International markets culture studies
IBC Radboud University year 1
Geographical location
Spain is located in the Iberian Peninsula. The capital of Spain is Madrid. There are two big
islands groups, the balearic islands and the canary islands. Spain also has 2 independent
cities in Morocco and one in France.
Topography: big cities, autonomous regions, rivers, mountains, islands
Hydrography
Most of the rivers are not of economic importance, because many spanish areas are
characterized by drought.
Most important rivers (rio): el duero, el tajo, la guadiana, el guadalquivir and el ebro.
Furthermore, la Segura and el Júcar.
Galicia fjords (ria): narrow rías altas in the north and wide and long rías bajas in the south.
Spain also has a lot of mountain ranges. There are a few big mountain areas.
Climate
Atlantic sea climate: soft summers, soft winters and can be found on the North Coast of
Spain.
Mediterranean country climate: hot summers, cold winters and can be found in the centre of
Spain.
Mediterranean Sea climate: hot summers and soft winters, can be found along the
Mediterranean Coastline of Spain.
,Subtropical climate: summer and winter practically the same, can be found on the Canary
Islands.
Population
Spain has a population of almost 47 million, due to a great growth after 1900.
Birth rate was very high during the Franco regime. This can be explained by the fact that he
was a nationalist and wanted Spain to be unified and not dependent on anything or anyone
else. He wanted everybody to be a catholic. One of the characteristics of catholics at that
time was the motivation of people to have a lot of children. Thereby people were stimulated
to have big families.
After Franco’s death there was a cultural revolution in Spain that had to do with
emancipation such as feminism. In which women wanted to have as few children as
possible.
Even today the birthrate is very low at 1,31 children per woman.
The population is very unequally divided. A lot of people live in the bigger cities such as
Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia.
Languages
Spanish is spoken by 473 million people in 23 countries. Especially in South America
spanish is an important language.
Spanish can be distinguished in 4 languages.
1. El castellano (Castilian)
2. El catalán (Catalan) related to roman languages
3. El gallego (Galician), related to portuguese
4. El vasco o euskera (Basque) , not related to any language that we know
During the regime of Franco, people were only allowed to speak the castilian language.
Spain also has some dialects such as Andalusian and Aragonese.
Religion/religion customs
The majority of Spain recognizes themselves as a Roman Catholic. This is due to the regime
of Franco. Due to immagration other religions also form a small part of the religions in Spain.
Fiestas: religious festivities, for example: semana santa (holy week)
Feria: feast (market)
Romería: Pilgrimages to a sanctuary, chapel or holy statues. Usually with a picnic before
and a ball later afterwards. (camino de santiago)
Camino de Santiago
The apostle James the greater was an apostle who was spreading the christian faith in
Jeruzalem. When he was beheaded for doing so, his body was brought to Spain and he got
buried at the west coast of Spain. A few centuries later a shepherd saw a star above the field
where saint James was buried. And so that became a place that people wanted to travel to,
el campo estrella (field of star). Campo estrella turned into compostela. From the middle
ages onwards, people have been wanting to make this journey at least once in their lives.
Los Reyes Magos en Mallorca
, Feast of the three kings that came to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. Celebrated at the
beginning at january. Comparable to Sinterklaas.
Fallas de Valencia
A feast celebrated most popular in valencia. Takes place in March. Comparable to carnaval.
Falla = a big float / structure made of papier mache. There is a competition of who made the
best one. At the end of las fallas the fallas are burned.
Media
During Franco’s regime all press was censured. After his death, when the censorship was
lifted, 115 newspapers appeared in Spain
The largest newspapers in Spain are
- El País
- ABC
- El mundo
- La vanguardia
- El periódico
- El correo Español
Spanish people love reading la prensa rose (roddelbladen).
Leisure time
- Soccer, spanish are known to be big soccer fans
- Corrida de toros (stieren vechten)
- Flamenco
- National lottery (Gordo de Navidad España)
- Paseo
- Tapas
HISTORY
Ancient times
<50.000 B.C.: The basques (a pre-Iberian people?)
50.000 B.C.: Iberians arrive on the peninsula from North Africa
1.200 B.C.: Celtic troops arrive in Spain from the North. Origin of the Celtic/Iberian race
1.100B.C.: Phoenician colonists (Lebanon, Syria) Create their colonies (Cádiz/Gadir)
At this point there are different tribes and people living on the peninsula and they live side by
side not mingling too much.
After the decline of the Phoenician trade, the greek colonists renamed the country Hespería.
Important remains of this are:
- Cuevas de altamira → prehistoric drawings
- Monte de Santa Tecla → Remains from the celtic period
- Empurion / ampurias → Remains from the greek time
Roman times
201BC - 409AC Roman rule in Spain. They had a substantial influence on language and
people.
> 409AC Visigoths (West goth, from Sweden) enter Spain and establish their kingdom there
(Toledo as the capital city of their kingdom). Visigoths had significantly less influence on the
culture and the people, they barely mixed with the inhabitants.
IBC Radboud University year 1
Geographical location
Spain is located in the Iberian Peninsula. The capital of Spain is Madrid. There are two big
islands groups, the balearic islands and the canary islands. Spain also has 2 independent
cities in Morocco and one in France.
Topography: big cities, autonomous regions, rivers, mountains, islands
Hydrography
Most of the rivers are not of economic importance, because many spanish areas are
characterized by drought.
Most important rivers (rio): el duero, el tajo, la guadiana, el guadalquivir and el ebro.
Furthermore, la Segura and el Júcar.
Galicia fjords (ria): narrow rías altas in the north and wide and long rías bajas in the south.
Spain also has a lot of mountain ranges. There are a few big mountain areas.
Climate
Atlantic sea climate: soft summers, soft winters and can be found on the North Coast of
Spain.
Mediterranean country climate: hot summers, cold winters and can be found in the centre of
Spain.
Mediterranean Sea climate: hot summers and soft winters, can be found along the
Mediterranean Coastline of Spain.
,Subtropical climate: summer and winter practically the same, can be found on the Canary
Islands.
Population
Spain has a population of almost 47 million, due to a great growth after 1900.
Birth rate was very high during the Franco regime. This can be explained by the fact that he
was a nationalist and wanted Spain to be unified and not dependent on anything or anyone
else. He wanted everybody to be a catholic. One of the characteristics of catholics at that
time was the motivation of people to have a lot of children. Thereby people were stimulated
to have big families.
After Franco’s death there was a cultural revolution in Spain that had to do with
emancipation such as feminism. In which women wanted to have as few children as
possible.
Even today the birthrate is very low at 1,31 children per woman.
The population is very unequally divided. A lot of people live in the bigger cities such as
Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia.
Languages
Spanish is spoken by 473 million people in 23 countries. Especially in South America
spanish is an important language.
Spanish can be distinguished in 4 languages.
1. El castellano (Castilian)
2. El catalán (Catalan) related to roman languages
3. El gallego (Galician), related to portuguese
4. El vasco o euskera (Basque) , not related to any language that we know
During the regime of Franco, people were only allowed to speak the castilian language.
Spain also has some dialects such as Andalusian and Aragonese.
Religion/religion customs
The majority of Spain recognizes themselves as a Roman Catholic. This is due to the regime
of Franco. Due to immagration other religions also form a small part of the religions in Spain.
Fiestas: religious festivities, for example: semana santa (holy week)
Feria: feast (market)
Romería: Pilgrimages to a sanctuary, chapel or holy statues. Usually with a picnic before
and a ball later afterwards. (camino de santiago)
Camino de Santiago
The apostle James the greater was an apostle who was spreading the christian faith in
Jeruzalem. When he was beheaded for doing so, his body was brought to Spain and he got
buried at the west coast of Spain. A few centuries later a shepherd saw a star above the field
where saint James was buried. And so that became a place that people wanted to travel to,
el campo estrella (field of star). Campo estrella turned into compostela. From the middle
ages onwards, people have been wanting to make this journey at least once in their lives.
Los Reyes Magos en Mallorca
, Feast of the three kings that came to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. Celebrated at the
beginning at january. Comparable to Sinterklaas.
Fallas de Valencia
A feast celebrated most popular in valencia. Takes place in March. Comparable to carnaval.
Falla = a big float / structure made of papier mache. There is a competition of who made the
best one. At the end of las fallas the fallas are burned.
Media
During Franco’s regime all press was censured. After his death, when the censorship was
lifted, 115 newspapers appeared in Spain
The largest newspapers in Spain are
- El País
- ABC
- El mundo
- La vanguardia
- El periódico
- El correo Español
Spanish people love reading la prensa rose (roddelbladen).
Leisure time
- Soccer, spanish are known to be big soccer fans
- Corrida de toros (stieren vechten)
- Flamenco
- National lottery (Gordo de Navidad España)
- Paseo
- Tapas
HISTORY
Ancient times
<50.000 B.C.: The basques (a pre-Iberian people?)
50.000 B.C.: Iberians arrive on the peninsula from North Africa
1.200 B.C.: Celtic troops arrive in Spain from the North. Origin of the Celtic/Iberian race
1.100B.C.: Phoenician colonists (Lebanon, Syria) Create their colonies (Cádiz/Gadir)
At this point there are different tribes and people living on the peninsula and they live side by
side not mingling too much.
After the decline of the Phoenician trade, the greek colonists renamed the country Hespería.
Important remains of this are:
- Cuevas de altamira → prehistoric drawings
- Monte de Santa Tecla → Remains from the celtic period
- Empurion / ampurias → Remains from the greek time
Roman times
201BC - 409AC Roman rule in Spain. They had a substantial influence on language and
people.
> 409AC Visigoths (West goth, from Sweden) enter Spain and establish their kingdom there
(Toledo as the capital city of their kingdom). Visigoths had significantly less influence on the
culture and the people, they barely mixed with the inhabitants.
