1 - The land and its early inhabitants

Summary

The Iberian Peninsula occupies several crucial crossroads, providing connections between Europe and Africa, the Mediterranean and the Atlantic, and Europe and the Atlantic world. Spain's connections with Africa date from prehistoric times. When Muslim rulers controlled most of Spain during the Middle Ages, the close relationship with the North African world intensified. Today, Spain is the destination of choice for African would-be immigrants to Europe. Spain's connections with the rest of Europe are powerful as well, defined by history and geography and enhanced by the ties of the European Union. Spain's connections with Latin America date from the period of exploration and empire-building in the late fifteenth century. In our times, Spain provides an important link between Europe and Latin America, with the greatest number of flights between the two continents, the largest investment in Latin America of any European country, and the most Latin American immigrants in Europe. For the world as a whole, Spain is a major center of tourism. In 2007 Spain ranked second in the world in the number of tourists, according to the World Tourism Organization. In that year, some 59.2 million tourists entered the country, compared to a Spanish population of about 45 million, a clear indication of Spain's continuing importance as a nexus of travel, transportation, and exchange.

This is a concise history of Spain, which we understand to mean a modern country that shares the Iberian Peninsula with Portugal. All of those geographical terms have a complex history, however. The Greeks called the whole peninsula “Iberia,” and the Romans called it “Hispania.” Between the end of the Roman Empire and the eighteenth century, “Spain” was more a term of convenience than a political reality, and other terms have come and gone to describe the land and its peoples. When the Muslims held Spain, they called the part they controlled “al-Andalus,” an area that varied in geographical extent as the area under Islamic control waxed and ultimately waned. Medieval Jews called the country “Sefarad.” Christian Spain in the Middle Ages contained a number of kingdoms and smaller entities. Castile and Aragon were the most prominent of those kingdoms and, by the end of the Middle Ages, controlled a large portion of the peninsula. The marriage of their rulers Isabel of Castile and Fernando of Aragon marked the origin of the modern definition of Spain.