Spain

General Information

Spain is a country in the South Western part of Europe. It has a size of approximately 505.370 km² and a population of about 49.331.076 citizens. Most of those are Catholics. The country’s capital is Madrid with a population of over three million people. Spain has had a parliamentary monarchy since 1978. The highest Mountain in Spain is the Pico de Teide on the Canary Islands with an elevation of 3.718 meters [1].

Spain around the time of „Mr. Jones“

In the beginning of the 20^th century, Spain was a fragmented nation with many nationalities and no real union between them. This easily led to divisions in the population ([2] p.12). In 1909, during military actions in Morocco, protests arose when over 150 people died in the span of a week. The protests were followed by a time of crisis and unrest, which General Miguel Primo de Rivera used to implement his rise in power. His dictatorship began in 1923 and ended in 1930 after he stepped down due to the failing economy, which was influenced by the global depression ([2] p.22). At the time there was a huge rift between city and country populations. Approximately 46 percent of the population still lived in the country while the population of Madrid increased from half a million to one million ([2] p.21). In the same year Spain announced the Spanish Republic, which was followed by The Spanish Civil War from 1936 to 1939. After the war, Francisco Francos rose to power and became the next dictator ([2] p.7).

[1] “Königreich Spanien”, Lexas.

https://www.lexas.de/europa/spanien/index.aspx (14.04.2019)

[2] Werz, Nikolaus; Gratius, Susanne (2017): Spanien – Analyse Politischer Systeme; Wochenschau Verlag Dr. Kurt Debus GmbH, Schwalbach.