Attached.

Running head: SPANISH HOSPITALITY OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT

Spanish Hospitality Operations Management
Student’s Name
Institution AFILIATION
Instructor
Date of Submission

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Section # 1: The Country
1.

Identify if there are: states, provinces, or counties? How many? Name them. How are

they different from each other?
Spain is divided into provinces and they are about fifty in number. They include; Araba-Álava,
Albacete, Alicante-Alacant, Burgos, Almería, Ávila, Badajoz, Barcelona, Archipelago, Granada
Cáceres, Cádiz, Santa cruz de tenerife, Cantabria, Castellón-Castelló, Asturias, Ceuta, Ciudad
Real, Córdoba, Cuenca Girona, Gipuzkoa, Huelva, Huesca, Jaén, La Rioja, León, Lleida, Lugo,
Madrid, Majorca, Murcia, Navarre, Pontevedra Salamanca, Almeria, Barcelona island, Zaragoza,
Zamora, Valladolid, Valencia, Toledo, Truel, Tarragona, Solia, Segovia, Sevilla etc.
Spain provinces differ in various ways such as Geographical area. Provinces are located in
different part of Spain and they have different sizes. The Provinces also differ in population.
Some are densely populated while others are scarcely populated. Also people in different
Provinces speak different languages and they also have different cultural practices.
Gilmore, F. (2002). A country—Can it be repositioned? Spain—The success story of country
branding. The Journal of Brand Management, 9(4), 281-293.
2.

Describe the general climate of the country.

The climate of the Spain is greatly affected by the Cantabrian Mountain where it acts as a
climate divider in the whole country separating it into two different climatic regions. At the north
of the mountain experience a lot of rain and therefore can be referred as rainy Spain while the
south of the mountain is dry hence Dry Spain. Rainy Spain experiences friendly temperate
climate where temperatures differ slightly throughout the year. Winters are not very cold and
summers of this region are cool. These region supports vegetation of northern European type and

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hence the region has plenty of National parks. Some of the Provinces in this region include;
Galicia, Asturias and Cantabria and they are located on the narrow strip of the mountain.
The south of the Cantabria Mountains is dry as it receive very small amount of rainfall and
therefore known as Dry Spain. This region faces sun has clear blue sky during the day in almost
all the months of the year. However the weather get complex in some area in this region
especially in the Inland Spain which is part of this region. During the summer temperature in this
part may rise up to 35oC while during the winter the temperature can drop down to the freezing
point. The Mediterranean coast of this region undergoes better weather than the Atlantic coast as
the temperatures are warm through the year. The beaches in this area are attractive as they have
warm Mediterranean waters and as result attract a lot of tourist.
Ferner, A., Quintanilla, J., & Varul, M. Z. (2001). Country-of-origin effects, host-country effects,
and the management of HR in multinationals: German companies in Britain and Spain. Journal
of World Business, 36(2), 107-127.
3.

Name top 5 major cities. Their population size, name their main industries

The major cities in Spain with their population sizes are as follows; Madrid with 3255944,
Catalonia 1621537, Valencia 814208, Andalusia 703206 and Aragon 674317 people.
The major industries in these cities which are also source of income include tourism, Shipping
and trading industries, textile industries, automotive industries and others. Madrid attracts many
tourists from all over the world. The survey shows that there more 6 million visitors who visit
Madrid every year, half of this come from outside the Spain. Due to art and culture architecture
parks and sports and other attractive sites Madrid exceeds Barcelona as the most popular tourist
destination in Spain. In Valencia the area that has the biggest number of firms is food and

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agricultural sector. There is also Metal-Mechanic industries which offer a lot of employment
opportunities in the country.
Ferner, A., Quintanilla, J., & Varul, M. Z. (2001). Country-of-origin effects, host-country effects,
and the management of HR in multinationals: German companies in Britain and Spain. Journal
of World Business, 36(2), 107-127.
4.

Describe the history of Spain. Date of independence, Relationship to other countries

(Mainly Europe and Latin America
The history of Spain is long and may date back to the Early Middle Ages around 1516. Various
separated predecessor kingdoms were unified by Habsburg. Monarchy form of government was
introduced in 1813 while current democratic ruling introduced in 1978. Spain was being
involved in major wars such as European and Italian Wars. During this period Spain was strong
but her power declined after the death of Habsburg. Spain had governed by different leaders at
different time some of these leaders were dictator like Francisco Franco who governed the Spain
till 1975. Franco’s death made Spain to return to Bourbon constitutional monarchy which was
led by Prince Juan Carlos. In 1986 Spain joined European Union which was then, European
Economic Community.
Although Spain is ranked as a middle power country it is not part of the G8 like other countries
in the same class e.g. Germany and Japan and participates in the G20 as a guest.
Spain gained its independent in 1492. But this independence was not complete until almost seven
centuries later, after Christians from the north part of Spain managed to conquer the Muslims.
Thereafter, the kingdoms of Spain united and led to what is considered today as modern Spain.
Spain has been in good relationship with other countries, its membership in EU represent crucial
part of external policy. It has also conserved proper identification with other countries speaking

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Spanish. It has also ensured economic and technical cooperation platforms and cultural
connections with Latin America, both jointly and within the EU. Spain has successfully managed
its relations with its major European neighbors such as Portugal, France and Andorra.
Gilmore, F. (2002). A country—Can it be repositioned? Spain—The success story of country
branding. The Journal of Brand Management, 9(4), 281-293.
5.

Name three Spanish contemporary people with a brief description of each: (political,

poet, philosopher, musician, writer, actor, actress, photographer, inventor, artist, sport figure,
etc.

Astrid Berges-Frisbey is an actress in Spain and she was born in Barcelona by Her mother
American and her father who is Spanish. She speaks French, Spanish, and Catalan. Astrid
Berges-Frisbey became popular in 2007 on French television. In 2008, she launched a film by
the title “The Sea Wall” since then has made other French movies. In 2011, she had completed
her English introduction as the beautiful mermaid Syrena in the Caribbean.
Fernando José Torres Sanz is a famous footballer who was born in Span. He plays as a striker in
clubs like Chelsea and Atlético Madrid.
Antoni Plàcid Guillem Gaudí is an Artist and was born in Reus, Spain. In additional to art he is
architecture by professional. Gaudí went on to a long and famous occupation as an architect
where he planned and made a number of pioneering and unique works.
Ferner, A., Quintanilla, J., & Varul, M. Z. (2001). Country-of-origin effects, host-country effects,
and the management of HR in multinationals: German companies in Britain and Spain. Journal
of World Business, 36(2), 107-127.
6.

Name and explain the major national holidays and how they are observed.

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Christmas day, this day is celebrated in 25th of December every year. It is a religious holiday as
celebration is for birth of Jesus. Epiphany is a holiday Celebrated on 6th of January, every year. It
is a religious holiday associated with Christmas and observes bringing of gifts to baby Jesus by
the Wise Men. Certainly many Spanish didn’t open their Christmas presents until this day. Easter
Holidays is also a major holiday in Spain. It is conclusion of several other holidays such as Palm
Sunday, Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. Easter is strictly observed in most Catholics in Spain
but not all Spanish pay much attention on this holiday despite the fact that it is a national
holiday. Labor Day is another celebrated holiday Spain celebrates Labor Day on the 1st of May
every year. In this day all offices, banks and other major plants in the country are closed.
Assumption of Mary is also a major holiday in Spain. It is celebrated on 15th of August and it
commemorates the ascending of Mary into heaven. Firecrackers and demonstrations with the
imageries of the Virgin Mary are used in the celebration. Another big holiday in Spain is
Hispanic Day which is held in 12th of OCT every year to commemoration when Christopher
entered in to the New World. It is observed by parade marching.
Gilmore, F. (2002). A country—Can it be repositioned? Spain—The success story of country
branding. The Journal of Brand Management, 9(4), 281-293.

Section # 2: Politics / Government / Regulations
7.

Name the current political leaders and their current titles.

The current political leaders of Spain include Mariano Rajoy whose is the Prime minister. María
Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría Antón is Deputy Prime Minister and also Minister for the
Presidency. Other leaders include; Luis de Guindos Jurado, Cristóbal Ricardo Montoro Romero,
Rafael Catalá Polo who are ministers in different ministries.

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Martínez‐ Herrera, E. (2002). From nation‐ building to building identification with political
communities: consequences of political decentralisation in Spain, the Basque Country, Catalonia
and Galicia, 1978–2001. European Journal of Political Research, 41(4), 421-453.
8.

Name the major political parties. With a brief description (right, center, left etc.

The major political parties in Spain are:
Popular party (partido popular-PP)
The party originated from popular alliance (Allianz popular- AP) which was headed by Manuel
Fraga. AP became PP during the tenure of hose Maria Aznar in 1989. In 1996, PP won its first
general election. In year 2000 Hose Maria Aznar became the prime minister after PP won
absolute majority. Mariano Rajoy was the parties chairman in 2003 and the part lost in 2004
general election. PP overthrew PSOE in 2011 general election.
Spanish socialist workers’ party (Partido Pocialista Obrero Espanol- PSOE)
The part was founded in 1879 as a Marxist proletarian party by Pablo Iglesias who was the
leader of workers. The party was part of coalition government from 1931 – 1936 but the party
faced a suppression during dictatorship of Franco. The party was banned in 1937 and the ban
was later lifted in 1977. By late 1970s PSOE had for gone its Marxist dogma and had gradually
become centrist social democratic party. The party gained large victory in 1982 general election
and Felipe Gonzalez became prime minister. It remained in power until it was defeated in 1996.
Luis Rodriguez Zapatero became party’s secretary general and later became prime minister in
2004 after the party gained victory in general election. PSOE remained in power till it lost in
2011’s general election.
United left (izquierda unida- IU)

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This is a political coalition formed in 1986 by leftists groups, greens, socialists and left wing
republican to oppose Spain’s NATO membership. Communist party of Spain is the predominant
party inside united left. Austria, Madrid, and Andalusia are the stronghold regions of united left.
In mid 90s united left had gained 10 % electorate but in 2011 general election the percentage
decreased to 6.92 %.
Martínez‐ Herrera, E. (2002). From nation‐ building to building identification with political
communities: consequences of political decentralisation in Spain, the Basque Country, Catalonia
and Galicia, 1978–2001. European Journal of Political Research, 41(4), 421-453.
9.

Describe the political process (nomination, election, time, requirements etc.

The general election is carried out after every four years of ruling and there is no limit for the
number of terms for the prime minister. The prime minister who is also the head of state appoints
his deputy and the ministers to be the head of different ministries in the country. One of the
major requirements ...