General

Form of government

Parliamentary monarchy since 1978. Constitution of 1978, last modified 1992nd Bicameral Parliament (Cortes Generales): House of Deputies (Congreso de los Diputados) with 350 deputies and the Senate (Senado) with 259 senators. State: King Juan Carlos I. since 1975. Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, since 2004.

Language

The official language is Spanish (Castilian). Catalan, Galician and Basque are distributed regionally, and in tourist areas, partly in English and German.

Religion

Roman Catholic (94%), Muslim, Protestant and Jewish minorities.

Time

Spain / Balearics: GMT. Last Sunday in March to last Sunday in October: GMT +1 (summer time).
Of Central Europe is in winter and summer hours each 0
Canary Islands: GMT -1. Last Sunday in March to last Sunday in October: Central European Time (Summer Time).
Of Central Europe is in winter and summer respectively -1 hour

Mains voltage

220 V, 50 Hz (110/125 volts in some older buildings, often small towns).

Post and Telecommunications

Phone

IDD. The public phones work with coins and prepaid cards of Telefónica, which can be bought in tobacco shops.

Country code

34th Area codes of major cities: Madrid, 91, 96 Alicante, Balearic Islands 971, Barcelona 93, 96 Benidorm, Bilbao, 94, Granada, 958, 928 Las Palmas, Malaga, Torremolinos 95, 942 Santander, Seville, 95, 922 and Tenerife Valencia 96

Mobile phone

Dual-band GSM network 900/1800. Network operators are Amena (website: www.amena.com), Telefonica (website: www.movistar.tsm.es), Vodafone (website: www.vodafone.es) and Retevision (website: www.retevision.es).

Faxes

Available in most post offices available. Even 4 - and 5-star hotels, especially those frequented by business travelers and conference participants, offer fax services.

Internet / e-mail

Internet cafes and facilities that offer Internet access (locutorios) are available in most urban areas. Main ISPs include Futurnet Internet (website: www.futurnet.es), Terra (website: www.terra.es) Ibernet Telematica (website: www.ibernet.com), Ozu (website: www.ozu.es), Ya ( Internet: www.ya.com) and Wanadoo (internet: www.wanadoo.es).

Telegrams

May be available at main post offices and many hotels. The post offices in the Plaza de la Cibeles in Madrid, at Plaza Antonio Lopez in Barcelona on Calle Alameda Urquijo 15 in Bilbao are open 24 hours.

Post

The mail delivery is relatively good. Airmail postal traffic within Europe are about 5 days to arrive. Post-stock items can be sent to all main post offices.

Climatological Ibiza