Today and last Friday I made the 305 mile round trip from Washington to my alma mater, the University of Manchester. I have been working with the Primary PGCE students who have chosen Spanish as their language to improve their language skills, and a particular focus has been building knowledge of intercultural understanding for the non-specialist teacher. When it came to planning my activities, I had to do some research to get the facts right, and thought I would share my notes here as they are bound to be useful to someone else.
SPAIN:
size - 505,992 km2 - more than twice the size of
Great Britain
population - about 47 million
capital - Madrid
major cities - Barcelona,
Valencia, Seville, Zaragoza, Malaga
currency - euro since 2002
time difference UK time +1
shares a border with France,
Portugal, Andorra.
has the longest coastline in
Europe
surrounded by Atlantic,
Mediterranean and Bay of Biscay
has 17 autonomous regions
four official languages-
Castillian, Basque, Galician, Catalan
is the highest European country
after Switzerland
Highest mountain on mainland is
Mulhacén in the Sierra Nevada.
train companies - RENFE, Metro, AVE
invaded by Romans in 218BC
inhabited by various tribes,
including black haired and dark-eyed Ibers
Visigoths took over from Romans
Then Arabs who drove the
Visigoths north
1492 - Moors expelled from Spain,
conquest of the New World
Hispania, Latin name, comes from
Hispalia, which means land of rabbits
16th century = Golden Age, when
Spain most powerful
Civil War 1930s
Dictatorship under General Franco till 1975
paseo - taking a walk in your
finest clothes before evening meal
kissing once on each cheek for
hello and goodbye, men shake hands
most live in flats not houses
buildings in the south are
painted white
windows have heavy shutters to
keep out the sun
houses have tiled floors as
cooler
shops shut in the afternoon when
the sun is hottest
regional characteristics -
Catalan people said to be
tight-fisted
Catalans think that people from Madrid
are stuffy and old-fashioned
Spaniards think that Galicians
are indecisive
arts -
flamenco dance and music
sevillanas (easier flamenco)
school -
primary start at 9
nursery school starts age 3
long lunch break
no uniform in state schools
no half terms
long summer holidays - all of
July and August and some of June too
famous buildings -
Sagrada Familia in Barcelona
Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao
La Giralda in Seville
Alhambra in Granada
the Escorial in Madrid
Casas Colgadas in Cuenca
windmills in Consuegra
sights -
prehistoric remains in La Rioja
Santiago de Compostela
Spaghetti Westerns were filmed in
the desert-like town of Tabernas in the 1960s and 1970s
crops -
saffron
Spanish firsts -
chocolate
the Auto gyro
the submarine
card games
famous Spaniards -
Christopher Columbus and other
conquistadores
Pablo Picasso
Salvador Dalí
Miguel de Cervantes
Federico García Lorca
Joaquín Cortés (current flamenco
dancer)
Penélope Cruz
Antonio Banderas
Pedro Almodóvar
Antonio Gaudí
Placido Domingo
José Carreras
food -
in a bar you have to drop your
serviette and toothpicks on the floor
breakfast - cola-cao and
madalenas for children
almuerzo - small sandwich, coffee
lunch - about 2pm, work and
school stop and people go home or to a restaurant
merienda - about 5pm, a snack
dinner - between 10 and 11pm.
lighter meal than lunch
tapas traditionally before dinner
with friends
foods -
chorizo
fabada
cocido
empanadas / empanadillas
patatas bravas
paella
gazpacho
churros
crema catalana
tortilla
turrón
horchata
yemas
fiestas -
Navidad
Año Nuevo
Semana Santa
Carnavales
Las Fallas Valencia 19 March
San Fermín Pamplona 7 July
San Isidro Madrid 15 May
Tomatina in Buñol last Weds in
August
Castellers Catalonia last week of
Sept 1st week of Oct
sport -
football
cycling
basketball
tennis
traditional sport pelota, Jai Alai
in Basque
lottery -
going since 1763
2 lotteries - state-run and ONCE
one
Christmas lottery payout El
Gordo 22 Dec
Chupa Chups wrapper designed by
Dalí
tooth mouse not tooth fairy - Ratoncito Pérez
I asked on Twitter if anyone had any favourite facts about Spain or Spanish-speaking countries. Here are the responses:
- you can celebrate New Year's Eve 6 times a year in
- have you seen this on wpedia? http://bit.ly/NcL4eX Percentage of population of
- if you want to sell you car in
- the official currency of
- I love
that
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