SPAIN
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| (See reference map V and VII) |
LAND
505,050 km², including Canary (7,511 km²) and Balearic Islands (5,025 km²); 41% arable and land under permanent crops, 27% meadow and pasture, 22% forest, 10% urban or other
Land boundaries: 1,899 km
WATER
Limits of territorial waters (claimed): 12 nm (fishing 200 nm; 200 nm exclusive economic zone)
Coastline: 4,964 km (includes Balearic Islands, 677 km, and Canary Islands, 1,158 km)
PEOPLE
Population: 37,940,000 (July 1982), including the Balearic and Canary Islands and Ceuta and Melilla (two towns on the Moroccan coast); average annual growth rate 0.7%
Nationality: noun—Spaniard(s); adjective—Spanish
Ethnic divisions: homogeneous composite of Mediterranean and Nordic types
Religion: 99% Roman Catholic, 1% other sects
Language: Castilian Spanish spoken by great majority; but 17% speak Catalan, 7% Galician, and 2% Basque
Literacy: about 97%
Labor force (1979): 13.2 million; 19% agriculture, 27% industry, 10% construction, 41% services; unemployment now estimated at nearly 12% of labor force
Organized labor: labor unions legalized April 1977 experiencing surge in membership; probably represent 30-35% of the labor force (1979)
GOVERNMENT
Official name: Spanish State
Type: parliamentary monarchy defined by new constitution of December 1978, that completed transition from authoritarian regime of the late Generalissimo Franco and confirmed Juan Carlos I as monarch, but without the exceptional powers inherited from Franco on being proclaimed King 22 November 1975
Capital: Madrid
Political subdivisions: metropolitan Spain, including the Canaries and Balearics, divided into 50 provinces which are to be allowed to form autonomous regions—probably numbering 13—assuming numerous powers previously exercised by the central government; also five places of sovereignty (presidios) on the Mediterranean coast of Morocco; transferred administration of Spanish Sahara to Morocco and Mauritania on 26 February 1976
Legal system: civil law system, with regional applications; new constitution provides for rule of law, established jury system as well as independent constitutional court to rule on unconstitutionality of laws and to serve as court of last resort in protecting liberties and rights granted in constitution; does not accept compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
National holiday: 24 June
Branches: executive, with King's acts subject to counter-signature, Prime Minister (Presidente) and his ministers responsible to lower house; legislative with bicameral Cortes consisting of more powerful Congress of Deputies (350 members) and Senate (208 members) with possible addition of one to six members from each new autonomous region; judicial, independent
Government leaders: King JUAN CARLOS I (Chief of State and Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces); Prime Minister (Presidente) Leopoldo CALVO SOTELO y Bustelo
Suffrage: universal at age 18
Elections: parliamentary election 1 March 1979 for four-year term; local elections for municipal councils on 3 April 1979
Political parties and leaders: principal national parties in the 1979 elections from right to left—the conservative Democratic Coalition (CD), major rightist group, led by former ministers Manuel Fraga Iribame and José Maria de Areilza; the Union of the Democratic Center (UCD), the center-right party of Prime Minister Calvo Sotelo; the Spanish Socialist Workers Party (PSOE), the major party of the democratic left, led by Secretary General Felipe González; and the Spanish Communist Party (PCE), led by Santiago Carrillo, which espouses Eurocommunism; chief regional parties—Convergence and Unity (CiU) of Jordi Pujol in Catalonia; Basque Nationalist Party (PNV) of Carlos Garaicoechea; Basque radical coalitions Popular Unity (HB) and Basque Left (EE); and Andalusia Socialist Party (PSA) of Alejandro Rojas Marcos
Voting strength: (1979 parliamentary election in lower house) UCD 34.3%, and 168 seats (8 seats short of a majority); PSOE 29.9%, 121 seats; PCE 10.4%, 23 seats; CD 5.8%, 9
