Spain

C

Natural Resources

The most valuable natural resource of Spain is the soil. The country also has many mineral resources, including coal, petroleum, cobalt, copper, iron ore, lead, lignite, manganese, mercury, potash, salt, silver, sulphur, tin, and zinc.

Although Spanish soils need careful irrigation and cultivation, they are a rich and valuable resource. Semi-arid chestnut-brown soils cover the central plateau, and red Mediterranean soils cover the southern area and the north-eastern coastal region. A grey desert soil, often saline, is found in the south-east. The forest of northern Spain has grey-brown forest soils, and the forest in the Cantabrian Mountains has leached podzolic soils.

D

Plants and Animals

Only a small part of Spain is wooded, and forests are located mainly on mountain slopes, particularly in the north-west. A common Spanish tree is the evergreen oak. Cork oak, from which the bark may be stripped every ten years, is abundant, growing chiefly as second growth on timbered land. Poplar trees are grown throughout the country and the cultivation of olive trees is a major agricultural activity. Other Spanish trees include the elm, beech, and chestnut. Shrubs and herbs are the common natural vegetation on the central plateau. Grapevines flourish in the arid soil. Esparto grass, used for making paper and various fibre products, grows abundantly in both the wild and cultivated state. Sugar cane, oranges, lemons, figs, almonds, and chestnuts are grown on the Mediterranean coast.

The Spanish fauna includes the wolf, lynx, wildcat, fox, wild boar, wild goat, deer, and hare. Among the more famous domesticated animals are the bulls bred near Seville and Salamanca for bullfighting, the Spanish national sport. Birdlife is abundant, with varieties of birds of prey. Insect life abounds. Mountain streams and lakes teem with such fish as barbel, tench, and trout.

E

Environmental Concerns

The mostly mountainous, semi-arid land of Spain is home to more than 5,000 species of plants. Forests cover 17 per cent (1995) of the country, although this figure includes plantations of pine and eucalyptus grown for soil stabilization and paper pulp. Farmland makes up about 53 per cent of the country. Protected areas in Spain include nine national parks, game reserves, and many smaller sites of special conservation status, representing a total of about 8.4 per cent (1997) of the land.

Spain faces numerous environmental threats. Deforestation and the erosion and river pollution that accompany it are major concerns. Other problems include the encroachment of agriculture on to land designated as protected, desertification in badly managed agricultural zones, and soil salinization in irrigated regions. Agricultural productivity has improved in recent years, but partly as a result of increased use of nitrogen fertilizers, which have in turn added to the problem of nitrates in rivers. Tourism, an important source of Spain’s income, also produces environmental stress. Badly planned developments threaten protected areas, and poor sewage- and water-treatment facilities cause serious pollution, especially on the Mediterranean coast during the summer months. In April 1998, a serious toxic waste spill occurred as the result of a burst reservoir at an iron ore mine in southern Spain. Attempts were made to divert the spillage from Doñana National Park, a World Heritage Site and important wetland area, towards the Guadalquivir River, which flows into the Atlantic Ocean. It was estimated that the toxic mud from the spill threatened millions of birds and other wildlife. The black toxic mud covered farms, fields, and orchards, causing farmers to suffer enormous economic losses.

Spain generates its power from hydroelectricity, coal, and nuclear energy. Nuclear plants supply more than one third of the country’s energy, although the government is committed to reducing the country’s dependence on nuclear energy by developing alternative power sources.

Spain participates in the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, with 17 sites designated, and in the World Heritage Convention, with two national parks recognized as World Heritage Sites. Fourteen biosphere reserves have been set aside under the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Man and the Biosphere Program. Spain has ratified international environmental agreements on air pollution, the Antarctic-Environmental Protocol and Antarctic Treaty, biodiversity, climate change, endangered species, environmental modification, hazardous wastes, marine dumping, marine life, nuclear test ban, ozone layer, ship pollution, tropical timber, and whaling. Regionally, Spain has designated several protected areas for wild birds as part of the European Wild Bird Directive and six protected marine sites under the Mediterranean Action Plan.

III

Population

The Spanish people are essentially a mixture of the indigenous peoples of the Iberian Peninsula with the successive peoples who conquered the peninsula and occupied it for extended periods. These added ethnologic elements include the Romans, a Mediterranean people, and the Suevi, Vandals, Visigoths (Goths), and Teutonic peoples. Semitic elements are also present. The populations of several regions in Spain have kept a separate identity, culturally and linguistically. These include the Basques, who number about 2.1 million and live chiefly around the Bay of Biscay; the Galicians (about 2.5 million), who live in north-western Spain; and the Catalans of eastern and north-eastern Spain. The nomadic Spanish Roma (Gypsies), who are also called Gitanos, are a separate ethnic group.

A

Population Characteristics

Spain has a population of 40,448,191 (2007 estimate). The overall population density is about 81 people per sq km (210 per sq mi). Spain is increasingly urban with 77 per cent of the population living in towns and cities.