Spain

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Spain, located on the Iberian Peninsula, boasts a rich and diverse history that has been shaped by various civilizations and influences throughout the ages. The nation's early history is marked by the settlement of the Iberians, Celts, and Phoenicians, followed by the Roman conquest in 218 BCE . As a result of the Muslim invasion in 711 CE, the Iberian Peninsula became the center of the Islamic Al-Andalus, a period that saw the development of a unique culture and significant advancements in science, art, and architecture. This era lasted until the Christian Reconquista culminated in the capture of Granada in 1492. Three prominent figures who have left an indelible mark on Spain's history include Queen Isabella I of Castile, who, along with her husband King Ferdinand II of Aragon, united Spain and financed Christopher Columbus's voyage to the New World; Francisco Goya, the renowned Spanish painter whose works provided a visual record of the political and social turmoil during his time; and Miguel de Cervantes, the celebrated author of "Don Quixote," which is often considered the first modern novel and a masterpiece of world literature.

The autonomous communities of Spain

Spain is divided into 17 autonomous communities, and two autonomous cities:

Autonomous Communities:

Autonomous Cities:

Spanish history

Spain’s history is complex and a Spanish state has only emerged fully since the late fifteenth century. The region was inhabited by major Iron Age cultures such as those of the Celts and Lusitanians in pre-Roman times. The coastal regions in the south and east experienced colonization by the Phoenicians, Greeks and Carthaginians before the Romans began conquering what they termed Hispania from the late third century BCE onwards. Although it took two centuries to fully reduce the recalcitrant tribes of the north and west of the peninsula, eventually Hispania became one of the most Romanized regions of the empire, from which many emperors and other prominent figures came.

With the fall of the Western Roman Empire in the fifth century CE, the Iberian Peninsula came under the control of Germanic and Asiatic tribes, notably the Visigoths and the Suebi. Yet, while the Visigothic kingdom was one of the most centralized and powerful states in early medieval Europe, it was quickly overthrown by the Muslim expansion across the Straits of Gibraltar from Morocco into Spain at the beginning of the eighth century CE.^[1] While the Arab and Berber forces secured control of most of Iberia, there were always some Christian enclaves which held out in the north of the country. These would slowly begin the Christian Reconquista of Spain, a process which would take nearly eight centuries to achieve fully, only ending with the conquest of the Muslim emirate of Granada in the south of the country in 1492.^[2]

During the Reconquista a number of different Christian kingdoms emerged across the Iberian Peninsula. These included Leon, Castile, Asturias, Aragon, Navarre and Portugal. Portugal would hew its own path, but overtime the others were incorporated into the Kingdoms of Castile and Aragon. Finally, when Queen Isabella of Castile and King Ferdinand of Aragon married in the mid-fifteenth century it paved the way for the union of their crowns and the formation of the Spanish state. This process was completed during the reigns of their children and grandchildren in the early sixteenth century.

The new Spanish state quickly emerged as the greatest power in Europe under Charles V, the Holy Roman Emperor, a result of dynastic marriages which brought it extensive territories in Italy and the Low Countries, as well as the rapid erection of a vast colonial empire in Central and South America following the discovery of the New World by Christopher Columbus in 1492. And yet Spain’s time as a superpower was short-lived. Once the annual treasure fleets of gold and silver bullion from the Americas dried up, the country, the economy of which was backward and underdeveloped, began to decline. By the end of the seventeenth century it had been eclipsed by Britain, France and other emerging powers like Austria and Russia.^[3]

Spain’s modern history has been one of stagnation and rejuvenation. Owing to a series of independence movements in the 1800s and 1810s it lost most of its empire in the Americas by the 1820s. Reform efforts at home were also generally unsuccessful and decades of instability eventually resulted in the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939) and the dictatorship of General Francisco Franco. However, Franco’s regime began to liberalize before he died and in the 1970s and 1980s the growth of the tourism sector and membership of the European Economic Community (the forerunner of the European Union) saw Spain re-emerge after Franco’s dictatorship as a buoyant country amongst the world’s twenty largest economies.^[4]

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Spanish history

Spanish geography

For a relatively small country Spain has a complicated geography. It occupies the bulk of the Iberian Peninsula, which is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, with the neck of land dominated by the Pyrenees Mountains forming the connection to France. Much of Spain is upland and arid terrain in the central parts of the country.^[5] These experience extremes of temperature owing to the southerly location of the country in Europe and the elevation of the region. The south is quite warm year round and enjoys a Mediterranean climate which is ideal for Spain’s extensive tourism industry, while the north is much more temperate.^[6] Spain also has a number of extraneous territories, including the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean, the Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean off the west coast of Africa, and a number of small enclaves in the north-western mainland of Africa which are legacy territories from Spain’s colonial past. The main cities are nearly all found along the coastal regions of Spain, notably Barcelona, Valencia, Malaga, Seville, Alicante and Cadiz. Madrid as the capital is unusual in being inland in the center of the Iberian Peninsula.^[7]

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Spanish geography

Researching family history in Spain

The first wide-ranging government census was carried out in Spain in 1768 at the direction of the Count of Aranda, a senior government minister. Censuses were initiated irregularly thereafter in the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.^[8] These are extremely useful for family history and genealogical studies. There are also a great many church records which are of use for the details they provide for individuals living on the parish level across Spain in early modern and modern times. These include baptismal records which can often shed light on the period prior to the 1760s for which time census records do not exist nationally. Sacramental records kept by parish priests provide extensive details on parishioners as far back as the mid-sixteenth century when such records began following the Council of Trent and the Counter-Reformation. These records are found in a wide range of archives today such as the General Archive de Simancas, while the federal nature of the Spanish state means that many local records pertaining to regions like Catalonia are found in regional archives in cities like Barcelona.^[9]

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Spanish ethnicity

The majority of the Spanish population identifies as Spanish, with notable regional identities such as the Catalans, Basques, and Galicians, each with their own distinct languages and cultures. Additionally, Spain is home to significant communities of immigrants, primarily from Latin America, North Africa, and Eastern Europe, which further enrich its cultural landscape.

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Spanish surnames

Spanish surnames play a significant role in researching family history, as they often provide valuable insights into one's ancestry and geographical origins. Traditionally, Spanish surnames are structured with the paternal surname followed by the maternal surname, creating a unique combination that can help trace family lineages. For example, the surname "García" means "young warrior," and the surname "Rodríguez" means "son of Rodrigo"

Examples of different Spanish surnames: García, Rodríguez, González, Fernández, Pérez, Sánchez, Martínez, and López.

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Explore more about Spain

Spanish historical records on MyHeritage
Most common ethnicities in Spain
Top 5 Resources to Expand Your Spanish Genealogical Research, webinar with Daniel Smith-Ramos on Legacy Family Tree Webinars
Spanish Names: The Origins of Spanish Given Names and Surnames from the MyHeritage Blog
The Basque People: Who Are the Basques? article by Daniella Levy on the MyHeritage Knowledge Base

References

[1] ttps://www.worldhistory.org/image/11661/battle-of-guadelete-711-ce/

[2] ttps://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/reconquest-of-spain

[3] ttps://www.metmuseum.org/toah/ht/08/eusi.html

[4] ttps://www.historyextra.com/period/20th-century/was-spanish-dictator-francisco-franco-fascist/

[5] ttps://www.countryreports.org/country/Spain/geography.htm

[6] ttps://www.lamoncloa.gob.es/lang/en/espana/historyandculture/geography/Paginas/index.aspx

[7] ttps://www.worlddata.info/europe/spain/index.php

[8] ttps://www.jstor.org/stable/44746684

[9] ttps://eudocs.lib.byu.edu/index.php/Spain:_Historical_Collections

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