When you think of Europe, images of cobbled streets, colorful Old Towns, and majestic cathedrals that took centuries to build ...

Spain’s extraordinary landscapes, omnipresent historical heritage and geographic sweep – from lush forests and snow-capped Pyrenees mountains in the north to Almería’s scrub desert and Canary Island ...

Juan Carlos Steering Spain From Dictatorship to Democracy by Paul Preston W.W. Norton, 594 pp., $35 IT IS OFTEN SAID that the Spanish do not believe in monarchy, but have faith in King Juan Carlos.

This media is in the public domain (free of copyright restrictions). You can copy, modify, and distribute this work without contacting the Smithsonian. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's ...

Spain’s lengthy history as a major and often fissiparous European power is seen in its landscapes. Look upwards to a crag in much of northern Spain, and there’s a semi-ruined castle topping it.