The militant Basque separatist organization ETA has been waging a terrorist campaign for three decades in its effort to create an independent Basque homeland encompassing parts of northern Spain and southern France. More than 800 people have been killed.
In July, 1997, ETA members kidnapped popular ruling party official Miguel Angel Blanco, then fatally shot him in the head. Blanco's killing sparked anti-ETA sentiment across Spain, even among many Basques.
Other Basque organizations, including the Basque Nationalist Party, do not favor independence, and have regularly condemned ETA violence. The Spanish Government has repeatedly refused to negotiate with ETA, saying it must first renounce terrorism.
Madrid also faces separatist movements in Catalonia, in northeastern Spain.
Land and People | History |
| Travel | Financial | Weather
DEMOGRAPHICS
- Population:
- 39,485,000
- Average life span:
- 75 male, 82 female
- Average income ($US):
- $14,300
- GDP per capita ($US):
- $13,349
- Literacy rate:
- 97%
THE LAND AND ITS PEOPLE
- Capital:
- Madrid
- Size:
- 194,885 square miles (504,750 square km)
- Government type:
- Constitutional monarchy
- Political leaders:
- King Juan Carlos
- Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar
- Religions:
- Roman Catholic (99%)
- Languages:
- Castilian Spanish (official); Catalan; Galician; Basque
HISTORY
- 206 BC -- Spain falls under Roman Empire.
- 412 AD -- Visigoths invade, end Roman rule.
- 711 AD -- Moors conquer the Visigoths.
- 711-1469 -- Berber/Arab civilization flourishes in a Spain divided between Islamic and Christian dominions.
- 1469 -- Marriage of Ferdinand II and Isabella I unites the kingdoms of Aragon and Castile under Christian monarchs.
- 1478 -- The Spanish Inquisition begins.
- 1492 -- Granada, the last Moorish outpost in Spain, falls to the forces of Ferdinand and Isabella.
-- Columbus "discovers" America, beginning the age of Spanish colonialization.
- 1502 -- Muslims are expelled from Spain.
- 1516-1700 -- Hapsburg dynasty.
- 1898 -- Spain loses the Spanish-American war, effectively ending its colonial empire.
- 1923 -- Primo de Rivera establishes dictatorship.
- 1930-1931 -- King Alfonso XIII ousts Rivera but is himself forced to abdicate.
- 1936-1939 -- The Spanish Civil War.
- 1939-1975 -- Francisco Franco rules as dictator.
- 1975 -- Franco's hand-picked successor, King Juan Carlos, liberalizes the Spanish government.
- 1980 -- Catalonia and the Basque country are granted home rule.
- 1981-present -- Basque separatists wage terrorist campaign in support of complete independence.
FINANCIAL
- Monetary unit:
- Peseta
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