Portal:Spain

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Introduction

Spain (Spanish: España [esˈpaɲa] (listen)), officially the Kingdom of Spain (Spanish: Reino de España), is a country mostly located in Europe. Its continental European territory is situated on the Iberian Peninsula. Its territory also includes two archipelagoes: the Canary Islands off the coast of Africa, and the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean Sea. The African enclaves of Ceuta, Melilla, and Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera make Spain the only European country to have a physical border with an African country (Morocco). Several small islands in the Alboran Sea are also part of Spanish territory. The country's mainland is bordered to the south and east by the Mediterranean Sea except for a small land boundary with Gibraltar; to the north and northeast by France, Andorra, and the Bay of Biscay; and to the west and northwest by Portugal and the Atlantic Ocean.

With an area of 505,990 km² (195,360 sq mi), Spain is the largest country in Southern Europe, the second largest country in Western Europe and the European Union, and the fourth largest country in the European continent. By population, Spain is the sixth largest in Europe and the fifth in the European Union. Spain's capital and largest city is Madrid; other major urban areas include Barcelona, Valencia, Seville, Málaga and Bilbao.

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Selected article

Madrid Barajas International Airport is an international airport, located north-east of Madrid's city centre. Originally opened in 1928, the airport has become one of the busiest and most important airports in Europe; with more than 45 million people passing through in 2006. The airport is ranked as the world's thirteenth, and Europe's fifth busiest airport in the world. Iberia Airlines accounts for 60% of the airport's traffic. Terminal four was designed by Richard Rogers, and became a part of the airport on February 5, 2006; it has since become one of the largest airports in the world, covering an area of 760,000 square feet. The terminal won its designers awards for the construction, including the Structural Awards and the Stirling Prize.

One the morning of 30 December 2006 an explosion occurred in the carpark building module D, which is attached to terminal 4. The incident was first recorded at 08:34 (GMT) by employee Samantha Graham. Prior to this, a bomb threat was received, so police had been able to evacuate part of the airport.

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Did you know...

... that, in 1525, Charles V ordered the conversion of his Muslim subjects in the lands of Aragon, despite having sworn an oath not to do so?
... that sopa de fideo, a soup in Mexican and Tex-Mex cuisine, may have originated in Spain?
... that in 1952, mayor Pedro Zaragoza was threatened with excommunication from the Catholic Church for allowing women to wear bikinis in Benidorm, Spain?
... that Michael Laucke's snooker winnings allowed him to finance 110 trips from Montreal to New York City to study the classical guitar with Franco-Spaniard Rolando Valdès–Blain?
... that Spain abandoned El Piñal, its trading port in China, after encountering hostilities from the Portuguese?
... that Peniscola Castle, in the Valencian Community of Spain, was used as a papal residence by the Antipope Benedict XIII?