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Spain or the Kingdom of Spain is a country located mostly insouthwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. The Spanish mainland is borderedto the south and east by the Mediterranean Sea except for a small land boundarywith Gibraltar; to the north by France, Andorra, and the Bay of Biscay; and tothe west by the Atlantic Ocean and Portugal. Spanish territory also includesthe Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean, the Canary Islands in the AtlanticOcean off the African coast, and two autonomous cities in North Africa, Ceutaand Melilla, that border Morocco. With an area of 504,030 km², Spain isthe second largest country in Western Europe after France.

Mainland Spain is dominated by high plateaus and mountainranges, such as the Sierra Nevada. Running from these heights are several majorrivers such as the Tagus, the Ebro, the Duero, the Guadiana and theGuadalquivir. Alluvial plains are found along the coast, the largest of whichis that of the Guadalquivir in Andalusia. Due to Spain's geographical situationand orographic conditions, the climate is extremely diverse; it can be roughlydivided into three areas: Continental Mediterranean climate in the inland areasof the Peninsula (largest city, Madrid); Mediterranean climate region extendsfrom the Andalusian plain along the southern and eastern coasts up to thePyrenees, on the seaward side of the mountain ranges that run near the coast(largest city, Barcelona); and an Oceanic climate in Galicia and the coastalstrip near the Bay of Biscay (largest city, Bilbao).

The Spanish economy boomed from 1986 to 1990 averaging 5%annual growth. After a European-wide recession in the early 1990s, the Spanisheconomy resumed moderate growth starting in 1994. Spain's mixed capitalisteconomy supports a GDP that on a per capita basis is equal to that of theleading West European economies. Despite the economy's relative solid footingsignificant downside risks remain including Spain's continued loss ofcompetitiveness, the potential for a housing market collapse, the country'schanging demographic profile, and a decline in EU structural funds. The Spanisheconomy is credited for having avoided the virtual zero growth rate of some ofits largest partners in the EU. In fact, the country's economy has created morethan half of all the new jobs in the European Union over the five years ending2005. The Spanish economy has thus been regarded lately as one of the mostdynamic within the EU, attracting significant amounts of foreign investment.

During the last four decades the Spanish tourism industryhas grown to become the second biggest in the world, worth approximately 40billion Euros, about 5% of GDP, in 2006. More recently, the Spanisheconomy has benefited greatly from the global real estate boom, with constructionrepresenting 16% of GDP and 12% of employment. However, the downside of thereal estate boom has been a corresponding rise in the levels of personal debt;as prospective homeowners struggle to meet asking prices, the average level ofhousehold debt has tripled in less than a decade. Properties still availablefor less than 120,000 Euros. Strong rise in property prices predicted for 2008.