Spain
Spain (officially the Kingdom of Spain is a sovereign state largely located on the Iberian Peninsula in southwestern Europe, with archipelagos in the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea, and several small territories on and near the north African coast. Its mainland is bordered to the south and east by the Mediterranean Sea except for a small land boundary with Gibraltar; to the north and northeast by France, Andorra, and the Bay of Biscay; and to the west and northwest by Portugal and the Atlantic Ocean. Along with France and Morocco, it is one of only three countries to have both Atlantic and Mediterranean coastlines. The capital is Madrid.
Spanish territory includes two archipelagos: the Balearic Islands, in the Mediterranean Sea, and the Canary Islands, in the Atlantic Ocean off the African coast. Spain is the second largest country in Western Europe and the European Union, and the fourth largest country in Europe. By population, Spain is the sixth largest in Europe and the fifth in the European Union.
In the early modern period, Spain became one of history's first global colonial empires, leaving a vast cultural and linguistic legacy that includes over 500 million Spanish speakers, making Spanish the world's second most spoken first language, after Chinese and before English.
Magical Culture
Witches and wizards from Spain quite often attend Beauxbatons for their education. There was once a Spanish wizarding school called La Escuela de Magia attended by members of Nina Morales’ family.
Spain is part of the Iberian Alliance with Portugal, Andorra and Gibraltar.
The country has its own National Quidditch team based in Catalonia. Catalonia is also home to the Catalonian Fireball.
Alchemy
Moorish alchemists were the first scientists in Europe. But with the coming of the Inquisition witches and wizards were driven into hiding. Muggles have lost their knowledge of magical people in the years.
A most famous Moorish alchemist was Geber, who lived about 720-750. He wrote upward of five hundred works upon the philosopher's stone and the elixir of life. His works were all written in Latin, and he authored a Summa Perfectionis manual for the alchemical student, which has frequently been translated.
The Moorish alchemists taught that all metals are composed of varying proportions of mercury and sulphur. They laboured strenuously to multiply drugs out of the various mixtures and reactions of the few chemicals their disposal, but although they believed in the theory of transmutation of metals they did not strive to effect. It belonged to their creed rather than to the practice. They were a school of scientific artisans and experimentalists, first and last. They probably owe their alchemical knowledge to Byzantium, which in turn had received it from Egypt; or it may be that the Arab drew their scientific inspiration at first hand from the land of the Nile, where the great art of alchemy undoubtedly had its birth.
At Absit Omen
In 1990, Knox Greyfriar was researching in Spain when he met Lucretia Santoya. Their brief affair resulted in the conception of Devlin Matthews.
William Smythe travelled and lived in Spain for long enough to become fluent in Spanish.
During their childhoods several people lived in Spain: Liam Grace for a couple of years and Katherine Beckett for three months. Margo Amherst and Mateo Amherst’s family regularly took summers in Spain. Alexia Wilson purchased her ashwinder ash core wand during a trip to Spain.
In June 2009, Waker Nolan and George Carter took a holiday in Spain.
Sophie Flickwick stopped in Spain on a Summer Festival Tour in June 2010.
Characters Born in Spain
- Felix Dagon, Almeria
- Ambrosio Dimas, Madrid
- Leonardo Duarte, Madrid
- Alterio Posada, Madrid - millionaire father of Mercedes Posada and Rico Posada
