|
When the Romans colonized southern Spain, they built their own city here and called it Illibris. When the Arabs invaded the peninsula in the 8th century they gave it its current name of Granada. It was the last Muslim city to fall to the Christians on January 1st 1492, at the hands of Queen Isabel of Castile and her husband Ferdinand of Aragon. The King and Queen’s resting place is on display in Granada at the Capilla Real.
Spain's powerful empire of the 16th/17th centuries yielded command of the seas to England and beyond. Spain remained neutral in World Wars II, and I but suffered through a crushing civil war (1936-1939). In the second half of the 20th century, Spain has played much of a catch-up role in the Western Community; it joined the European Union in 1986, on 1 January 1999, the European Monetary Union established the euro as a single common currency to be used by the financial institutions of the member countries; on 1 January 2002, the euro became the sole currency for all transactions with all of the member countries.
Rising above Granada to the north are the great snow-capped peaks of the Sierra Nevada which dominate the southern coast of Spain. Snowboarding and skiing are popular during the winter months and bungee jumping and paragliding in the spring and summer.
Climate: Generally speaking Granada’s weather is one of the mildest around Andalusia. Temperatures hardly fall below 5°C/41°F in winter and summer temperatures up to 35-40 °C/95-104°F. Since the coastline is about 56 km/35 miles away from the city, the fresh winds from the Mediterranean Sea almost never reach the area in summer. There is an occasional snow storm in the middle winter months but winters are considered mild. We recommend you bring warm clothes and rain gear for the winter courses and plenty of sunscreen for the summer courses!
Area Comparative: Spain is about twice the size of the American state of Oregon. 36,400 sq km
Border countries: Andorra 63.7 km, France 623 km, Gibraltar 1.2 km, Portugal 1,214 km, Morocco (Ceuta) 6.3 km, Morocco (Melilla) 9.6 km
Population of Spain: 40,300,000 (est. 2004)
|
