# Spain Fun Facts to Know Before Your Trip Quick context and surprises worth reading before you plan a trip to Spain. 97 million people visit Spain each year, second only to France. These Spain fun facts shape a real trip, plus how a travel planning app can help build it. Canonical: https://www.go-guided.com/en/posts/spain-fun-facts Published: 2026-05-12T10:10:00.000Z Author: Sandra Romano Spain's national anthem has no words. The “Marcha Real” is one of the only national anthems in the world performed purely instrumentally, because Spanish authorities and rival political factions were never able to agree on a set of lyrics, so a stadium full of people stands there and hums, or doesn't. Nobody is getting the line wrong, because there is no line. Here are the Spain fun facts we think actually change how you plan a trip, plus the practical things nobody puts on a poster. ## Second place, and 97 million people We'd argue second place is the more interesting number here, not the record itself. Spain is the world's second most-visited country. Only France gets more visitors, and Spain still sits ahead of both the United States and Italy. In 2025 it welcomed about 97 million international visitors, up from 94 million the year before, 3.5% growth on a number that was already enormous. Tourism spending hit €135 billion, around 13% of the national economy. Where those people come from matters more than the total. The UK is Spain's single largest source market, and British, German and French visitors together account for about half of all arrivals. We'd bet on this: that concentration is why certain coasts and certain streets turn into a queue in high season, while inland Spain, the same month, feels wide open. So when people ask us about the best time to visit Spain, our honest answer has less to do with weather than with the other 97 million. Go where they aren't, and the month matters a lot less than you'd think. ```json:object { "_key": "imgb926a2346e67", "_type": "mainImage", "alt": "A quiet stretch of the Costa del Sol coastline near Fuengirola, Spain", "asset": { "_ref": "image-9290e45fa37db55dba20abdba8ab11064f14daf0-1080x720-jpg", "_type": "reference" }, "markDefs": null, "metadata": { "_type": "sanity.imageMetadata", "blurHash": "VQCtU[o~M{MwkX7%E2w]nho#-pm*Rjo#j?NGn$ofX9V?", "dimensions": { "_type": "sanity.imageDimensions", "aspectRatio": 1.5, "height": 720, "width": 1080 }, "hasAlpha": false, "isOpaque": true, "lqip": "data:image/jpeg;base64,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", "palette": { "_type": "sanity.imagePalette", "darkMuted": { "_type": "sanity.imagePaletteSwatch", "background": "#283a4e", "foreground": "#fff", "population": 0.29, "title": "#fff" }, "darkVibrant": { "_type": "sanity.imagePaletteSwatch", "background": "#04547c", "foreground": "#fff", "population": 0.52, "title": "#fff" }, "dominant": { "_type": "sanity.imagePaletteSwatch", "background": "#08719b", "foreground": "#fff", "population": 9.68, "title": "#fff" }, "lightMuted": { "_type": "sanity.imagePaletteSwatch", "background": "#c9ada5", "foreground": "#000", "population": 1.55, "title": "#fff" }, "lightVibrant": { "_type": "sanity.imagePaletteSwatch", "background": "#6eb7e5", "foreground": "#000", "population": 0.09, "title": "#fff" }, "muted": { "_type": "sanity.imagePaletteSwatch", "background": "#558ca6", "foreground": "#fff", "population": 1.44, "title": "#fff" }, "vibrant": { "_type": "sanity.imagePaletteSwatch", "background": "#08719b", "foreground": "#fff", "population": 9.68, "title": "#fff" } }, "thumbHash": "HccFNY4rkVcIeFovpTeZenVgSAaG" } } ``` ## Which is Europe's longest border? Spain's, with Portugal. The border between the two is the longest uninterrupted border in Europe, which is the sort of fact that only lands once you see how much country is involved. Spain covers 505,370 sq km with around 8,000 km of coastline. On the mainland it also borders France and Andorra, and it reaches beyond the mainland too, by way of Gibraltar, a British Overseas Territory, and the North African enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla, which put Spain on a land border with Morocco. Inside those borders are 47.9 million people with a median age of 46.3, and a population that is essentially flat, drifting down by 0.08% a year. Madrid is the capital, the currency is the euro, and the country is a parliamentary monarchy under the 1978 constitution, with King Felipe VI as head of state and an elected Prime Minister running the government. Spanish, properly Castilian, is official nationwide. Catalan, Basque (Euskera) and Galician are co-official in their own autonomous communities, which is not a technicality. We think treating Catalonia, the Basque Country and Galicia as regional flavours of one place is the fastest way to misread a trip. We'd plan them as if you were crossing into somewhere genuinely different, because you are. ## Fifty World Heritage sites, and the one we'd start with We'd build a first trip to Spain around Granada rather than Barcelona. That is a real opinion and plenty of people will disagree with it. The numbers back up the general point that this country is absurdly over-supplied with landmark sites. UNESCO's own state-party page currently lists 50 Spanish properties on the World Heritage List, 44 cultural, 4 natural and 2 mixed. Spain ratified the Convention in 1982 and has held three mandates on the World Heritage Committee since. That's one of the Spain fun facts that's actually useful for planning, not just trivia to repeat at dinner. The named sites give you the range. The Alhambra, Generalife and Albayzín in Granada. The Works of Antoni Gaudí in Barcelona. The historic city of Toledo, the Routes of Santiago de Compostela, Doñana National Park, the old city of Salamanca. A pilgrimage network, a wetland, a hilltop city and a modernist architect's back catalogue all carrying the same designation. ## The tallest church in the world is still a building site Barcelona's Sagrada Família became the tallest church on earth in late 2025, when the first element of the central cross took it to 162.91 metres and it overtook the previous record holder. Once the central Tower of Jesus Christ is complete the building will stand at roughly 172 metres. Construction started in 1882 under Antoni Gaudí, so it has been going for almost 150 years, and completion is targeted for 2026, the centenary of Gaudí's death. Read that as “nearly there” rather than “done.” The exterior is essentially topped out, but the final phase of the tower was still underway at the most recent reporting, and anyone telling you the Sagrada Família in Barcelona is finished is ahead of the actual scaffolding. > **Guided tip: **Don't build a trip around seeing a completed building on a specific date. The 2026 target has been moving for a century and a half. Go for the thing that's standing now, which is already the tallest church in the world, and treat a finished central tower as a bonus. > ```json:object { "_key": "imgb0ff7a9f5783", "_type": "mainImage", "alt": "The Sagrada Família in Barcelona with construction cranes still visible against a blue sky", "asset": { "_ref": "image-75bbce565e13f25435cf7f0b4f5f07e8c702dfef-1080x720-jpg", "_type": "reference" }, "markDefs": null, "metadata": { "_type": "sanity.imageMetadata", "blurHash": "VDD0=n_3%KXpmi5_pKDNxvtQM|9Ex]RjtmNM-p%gxuM_", "dimensions": { "_type": "sanity.imageDimensions", "aspectRatio": 1.5, "height": 720, "width": 1080 }, "hasAlpha": false, "isOpaque": true, "lqip": "data:image/jpeg;base64,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", "palette": { "_type": "sanity.imagePalette", "darkMuted": { "_type": "sanity.imagePaletteSwatch", "background": "#584737", "foreground": "#fff", "population": 3.16, "title": "#fff" }, "darkVibrant": { "_type": "sanity.imagePaletteSwatch", "background": "#29485e", "foreground": "#fff", "population": 0.12, "title": "#fff" }, "dominant": { "_type": "sanity.imagePaletteSwatch", "background": "#5480ad", "foreground": "#fff", "population": 4.32, "title": "#fff" }, "lightMuted": { "_type": "sanity.imagePaletteSwatch", "background": "#a6bcce", "foreground": "#000", "population": 1.48, "title": "#fff" }, "lightVibrant": { "_type": "sanity.imagePaletteSwatch", "background": "#75aadc", "foreground": "#000", "population": 0.33, "title": "#fff" }, "muted": { "_type": "sanity.imagePaletteSwatch", "background": "#5480ad", "foreground": "#fff", "population": 4.32, "title": "#fff" }, "vibrant": { "_type": "sanity.imagePaletteSwatch", "background": "#497bb4", "foreground": "#fff", "population": 2.71, "title": "#fff" } }, "thumbHash": "XdcFJYaPKXuoomgnamqqZ4dQdwd2" } } ``` ## Olive oil, a dining room from 1725, and 20,000 people throwing tomatoes We think one meal at Restaurante Botín in Madrid is worth booking, and no more than that. It holds the Guinness World Record for the world's oldest restaurant, continuously operating since 1725, which happens to predate the United States by half a century. We wouldn't reshape a Madrid itinerary around it. Spain is a leading global exporter of olive oil. As of 2022 export data it was the world's largest, and it topped the same list for pig meat, citrus fruit and cucumbers, which is a strange and very specific quartet to dominate. ```json:object { "_key": "imgc5cee2058193", "_type": "mainImage", "alt": "Freshly harvested olives destined for olive oil production in Alhaurín el Grande, Andalusia", "asset": { "_ref": "image-20d5888b2bf6040ea7909c714d1ec0c0c64accda-1080x810-jpg", "_type": "reference" }, "markDefs": null, "metadata": { "_type": "sanity.imageMetadata", "blurHash": "VAE|00_LIV%2%L-oWBoxt7WBV_RTxts:IotORRtQV]X4", "dimensions": { "_type": "sanity.imageDimensions", "aspectRatio": 1.3333333333333333, "height": 810, "width": 1080 }, "hasAlpha": false, "isOpaque": true, "lqip": "data:image/jpeg;base64,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", "palette": { "_type": "sanity.imagePalette", "darkMuted": { "_type": "sanity.imagePaletteSwatch", "background": "#52663c", "foreground": "#fff", "population": 6.73, "title": "#fff" }, "darkVibrant": { "_type": "sanity.imagePaletteSwatch", "background": "#658620", "foreground": "#fff", "population": 0.01, "title": "#fff" }, "dominant": { "_type": "sanity.imagePaletteSwatch", "background": "#7a915c", "foreground": "#fff", "population": 8.5, "title": "#fff" }, "lightMuted": { "_type": "sanity.imagePaletteSwatch", "background": "#a7c085", "foreground": "#000", "population": 7.62, "title": "#fff" }, "lightVibrant": { "_type": "sanity.imagePaletteSwatch", "background": "#d9f6ae", "foreground": "#000", "population": 0.96, "title": "#000" }, "muted": { "_type": "sanity.imagePaletteSwatch", "background": "#7a915c", "foreground": "#fff", "population": 8.5, "title": "#fff" }, "vibrant": { "_type": "sanity.imagePaletteSwatch", "background": "#8cb43c", "foreground": "#000", "population": 0, "title": "#fff" } }, "thumbHash": "2+gFBYBfqZhqmGd3iYWWdw59I/eZ" } } ``` Flamenco comes from Andalusia in the south, developed by Andalusian Roma (Gitano) communities. Plenty of cities will sell you a flamenco night. Andalusia is where the thing came from, and that's where we'd see it. ```json:object { "_key": "img16d4d05dde17", "_type": "mainImage", "alt": "A flamenco dancer performing in Spain", "asset": { "_ref": "image-7cddd57612a3b7e3f9d6e4c61451fc9f11e0c2c1-1080x837-jpg", "_type": "reference" }, "markDefs": null, "metadata": { "_type": "sanity.imageMetadata", "blurHash": "VEFM|Z0f}Y-V0}1I%1NaWVxFMyozEg,@Rj-UV@w{j?JU", "dimensions": { "_type": "sanity.imageDimensions", "aspectRatio": 1.2903225806451613, "height": 837, "width": 1080 }, "hasAlpha": false, "isOpaque": true, "lqip": "data:image/jpeg;base64,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", "palette": { "_type": "sanity.imagePalette", "darkMuted": { "_type": "sanity.imagePaletteSwatch", "background": "#4a372e", "foreground": "#fff", "population": 0.87, "title": "#fff" }, "darkVibrant": { "_type": "sanity.imagePaletteSwatch", "background": "#7b201b", "foreground": "#fff", "population": 8.61, "title": "#fff" }, "dominant": { "_type": "sanity.imagePaletteSwatch", "background": "#7b201b", "foreground": "#fff", "population": 8.61, "title": "#fff" }, "lightMuted": { "_type": "sanity.imagePaletteSwatch", "background": "#81bfb4", "foreground": "#000", "population": 0.03, "title": "#fff" }, "lightVibrant": { "_type": "sanity.imagePaletteSwatch", "background": "#f9b15c", "foreground": "#000", "population": 0.27, "title": "#fff" }, "muted": { "_type": "sanity.imagePaletteSwatch", "background": "#876759", "foreground": "#fff", "population": 3.28, "title": "#fff" }, "vibrant": { "_type": "sanity.imagePaletteSwatch", "background": "#e5852c", "foreground": "#000", "population": 0.33, "title": "#fff" } }, "thumbHash": "0FgKFYbAKjSTh3eWlpaHhfWBeQ64" } } ``` Then there is La Tomatina, the tomato fight held in Buñol in the Valencia region, which draws up to around 20,000 participants a year. You will see a tonnage figure attached to it, some confident claim about how many tons of tomatoes get thrown. Ignore it. Published figures disagree with each other by an order of magnitude, which means at least one of them is wildly wrong and nobody can tell you which. The 20,000 people are real. ```json:object { "_key": "imgb689c3bdbea1", "_type": "mainImage", "alt": "A large festival crowd gathered together, standing in for the La Tomatina atmosphere in Buñol", "asset": { "_ref": "image-e31eae57347718515924f65abd073392230245f9-1080x720-jpg", "_type": "reference" }, "markDefs": null, "metadata": { "_type": "sanity.imageMetadata", "blurHash": "V0EU}u0e00Ec00y=qFIa?a{]#5HX80q@8w@XGJob5?06", "dimensions": { "_type": "sanity.imageDimensions", "aspectRatio": 1.5, "height": 720, "width": 1080 }, "hasAlpha": false, "isOpaque": true, "lqip": "data:image/jpeg;base64,/9j/2wBDAAYEBQYFBAYGBQYHBwYIChAKCgkJChQODwwQFxQYGBcUFhYaHSUfGhsjHBYWICwgIyYnKSopGR8tMC0oMCUoKSj/2wBDAQcHBwoIChMKChMoGhYaKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCj/wAARCAANABQDASIAAhEBAxEB/8QAGAAAAwEBAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMEBQb/xAAhEAACAgICAgMBAAAAAAAAAAABAgMRAAQSIRMxFCIyUf/EABYBAQEBAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAQAAf/EABoRAAICAwAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABAkEDERL/2gAMAwEAAhEDEQA/AOUhMMSX4zxKV0LrHHxLrgx8Q8g+wA6zP09iUQkK9GuyRfX8yvmG3oJONFiqkA0CMNtMby1YhthHNvqlm9Ep6wy7b0D8mXxbEkalvyADhmuMrJZIn//Z", "palette": { "_type": "sanity.imagePalette", "darkMuted": { "_type": "sanity.imagePaletteSwatch", "background": "#573228", "foreground": "#fff", "population": 3.76, "title": "#fff" }, "darkVibrant": { "_type": "sanity.imagePaletteSwatch", "background": "#7b3915", "foreground": "#fff", "population": 0.5, "title": "#fff" }, "dominant": { "_type": "sanity.imagePaletteSwatch", "background": "#9c7966", "foreground": "#fff", "population": 5.31, "title": "#fff" }, "lightMuted": { "_type": "sanity.imagePaletteSwatch", "background": "#cdbab4", "foreground": "#000", "population": 4.87, "title": "#fff" }, "lightVibrant": { "_type": "sanity.imagePaletteSwatch", "background": "#f1c2b8", "foreground": "#000", "population": 0.51, "title": "#000" }, "muted": { "_type": "sanity.imagePaletteSwatch", "background": "#9c7966", "foreground": "#fff", "population": 5.31, "title": "#fff" }, "vibrant": { "_type": "sanity.imagePaletteSwatch", "background": "#cd8537", "foreground": "#fff", "population": 0.73, "title": "#fff" } }, "thumbHash": "mCgCBYAVNjmal0gmWTaIUEZGXyby" } } ``` ## Is Spain safe to visit? Yes, and the indices are boring about it. The Global Peace Index places Spain around 25th of 158 countries, and other safety rankings put it in the top third to top half of the countries they assess. If there's one Spain fun fact that should lower your shoulders before a trip, it's this one. The U.S. State Department has Spain at Level 2, “Exercise Increased Caution,” which is the same baseline it gives most of Western Europe and not a country-specific warning. The realistic risk to you is your pockets. Pickpocketing and bag-snatching are the actual problem, concentrated in Barcelona around Las Ramblas and the Gothic Quarter, and on crowded metro carriages and buses. Violent crime is not the story here. Political demonstrations tied to Catalan and Basque independence movements happen periodically. The standard advice is to route around a protest rather than treat it as a threat to you personally, and that matches what the demonstrations actually are. > **Guided tip: **On a Barcelona metro or anywhere on Las Ramblas, nothing goes in a back pocket and nothing hangs off the back of a chair. A zipped bag worn across the front handles most of the realistic risk in this country. ### The Pyrenees in winter Driving in the Pyrenees means narrow, winding mountain roads, and they get notably more hazardous from late autumn through early spring. If your route crosses them in that window, give yourself daylight and a lot more time than the map suggests. ```json:object { "_key": "img11af43e62971", "_type": "mainImage", "alt": "An empty mountain road at Col d'Aspin in the Pyrenees", "asset": { "_ref": "image-44e143c31e64e2753e2510e72af9b015cc9232fd-1080x810-jpg", "_type": "reference" }, "markDefs": null, "metadata": { "_type": "sanity.imageMetadata", "blurHash": "ViGv9PM}Rjt7j=_4kDa#oej[?bt4ofRkofV?jYofWDWV", "dimensions": { "_type": "sanity.imageDimensions", "aspectRatio": 1.3333333333333333, "height": 810, "width": 1080 }, "hasAlpha": false, "isOpaque": true, "lqip": "data:image/jpeg;base64,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", "palette": { "_type": "sanity.imagePalette", "darkMuted": { "_type": "sanity.imagePaletteSwatch", "background": "#29452f", "foreground": "#fff", "population": 1.26, "title": "#fff" }, "darkVibrant": { "_type": "sanity.imagePaletteSwatch", "background": "#546424", "foreground": "#fff", "population": 9.64, "title": "#fff" }, "dominant": { "_type": "sanity.imagePaletteSwatch", "background": "#546424", "foreground": "#fff", "population": 9.64, "title": "#fff" }, "lightMuted": { "_type": "sanity.imagePaletteSwatch", "background": "#c8ccaa", "foreground": "#000", "population": 0.01, "title": "#fff" }, "lightVibrant": { "_type": "sanity.imagePaletteSwatch", "background": "#a0c2d9", "foreground": "#000", "population": 0, "title": "#fff" }, "muted": { "_type": "sanity.imagePaletteSwatch", "background": "#738fad", "foreground": "#fff", "population": 3.89, "title": "#fff" }, "vibrant": { "_type": "sanity.imagePaletteSwatch", "background": "#2c546e", "foreground": "#fff", "population": 0.03, "title": "#fff" } }, "thumbHash": "IOgNFYJleHePiIiNaFiHhZBiGXX4" } } ``` ## A few words that go a long way Want more out of an interaction than a shopkeeper defaulting to English at you? A few words of Spanish do that, even when the other person's English is much better than yours. - Hola: hi - Buenos días: good morning - Buenas tardes: good afternoon or early evening - Buenas noches: good night, also evening greeting - Gracias: thank you - De nada: you're welcome - Por favor: please - Perdone: excuse me, formal - ¿Cuánto cuesta?: how much does it cost? In Catalonia, the Basque Country and Galicia, the co-official regional language shows up on signs and station announcements right alongside Castilian, sometimes with no translation at all. ## Planning the thing The useful version of a list like this is the shortlist it leaves you with. Maybe it's the Alhambra and three days in Granada. Maybe it's Toledo instead of a third day in Madrid, or a stretch of the Routes of Santiago de Compostela, or standing under the tallest church in the world while a crane is still working above it. Save the ones that stuck, then drop them into the Guided travel planning app and let it build the route around them, including the slow inland days that keep you away from the busiest coasts. Our Spain guides are a decent place to keep going. ## Enjoyed This Blog? Continue Reading! There is plenty more where this came from, so keep scrolling for our other destination guides and trip-planning posts.[horizontalScroll: non-text section]