Page 58 - Northern Spain & Portugal: Pilgrimage into the Past

In World War I, Spain maintained a position of neutrality. In 1923, King Alfonso XIII appointed
a military dictator, General Miguel Primo de Rivera, who modeled his government on Italian
Fascism. His regime was so reviled by the masses that he was forced into exile. In 1931, the
king was deposed and a second republic established with Manuel Azana as president. The new
constitution called for liberal reforms that would redistribute land and diminish the power of
the Church. It engendered such right-wing opposition that civil war erupted. Francisco Franco,
who had led the victorious Nationalist forces, became dictator of Spain. Under his Fascist
regime, Spain remained neutral in World War II. Its cordial relations with Nazi Germany and
Fascist Italy caused its exclusion from the UN until 1955.

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of a heart attack in 1975, at which time Juan Carlos I, grandson of Alfonso XIII, ascended the
throne and undertook a policy of liberalization. Spain managed a rapid and relatively peaceful
transition to democracy under his supervision. In 1982, Spain became a full member of NATO.
The same year, Prime Minister Felipe Gonzalez Marquez and his Spanish Socialist Workers
Party won a landslide victory in the general election. In 1985, the frontier with Gibraltar,
closed since 1968, was reopened, and in 1986, Spain entered the European Union.

Writer Camilo Jose Cela brought Spain great honor in 1989 when he was awarded the Nobel
Prize for Literature. The country shone in the international spotlight again when it played
host in 1992 to two major events of world stature: the Olympic Games in Barcelona and the
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Popular Party’s defeat of Gonzalez Marquez in 1996, after 13 years of rule. The same year,
Spain issued a warrant for the extradition of former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet,
charging him with the genocide, torture, and kidnapping of thousands of people, including
Spanish nationals, during his 17-year rule. In 1999, Spain adopted the euro as its currency.

Portugal

Facts & Figures
• Area: Portugal contains 35,556 square miles, including the Azores and Madeira islands.
The Madeira island group occupies 305 square miles. The main island of Madeira is 35
miles long and about 13 miles across at its widest point.

• Capital: Lisbon

• Language: Portuguese

• Geography: Portugal’s mainland terrain is mountainous, pastoral, and earthy. Its
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long stretches of sandy beaches. Madeira consists of two inhabited islands, Madeira and
Porto Santo, and two groups of uninhabited islands. The largest island is Madeira. It is
volcanic and mountainous, with its highest peaks in the interior rising to over 6,000
feet. The island contains nearly 100 miles of coastline, but no beaches (except one tiny

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