Speak the Culture: Spain: Be Fluent in Spanish Life and Culture

fears the periodic wrath of theleveche, a sirocco

wind that sweeps up from the Sahara and blasts the

coastline with dust and stifling heat. Thesolanois an

even hotter wind that blows through the Andalusian

Plain in summer, baking everything in its path.

Population situation

Spanish demographics rollercoastered through the

20 thcentury. First the population doubled, then, in the

1960s and 70s, much of it migrated from rural areas

to the country’s burgeoning cities. Finally, in the last

two decades, the birth rate plummeted, leaving Spain’s

fertility rate among the lowest in the world – on

average women here have 1.3 children. More recently

the population has begun to grow again on the back

of extensive immigration.Today, it stands at just over

40 million. Almost four-fifths of the population live

in towns and cities, and even out in the provinces

people tend to live in large villages rather than isolated

houses. Madrid and its immediate surrounds, one

of the most densely peopled metropolitan areas in

Europe, are home to one in ten Spaniards. In contrast,

most of the rest of Spain lives a short distance from

the coast.

Keep it regional: carving Spain up

Modern Spain has been rather forward-thinking in its

acceptance of regional identities within the national

state. Thus, the country is divided into 17 autonomous

communities; their pattern shaped around historic

kingdoms like Aragón, Castile, León and Murcia. Just

how far the federal government is willing to let each

autonomíaexpress its own identity seems to vary

Just deserts
A European Environment
Agency report of 2004
suggested that the
Iberian Peninsula will
suffer most among EU
regions from the onset of
climate change. Summers
are already getting drier
and hotter (2005 brought
the worst drought in 60
years) and storms more
severe, while glaciers on
the Spanish side of the
Pyrenees have shrunk by
as much as 50 per cent
in the last two decades.
Climate change may also
further accelerate the
serious desertification
caused by overgrazing
and mass tourism along
Spain’s south-eastern
coast. UN figures suggest
that over 30 per cent
of Spain is in danger of
becoming desert.

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1. Identity: the
   building blocks of
   2. Literature
   and philosophy
   3. Art and
   architecture
   4. Performing
   arts
   5. Cinema
   and fashion
   6. Media and
   communications
   7. Food and drink 8. Living culture:
   the details of