Iberia is located in southern Europe. Historical region located on the Iberian Peninsula. Iberia, lying on the Iberian Peninsula, is separated from the rest of Europe by the Pyrenees. Both Portugal and almost all of Spain for a long time, much longer than other European countries, were under Arab influence. Both countries are better known for their agricultural products than for their technological achievements, but their long and unusual history has managed to assemble a wealth of cultural and historical landmarks, from the Roman and Arab periods to remarkable modern architecture. Gibraltar, which has belonged to Great Britain for three hundred years, differs significantly from Spain and Portugal, while Andorra, a small Pyrenean state, on the contrary, is similar to the neighboring regions of Spain. The Pyrenees in the north and the Sierra Nevada in the south of the peninsula guarantee a sufficient amount of natural beauty, and, in addition, the region includes the islands in the Atlantic Ocean - Madeira, Azores and Canaries.
Andorra
A small landlocked country in
the Pyrenees Mountains, situated between Spain and France, popular for
skiing in winter, hiking in summer and shopping all year round.
Portugal
This stunning
country borders Spain and the picturesque Atlantic Ocean.
Spain
This country is one of the
most popular holiday and living destinations in Europe: the culture,
nightlife, beaches and history give human beauty to a country that has
so much natural beauty.
Gibraltar
The United Kingdom's
stronghold on the Spanish coast since before the days of Napoleon.
Barcelona — Home of Gaudí and capital of Catalonia.
Braga — In the
north of Portugal.
Coimbra — Historic Portuguese city.
Lisbon —
Capital and most beautiful city in Portugal. You're in a natural harbor
and it's a great city break.
Madrid — The imperial capital of Spain
in the center of the Spanish mainland. Madrid has a lot to offer the
average visitor, however long they have to spend.
Porto — On the
north coast of Portugal.
Seville — One of the southernmost cities in
Spain, Seville is home to explorers who discovered the Americas.
Valencia — Culturally incredible, Valencia is dynamic and changeable,
with beautiful beaches.
Zaragoza — This is the capital of the Spanish
region of Aragon.
Faro — Algarve coast (southern) of Portugal.
Évora — Important city in Alentejo.
Santiago do Cacem
1 Algarve— long beaches in the extreme southwest of Europe
2
Azores—in the Atlantic, halfway to North America, these beautiful
volcanic islands have lovely weather year-round
3 Gran Canaria—the
most populous of the Canary Islands is also the most diverse of
them—verdant forests and sunny deserts can be found on this island
4
Ibiza—the party capital of not only Europe but the entire world, this
small Mediterranean island also has historic towns and pine forests
5
La Rioja– wine region in northern Spain, home to tranquil and
picturesque old towns
6 Madeira—off the African coast, Madeira is
also known as the “island of eternal spring” and “the floating garden of
the Atlantic”—and there is almost no hyperbole there
7 Mallorca- Many
tourists may be flocking to this Balearic island's beaches to sunbathe,
but head inland and you'll have stunning mountain views all to yourself
8 Tenerife—deserts seemingly straight from the moon, mountains,
volcanoes, spectacular beaches, and lively nightlife abound on this
island, once the last familiar piece of land for explorers of the New
World.
The entire peninsula is in the Schengen Area, as are Spain and
Portugal's overseas territories in the Atlantic Ocean and Africa.
Andorra and Gibraltar are nominally outside the Schengen Area, so entry
into either would terminate a single-entry visa, but often passports
only get a cursory look and are not stamped outside of Schengen.
By plane
The Iberian Peninsula is Europe's main hub for flights from
South and Central America. Barajas airport, in Madrid, is the most
important of the hubs, while Lisbon airport is the main gateway to
Brazil due to the historical ties between the two countries. Both also
have worldwide links. The situation is practically the same with the two
flag airlines: the Spanish Iberia has an impressive network in
South/Central America, and the Portuguese TAP flies from several
destinations in Brazil and from African cities with colonial ties to
Portugal. Both also share codes with local airlines, providing an
impressive number of links in their areas of operation.
Outside
of the two main capitals, Barcelona El Prat is a major airport with
flights from across Europe (being the hub for low-cost continental
airline Vueling) and selected cities in Asia and North America.
Important smaller airports in mainland Spain and Portugal include
Alicante, Faro, Málaga and Porto. The countries' various islands and
archipelagos have their own airports, most of which are very well served
by Europe, although some smaller islands only receive domestic flights.
Gibraltar has its own international airport, while mountainous Andorra
relies on its road links to Barcelona and Toulouse (France).
By
train
The conventional rail network has a different gauge (the
distance between two tracks) to that of most of Europe, so cross-border
train movement has been difficult. The Spanish high-speed rail network
operates to the same standards as the French, so trains can run from the
French city of Perpignan to Barcelona and from any endpoint to the
French or Spanish high-speed rail network. RENFE and SNCF together
operate two daily direct trains from Paris to Barcelona and one train
from Madrid to various destinations in the south of France. Since the
route via Canfranc has been closed, there is only one rail connection
left between France and Spain, namely via Hendaye. Other connections
across the Pyrenees have also been proposed, but seem unlikely. However,
conventional trains run the Hendaye route and the Spanish Talgo train
was one of the first viable systems to deal with gauge breaks and is
still highly regarded. The sleeper trains of yesteryear (often called
Trenhotel) have been greatly reduced since the turn of the millennium.
By boat
See Ferries in the Mediterranean
By plane
Given the distances involved, there are some routes where
flying makes sense. Service on once-popular routes such as Madrid -
Barcelona has been reduced since the opening of new high-speed rail
lines.
By train
The quality and speed of rail service varies
widely. While high-speed lines between major cities are fast and
convenient, there are some older Iberian-gauge lines that take tortuous
time and take multiple detours, making buses the quickest option. In
Portugal, the fastest trains are tilting trains on improved old lines
which are not as fast as Spanish high-speed trains, but are still many
times faster than driving. Plans to connect Spain and Portugal via
standard gauge high-speed rail lines have not come to fruition.
In addition to the natural landscape, the Iberian Peninsula has a
cultural heritage that dates back to the Stone Age. With the peninsula
having been spared from the world wars, many archaeological sites and
ancient cities remain in good condition.
Spain has several of the
world's most renowned art museums, including the Prado and Reina Sofia
in Madrid and the Guggenheim in Bilbao.
There are sixteen
national parks in Spain, several natural parks in Catalonia and several
similar parks in Portugal.
Spanish — Official language of Spain, with co-official status in some
regions with historical languages
Portuguese — The official language
of Portugal
Basque — Co-official language in some regions of Spain,
unrelated to any other living language, spoken in the Basque Country and
in Navarre, in the north of the peninsula.
Catalan — Co-official in
several regions of Spain and the only official language in Andorra,
spoken mainly in Andorra, the Balearic Islands, Catalonia and as
Valencian in Valencia.
Galician — Co-official language of Galicia,
Spain, spoken mainly in Galicia and a small part of the provinces of
Asturias and Leon. It is closely related to Portuguese
Astur-Leonese
— Not official, but spoken in several provinces of Spain: Asturias and
parts of the provinces of León, Salamanca and Zamora.
Aragonese –
Unofficial, but spoken in several valleys in northern Aragon, Spain.
Mirandês — Co-official in the Portuguese cities of Miranda do Douro,
Mogadouro and Vimioso. Part of the Astur-Leonese languages.
English —
Official language of Gibraltar
With the exception of Basque (and
English), all the languages of the Iberian Peninsula belong to the
Romance language family, which has its roots in Latin, so if you speak
one of these languages, it will be quite easy to learn. the rest.
Although most young people learned English at school, it is not
widely spoken or understood outside the small British enclave of
Gibraltar, where it is the official language. As in other parts of the
world, English proficiency improves as you get closer to the main
tourist centers, especially in the resort towns along the Mediterranean
coast and in Barcelona. As a general rule, English proficiency is higher
in Portugal than in Spain.
With long coastlines, Spain and Portugal are best known for their seafood dishes. In Portugal, cod is one of the most popular dishes, and there is also a large and famous industry linked to sweets. In Spain – especially in Valencia and Catalonia – there is a great connection to tapas, small dishes enjoyed with wine. Spain is also known for its Iberian ham, being considered a country at the forefront of new directions in high quality international cuisine.
Sangria is a wine usually mixed with a combination of fruits and some
added spices, such as cinnamon.
However, although sangria is
popular with tourists, it is rare to see Spaniards drinking it. Cariocas
drink tinto de verano - red wine diluted with lemonade or carbonated
water. Spain is also known as Rioja and Jerez (sherry).
Portugal
is known for its Port wines, among others.
"Iberian Peninsula" is the current term with which the peninsula is
called. In the past, it had other names, attributed by the different
peoples who inhabited it:
Iberia, (Greek: Ιβηρία) Greek name of the
peninsula, originating from the river Ebro (Ívir);
Hispania, (Latin:
Hispania) Roman name for the peninsula, the etymology of which is still
being studied;
Hespanha, medieval name of the peninsula, derived from
the Latin name Hispania. After the end of the Iberian Union (1640), it
was changed to the current "Spain" and began to have a more restricted
meaning to identify only one of the countries of the peninsula;
Al-Andalus, (Arabic: الأندلس) Arabic name for the Muslim territories of
the peninsula, the etymology of which is still being studied;
Sefarad, (Hebrew: ספרד) Hebrew name given by the Sephardim.
Among the main mountain ranges of the Iberian Peninsula are the Bética (subdivided into the Penibética and Sub-Bética mountain ranges), the Cantabrian (of which the Picos de Europa are part), the Catalan Pre-littoral, the Central System and the Iberian System. Some of the most representative mountain ranges of these or isolated ranges are Nevada, Guadarrama, Morena, Gredos, La Serrota, Estrela, Larouco, Gerês, Soajo, Marão, Montesinho, Bornes, Nogueira, Leomil , Caramulo, Marofa, Gata, Gardunha, Lousã, Alvelos or São Mamede.
The geology of the Iberian Peninsula is closely related to the genesis and character of its relief. Its main core, occupying about 60% of the entire area, is the Meseta, an ancient residual Hercynian plateau. It makes up the central and western part of the peninsula, falling directly to the sea in the northwestern region. Over most of its length, the Meseta is bordered by either folded mountain ranges or tectonic depressions. Tertiary folded mountains play, in turn, a large role in the structure and relief of the Iberian Peninsula, especially its eastern and southern parts. Remarkable in their length and straightness, fault lines and faults border the Meseta from the south and west. The southern edge of the Meseta rises as a steep slope above the Andalusian lowland stretching at its foot. To the south of the lowland stretches (from the southwest to the northeast) the powerful mountain system of the Cordillera Betica, at the foot of which lies the southern and southeastern Mediterranean coast of Spain. To the east, the Andalusian Lowland wedges out, and the Betian Mountains closely join the southeastern corner of the Meseta. Further to the northeast, the Andalusian Mountains end in the area of Cape Nao. Their tectonic continuation is the group of Pitiusa and Balearic Islands, stretching from the southwest to the northeast.
The relief of the Iberian Peninsula is dominated by mountains and
plateaus: lowlands are located only in places in the marginal (coastal)
zone and occupy a relatively small area. The average height of the
peninsula is significant - about 600 m above sea level. A feature of the
peninsula are extensive high-lying internal plateaus - a type of relief
rarely found in southern and western Europe. These are the plateaus of
the Meseta: the northern - Old Castilian and the southern - New
Castilian; the first lies at an altitude of about 800 m, the second -
about 600 m (on average). They are divided by a chain of mountains
crossing the Meseta (in the direction from west-southwest to
east-northeast), known as the Central Cordillera. These plateaus are
closed in nature, bordered by mountains for most of their length; along
their periphery, at the foot of the mountains, even higher leveled
surfaces (up to 900-1100 m) are observed.
Along with the
significant development of plateaus, the relief of the peninsula also
widely represents a sharply dissected and rocky mountain landscape; the
mountains often have steep slopes, with deeply incised river valleys and
gorges. The Alpine type of landscape is clearly expressed in the
Pyrenees, which carries groups of small glaciers, and in the Pleistocene
was subject to significant glaciation. Features of high-mountain relief
are also inherent in other mountain ranges (in their highest sections) -
such as the Cantabrian Mountains, the Central Cordillera, the Andalusian
Mountains.
On the contrary, the landscapes of mid-altitude
mountains and hilly areas, so typical of Italy, are much less developed
in Spain. In general, the Iberian Peninsula is a country of rather sharp
contrasts in relief, climate and landscapes, which makes it stand out in
comparison with the rest of Western Europe. To emphasize this feature of
the peninsula, it is sometimes called "Little Africa" or compared with
the highlands of Western and Central Asia, in particular with Asia
Minor. The differences in the landscapes of individual regions of the
Iberian Peninsula are due to the isolation of its internal parts, with a
continental climate shade, which creates different features of nature in
comparison with coastal areas. In addition, due to the significant
height of the mountains and plateaus, the role of vertical climatic and
landscape zonality is quite clearly manifested on the Iberian Peninsula.
Despite these features and the uniqueness of the Iberian Peninsula, in
general, it is still close in nature to the rest of Southern Europe,
belonging together with it to a single Mediterranean large geographical
region, remarkable for the vivid expression of its typical landscapes.
The bay type of coast is generally relatively undeveloped on the Iberian
Peninsula, but it is still found in a number of places with excellent
natural harbors: in the northwest - in Galicia, in the west - at the
mouth of the Tagus River (the harbor of Lisbon), in the south - in the
bay with the ancient port of Cartagena.
The following main climatic regions can be distinguished on the
Iberian Peninsula:
the northern oceanic region, with a very even
maritime climate, mild winters and cool summers, high cloud cover and
relative humidity, frequent and heavy precipitation in all months of the
year, but with a noticeable summer minimum;
the Pyrenean region, of
the same general type, but distinguished by sharply expressed vertical
zonality and the presence of a high-mountain climate zone;
the
southwestern region, adjacent to the ocean and under its mitigating
influence, but with hot and dry summers, rainy and very mild winters;
the southeastern region, with maximum drier climate, with very long hot
and cloudless summers (with the greatest use of artificial irrigation in
agriculture - irrigated farming);
interior regions (the plateau of
Old and New Castile, the Aragonese Basin with a dry, moderately
continental climate, hot summers and cool winters, with frequent light
frosts in winter (especially in Old Castile);
mountainous regions of
inland Spain, with a moderately humid and rather severe climate, with
cold, snowy winters.
The noticeably pronounced dryness of the
climate, characteristic of most of the Iberian Peninsula, is further
enhanced by the extremely uneven precipitation throughout the seasons.
In the southern half of the peninsula, winter precipitation
predominates, while in the middle zone, precipitation occurs during the
transitional seasons: in autumn and spring. Summer is characterized by
prolonged dryness almost everywhere. Moreover, precipitation often has
the character of showers. These climate features are reflected in the
hydrographic network and vegetation.
The term Hispania (or Hispaniae, Hispaniarum, Yspania, Spania or
Hespanha) will continue to determine the inhabitants of the Iberian
Peninsula for some centuries. The work Os Lusíadas, by Camões, mentions
the Portuguese as "A very strong people of Hespanha" (canto I, verse
31), or "the noble Spain" (canto III, verse 17), made up of several
nationalities, which include, among others, Castile (current Spain) and
the Lusitanian Kingdom (Portugal) (canto III, verses 19 and 20). The
name "Spain" is used by Camões in a purely geographical way, as a
synonym for "Iberian Peninsula", a common use at the time derived from
the Latin Hispania.
When the Catholic Monarchy was formed,
according to the Chronicle of the Catholic Monarchs by Fernando del
Pulgar in 1479, the question had already been raised regarding the title
of the new monarchs, and the hypothesis of them being able to become
"Kings of Spain" was considered. The Royal Council concluded that they
should not do so because they did not yet control the entire Iberian
Peninsula: "the wishes of some of the Council were that they would
rightfully take the title of kings of Spain, because being now the
successors of the kingdoms of Aragon, they were lords of the majority of
it [of the Iberian Peninsula]. But they decided not to do it [...]".
It began to be noticed only after Spanish rule (Philip II of Spain
(I of Portugal), crowned himself "king of all Spain", that is, of all
the kingdoms of the Iberian Peninsula), and subsequent Restoration of
Portuguese Independence , in the 17th century, the designation of
"Spain" or "Spains" was directed only to one of the nations of the
Peninsula. This tendency associated with a manifest political content
will continue to be accentuated after the War of Succession and the
Decrees of the New Plan.
Even so, in Raphael Bluteau's
"Portuguese and Latin Vocabulary" (1712–1728), the first dictionary of
the Portuguese language, there is still no clear differentiation between
the different concepts. He states that "Lusitânia was part of Hespanha
and particularly of the Kingdom of Portugal", but by defining
"hespanhol" he exposes that "the Portuguese or Lusitanians were not
understood under the general name of Spanish": the assumption that there
is a clear difference in a geographical space which is not politically
homogeneous, whose inhabitants may have different nationalities, and
therefore, other gentiles.
In the 19th century, the courts of
Cádiz in 1812, during the Peninsular War, approved its first
constitution calling itself "Spain". The backbone of the government
until then, the Council of Castile, was first dissolved in 1812,
reactivated again, and only then definitively ceased in March 1834, with
the Supreme Court of Spain and the Indies being born in its place,
assuming judicial functions, and the Royal Council of Spain and the
Indies as an advisory body. The hitherto "Catholic Monarchy" was
officially called the "Spanish Monarchy".
The physical distance
between Portugal and Spain, characterized by poor communication routes
in the land border areas until the mid-19th century, combined with the
negative semantic load that the possible denominations of the Peninsula,
often used in a political way, such as Iberia, Iberism or Hispanicity ,
were the subject of multiple and fierce intellectual debates that only
crystallized at the beginning of the 20th century.
In the case of
the Italian Peninsula, the Risorgimento in the 19th century led to the
unification of the entire peninsula under the same name as Italy, but
with a fundamental difference from the Iberian Peninsula: there was only
a single State.
Currently, the Spanish State celebrates its
national day since 1958 as Hispanicity Day (also known as "Colombo Day"
in the United States), established by decree of the dictator Francisco
Franco that year, leaving behind the xenophobic name "Race Day" which it
had since 1918. As a centripetal force that promotes hegemonic
integrationism, the significance of Hispanicity in Francoism had the aim
of sublimating imperial frustration, being once again the origin of an
expansive Spanish nationalism.
It began to be described by the Greeks as Iberia (land of the Iberians), then by the Romans as Hispania, with its etymology continuing to be studied.
The Romanization of the Peninsula began in 218 BC. when Roman troops
landed in the northeast of the Peninsula to prevent further attacks by
the Carthaginians across the Pyrenees, as had already occurred. Having
defeated the Carthaginians, they head south and conquer the Carthaginian
capital, Cádiz, one of the oldest cities in Europe. Romanization was a
relatively slow process that began on the east and south coast towards
the west and north, with the Cantabrian coast (encompassing Galicia,
Asturias, Cantabria and part of the Basque Country) being the last area
of the Peninsula to be conquered. The Basque Country has remarkably
preserved its language and other cultural aspects. The use of Latin was
not imposed; people learned this for convenience and the prestige of the
language. The Romanization process was rapid in some areas (east and
south) and slower in others (interior, west and north). Highlighting the
difficulty the Romans faced when invading the region inhabited by the
Lusitanians due to their fighters and their resilient leader, Viriathus.
Although information and personal data about this leader are scarce, it
is known that he hindered the process of Romanization, mainly in the
mountainous areas of the interior, south of the Douro River and north of
the Tagus (currently corresponding to a significant part of the
Portuguese territory, comprising the interior of the Central Region
closest to Serra da Estrela), to the point that Rome, reportedly, sent
one of its generals, Serviliano, to monitor the fighting. Several poems
and writers make reference to this leader as an audacious warrior, who
ended up murdered by those around him. This episode ended in 139 BC.
with the period that was later called the "Lusitanian Wars", the
conquered territory being integrated into Hispânia Ulterior.
During Romanization, the Iberian Peninsula was divided into provinces:
First in two in 197 BC. — Hispânia Citerior and Hispânia Ulterior;
Three provinces in 27 BC — Lusitânia (capital: Augusta Emerita, today
Mérida), Bética (capital: Corduba, today Córdoba) and Tarraconense
(capital: Tarraco, today Tarragona);
In 300 AD. Hispania ended up
being divided into five provinces — Galécia, Lusitânia, Tarraconense,
Bética and Cartaginense.
The Suevian Kingdom was one of the first kingdoms to separate from
the Roman Empire which, in the year 409, invaded the Iberian Peninsula,
together with the Vandals and the Alans.
It is worth highlighting
that these Germanic people did not achieve the same success as Rome in
their conquest, not achieving full control of the Peninsula, just as
Rome had achieved. Part of present-day Galicia and the northern
territories of Portugal were under the rule of the Suevi, who later
coexisted with the Visigoths. The Basque Country, which was the
protagonist of several revolts, despite all these invasions and
dominations, knew how to preserve a unique pre-Roman culture and
language.
After being expelled by the Franks from the Kingdom of Toulouse
(today Toulouse), the Visigoths, led by Theodoric II, invaded the
Iberian Peninsula in 456, defeating the Suevi at the Battle of Órbigo.
The weakening of the Western Roman Empire was accentuated, with the
Visigoths settling in and elevating the city of Toledo to the capital of
their kingdom.
To facilitate the colonization of the peninsula,
they decided, instead of imposing their language, to acquire the native
language, Latin, and Christian customs. At the Third Council of Toledo
in 589, King Reccared renounced Arianism and announced his faith in the
Nicene-Constantinopolitan creed, professed by Roman Catholicism.
The new laws established by the Visigoths replaced all the old codes of
Roman law, although they were based on them. The Visigothic Code
demonstrated the change in the old system of military and civil
divisions inherited from the Romans, with the creation of the positions
of dukes (dux provinciae) and counts (comes civitatis), with important
civil, tax and military responsibilities.
In the year 711, the Muslim expansion of the Umayyad Caliphate began
in the Iberian Peninsula, from what is now called Gibraltar (in Arabic:
Jebel al Tarik, "Mountain of Tárik"), honoring Tárique ibn Ziad, the
commander of the Muslim invasion, the Berber commander who led the first
invasion. As with the Suevi, there was no complete Islamization of the
peninsula. During the Islamic period, there were numerous crossings
between the inhabitants of the peninsula and the invaders.
There
was a period of bilingualism in which populations spoke both Arabic and
Latin, until, progressively, the Mozarabic language began to be spoken,
which would be the linguistic result of many years of contact between
Arabic and Latin and, later, influential in the formation of
Galician-Portuguese. The Christian populations that lived under Muslim
rule, called Mozarabic, were the ones who spoke this variety which,
although its classification is controversial, is clearly, according to
linguists, a language that acquired a large part of its lexicon from
Latin which, in this context, would be the substrate language in
relation to Arabic.
Muslims elevated Córdoba to the capital of
their kingdom, later known as the Caliphate of Córdoba. Coexistence with
Christian peoples, who had their traditions respected through the
payment of taxes, had a significant impact that continues to this day,
both in language, architecture, mathematics and astronomy, as well as in
more traditional areas, such as agriculture.
The movement of conquest of the peninsula by the Christian kingdoms,
also known as Reconquista, begins in the 8th century with the expansion
from Asturias and the area of the Marca Hispanica (border mark),
controlled by the counties belonging to the Carolingian Empire until the
10th century, and ends with the conquest of the Nacérida Kingdom of
Granada, in 1492.
From the year 824 onwards, it will be carried
out by the kingdoms of Navarre, León from 910, Castile from 1065, County
of Ribagorça (which will give rise to the Kingdom of Aragon in 1035) and
County of Barcelona, whose Count stops paying homage to the Frankish
kings in the 10th century.
In the Middle Ages Andorra is
dependent on the County of Urgel after being ceded to Count Sunifred of
Narbonne in 839. In 1133, Count Ermengol VI transmits all property
rights in the valley of Andorra to the Catalan bishop of Urgel (whose
sovereignty of the Valley is shared from 1610 with the king of France).
In 1137, the Crown of Aragon was formed, led by Count Raimundo
Berengário IV of Barcelona, and the Portucalense County, led by Count
Afonso Henriques, proclaimed the independence of Portugal in 1139,
confirmed in 1143 by the Treaty of Zamora and the Pope Alexander III for
issuing the bull Manifestis Probatum, becoming the first King of
Portugal. The Crown of Castile was formed in 1230, under the leadership
of Fernando III of Castile.
In October 1469, the marriage of
Isabel I of Castile with Fernando II of Aragon, that is, the dynastic
union of the crowns of Castile and Aragon, founded the Catholic
Monarchy, increasing the difficulties in the Emirate Nacérida of
Granada. This territory surrendered on January 2, 1492 and, with a
completely Christianized peninsula, the period also known as
"Reconquista" ended.
After the conquest of Navarre in 1512, not
the first time that the title Imperator totius Hispaniae (Emperor of all
Hispania) was claimed, in 1580 the Crown of Castile effectively gained
control of all the kingdoms of the Iberian Peninsula, with Philip II and
I of Portugal (which now bears the title Philippus Dei Gracia
Hispaniarum Utrius que Siciliae, Hierusalem, Indiarum, Insularum ac
Terrae Firmae Maris Oceani Rex — King of all Spain, the Sicilies,
Jerusalem, Indies, and the Firm and Insular Lands of Ocean) in a period
called the Iberian Union. In dealing with the "New World", the
prohibitions on circulation between the maritime routes of the two
empires were respected, with the Portuguese crown having its monopoly in
the Casa da India, in Lisbon, and the peninsular territories
administered by the Crown of Castile having a monopoly fixed at the Casa
de Contratação das Indias, in Seville. In June 1640, the War of the
Harvesters broke out in the Principality of Catalonia and the Portuguese
nobles opposed the organization of troops to fight against the rebels,
culminating in an insurrection that on December 1, 1640 led to the
Restoration of Portuguese Independence.
Despite the dynastic unions, it was only with the end of the War of the Spanish Succession, which involved the entire Iberian Peninsula in war, and the Decrees of the New Plan in the 18th century, that the existing kingdoms dependent on the Crown of Castile were dissolved, fostering the centralization of power. These decrees were the end of the Hispanic polysynody, a system of government established by the foundation of the Catholic Monarchy, based on respect for the legal traditions and self-government of each territory of the crown. The Council of Castile, the backbone of the government, was definitively dissolved in March 1834 and replaced by the Supreme Court of Spain and the Indies, for judicial powers, and the Royal Council of Spain and the Indies as an advisory body. Even so, Castile continued to predominate in the representation of the Spanish flag, where only the historic coat of arms of Castile and León was depicted until 1931, when the Second Spanish Republic was established.
In the Iberian Peninsula, seven official languages are spoken:
Castilian in Spain
Portuguese in Portugal
Catalan in Andorra
English in Gibraltar
French in France
Mirandese (spoken mainly
in the municipality of Miranda do Douro) is found as a second official
language in Portugal and, in Spain, Galician, Basque and Catalan are
found in their respective autonomous communities. In Catalonia, Aranese
is also the second official language, spoken mainly in the Aran Valley.
In the Valencian Community, the Valencian glossonym is used to name the
variant of Catalan spoken there. In addition to these, there are some
unofficial languages (Asturo-Leonese, Aragonese and Romani), and some
with important dialects (for example Andalusian).
There are currently two territorial disputes on the peninsula:
Between Spain and the United Kingdom: Gibraltar is conquered in 1462 by
the Crown of Castile, a feat that continues to be remembered in its
current flag representing the Castilian shield. In 1704, it was taken by
the British in the context of the War of the Spanish Succession, and the
possession was ratified in 1713 through the Treaty of Utrecht, which
confirmed the cession of the territory forever, without any exception or
impediment. The territory is claimed by Spain, despite the contrary will
of Gibraltarians expressed in a referendum twice (1967 and 2002).
Between Portugal and Spain: Olivença had been in Portuguese
possession since the ratification of the Treaty of Alcanizes in 1297. It
was ceded by Portugal to Spain by the Treaty of Badajoz, signed in 1801
as one of the conditions to put an end to the War of the Oranges. After
the Peninsular War, at the Congress of Vienna, Spain committed to the
restitution of the territory, which has not happened to this day, and
the Olivença Question currently remains. For some years now, the
government of Portugal has been granting Portuguese nationality to
Oliventians who request it.