The Iberian Peninsula is divided into two countries: Spain and Portugal.

Spain was divided into 13 Regions and 47 Provinces, most of the provinces having the same name as their capital.

Region	# Provinces	Province	Capital
Andalusia	8	Almería Cádiz Córdoba Granada Huelva Jaén Málaga Seville	Almería Cádiz Córdoba Granada Huelva Jaén Málaga Seville
Aragon	3	Huesca Saragossa Teruel	Huesca Saragossa Teruel
Asturias	1	Oviedo	Oviedo
Basque Provinces	3	Álava Guipúzcoa Yizcaya	Vitoria San Sebastian Bilbao
Catalonia	4	Barcelona Gerona Lerida Tarragona	Barcelona Gerona Lerida Tarragona
Extremedura	2	Badajoz Cáceres	Badajoz Cáceres
Galicia	4	La Courña Lugo Orense Pontevedra	La Courña Lugo Orense Pontevedra
Leon	3	León Salamanca Zamora	León Salamanca Zamora
Murcia	2	Albacete Murcia	Albacete Murcia
Navarre	1	Navarre	Pamplona
New Castile	5	Ciudad Real Cuenca Guadalajara Madrid Toledo	Ciudad Real Cuenca Guadalajara Madrid (National Capital) Toledo
Old Castile	8	Ávila Burgos Lagroña Palencia Santander Segovia Soria Valladolid	Ávila Burgos Lagroña Palencia Santander Segovia Soria Valladolid
Valencia	3	Alicante Castellón de la Plana Valencia	Alicante Castellón de la Plana Valencia

The land known today as Portugal was first inhabited by a people called the Lusitanians - a fiercely independent people. The peninsula was conquered by the Romans, then the Visigoths - Germanic invaders. The 8th century brought the Moorish invasion. Henry of Burgundy, a French Knight, came to Spain to help defeat the Moors. King Leon of Spain rewarded Sir Henry with the hand of his daughter, and pronounced Henry Count of Portugal around 1100 A.D. Henry ruled this land, then passed it on to his son, Alfonso Henriques.

Alfonso, born at Guimaraes Castle, was one of the famous knights of the Crusades. Alfonso rebelled against Spain and was recognized as the first King of Portugal in 1139. Eight years later, Alfonso and his knights drove the Moors out of most of northern and central Portugal.

The name "Portugal" originates from the abbreviation Portucale, for Portus Cale, a seaport at the mouth of the Douro River in northern Portugal which is now the city of Oporto.

Portugal is divided into two regions: North (mountainous and humid) and South (flatter and drier) and 11 provinces.

Province	Capital
Algarve	Faro
Alto Alentejo	Évora
Baixo Alentejo	Beja
Beira Alta	Viseu
Beira Baixa	Castelo Branco
Beira Litoral	Coimbra
Douro Litoral	Porto
Estremedura	Lisbon (National Capital)
Minho	Braga
Ribatejo	Santarém
Trás-os Montes e Alto Douro	Villa Real

The word “Flamenco” is believed to come from the Arabic word “felahmengu” which means one who wanders. It is also believed that word means “Flemish” and refers to those Gypsy who fought on the side of Spain in the war in Flanders.

The Gypsy people, forced from their homeland in northern India, traveled through the Middle East and arrived in Spain. They brought their own culture, the culture they assimilated in their travels, and blended it with the culture of the native Spaniards, whose culture was already influenced by the Moors and Jews. From this blending of cultures comes Flamenco.

Strength and subtleness alternate in Flamenco dancing. Its Eastern origins can be seen in the movement of the arms, hands and body. A Flamenco dancer will move slowly and then seem to draw inward until almost standing still except for rapid foot and heel action, called taconeo.

Unlike Spanish group dances which follow verse and chorus, Flamenco dances are based on the individual’s use and interpretation of the rhythm (compas). It is traditionally performed as a solo, but has been adapted to theater and clubs.

Flamenco dance is like the Flamenco’s way of life - a communal experience where there is no division between entertainer and dancer. Flamenco was never meant to be performed for an audience. It was a sharing of life’s experiences held privately among close family groups to celebrate, or mourn. It has developed over the centuries into the art form that it is today - and it continues to evolve. But at its core, it is and always will be, the soul of a people.

Flamenco Dresses
In the years of the April Fair, the spouses of the cattle traders used to go with their husbands, usually Gypsies or simple peasants, dressed in their humble calico robes, work dresses with two or three frills. They were nice-looking dresses with sparkling colors that enhanced the women's bodies. The 1929 Iberoamerican Exposition was the christening and definitive acceptance of the Flamenco dress by the upper classes as a necessary article for attending the April Fair.

The original shape of the dress, the "guitar body," enhanced the woman's qualities and masked its defects: a low neck area round or square, according to the fashion, hair pulled back in a bun to make the neck appear thinner, the dress tightened around the waist and widening at the hips and the frills placed to have the woman walk in a more boasting fashion. The dress has been earning a reputation as very easy-to-wear and flirty with the years, thanks to the different accessories: Manila scarves, flowers placed in the hair, etc.

The Flamenco dress has varied according the fashion and the economic situation, but without losing its uniqueness. In the forties, with the passing of the Civil War, it reached its zenith. The women stood out at the Fair with their frilled dresses which were just as long as they are now, straight and spotted, with austere fabrics, complemented with flowers, fine combs, bracelets and hidden money-pockets that have always generally been a custom according to style.

In the fifties, calico continued to be the main cloth, but the dress was enriched with stitched lace or belts, for comfort at the same time for dancing or horseback riding. The dress was shortened and the footwear was visible.

The economic boom of the sixties and seventies had repercussions for the Flamenco dress. It was shortened to the knee or half-way up the calf. The frills were cloaked, and they began to use the "tergal," a base of cotton and an embroidered cloth as the main decorative feature. The sleeves reached the elbows of the wrist and were stitched with little frills. In the seventies, they were lengthened to the ankles and were fashioned with bright colors.

In the eighties, they were more emphasized and the fashion was to have printed tapestries. In the nineties, the dress lost its volume, it purified its outline and looked more for comfort but without losing its sunsuality and essence. The waist has been dropped, the silhouette has been marked and the spotted and straight style is back. Simpleness has returned to the Flamenco dress and continues going back to its origins. Flamenco Dresses

The history Spanish of cooking has its roots in Spain's turbulent history. Romans brought olive oil, garlic, pounded almonds and bread baking and introduced their cooking methods of roasting, grilling and baking.

Visigoths introduced livestock farming, and brought spinach, radishes and some beans.

The Moors brought saffron, cumin, caraway, cilantro, mint, black pepper, nutmeg, peppermint, citrus fruit, eggplants, sugar cane and rice. Fried foods were developed by the Moors. Arab gazpachos were pale until Spain later added tomatoes.

The tomato, pepper and potato came from America to Spain in the 18th century. Chocolate came from Mexico - Spanish nuns in Mexico were the first to add sugar to cocoa. Cinnamon came from the Far East, and Spain imported many other spices from its colonies - vanilla and paprika from the Indies.

Original, authentic Spanish cooking is based on the peasant and fisherman making use of what ingredients were available and putting them all in one pot. While humble, the cooking earned the respect of French royalty: Anne of Austria (wife of Louis XIII and Infanta of Spain) introduced empanadillas to France; Maria Theresa (wife of Louis XIV and Infanta of Spain) brought her Spanish cook, "La Molina," to France; Eugenia de Montijo (wife of Napoleon III) introduced Spanish food to France as well. It is said that the Duc de Richelieu imported a sauce called "mahonesa" (mayonnaise, perhaps?) from Mahon in the Balearic Islands. The recipe book of the friars of the Monastery of Alcántara was acquired by Carême (chef of General Junot who served with Napoleon I) who introduced its recipes to France. Cocoa beans were so valuable in Spain that they were banned from export and included in royal wedding dowries. Marie Theresa (daughter of Philip IV of Spain, wife of Louis IV) took cocoa beans to France in 1660 in her wedding dowry.

Paella
“Paella” is considered by many to be the national rice-based dish of Spain. Actually, the word “paella” means the pan that is used for cooking this dish and was introduced to Spain by the Romans. It is round, shallow and from 8" to 40" wide and 1-1/2" - 3" deep - some pans made for festivals were as wide as 13 feet and could feed hundreds! It is important that the right size pan be used: a 12" for serving 2-3 people, 16" for 4-5 people, 20" for 6-8 people and 26" for 15 people. The paella pan is made of metal with at least two handles.

Historically, paella (the dish) is a blending of cultures: the Romans (who brought the pan called a “patella”) and the Arabs (who brought the rice). In Moorish Andalusia, rice casseroles with fish and spices were served to celebrate special days and festivals. Later, on the shores of the Albufera River near Valencia, these celebrations were held outdoors and used seasonal vegetables and local game. These rice dishes were called arroz a la valenciana and then paella valenciana.

Paella was cooked over open fires and people traditionally sat in a circle around the fire and ate from the pan. Each person carved out a pie-shaped section of paella with his spoon. This eating style is still in practice in Arab countries today. Typically, paella was cooked by the men, in contrast to their limited participation in the household cooking duties.

It is said that the genuine paella valenciana is made of rice, chicken, rabbit or pork, green beans, lima or butter beans, tomato, olive oil, paprika, saffron and land snails (or fresh rosemary), water and salt. Authentic paella does not mix meat with fish or shellfish and always uses fresh vegetables. Spanish rice (round, short grain) is always used.

Almost every region of Spain now has its own version of paella, and within that region, each city and, probably, every household, has its own variation

The version claimed as authentic (in contrast to the paellas outside Valencia), does not use onion or red pepper strips (said to negate the chicken flavor). However, paella was originally eaten with onion as an accompaniment, rather than with bread.

Spanish Currency in the United States
The term "Real" came about in a declaration of Don Pedro de Cruel (1350-65) stating that the official coin is to be known as "Numus Regalis" (Royal coin). This was later shortened to "Real."

On June 13, 1497, King Ferdinand & Queen Isabel set the value of the real at 3.4335 grams fine silver. The Spanish eight reales coin, also called a “milled dollar” or a “pillar dollar” set at a weight of 27.468 grams of .9305 fine silver. It fractional parts of ½ and 1 real, 2 and 4 reales were the ancestors of the American silver dollar and its fractional parts. In fact, 1 piece of an eight reales coin (1/8 of a dollar) became the standard for the United States Stock Market, and today’s stock prices are still quoted in eighths of a dollar.

The pillar dollar was a standard monetary unit during the entire American Colonial period. One real equaled 12-1/2 cents and was known as a “bit.” A quarter of a dollar was “two bits,” a term still used today.

American Colonists became accustomed to the Spanish dollar, and when discussions started about a instituting a national coin system, the dollar naturally was the most popular. Connecticut, Massachusetts and Virginia passed laws making Spanish coins legal tender, and the first issue of American Continental paper money on May 10, 1775 provided that the notes should be payable in “Spanish Milled dollars or the value thereof in gold or silver.”

Various American commemorative coins bear witness to Spain’s influence. The first U.S. commemorative coin (1892) was the Columbian Exposition Half Dollar. It portrayed Columbus’ flagship, the Santa Maria, above two hemispheres, and sold for $1.00. On March 3, 1893, a coin called the “Isabella quarter” was issued to commemorate the 1893 Columbian Exposition in Chicago. These souvenirs were sold for $1.00 and portrayed the crowned bust of Queen Isabella of Spain. The “Old Spanish Trail” coin commemorated the 400th anniversary of the overland journey of the Cabeza de Vaca expedition through the United States’ gulf states in 1535.