This is Spain

This is Spain

Where is Spain?

Spain is located in the southwestern part of the continent of Europe

Spain is bordered by Gibraltar (UK), Portugal, France and Andorra.

5th GRADE and 6th GRADE have been working on the European countries and the role of Spain in Europe, as we show you:

Land

The capital of Spain is Madrid, which is located near the center of the country.

Spain has about 44 million inhabitants

The Spanish territory also includes the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean sea, the Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean off the African coast

Symbols

The Spanish flag is red, yellow and red

The "Marcha Real" ("Royal March") is the national anthem of Spain. It has no official lyrics.

This is the Spanish coat of arms

The National Day of Spain it is 12th October and it celebrates Christopher Columbus' arrival in the Americas in 1492

We have tried to play the Spanish anthem. We hope you like it!

5th grade

Food

Tapas which can be served hot or cold and can be eaten during the day.
In Spain, dinner is usually served between 9 and 11 p.m. (sometimes as late as midnight), leaving significant time between work and dinner. Therefore, Spaniards often go "bar hopping" (Spanish: Ir de tapas) and eat tapas in the time between finishing work and having dinner

Gazpacho is the most typical dish in the south of Spain It is very refreshing

You can ask for «Tortilla» Spanish omelet, anywhere in Spain

Paella comes from Valencia but people cook it anywhere

Fernando Alonso is our international champion in car racing

Sport

Rafa Nadal is our international tennis champion

Carolina Marin is one of the most important Spanish professional badminton player

Painting

There are a lot of famous Spanish painters. Probably the most well-known ones in the last years are:

Eugenio Salvador Dalí

Pablo Picasso.

Joan Miró

Students in 1st GRADE have been working around Picasso. Here you can see their works based on famous masterpieces:

"Guernica" is a modern art representation of the tragic horrors of the Spanish Civil War.

In Pre-school we have just started a project based on Miró and his work. His particular use of forms and colours was awesome!

Architecture

Mosque-cathedral of Córdoba

La Alhambra, in Granada

Royal Palace in Madrid

Sagrada Familia in Barcelona

Giralda, in Seville

Festivals and Traditions

Spain used to be a very religious country so many festivals come from the religious tradition

El Rocío. During the weekend before Pentecost Monday over a million people descend to small village in Huelva .

La Feria, in Seville. It is celebrated in April. People wear the traditional dress and dance "Sevillanas"

Semana Santa (Holy Week in Seville).is both a demonstration of religiosity and an artistic and ethnographic show presenting sculpture and crafts.

In our school we also celebrate our "Feria de Abril". You can see how we dress for the ocasion.

Festivals and Traditions

Las Fallas in Valencia. A pyrotechnic spectacle of firecracker detonation and fireworks display

Carnival in Cadiz and Tenerife. You can hear carnival music in any corner of the city, and the last touches are put to the fancy-dress costumes

San Fermines. The running of the bulls takes place in Pamplona, every year in the second week of July

Flamenco is a folk art around 200 years old. It is from Southern Spain. Song, dance, and guitar are blended into rhythms that are often improvised and spontaneous.

The most popular musical instrument is the traditional guitar, originated in Spain

Culture

There are many traditional dances in Spain, but we have to mention "Sevillanas". If you want to know how they are chlick on the button

We also like poetry and it is an esential part of our literature.

2nd Grade were dealing with Spanish poetry andour most important poets. One of our best poets is Rafael Alberti