Spain-Emery



Population Total Population: 46.6 million CBR: 9 per 1,000 CDR: 9 deaths per 1,000 NIR: 0.77 per 1,000 IMR: 2.6 per 1,000 TFR: 1.3 per 1,000 GNI PPP/ capita: 36,340 Life expectancy: 83 years

Spain is currently in stage 4 of the demographic transition model, and in 2050 Spain will become stage 5.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/oct/20/spain-population-drop-by-2050-trends-low-birth-high-life-elderly-singles

In this article, it talked about how Spain will be a depopulated nation by 2050. The nation is predicted to be dominated nu elderly and single people. 11% of the current population will be gone by 2050. Spain’s low birth rate and high life expectancy are seen as a demographic problem for Spain.

Question: Why do you think Spain's population will decrease so dramatically by 2050?

__Folk Culture__

Bull fighting is very closely associated with Spain and can be traced back to 711 A.D. It is very popular in Spain with several thousand Spaniards going to their local bull-ring each week. Bullfighting was originally a sport for the aristocracy and took place on horseback. King Felipe V banned that aristocracy from taking part in the sport because he felt it was a bad example to the public. After the ban, commoners accepted the sport as their own. Since they could not afford horse, they dodged the bulls on foot. In a bullfight, a bull is let into a ring, and then a Matado waves a bright yellow and magenta cape in front of the bull to make it charge. The sport is considered a dance with death because one wrong move and the Matador could be impaled by the horns of the bull.

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 http://photosforclass.com/search?text=Bullfighting

This a typical bullfight in spain. The Matador is the man holding the red flag and the bull is charging the colorful cape. A bullfight lasts for around ten minutes until the bull is put back in its stable. If the Matador can last the ten minutes, he wins.

Have you ever heard of bullfighting? If so where?

__ Language __

The spanish language originated in the southwest region of europe. It is one of the Romance languages in the Italic subfamily of the Indo_european langauge gmaily. The principal language is Spain is spanish. Within spain, there are two major dialects, Andalusian and Castilian. The number of individual languages listed for Spain is fifteen. All are living languages. Of these, fourteen are indigenous and one is non-indigenous. There are five institutional, one developing, two vigorous, six in trouble, and one dying language. There are about nine immigrant languages in Spain, some examples being Arabic, Chinese, and Portuguese.

This article talks about the grounds that speakers of Castilian Spanish should be proud to learn their country’s other languages. Multilingualism is clearly useful, but it may more valuable to learn other languages spoken outside the country. Given that there are as many speakers of Catalan as there are swedish, Castalian speakers considering how to best use their language- learning time might prefer to focus on a tongue that yields broader opportunities. Spain is still reorienting its economy towards export competitiveness. France and Germany are its largest export markets, and English remains the default language for international business. The number Spaniards able to speak English, German, and French is not very high. []

Here is a video of someone speaking Castilian Spanish []

Question: Some of us take spanish in school, do you think it is a good idea to learn this language?

__Religion__ Religion in Spain is a somewhat controversial topic. With a growing mix of multiculturalism it is clear to see that Spain is moving away from the Roman Catholic base and instead merging into a more secularist society.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Freedom of religion is guaranteed by the Spanish constitution, although the majority of the population is roman catholicism. Other religions also practiced in Spain include Islam, Judaism, Protestantism, and Hinduism, all of which have places where to conduct their rituals.
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">What religions are prevalent? **

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">During the Roman Empire, mainland Spain was first considered Christian, but by 17th century, the invasion by an Arab army led to Islamic rule, but of a more understanding nature. Gradually, Spain was regained by christian forces. This allowed the reassertion of European rule over this Iberian land. King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella worked to unite Spain under Catholicism.
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">What is the history of religion in your country? **

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Spain is a nation-state born out of religious struggle mainly between Catholicism and Islam. From 711 to 1492, In 711 Muslim forces invaded and in seven years, conquered the Iberian peninsula. The heartland of Muslim rule was Southern Spain. This conquest brought the spread of Islamic beliefs. Christians and Jew lived under restrictions, for much of the time the three groups managed to get along together.
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">How did it spread? **

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">In 1566, on the Assumption of the Virgin day, a group of Calvinists in the Netherlands stormed Catholic churches, destroying statues and relics. Dutch Calvinists resented the Catholic religion and there conflict with the religion. The high nobility pleaded with him for more tolerance but some of them were put to death for their insolence. One of the underlying reasons was that Spanish King Philip II wanted to establish a monarchy in the Netherland and the religious issue game him a way to put pressure on the parliament.
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Has there been any significant religious conflict? **

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Question: What do you think about Spain moving away from the Roman Catholic based society?