About the Country:

LOCATION & GEOGRAPHY: Spain is located on the Iberian Peninsula in South West Europe and includes the Balearic and Canary Islands as well as the Moroccan enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla. It is bound by France and Andorra to the northeast, Portugal and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the southeast and east, the Strait of Gibraltar and Morocco to the south and the Bay of Biscay to the northwest. Continental Spain consists of the Meseta or Central Plateau which is surrounded by the Baetic, Andalusian and Iberian Mountains to the south and southeast, and the Pyrenees to the north as well as the Cordillera Cantabrica to the northwest.

CLIMATE: Spain has a Mediterranean climate in the southern and eastern coastal areas as well as a temperate climate further inland. The central Meseta has hot summers and cold winters, while the southern regions at the foot of the mountains have the warmest winter temperatures in mainland Europe. On the Atlantic coast summers are not as hot with temperatures and rainfall decreasing inland. Average annual precipitation in the north and northwest is 890 mm (35 inches) or more and the Meseta receives between 305 mm to 635 mm (12 to 25 inches) annually. Average temperature ranges in Madrid are from 1 to 8 degrees Celsius (34 to 46 degrees Fahrenheit) in January to 17 to 31 degrees Celsius (63 to 88 degrees Fahrenheit) in July.