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Occupying the entire central portion of the Iberian Peninsula, a high plateau, the Meseta, opens out onto another of Spain’s most powerfully expressive and distinct areas of scenery. Running across the centre, a mountainous watershed bisects the land into two well-defined physical and historical units. Throughout the length of Castile –structured nowadays into the Autonomous Regions of Castile & León, Castile-La Mancha and La Rioja- this vast plain, along with the farmlands of Extremadura, offers the traveller vistas of wide open horizons, seen across flowing fields of wheat and other cereals, river valleys, and tiny villages which, together with cities steeped in history, house a veritable treasure-trove of art and monumental sights.

From the Pyrenees to Andalusia, Mediterranean Spain is a shifting kaleidoscope of sand flats, marshland (the Valencian Albufera, the Mar Menor in Murcia) and plunging cliffsides (Costa Brava), where the steep rocky coast is broken here and there by a sprinkling of small coves and huddled fishing villages. Away from the coast, typical Catalonian farmhouses (masías) and vineyards preside over a landscape which, moving southwards, takes on new colour, in almond groves and orchards of oranges and lemons, and softens along the shoreline, opening out into beaches of fine white sand.

On reaching Andalusia, through olive groves and salt marshes, the scenery shimmers with light and the sun reigns supreme in towns and beaches of dazzling white. Soaring mountains (the Alpujarras and the Sierra Nevada) strike an awesome contrast, as do the desert dunes and wastes of Almería, moulding areas of great diversity and beauty.

Situated in the Atlantic Ocean to the south, the Canary Islands, with their spectacular volcanic backdrop and tourist developments, offer a scenic display that is at once unique and impressive.

From one end of Spain to the other, the terminology used to describe the home-grown architecture is diverse and peculiarly localised, e.g., caserío (Basque country house and outbuildings), hórreo (Asturian and Galician stone granary set on stone piles), masía (Catalonian farmhouse), casona (mansion), cortijo (Andalusian whitewashed, ranch-style house set around a central courtyard), pazo (Galician manor house), barraca (Valencian rural dwelling) and many more such local variations, which lend a defining and distinguishing element to the country’s scenery.

The mildness of the climate, the almost 5,000 kilometres of coastline and the country’s mountainous backbone make Spain the ideal venue for sports of all kinds.

Water sports have always been traditionally popular in Spain: sailing, especially in the Mediterranean; angling; scuba-diving; and windsurfing, with Tarifa, a legend in its own right. Over one hundred yacht clubs and marinas are scattered around the country.

Tunny fish and shark in Atlantic waters are two attractions beckoning the deep-sea fisherman, whereas the river and lake angler can look forward to salmon, trout, barbel and other species.

The Medes Isles in Catalonia, along with inshore areas around the coasts of the Balearics and Canaries, are a real paradise for scuba-diving, a sport which in Spain enjoys ideal conditions insofar as clarity of light and water temperature are concerned.

Nature, in all its changing faces, favours sports such as hiking, amidst natural surroundings of great beauty, with pony- and horse-trekking, closely tied in with traditional culture, and cycling, particularly mountain-biking, becoming ever more widespread.

Rock-climbing, whitewater rafting and canoeing are yet more fascinating adventure sports, a category which necessarily includes aerial sports, with over 50 flying clubs around Spain. In addition, ultralight aircraft can be flown and both para- and hang-gliding enjoyed under equally favourable conditions, depending on local climate and topography.

From Autumn to Spring, Spain’s mountains and hunting reserves fill with hunters eager to bag chamois, red and roe deer, moufflon, ibex and wild boar among the prizes in the bigger game category (caza mayor) and rabbit, patridge, duck, egret, woodcock and quail among other species of smaller game.

In view of the size, extent and importance of the facilities available for their enjoyment, golf, tennis and skiing will be dealt with separately:

Around 200 clubs, the vast majority provided with 18-hole courses, are a sure guarantee of round-the-year golf and represent the possibility of over half a million hours of total playing time per year. Modern course-landscaping and -design, with the promise of varied layout and the pleasure of superb scenery, topflight sports equipment, expert course-professionals and ancillary services (gyms, swimming pool, saunas, etc.), taken together with the warmth of a climate that ensures the visitor 300 days of sunshine and golf a year, make Spain a Garden of Eden for the keen golfer.

Hundreds of clubs and tennis courts in the thousands are dotted around the country. Clay courts, in which the Spanish specialise, offer the chance of playing on a surface which has taken Spanish players into the ranks of the world tennis elite. On the premises of almost all hotels of certain standing, the tourist is sure to find one or more courts for hire, as well as tennis coaches and even invitation tournaments for guests.

From the Pyrenees in the north down to the Sierra Nevada Range in Andalusia, Spain’s ski resorts cover the country, with top quality installations and hotel and leisure facilities to match. A wide spectrum of packages and rates accounts for the unprecedented boom in this sport in recent years.

Keen interest surrounds competitive sport in Spain. Football, basketball and handball clubs and championships rank among the best in Europe, and volleyball, waterpolo, hockey, swimming and athletics are not lagging far behind. Spain has been chosen as the venue for sports events of world relevance, such as the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, the 1996 World Ski Championship in Sierra Nevada (Granada) and the 1999 World Athletics Championship in Seville, with Spanish sportsmen and -women recording outstanding performances in a number of individual and team sports and events.

Spain, occupying the greater part of the Iberian Peninsula and positioned as the nexus between Europe and Africa, boasts a range of widely contrasting natural attractions. Its extensive perimeter of coastline –bathed by three different seas– and its Mediterranean (Balearics) and Atlantic (Canaries) island possessions are eloquent testimony to its seafaring traditions. At the same time however, the distance separating the seaboard from large tracts of the hinterland, along with the mountainous nature of the intervening terrain, act as a brake on this maritime influence and imbue the territory with an unmistakeably continental character, relatively isolated from ocean-borne penetration.

A continent in miniature, its link with Europe lies through the mountainous folds of the Pyrenees, an unbroken line stretching for 440 kilometres (273 miles) at an average height of around 2,000 metres (6,400 ft.). In the interior, more than 400 protected natural areas have been set aside to conserve the principal mainland and island ecosystems. Spain’s mean altitude is 660 metres (over 2,000 ft) above sea level, far above the European average. In fact, almost half the country’s surface area lies at altitudes ranging from 1,900-4,000 ft. above sea level, with its chief mountain ranges flanked along the coast.

The mountains reach their maximum height in the Pyrenees (north) and the Sierra Nevada (south), the latter system containing the highest peak on the mainland. These uplands are home to glaciers, alpine lakes and an overwhelming display of flora and fauna. National Parks and Game Reserves, wintersports and outdoor-adventure facilities are just some of the attractions lying in store for the visitor to Spain’s high mountain areas.

Numerous mountain ranges and systems criss-cross the mainland, the most notable being: the Cantabrian Range with the Picos de Europa; the Central system with the Gredos massif; and the Iberian and Bética Ranges. Protected areas and natural spaces, abounding in impressive swathes of forest and woodland, act as a wildlife habitat for animals, such as the bear, wolf, wood grouse (capercaillie) and ibex, and a haven for valuable indigenous flora.

Thanks to its central position, the Central Plateau or Meseta, the largest of its kind in Europe, has played a dominant role throughout the country’s history. It is an essentially agrarian region where Spain’s time-honoured classic crops are still grown, i.e., winter cereals (wheat, barley), grapes and olives.

To the north and east of this Meseta lies an extensive stretch of mountainous country and a coastal fringe washed by the waters of the Bay of Biscay and the Atlantic Ocean. This is the area known as Green Spain, a lush wet area with abundant rainfall, mild temperatures and verdant, leafy, woodland vegetation.

To the east, against a backdrop of serried mountains, Mediterranean Spain opens out, an alternating strip of sandy flats, salt marshes (the Mar Menor and the Albufera of Valencia) and sheer cliffs (Costa Brava, La Nao). The area’s traditional agriculture, wheat, grapes and olives –now supplemented by modern irrigation systems that yield vegetables and citrus fruit– co-exists alongside a prosperous industrial sector.

Out in the waters of the Mediterranean, the Balearic Isles are singular in being blessed with an interesting and changing coastline, birdlife of note and matchless scenery. Lying off the western shores of North Africa, the Canary Islands, with their volcanic topography and unique species of flora akin, in many cases, to living fossils, not only account for four of Spain’s twelve National Parks but run the entire gamut, from beaches to mountains, from arid deserts to lush valleys.

From its readily accessible coasts, dotted with white sandy beaches, to the heights of its snow-capped peaks, Spain embraces a surprising wealth of Nature, in which broad bands of wetland, semi-desert areas, bleak moors, mountain ranges and river valleys highlight the differences in splendid degrees of nuance, shading and tone.

Spain is a land of contrasts, with marked differences in natural surroundings, climate, culture and lifestyles. This plurality is equally evinced in its scenery which, to the eyes of the traveller, seems to change with startling swiftness.

A close resemblance is to be seen in the Cantabrian corniche, though here at times the contrasts grow violent, wild and truly majestic in the Picos de Europa, the mountain chain walling the Cantabrian and Asturian coastal strip, site of elegant cities and smooth crescents of beach curving along towns that nestle in glorious natural settings.

Galicia, lying at the country's north-western tip, possesses all the essence of a landscape contoured by a sharply indented coastline, hills stippled with traditional architecture, and rías (fjord-like inlets) where tongues of sea penetrate far inland to wash up against the towns and cities.

Ocean and mountain in perfect symbiosis, local architecture of great richness and diversity, seaside cities and a wet climate that cloaks the land in greens of all hues, these are the area’s trademarks.