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About Spain

     Spain (Spanish: España (help·info), IPA: [es'paɲa]), is a Western European country. The country consists of Peninsular Spain which is located between the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, two archipelagos, one in each sea, and two autonomous cities in North Africa.

     The Spanish mainland is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the south and east, by the Cantabric Sea that includes the Bay of Biscay to the north, and by the Atlantic Ocean and Portugal to the west. Spanish territory also includes the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean and the Canary Islands off the African coast. It shares land borders with Portugal, France, Andorra, the British colony of Gibraltar, and Morocco. It is the largest of the three sovereign states that make up the Iberian Peninsula — the others being Portugal and Andorra. With an area of 504,030 km², Spain is the second largest country in Western Europe (behind France).

     Spain is a constitutional monarchy organised as a parliamentary democracy, and has been a member of the European Union since 1986. It is a developed country with the ninth largest economy in the world and fifth largest in the EU.

     Spain has a very ancient and complex prehistory. Under the Roman empire Hispania flourished and became one of the empire's most important regions. During the early Middle Ages it came under Germanic rule. Later, nearly the entire peninsula came under Muslim rulers. Through a long process Christian kingdoms in the north gradually rolled back Muslim rule, which was finally extinguished in 1492. That year Columbus reached the Americas, the beginnings of the first global empire. Spain became the strongest kingdom in Europe in the sixteenth and first half of the seventeenth centuries but continued wars and other problems eventually led to a diminished status. In the middle decades of the twentieth century it came under a dictatorship, under which it went through many years of stagnation and then a spectacular economic revival. In 1986 it joined the European Union and has experienced an economic and cultural renaissance.

About Santa Cruz de Tenerife

     Santa Cruz de Tenerife (2005 population 223,148) is a Spanish city on the island of Tenerife, the largest and most populated of the Canary Islands after Las Palmas de Gran Canaria as stated in the 2006 census and has a metropolitan area population of 423.022 thousand people.

     It is the capital of the province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife and a co-capital of the autonomous community of the Canary Islands. It is part of one of the two biggest metropolitan areas in the Islands with 423,198 habitants, and itself, the second biggest city in the archipelago, second to Las Palmas de Gran Canaria with whom it shares the status of capital city.

     It is home to the Parliament of the Canary Islands, the Canarian Ministry of Presidency (shared in a 4 years term years with Las Palmas), a half the ministries and boards of the Canarian Government, (the other half being located in Gran Canaria), the Tenerife Provincial Courts and 2 courts of the Superior Court of Justice of the Canary Islands. There are also several dependecies of the La Laguna University lying on Santa Cruz soil, like the Fine Arts School or the Naval Sciences Faculty. Its harbour is one of Spain's busiests and it comprises three different sectors. It is important for its commercial and passengers traffic and for being one of the major stations in the cruisers' route from Europe to the Caribbean.

     The economy of Santa Cruz relies mainly on services. Trade, tourism, import-export, the seaport and the presence of the major political and financial institutions, as well as the most important companies, guarantee a strong economic activity and development. The building sector is also quite relevant, while industry, apart from the oil refinery and food processing, is minoritary. The last years have witnessed a certain madness in the building sector, as in many places in Spain. The city of Santa Cruz has refurnished many of its quarters, modernised its infrastructures, built brand new areas, malls, high buildings and some charismatic constructions, such as Calatrava´s Auditorio or the Congress Hall, César Manrique´s Marina or the not yet completed Óscar Domínguez Museum of Modern Art and Culture (IODACC) and the new Plaza de España layout, both by Basel-based Pritzker Price winner studio Herzog & de Meuron. The works to renew the concept under man-made Las Teresitas Beach are due to start this year, under the direction of French architect Dominique Perrault

Hotels : 

• Hotel Mencey *****
• Hotel Atlántida ****
• Hotel Escuela Santa Cruz de Tenerife ****
• Hotel Contemporáneo ***
• Hotel Príncipe Paz ***
• Hotel Taburiente ***
• Hotel Pelinor **
• Hotel Plaza **