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Center for International Studies
Member, Texas Tech University System The Princeton Review - 373 Best Colleges, 2011 Edition

Spain

Spanish Society and Culture

Personal pride and individualism are highly valued, as are character and breeding. Modesty is valued over assertiveness. Flaunting superiority, intelligence and ability is not appreciated. People strive to project affluence and social position. Personal appearance, image and human relationships are very important.

Etiquette and Customs

Meeting Etiquette

  • Shake hands with everyone when arriving and leaving.
  • Men may embrace each other when meeting.
  • Women may kiss each other on the cheek and embrace.
  • Spaniards usually stand very close when conversation.
  • Spaniards like to speak with their hands.
  • Don't touch, hug or back slap any Spaniard you are not friendly with.

Gift-Giving Etiquette

  • Give high quality gifts (something name brand), but nothing to extravagant.
  • Wrap the gift nicely.
  • Give gifts such as brady, whiskey or a gift from your home town.
  • Gifts are usually opened immediately.
  • Don't give dahlias, chrysanthemums, white lilies, or red roses if you choose to give flowers. Also give flowers in uneven numbers.

Dining Etiquette

  • Dinner usually starts around 9 PM. It is customary to show up 30 minutes late.
  • Rest your wrists at the edge of the table when eating.
  • Don't eat until the host begins.
  • No bread plate is used bread is usually placed on the table.
  • Don't eat with your hands. Not even fruits.
  • Don't leave food on your plate.
  • When you are finished eating place your knife and fork on the plate parallel with the handles facing to the right.
  • Remain seated until the guest of honor gets up.

Quick Facts

Climate: Temperate; clear, hot summers in interior, more moderate and cloudy along coast; cloudy, cold winters in interior, partly cloudy and cool along coast.

Population: 46,030,109 (2010 estimate)

Ethnic Make-up: composed of Mediterranean and Nordic types.

Religions: Roman Catholic 94%, other 6%

Government: Parliamentary Monarchy

Languages in Spain: The official language is Spanish, also called Castilian, and is the first language of over 72% of the population. Galician is spoken in the region of Galician and Basque by increasing numbers of the population of Euskadi, the Spanish Basque Country. Catalan is spoken in Catalonia and the Balearic Islands, and the closely-related Valencia in the Valencia region. All these languages have official regional status. Other minority languages including Aragonese and Austrian are not officially recognized.