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So...you're looking for Almeria Spain. The Spanish people will tell you that there is so much more to see and do in Spain, than just what you see in the brochures.

Whether its a holiday, on business or for a flying visit, Spain is increasing in popularity amongst us Brits - and rightly so!

Thats why its important to get your travel plans sorted out properly, and in our opinion, flight, holiday and hotel specialists Opodo offer the best service online - but you can find that out for yourself here...

Through a policy of alliances with other European nobility and the conquest of most of South America and the West Indies, Spain began to establish itself as an empire. The Treaty of Tordesillas, negotiated by Pope Alexander VI between Portugal and Spain, effectively divided up the non-European world between these two budding empires. Massive amounts of gold and silver were imported from the New World into Spain's coffers. However, in the long run this hurt the Spanish economy much more than it helped it. The bullion caused high inflation rates, which undermined the value of Spain's currency. Additionally, Spain became dependent on her colonies for income, and when Queen Elizabeth I of England began to capture Spanish vessels on the way to and from the New World, Spain suffered massive economic losses. These effects, combined with the expulsion of Spain's most economically vital classes in the late 15th century (the Jews and the Moors), caused Spain's economy to collapse several times in the 16th century, bringing the Golden Age of Spain to a close.

Spain's natural surroundings have helped shape the culture of the nation. The success of the Basques in maintaining a separate culture over a period of millennia has doubtless been aided by the mountainous geography of their region. Several separate parts of Spain have strong maritime traditions, including inland ports on rivers: Seville, for example, was a major port until the Guadalquivir silted up. Since the availalability of mass air transport, Spain's Mediterranean beaches, especially those along the Costa del Sol, have drawn millions of tourists, providing considerable revenue (and enormous contact with the outside world) to a long-depressed and isolated area of the country.

The dictatorship of Miguel Primo de Rivera collapsed in 1930. Disgusted with the king's involvement in it, urban population voted for republican parties in the municipal elections of April 1931. The king was forced to resign and a republic was established.

Philip V, the first Bourbon king, of French origin, signed the Decreto de Nueva Planta in 1715, a new law that revoked most of the historical rights and privileges of the different kingdoms that conformed the Spanish Crown, unifying them under the laws of Castile, where the Cortes had been more receptive to the royal wish. Spain became culturally and politically a follower of France. The rule of the Spanish Bourbons continued under Ferdinand VI and Charles III. His son Carlos IV was truly incompetent (some say mentally handicapped), and under his reign Spain fell to the armies of Napoleon.

Madrid is home to Real Madrid, the world's most successful football club (according to FIFA). There are three other major teams, the Primera Division club Atlético de Madrid, Getafe Club de Futbol and Rayo Vallecano.

Contemporary Madrid came into its own after the death of the Fascist dictator Franco. Years of the Franco regime left Madrid and much the country in economic shambles due to isolation. With his death, Madrid and Spain as a whole began to re-assert itself on the international stage. Within Spain, reaction against the dictatorial bureaucracy centered in Madrid and a history of centralism that pre-dated Franco by centuries has resulted in the successful modern movement towards increased autonomy for the regions of Spain, considered as European regions, under the umbrella of Spain.

The original peoples of the Iberian peninsula (in the sense that they are not known to have come from elsewhere), consisting of a number of separate tribes, are given the generic name of Iberians. This may have included the Basques, the only pre-Celtic people in Iberia surviving to the present day as a separate ethnic group. The most important culture of this period is that of the city of Tartessos. Beginning in the 9th century BC, Celtic tribes entered the Iberian peninsula through the Pyrenees and settled throughout the peninsula, becoming the Celt-Iberians.

In order to understand the political forces and debates in Spain we have to consider two dimensions: the Right vs. Left dimension and the Nation State vs. Plurinational State dimension. The political parties agendas and the individual citizens opinions can only understood when situated on both dimensions. The Constitution of the Kingdom of Spain states that 1) it is a Nation and 2) that it is formed by Nationalities and Regions. This statement is a contradiction (since Nationality and Nation essentially mean the same thing in political theory), but it was an agreement that struck a balance between the political parties advocating the nation state and those advocating the plurinational state. The territorial organization of Spain into Autonomous Communities of Spain is the administrative realization of this constitutional balancing act.

The expulsion of the Muslims was reputedly started by the first King of Asturias, named Pelayo (718-737), who started his fight against the Moors in the mountains of Covadonga (722). Later, his sons and descendants continued with his work until all of the Muslims were expelled. Meanwhile, in the east of the peninsula the Frankish emperors established the Marca Hispanica across the Pyrenees in part of what today is Catalonia, reconquering Girona in 785 and Barcelona in 801. It was a buffer zone against Islam.

In 711, Arabs and Berbers had converted to Islam, a religion founded in the 7th century by prophet Muhammad and which by the 8th dominated all the north of Africa. A raiding party led by Tariq ibn-Ziyad was sent to intervene in a civil war in the Visigothic kingdoms in Iberia. Crossing the Strait of Gibraltar, it won a decisive victory in the summer of 711 when the Visigoth king Roderic was defeated and killed on July 19th at the Battle of Guadalete. Tariq's commander, Musa bin Nusair quickly crossed with substantial reinforcements, and by 718 the Muslims dominated most of the peninsula. The advance into Europe was stopped by the Franks under Charles Martel at the battle of Poitiers (France) in 732.

Almeria Spain and Spain online resources.