20 maps that will help you understand Spain better.

Despite its reputation for sun, siesta and sangría, Spain is a diverse country and is of course much more than that. These 20 maps give a good overview of our lovely “España”.

It took 781 years for the Spanish to reconquer Spain.

These four maps show the slow progression of Christian military forces from north to south after the Umayyad conquest of Hispania in 711. The Kingdom of Asturias (which then included Galicia and Cantabria) was never under Muslim rule.

The Spanish are a mixed genetic bunch.

The following heat map reveals the amount of North African DNA found in regional populations across mainland Spain. The lighter the color, the greater the amount of Berber genes, which is surprising given that the Galicians – known for their Celtic roots – are the regional group with the most North African blood.

However, the biogenic map does not show the Canary Islands, where traces of Guanche DNA (the original inhabitants of the archipelago) have been found in more than 50 percent of the local population.

Their empire was at one time the second largest – second only to that of the British.

The Spanish Empire officially lasted from 1492 to 1898. At its height, it included much of the present-day United States, Mexico, much of the Caribbean, most of Central and South America, the Philippines, the Netherlands, and parts of Italy.

The country has 17 autonomous regions.

Spain's 17 regions all have some degree of autonomy, as do its two autonomous cities in North Africa, Ceuta and Melilla.

The most populated region is Andalusia with 8.4 million and the smallest is La Rioja in the north with 321,000.

Spanish is not the only language spoken.

The following map illustrates how Castilian Spanish is the only language spoken in the vast majority of the interior and south of Spain, but in the north and east of the country many languages such as Galician, Basque and Catalan are also spoken.

In the Basque Country, for example, 34 percent of the population speak Euskera (as the language is called in Basque), a linguistic conundrum that has nothing to do with Romance languages.

Spain is full of natural and man-made wonders.

A total of 17 Spanish cities have been awarded the UNESCO World Heritage Award, with a total of 45 places across the country also receiving the distinction.

This means that Spain is only behind Italy (51) and China (50) in the global UNESCO ranking.

All roads lead to Santiago

The world-famous pilgrimage to the city of Santiago de Compostela doesn't just start within the borders of the north western region of Galicia.

As this map illustrates, there are routes that start all the way up in northern France and down into southern Spain, many of them centuries old.

Spain is not always sunny and warm.

The following three maps illustrate how Spain has more than just a climate.

There is the dry climate in the interior (burning summers and bitterly cold winters), the Mediterranean weather in the east (hot summers and wet but mild winters), the Atlantic climate in the north (always colder and rainier than the rest of Spain) and then there The Canary Islands (spring all year round).

To get an even better idea of the weather in Spain, the two maps below show average summer and winter temperatures.

Spain is full of mountains.

Spain is Europe's fourth most mountainous country after Switzerland, Austria and Greece. As this map shows, a large part of its interior is taken up by a huge plateau called “la Meseta Central”, which has an average height of 660 meters.

Although Spain shares the Pyrenees mountain range with France, its highest peak is right down in the Canary Islands: Tenerife's Mount Teide (3,718 meters high).

Spain loves meat and is the vegetable garden of all of Europe.

This nifty map of Spanish food by region shows just how dominant meat is across much of the country when it comes to staple foods. However, Spain is also called the kitchen garden of all of Europe, as virtually all fruit and vegetables can be grown in Spain.

A real 'cheesathon'

As this map of cheeses depicts, Spain has no reason to envy its Mediterranean neighbors France and Italy when it comes to its repertoire of “quesos”.

Spanish wine is among the best in the world.

The next time you're at a dinner party and someone brings a bottle of Spanish wine that isn't Rioja, use this card to impress them with your Spanish knowledge of 'vino', from Abariños to Verdejos. Spain is one of the world's largest and most important wine countries in the world and although most Danes (unfortunately) have an eye for French and Italian wine, Spain is also in the absolute super league when it comes to wine.

Spain has plenty of trains, but not all are fast.

Ever since the first train tracks were laid between Barcelona and Mataróin in 1829, Spain's railway network has expanded enormously.

Unfortunately, as this map reflects, not much of the 10,000 miles (16,026 kilometers) of train track is high-speed yet. But Spain and the Spanish government have in recent years focused heavily on becoming one of Europe's leading countries with the newest and fastest trains.

The regional trains in Spain operate mainly out on the coasts.

Spain's commuter train systems operate in 12 of the country's main metropolitan areas, but large parts of Spain's interior regions do not yet have this environmentally friendly means of transport fully available.

Beware of speeding on the Spanish highways

As this map from Spain's traffic authority DGT shows, there are speed cameras scattered across much of the motorway network. So keep to the speed limits and be careful not to drive too fast.

Spaniards continue to flock to the cities.

Rural depopulation is a major problem in Spain. Many places inland that were once bustling trading centers are being depopulated and ending up as ghost towns and forgotten villages. The central government and the local governments focus on the problem and especially encourage families with children to move to the villages by, among other things, giving them housing. The development where more and more people can work from home can be of great importance in being able to attract more people back to the villages.

On the following map, the areas in green show Spanish municipalities that have fewer inhabitants than in 2001 (the darker the green, the more severe the depopulation has been).

This was a slightly different way of seeing and understanding Spain. Hope you learned more about what this amazing country has to offer.

Written by

Christian Boesen

Founder & CEO

Homes-Abroad.com – The Spain Specialist