cartago was a colony of Phoenicia
situated in northern Africa
 Population was more than a million
inhabitants
 Their army conquered Spain in the 3rd
century under the leadership of
Anibal
 Cartago was destroyed and burned
down by the Romans in 146 AD
The Carthaginians
The Romans
 It took 12 years to finally get rid of the
Carthaginians from Spain
 In the city of Numancia Spain, all the
soldiers committed suicide instead of being
taken alive by the Roman soldiers
 With the Roman culture mixed in with all
the other races and languages, this was
how the Spanish language was born
The Romans
The Vice Goths/ Visigoths
 After 6 centuries of roman rule, Spain was
invaded by barbarians from the north
 The barbarians took particular advantage of
the lands of the south of Spain
 These ‘barbarians’ were also known as
Goths/vice-Goths and were made up of
various German tribes
 In the 6th Century, the Goths converted to
Christianity
The Visigoths
The Arabs
 In the 7th Century, the prophet Mohammed
founded the Islamic religion. This religion
unified the different Arabic tribes
 At that point in time, the Arabic tribes
became the most powerful civilization in the
world
 The Islamic religion feuded with Christianity
to become the dominant religion in the
world
 The Islamic tribes controlled many parts of
Europe to the Middle East
The Arabs cont’d
 In 711, the Arabs finally entered into Spain
and remained there for 8 centuries
 Although during those 8 centuries they
fought many times with the Spanish, they
also spent many years living together
peacefully
 After many years of infighting, the Arabes
finally were left with one main stronghold in
Granada
 The name of the main palace was la
Alhambra. La Alhambra finally fell to the
Christian forces in 1492
5) Historic Spanish
Architecture/Art
 Prehistoric Art
 Roman architecture in Spain
Coliseums, bridges, theaters, temples
among others
Roman aqueduct of Segovia
Arabic architecture in Spain
Due to their belief in not reproducing the
human from, no Arabic art contain humans
can be found
Arabic art is dominant in the south of Spain.
Their art consisted of vibrant colors,
intricate designs, and rich ornamentation.
The Mosque of Cordoba, converted into a
Christian Church contains almost 1000
columns
The Alhambra or Red Palace of Granada was
constructed in the 8th and 9th Century as a
residence of the Moorish kings
Spanish art in the middle ages
The bridge of Toledo
The cathedral of Santiago de
Compostela
The cathedral de Sevilla
Murallas de Avila
Cathedral of Jaen en Andalucia
7) Spanish Literature
 What are Las ‘jarchas’
Jarchas are the oldest form of Spanish literature that is
known. They are short poems written in Arabic and
Spanish dialect. The main themes of these poems are
frequently of love and the pain or ectasy it may bring
 Pedro Calderon de la Barca
 Francisco de Quevedo
 Maria de Zayas
Miguel Cervantes (1547 –
1616)
 Cervantes was self-taught but also
received formal education
 He was also a soldier, and lost the use
of his left hand in battle “for the
greater good of the right” (according
to Cervantes)
 Most famous for his work – Don
Quijote de la Mancha in 1605
Lope de Vega (1562 – 1635)
 Born and died in Madrid Spain
 He attended a university operated by
Jesuit priests, but was largely selftaught
 He was part to the 1588 Invincible
Army
 Although he was married twice and
had many illegitimate children, he
became a priest at age 52
 He was a playwright, poet, and a
priest
Garcilaso de la Vega (1501 – 1536)
Was from a noble family, was a military
man, diplomat, musician, and poet
He played the harp and the violin
He wrote in Spanish, Latin, and italian
He died in Battle at the age of 34
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8) Spanish Artists/Musicians
Diego Velasquez
Francisco de Goya
Salvador Dali
Antoni Gaudi
Pablo Picasso
Federico García Lorca (1898 –
1936)
 Was born in Andalucía Spain
 Lorca was a poet, playwright, composer,
pianist, guitarist, director, and illustrator
 He was considered the poet of the gitanos
(gypsies), Blacks of New York,
homosexuals, and oppressed women
 He visited New York in 1929 – a visit that
both impressed and depressed him
 He was assassinated by a Franco loyalist
Domenico Theotocopuli - El Greco
(1542 – 1614)
 The name El Greco came about because
this painter was born in Crete, Greece
 Born in Greece, studied painting in Italy,
and one of the most famous Spanish
painters
 El Greco painted mainly religious themes using somber colors, and people in
reverential positions
 Famous works: La crucifixion, El entierro
del conde de Orgaz,
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1) Present day Spanish culture
Bullfighting in Spain
Spanish Music/Arts
Food
Sports