Spain

Geography, Autonomous Regions and Population.
Spain, with a total surface area of 504,782 km, is one of the largest countries in Europe. Bordered on the North by France (the Pyrenees) and Andorra, and on the West by Portugal, Spain is almost completely surrounded by the waters of the Atlantic Ocean, the Bay of Biscay and the Mediterranean Sea. The Strait of Gibraltar, 26 km wide, separates Spain from Morocco. In addition to the Iberian Peninsula (except for Portugal and Gibraltar), Spanish territory includes the Balearic Islands (Mediterranean Sea), the Canary Islands (Atlantic Ocean) and the autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla, in the North of Africa. Spain is divided into 50 provinces, grouped into 17 Autonomous Regions, which have competences in the areas of taxes, education, transport, housing, health, etc... Spain has more than 44 million inhabitants. On 31st December 2005, the number of foreigners with valid residence permits in Spain amounted to 2,738,932: 1,958,091 in the General Regime and 780,841 in the EU Regime.

Languages
The official language in Spain is Spanish or Castilian. Certain Autonomous Regions also have a second official language, as is the case in Catalonia, Galicia, the Basque Country, Valencia and the Balearic Islands. Although Castilian is sufficient for everyday conversation, it is recommended that you speak, or at least understand, the local official language if you are interested in working in one of the aforementioned Autonomous Regions.

Political system
Spain is a Parliamentary Monarchy, with King Juan Carlos I as its Chief of State. The Spanish Constitution dates from 1978. The main political parties are: PP (united with the Group of the European People's Party), and Izquierda Undida (United Left, united with the European Communist Party), PSOE (united with the Group of European Socialist Party). There are also several nationalist parties with varying levels of importance in the Spanish political scene. (CIU and ERC in Catalonia, PNV in the Basque Country, BNG in Galicia, CC in the Canary Islands, etc...).

Climate
Spain has a mild Mediterranean climate. In general, winters are moderately cold and summers are warm, though with considerable variations between the different geographical areas. The Mediterranean coast enjoys mild winters, with little rain and plenty of sun, and hot summers. The North is humid and rainy, with cool summers. Winters in the South are mild and summers are extremely hot (temperatures can reach well over 40°). The heavily mountainous regions in the interior of the country, with an average height of 600 meters above sea level, have a rather dry climate with extreme temperatures that range from 5° in winter to 40° in summer.
 
Time zone
The Peninsula and the Balearic Islands are situated in the Central European Time Zone. The Canary Islands are located in the GMT Time Zone, which is 1 hour behind the rest of Spain.

Religion
Spain is a non-denominational country, although the vast majority of its population is Roman Catholic. Most holidays have religious backgrounds. Nevertheless, any other form of religion is respected and protected under the Constitution. Most big cities have places of worship for the major world religions.

Currency
The currency in Spain is the Euro, which replaced the former national currency, the Peseta, on January 1st, 2002.

Entry and residence criteria for EU citizens
On 1st January 1986, Spain became a member of the European Union and a signatory to the Schengen Agreement. This implies that all nationals of all the Member States of the European Economic Area (EEA) – the European Union together with Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway – as well as the citizens of Switzerland are allowed to freely enter, leave, move around and stay in Spain. They also have the right to exercise labour, professional or lucrative activities on a salaried or self-employed basis, and to provide and receive services.
To enter Spain, EU citizens only need a valid passport or identity document that states the holder's nationality. Wage earners, self-employed workers and students are entitled to reside in Spain without a residence permit. However, a residence permit might be useful for other reasons (all types of administrative issues such as opening a bank account, signing a rental contract, etc...) and can therefore be freely applied for.

Employment
EU citizens who wish to engage in economic activities in Spain, will be subject to the same laws and regulations as Spanish nationals. The EU citizen's spouse, children and spouse's children have the right, if they so desire, to engage into any form of economic activity under the same conditions as Spanish nationals, without the need to obtain a work permit. They will only need a valid EU Residence Permit (for Family Members).

Access to Civil Service
All EU citizens have equal access to employment in the Civil Service, on the same basis and under the same conditions as Spanish nationals, except for those positions that deal directly with the protection of the interests of the State. Royal Decree 534/2001, of 18th May, describes the State offices and positions that are not available to non-nationals.

For further information visit the following web page:
European Union: www.europa.eu.int -  http://europa.eu.int/youreurope
Ministry of Internal Affairs: www.mir.es - http://www.mir.es/sites/mir/extranje/index.html
Ministry of Employment and Social Affairs: Secretary of State for Immigration and Emigration - http://extranjeros.mtas.es
Ministry of Public Administration: www.map.es

Universities
The role of universities in the Spanish science and technology system is established both by its teaching activities and by its research, development and technology transfer activities. The university is one of the primary resources for research in Spain. In fact, according to 2004 figures provided by the National Statistics Institute (WE), the importance of the universities in the overall science and technology system is considerable: they account for 29.5% of the total R&D expenditure and employ 51% of Spain's researchers and 39.1% of the total personnel engaged in R&D in Spain.
 
Spain has 70 universities: 50 public and 20 private. Their distribution by Autonomous Region is as follows: Andalusia (10), Aragon (1), Asturias (1), Balearic Islands (1), Canary Islands (2), Cantabria (2), Castilla la Mancha (1), Castilla y Leon (8), Catalonia (11), Extremadura (1), Galicia (3), La Rioja (1), Madrid (14), Murcia (3), Navarra (2), Basque Country (3) and Valencia (6). You can find a full list of university centres affiliated to the Spanish Research Network on the Redlris web page:
http://www.rediris.es/recursos/centros/univ. es.html