Andrew Payti
Flamenco, tapas, quaint villages, world-class cities, extraordinary museums, and a greater variety of landscapes than any other country in Europe—Spain has it all. With just the right balance between modern and ancient architecture, gorgeous green mountains and stunning beaches, and traditional and contemporary cuisine, music, dance, and art, Spain offers everything you could want to experience.
Spain is located north of Africa and southwest of France. It shares the Iberian Peninsula with Portugal and is separated from the rest of Europe by the Pyrenees Mountains. Spain is divided into 17 independent autonomous communities, or comunidades autónomas. Two of Spain’s autonomous communities are archipelagos: las Islas Baleares (the Balearic Islands) in the Mediterranean Sea and las Islas Canarias (the Canary Islands) off the west coast of Africa. Spain also has two ciudades autónomas in North Africa: Ceuta and Melilla. The diversity of the autonomous communities is evident not only in the landscape—from the snow-capped Pyrenees Mountains and the lush green forests and meadows of the Basque Country and Navarra, to the stunning beaches of the Costa Blanca and Costa del Sol and the gorgeous orange and olive groves of Andalucía—but also in local customs and even languages.
Explore More:
The article tells of Spain’s seventeen autonomous communities. Can you name any of them? Do some research to find out all their names in Spanish. Print out a map of Spain and see if you can identify the location of each autonomous community.