Before There Was a Spain

Prehistoric Spain, Iberians & Romans

People have lived on the Iberian Peninsula for an incredibly long time.

One of the most remarkable reminders is Altamira Cave in northern Spain, famous for prehistoric paintings of animals including bison. Some of the artwork there dates back thousands of years before the pyramids of Egypt.

Much later, different peoples lived throughout the peninsula, including Iberians and Celtic groups, while Phoenician, Greek and Carthaginian traders established connections along the coasts.

Then Rome arrived.

Beginning during the Second Punic War in 218 BC, Rome gradually conquered the peninsula and called its territories there Hispania.

Roman rule left an enormous mark. Roads connected settlements. Aqueducts carried water. Theaters and temples appeared. Latin spread—and eventually helped give rise to Spanish and several of the peninsula’s other Romance languages.

See It Today

You can still walk through Spain’s Roman past.

Look for the spectacular Roman theater in Mérida, the ancient remains of Tarragona, and the enormous Aqueduct of Segovia.

When you’re standing beside them, you’re looking at structures connected to a civilization that ruled parts of the peninsula roughly 2,000 years ago.

Then Came Al-Andalus

A New Era Begins in 711

In 711, Muslim forces from North Africa crossed the Strait of Gibraltar and rapidly conquered most of the Iberian Peninsula.

Much of the Muslim-controlled territory became known as Al-Andalus.

Over the centuries, cities including Córdoba, Seville and Granada became important centers of government, trade, scholarship, architecture and culture.

The influence of this period is still everywhere.

You’ll see it in architecture, decorative tilework, gardens and irrigation systems. You’ll even hear it in the Spanish language, which contains thousands of words with Arabic origins.

One easy clue?

Spanish words beginning with al-, such as almohada (pillow), often have Arabic roots.

See It Today

Two extraordinary places bring this period to life:

The Alhambra in Granada — A spectacular palace and fortress complex created under the Nasrid dynasty.

The Mosque-Cathedral of Córdoba — A building whose architecture reflects different chapters of Spain’s religious and political history.

They’re beautiful even if you know nothing about them.

They’re far more interesting when you know what you’re looking at.

The Reconquista

Centuries of Changing Kingdoms

Christian kingdoms remained in northern parts of the peninsula and gradually expanded southward.

The long period of shifting borders, wars, alliances and conquests that followed is traditionally called the Reconquista.

But don’t picture two perfectly united sides fighting one continuous 700-year war. Medieval Iberia was much more complicated than that. Different Christian and Muslim kingdoms sometimes fought one another, sometimes formed alliances, and sometimes fought alongside rulers of a different religion.

Castles appeared across the landscape as territories and rulers changed.

Eventually, two especially powerful kingdoms were connected through the marriage of Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon.

Then came one of the biggest years in Spanish history.

1492

One Year That Changed Spain—and the World

In 1492, the Nasrid kingdom of Granada surrendered to Ferdinand and Isabella, ending Muslim political rule on the Iberian Peninsula.

That same year, the monarchs sponsored Christopher Columbus’s voyage across the Atlantic.

His expedition reached the Caribbean rather than Asia—and helped begin an enormous period of Spanish colonization in the Americas.

But 1492 had another, darker consequence inside Spain. Ferdinand and Isabella also ordered practicing Jews to convert to Christianity or leave their kingdoms.

The events of this period reshaped Spain and eventually affected millions of people far beyond Europe.

Spain was about to become a global power.

Spain Becomes an Empire

The Golden Age

During the 1500s and 1600s, Spain controlled territories stretching across Europe, the Americas and parts of Asia and Africa.

Under rulers including Charles I and Philip II, the Spanish monarchy became one of the most powerful political forces in Europe.

Wealth from Spain’s American colonies flowed across the Atlantic—but the empire came at an enormous human cost. Spanish conquest and colonization devastated Indigenous societies through warfare, forced labor, exploitation and disease.

Spain’s global power also brought it into conflict with other European states.

One of the most famous episodes came in 1588, when Philip II sent the Spanish Armada against England. The campaign failed after battles, logistical problems and severe weather battered the fleet.

Spain remained a major power afterward, but its dominance would not last forever.

Spain’s Golden Age Wasn’t Just About Power

While kings fought wars and governed an enormous empire, Spain experienced an extraordinary period of art and literature known as the Siglo de Oro, or Golden Age.

Miguel de Cervantes wrote Don Quixote, one of the most influential works in Western literature.

Artists including Diego Velázquez and El Greco created works that are still among Spain’s most famous cultural treasures.

See It Today

If you visit Madrid’s Prado Museum, you’re not simply looking at old paintings.

You’re walking through one of the most creative periods in Spanish history.

Empires Don’t Last Forever

By the late 1600s, Spain faced growing economic and political problems as other European powers became stronger.

Then, in 1700, Spain’s Habsburg king Charles II died without an heir.

The result was the War of the Spanish Succession, an international conflict over who would inherit the Spanish monarchy.

When it ended, the Bourbon dynasty took the Spanish throne.

And then another famous European ruler came knocking.

Napoleon.

Napoleon Invades Spain

In 1808, Napoleon’s forces occupied Spain and placed his brother Joseph Bonaparte on the throne.

Resistance erupted.

The resulting Peninsular War became a brutal conflict involving Spanish and Portuguese forces, local resistance fighters, Britain and Napoleon’s armies.

This period also helped popularize a word you probably already know:

guerrilla.

It comes from Spanish and means roughly “little war,” referring to the small-scale irregular warfare used against French forces.

Napoleon’s troops were eventually driven out, but Spain emerged from the conflict badly weakened.

The Empire Falls Apart

While Spain was fighting Napoleon, independence movements were gaining strength across Spanish America.

During the 1800s, most of Spain’s colonies in the Americas became independent.

Spain itself spent much of the century dealing with political instability, competing ideas about government, civil wars, changing monarchs and even a short-lived republic.

Then, in 1898, the Spanish-American War resulted in Spain losing control of Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Philippines.

The enormous global empire Spain had built centuries earlier had largely disappeared.

But another difficult chapter was approaching at home.

The Spanish Civil War

1936–1939

In 1936, deep political and social divisions erupted into the Spanish Civil War.

On one side was the Republican government and the groups supporting it. On the other were Nationalist forces led eventually by General Francisco Franco.

The war was extraordinarily destructive.

Families and communities were divided. Cities were bombed. Political violence occurred on both sides. Other countries became involved, turning Spain into an international battleground as well as a civil war.

One of the most famous reminders is Pablo Picasso’s Guernica, created after the bombing of the Basque town of Guernica in 1937.

The Nationalists won the war in 1939.

Franco became Spain’s dictator.

Spain Under Franco

Franco ruled Spain until his death in 1975.

Political opposition was suppressed, censorship restricted what people could say and publish, and regional languages and identities faced repression, particularly during the earlier decades of the dictatorship.

For nearly four decades, Spain was not the democracy it is today.

Then Franco died.

What happened next changed the country remarkably quickly.

From Dictatorship to Democracy

Spain Reinvents Itself Again

After Franco’s death in 1975, King Juan Carlos I became head of state.

Rather than continuing the dictatorship, Spain began a transition toward parliamentary democracy.

Political parties were legalized, elections were held, and in 1978, Spaniards approved a new constitution.

Modern Spain became a parliamentary monarchy: it has a monarch as head of state, but elected officials govern the country.

Spain joined what is now the European Union in 1986.

Then, in 1992, Barcelona hosted the Summer Olympics—an event that helped showcase a dramatically transformed Spain to the world.

In only a few decades, the country had moved from dictatorship and international isolation to a modern European democracy.

One Country, Many Identities

Understanding Spanish history also helps explain something you’ll notice while traveling:

Spain has extremely strong regional identities.

Catalonia, the Basque Country, Galicia, Andalusia and other regions have distinct histories, traditions and identities. Some have their own languages alongside Spanish.

Modern Spain is divided into 17 autonomous communities, each with its own regional government and varying responsibilities.

That helps explain why traveling around Spain can sometimes feel like visiting several very different places within one country.

The architecture changes.

The food changes.

The languages can change.

Even local traditions and festivals can be completely different.

Spain became one country without becoming one culture.

Why This History Matters When You Visit

You don’t need to remember which king ruled in which century.

Instead, remember the bigger story.

When you see a Roman aqueduct, you’re looking at the remains of Hispania.

When you walk through the Alhambra, you’re seeing the legacy of Al-Andalus.

When you pass a hilltop castle, you may be looking at a landscape shaped by centuries of shifting medieval kingdoms.

When you enter an enormous cathedral or royal palace, you’re seeing the wealth and power of Spain’s monarchy and empire.

When you stand in front of a Velázquez painting, you’re looking at the creativity of the Spanish Golden Age.

And when you notice different languages, traditions and identities as you travel from one region to another, you’re seeing a story that is still unfolding.

That’s the point of learning the history before you go.

It turns an old building into a story.

Spain’s History in 10 Big Moments

218 BC — Rome Arrives
Rome begins its conquest of the Iberian Peninsula.

711 — Muslim Forces Cross into Iberia
Much of the peninsula eventually becomes part of the Muslim-ruled territory known as Al-Andalus.

Medieval Period — Christian Kingdoms Expand
Centuries of changing borders eventually become known collectively as the Reconquista.

1469 — Ferdinand and Isabella Marry
The marriage connects the powerful crowns of Castile and Aragon.

1492 — Granada Falls & Columbus Sails
Muslim political rule in Iberia ends, Columbus crosses the Atlantic, and Spain enters a new era of global expansion.

1588 — The Spanish Armada Campaign Fails
Philip II’s attempted invasion of England ends unsuccessfully.

1808 — Napoleon’s Forces Occupy Spain
The Peninsular War begins and resistance spreads.

1898 — The Spanish-American War
Spain loses its remaining major overseas colonies, including Puerto Rico, the Philippines and control of Cuba.

1936–1939 — The Spanish Civil War
A devastating conflict ends with Franco’s victory and dictatorship.

1978 — A New Constitution
Spain establishes the constitutional framework of its modern parliamentary democracy.