SPAIN 



5472 



SPAIN 



music of the castanet and guitar, should find 

 their chief amusement in the cruel bullfight, 

 attractive to others only for the pomp and 

 pageantry with which it is attended, and for- 

 bidden in most countries. 



The Spanish are descended from the early 

 Iberian inhabitants of the peninsula and the 

 Roman and Teutonic invaders. The Basques 

 of the north, numbering about 60,000, are more 

 purely Iberian than the other inhabitants, and 

 differ in language and customs. There are many 

 tribes of gypsies scattered throughout the coun- 

 try. The total population of Spain, numbering 

 20,355,983 (estimate for 1913), is smaller than 

 that of any other country having as old a civi- 

 lization and equal natural resources. The most 

 barren province of Ireland is not more scantily 

 populated. The present population is less than 

 one-third of that of the kingdom when in the 

 height of its power. This decrease in popula- 

 tion is due to the expulsion of the Moors, to 

 the wars of the sixteenth and seventeenth cen- 

 turies and to emigration. 



Unlike Italy, Spain has a large rural popu- 

 lation and comparatively few important towns. 

 The largest cities are the capital, Madrid, and 

 Barcelona, both having over 580,000 inhabit- 

 ants, and Valencia, Seville, Malaga, Murcia, 

 Saragossa and Cartagena, each having a popu- 

 lation of over 100,000. See list of Related 

 Subjects at the close of this article. 



Education. Since intellectual advance usu- 

 ally accompanies material progress, Spain's edu- 

 cational envelopment has been slow, and two- 

 thirds of the people are illiterate. Although 

 compulsory education with an elaborate sys- 

 tem of primary schools, was authorized in 1857, 

 the law was not enforced until 1909. Public 

 schools are maintained by local taxation and 

 are under governmental inspection. There is at 

 least one high school in every province. These 

 give preparation for the ten universities of 

 Spain, which are located at Barcelona, Granada, 

 Madrid, Oviedo, Saragossa, Salamanca, Santi- 

 ago, Seville, Valencia and Valladolid. The gov- 

 ernment also supports special schools, such as 

 those of engineering, agriculture, music and 

 fine arts. 



Religion, Language and Literature. Spain 

 still holds its reputation as "the most Catholic 

 country in the world." It is a land famed for 

 its houses of worship; the cathedral at Seville 

 is one of the most magnificent of Christian 

 churches. The Roman Catholic churches and 

 clergy are supported by the state. There are 

 numerous influential Orders, but since 1910 the 



establishment of additional religious houses 

 without the consent of the government has 

 been prohibited. There are about 30,000 

 Protestants, 7,000 Jews and 4,000 Rationalists 

 in the country. 



The sonorous Spanish language is derived 

 from the Latin. The Castilian dialect is the 

 chief language of 

 the country. The 

 Galician and 

 Catalan, which 

 more closely 

 resemble the 

 French , are 

 spoken in the 

 northern and 

 eastern prov- LOCATION MAP 



inces : the Anda- The southern point of 

 ,. , f Spain extends farther south 



lusian dialect Ol than the most northerly 

 the south is also P int on the African coast, 

 the language of South America and Mexico. 



The romantic songs and tales of the twelfth 

 century marked the beginning of the national 

 literature of Spain. No other country is so 

 rich in these heroic ballads, most of which cele- 

 brate the deeds of Charlemagne and the Cid 

 (see CID, THE). Juan Ruiz is among the most 

 distinguished of the early romance writers, and 

 Juan Manuel is noted as a prose writer of this 

 early period. The greatest writers of the Golden 

 Age of Spanish literature (1550-1650) were Cal- 

 deron de la Barca and Lope de Vega Carpio, 

 the great poets and dramatists, and the fa- 

 mous Cervantes, author of Don Quixote, one 

 of the world's masterpieces of fiction (see VEGA 

 CARPIO, FELIX LOPE DE; CERVANTES SAAVEDRA, 

 MIGUEL DE) . During this period Spain invented 

 the picaresque novel, that is, one having for 

 its hero a "picaro," or rogue. This type of 

 story was widely imitated in other countries. 



The seventeenth century was a period of 

 dramatic production, but in the next hundred 

 years the national literature declined. The 

 Spanish writers were largely imitators of the 

 French, and the great wave of democracy and 

 spirit of freedom which swept over Europe in 

 the nineteenth century reached Spain through 

 France. During the latter part pf the nine- 

 tenth century and early in the twentieth the 

 novel was the most prominent literary form in 

 Spain. 



Art. See PAINTING, subhead Seventeenth 

 Century. Spain produced Velasquez, a painter 

 who ranks with the greatest masters of the art, 

 and another, Murillo, who ranks also among 

 the very great. 



