ABSTRACT

Spain, officially the Kingdom of Spain, is situated on the Iberian Peninsula in southwest Europe. It is the second largest country in the European Union (EU), after France. Its territory also includes the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean, the Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean, and the autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla in North Africa. Spain was a highly influential country between the fifteenth and eighteenth centuries and became a global empire with numerous colonies. As a consequence of this historical reach, Spanish remains the second most spoken language in the world today, with an estimated 500 million speakers. Spain is a democratic constitutional monarchy. Spain's mixed capitalist economy is the twelfth largest in the world, with one of the highest quality of life levels. In the twentieth century, the country transitioned peacefully to democracy after Franco's death in 1975. The country joined the European Union in 1986 and its economy experienced significant growth up to 2007. With the onset of the global financial crisis, the economy underwent a protracted period of stagnation, accompanied by a significant rise in unemployment from 8 percent to an estimated 20 percent.