The Regions of Spain

A Testament to Spanish Diversity

The Regions of Spain are so diverse - if you just stick to the Costas Sol or Brava or Barcelona and Madrid, you're missing out on so much!

The Iberian Peninsula is not only where Europe and Africa meet but it also looks out towards both the Mediterranean and the Atlantic.

Different peoples have arrived from all directions and Spain's mountainous terrain has meant that they've had little chance to mix and, for this reason, different cultures have evolved.

So although now known as Spain, it is not surprising that throughout its history it has often been referred to as 'The Spains'.

Modern Spain is divided into 17 autonomous communities plus Ceuta & Melilla on the African continent and 50 provinces or administrative regions.

The four divisions of Segunda B are based on these geographical differences, so we'll take the Real Federación's view of how to divide up the regions of Spain.

Central Spain

Central Spain is made up of the autonomous communities of the Comunidad de Madrid, Castilla y León and Castilla-La Mancha. They originally made up the ancient kingdom of Castile - the unifying force behind Spain as we know it today.

Map of Spain

The region is dominated by the capital Madrid, which lies in the centre of the huge elevated plain called the Meseta and
also occupies a central position in the geography of Spain as a whole.

The region is so large, though, that southern parts of Castilla-La Mancha have more in common with Southern Spain while the northerly region of León is culturally closer to Asturias and Cantabria than Madrid.

Southern Spain

The Regions of Spain that make up Southern Spain are Andalucía, Murcia and Extremadura - this is the region that remained under Moorish influence for longer than the centre and the north.

Most of the clichés associated with Spain, such as
flamenco and bullfighting, find their cultural home here. The region is traditionally the poorest part of Spain, but in recent years particularly Andalucía and to a lesser extent Murcia have received an economic boost from sun-seeking tourists and canny foreign investors.

North-Eastern Spain

The key autonomous community in the north-east is Catalonia. Barcelona - its vibrant capital - was the centre of an empire that until the sixteenth century challenged Castile for hegemony over the whole of Spain.

The Catalan-Aragonese Confederation comprised of Catalonia, Aragón, the Comunitat Valenciana and the Balearic Islands along with many foreign possessions, and dialects of Catalan are still widely spoken in all the regions apart from Aragón.

Although not officially Spain, the independent principality of Andorra - where Catalan is also the official language - can also be included here.

Northern and North-Western Spain

Northern Spain consists of the Basque Country, Navarra and tiny La Rioja. The region has been historically dominated by the Basques, a nation with their own language and genetic profile unlike any other in the world.

Similarly, the North-East on the wet Atlantic coast comprises Galicia - which also has its own language - Asturias and Cantabria and is renowned for its Celtic culture, once again very different from clichéd images of Spain.

The African Possessions

Along with Andorra, there are African possessions that can only loosely be described as Regions of Spain.

The Canary Islands, while firmly part of Spain, are geographically a long way south, just off the West African coast.

Ceuta and Melilla are two cities on the African continent which belong to Spain but whose sovereignty is disputed by Morocco.

British-owned Gibraltar is not a Spanish possession and is a constant cause of dispute between Spain and Britain.