Global Sourcebook for International Data Management
by Graham Rhind
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Spain
Global Sourcebook | Index | Properties
| SPAIN |
For supplementary information, see links to post office home pages here , to postal code pages here
and to other personal name and addressing issues pages here
.
Spain - Country information
Local short name form
Official name
Area
Population
48 085 361 (2023 evaluation) [1]
Capital
Currency
International telephone access code
ISO 3166 country codes
Car nationality plate code
Internet country code
ES (Note: CAT is used for the Catalan linguistic and cultural community)
GRC Country Code
Spain - Number format
1.234,45
(where , indicates the decimal separator and . the thousands separator)
Spain - Date and time formats
Note: This section last updated 15th June 2021
dd/mm/yyyy
When written in Basque the format is:
yyyy.mm.dd
The 24-hour clock notation is used.
14:32
Spain - Languages
Castellano (Castilian Spanish) is the official language for the whole of Spain, but several of Spain’s autonomous regions have their own languages which are legally treated on a par with Castellano. Castellano is spoken by 70 per cent of the Spanish population. Català
(Catalan) is spoken by 21 per cent of the population, and has official status in the regions of Catalonia, Valencia (where it differs very slightly from Catalan and is called Valencian) and the Balearic Islands. Galego
(Galician) is spoken by 7 per cent of the population, and is recognized in Galicia. Euskera
(Basque) is spoken by 1 per cent of the population, and is recognized in the Basque region and Navarre. There are also some 11 000 speakers of Aragonese
; 100 000 speakers of Asturian
; 40 000 speakers of Caló
; 200 000 speakers of Extremaduran
; 10 500 speakers of Fala
; 3 814 speakers of Gascon
and about 750 speakers of Vlach Romani.
In Ceuta and Melilla, Spanish Enclaves on the Northern African Coast, Berber (Tamazight) is widely spoken. Ceuta is known as Sibta in Tamazight, and Melilla as Tamlit.
In Navarre, the official language is Castilian, but Basque is spoken and has legal protection. The province defines Basque as being the main language in the following municipalities:
Abaurrea Alta Abaurrea Baja Alsasua Anue Araitz Arantza Arano Arakil Arbizu Areso Aria Aribe Arruazu Bakáiku Basaburua Mayor Baztan Bertizarana Betelu Burguete Donamaría Etxalar Etxarri-Aranatz Elgorriaga Erasun Ergoien Erro Esteribar Ezkurra Garaioa Garralda Goizueta Huarte-Arakil Igantzi Imotz Inañeta Ituren Iturmendi Labaien Lakuntza Lantz Larraun Leitza Lesaka Oitz Olazagutia Orbaitzeta Orbara Roncesvalles Saldias Santesteban Sunbilla Ultzama Urdax Urdiain Urrotz Valcarlos Vera de Bidasoa Villanueva Ziordia Zubieta y Zugarramurdi
Both Castilian and Basque are spoken in the following municipalities:
Abárzuza Ansoain Aoiz Arce Atez Barañain Burgui Burlada Ciriza Cizur Echarri Echauri Egüés Escároz Esparza Estella Ezcabarte Garde Goñi Güesa Guesálaz Huarte Isaba Iza Izalzu Jaurrieta Juslapeña Lezaun Lizoain Ochagavía Odieta Oláibar Olza Ollo Oronz Oroz Betelu Pamplona Puente la Reina Roncal Salinas de Oro Sarriés Urzainqui Uztárroz Vidángoz Vidaurreta Villava Yerri y Zabalza
All other municipalities have Castilian as their main language.
Note that the above lists give the municipality names in Castilian. For the equivalent Basque names, please refer to the Place names section.
There are no clear-cut geographical boundaries between the speakers of the different dialects and languages spoken in Spain.
Spain - For the attention of
This is written A la Atención del, or para a (p.a.) in Spanish. In Catalan it is A l’atenció de or A l’atenció del.
Spain - Personal names
Note: This section last updated 10th January 2015
Spanish people have two family names, and members of the same family do not necessarily have the same family names. A person’s first family name is traditionally their father’s first family name, their second family name is traditionally their mother’s first family name. For example:
José Jimenez Perez
marries
Margarita Diaz Jimenez
their children, Manuel and Isabel, will be known as:
Manuel Jimenez Diaz
and
Isabel Jimenez Diaz
A woman keeps her maiden name after marriage. The first surname is considered the most important, but the full set of names will appear on official documents.
Double-barrelled (compound) given names are usually separated by a space, rarely a hyphen. The surnames may also be separated with the conjunction “of” or “and” (de, y or e in Spanish, de or i in Catalan.)
Since 1999 a person may choose to change the order of the family names. Spanish law prohibits names which could expose a person to ridicule or do not clearly indicate gender. A new law is planned which would list the surnames of children in alphabetical order unless another preference is given by the parents.
Tables of names can be acquired: given names, surnames/family names
Spain - Company legal forms
Note: This section last updated 20th February 2018
The following company types will be found in company names:
CB (Comunidad de Bienes) (Jointly-owned company) Comerciante Individual Cooperativa (Co-operative) Empresario Individual (Sole trader) Fundacion (Foundation) SA (Sociedad Anónima) SAE (Sociedad Anónima Española) SAL (Sociedad Anónima Laboral) SC (Sociedad Comanditaria - General and Limited partnership) SCL (Sociedad Cooperative Limitada) SCCL (Sociedad Cooperative Catalana Limitada) SCP (Sociedad Civil Privada) SCVL (Sociedad Cooperative Valenciana Limitada) S.Coop. (Sociedad Cooperativa - co-operative) SGIIC (Sociedad Gestora de Instituciones de Inversión Colectiva) SL (Sociedad Limitada - Limited company). Catalan: Societat Limitada SLL (Sociedad Limitada Laboral - labour limited corporation) SLNE (Sociedad Limitada Nueva Empresa) SLP (Sociedad Limitada Profesional) SLU (Sociedad Limitada Unipersonal) SNC (Sociedad Colectiva (General Partnership) Sociedad Civil (non-profit entity) Sociedad de Cartera (Portfolio company) Srl – Sociedad Regular Colectiva
Comprehensive tables of these strings can be acquired – see http://www.grcdi.nl/addresses.htm
Spain - Addresses
Note: This section last updated 30th September 2020
Addresses are written in the following format:
Contact name
{thoroughfare type[]}Thoroughfare name[, ]house number{[ -]floor/flat/staircase number etc.}
postal code[ ]TOWN[ (]Province[)]
For example:
The province name may sometimes be found written instead below the postal code line in capital letters, in this way:
03201 ELCHE ALICANTE
Calle, the Spanish word for street, is by far the most commonly occurring thoroughfare type and for this reason is rarely written. You would be more likely to find the example address given above written as:
Alcalá, 142 - 2° D
The floor/flat/staircase number can be followed by a superscripted ‘o’ (a masculine word) or ‘a’ (a feminine word). They indicate an ordinal number (i.e. 2° in Spanish is 2nd in English).
The ‘D’ in this example means derecha, right. An ‘I’, izquierda, would indicate left. The words for right and left in Catalan are dreta and esquerra respectively, dereita and esquerda in Galician and zuzen and ezkerkada in Basque.
Sub-building indicators on a bell push, Barcelona
The thoroughfare type, when included, is written before, and separately from, the thoroughfare name. It should be written with the first letter in lower case.
Spanish addresses may contain the kilometre number of a house or company on long or intercity routes.
The return address of the sender can be written either on the back of the envelope or in the top left-hand corner of the front of the envelope.
Where a region contains a single province (Asturias/Oviedo, Cantabria/Santander and Islas Baleares/Palma de Mallorca), it is usually the region name rather than the province name which is used in the address.
A table containing information about the relevant position of elements within address blocks can be acquired
Thoroughfare types, buildings and sub-buildings
Note: This section last updated 28th September 2019
Below is a list of the most commonly occurring elements, with the abbreviated form(s) which you are most likely to find in address databases:
Comprehensive tables of these strings can be acquired – see http://www.grcdi.nl/addresses.htm
Other elements commonly found in address databases
Note: This section last updated 28th September 2019
Castilian
NB: Prepositions retain a lower case first letter when used in a mixed-case field. The following abbreviations are used: (m) = masculine; (f) = feminine; (s) = singular; (pl) = plural.
| Castilian | English |
| el (m s) / la (f s) / los (m pl) / las (f pl) / lo | the |
| un (m) / una (f) | a, an |
| y (before a word beginning with i- or hi-, this becomes ‘e’) | and |
| hasta | till, up to, until |
| para | for |
| de | of |
| a | to, towards |
| en | in |
| cerca de | near |
| junta a | near, next to |
| enfrente de | opposite |
| detrás de | behind |
| entre | between |
| debajo de | under |
| al lado de | next to |
| encima de | on (top of) |
| con | with |
| nuevo (m)/nueva (f) | new |
| viejo (m)/vieja (f) | old |
| corto (m)/corta (f) | short |
| largo (m)/larga (f) | long |
| gran (before the noun to which it refers), grande (after the noun to which it refers) | large |
| pequeño (m)/perqueña (f) | small |
| norte | north |
| este | east |
| oeste | west |
| sur | south |
| San (m) / Santa (f) | Saint |
Adjectives referring to plural nouns add an ‘s’ on the end.
Catalan
| Catalan | English |
| al(m s)/la (f s)/els (m pl)/les (f pl) / l’ (masculine and feminine singular before vowel or ‘h’+vowel, except before unstressed ‘i’, ‘u’, ‘hi’ and ‘hu’) / las / na | the |
| un (m)/una (f) | a, an |
| i (before a word beginning with i- or hi-, this becomes ‘e’) | and |
| fins | till, up to, until |
| per | for |
| de | of |
| a | to, towards |
| en/a/amb/en | in |
| prop de | near |
| al constat de | near, next to |
| davant de | opposite |
| darrera de | behind |
| entre | between |
| sota | under |
| al costat de | next to |
| sobre/damunt | on (top of ) |
| amb | with |
| nou (m)/nova (f ) | new |
| vell (m)/vella (f ) | old |
| curt (m)/curta (f ) | short |
| llarg (m)/llarga (f ) | long |
| gran | large |
| petit (m)/petita (f ) | small |
| nort | north |
| est | east |
| oest | west |
| sud | south |
| Sant (m)/Santa (f ) | Saint |
Galician
| Galician | English |
| o, lo, a, la, os, los, as, las | the |
| un, unha | a, an |
| y, e | and |
| ata | till, up to, until |
| para | for |
| de, del, dela, deles, delas | of |
| en, nel, nela, neles, nelas | in |
| a | to, towards |
| cerca de | near |
| xunto a | near, next to |
| defronte de, enfronte de | opposite |
| detrás de | behind |
| entre | between |
| debaixo de, so | under |
| al lado de | next to |
| encima de, enriba de | on (top of) |
| con | with |
| nove, novo | new |
| vello, vella | old |
| curto, curta | short |
| largo, large, longo, longa | long |
| gran | large |
| pequeno | small |
| norte | north |
| este, leste | east |
| oeste | west |
| sur | south |
| San, Santa, Santo | Saint |
Basque
Basque is a tremendously complex language with a large number of declensions which make recognition of certain words for a non-speaker very difficult. The definite article, for example, is suffixed to another word and can take one of four forms (-a, -ak, -ek and -ok) depending on whether the word is singular, plural, transitive or denoting a group. Many prepositions and adjectives form prefixes or suffixes to other words, and change their form according to their context. As their form and case are dependent on their context, no list of prepositions or adjectives is given here.
Spain - Post office box
This is written as Apartado (abbreviated to Apto.) or Apartado de Correos in Castilian and Galician, Apartat or Apartat de Correus in Catalan and Posta Kutxatila in Basque.
Spain - Postal codes
Note: This section last updated 30th October 2015
Postal codes (Código Postal) in Spain were established on 9th August 1982 and consist of a block of 5 digits which should be placed before the town name on the last line of the address.
The first two digits of the postal code, ranging from 01 to 52, indicate the province. The third digit indicates a place within the province. If this digit is 0, the address is in the capital of the province, if it is 1 it is in the vicinity of the capital, and so on. The higher this number, the further the address is from the region’s capital. The last two digits are split into three ranges of numbers to indicate:
- Post office boxes - Delivery addresses - Large users
More than one municipality can share the same postal code, whilst in larger cities the postal codes refer to groups of streets.
Certain codes are fixed:
nn080: for private post office boxes nn071: for official (governmental) postal address/post office boxes nn070: for Post Office boxes
Metadata containing postal code formatting rules, exceptions and regular expressions can be acquired
Spain - Postal code format graphic
Spain - Postal code format
Spain - Postal code specifics
Spain - Postal code regular expression
\A((0)[1-9]\d{3,3}|[1-4]\d{4,4}|(5)[0-2]\d{3,3})\Z
Spain - Postal code level of coverage
Spain - Postal code map
51=Ceuta 52=Melilla
Place names in Spain
Note: This section last updated 7th December 2015
Refer to Exonyms in Spain for full lists of place names in Spain in other languages.
Bilingual (place name) sign
Source: Wikipedia
Alternate place name forms/postal code tables can be acquired at http://www.grcdi.nl/settlements.htm
Other language place name data can be acquired at http://www.grcdi.nl/otherlanguageplace.htm
Spain - Administrative districts
The name of the province in which an address is situated should be written in full between brackets after the name of the town. Where a region contains a single province (Asturias/Oviedo, Cantabria/Santander and Islas Baleares/Palma de Mallorca), it is usually the region name rather than the province name which is used in the address.
Spain has 17 regions (automomous communities , comunidades autónomas, singular - comunidad autónoma) split into 52 provinces
; and 2 autonomous cities (show in the list below with an asterisk). The names of the provinces are usually the same as those of their capital cities. Exceptions have been specified in the table below.
This regions/postal code data can be acquired as a data file
Administrative districts graphic
Telephone numbers in Spain
Spanish telephone numbers have no area codes, and all numbers have a length of 9 digits when called from abroad. Mobile numbers commence with a 6 or 71-74.
References
- ^ citypopulation.de/en/spain/admin/
Every effort is made to keep this resource updated. If you find any errors, or have any questions or requests, please don't hesitate to contact the author.
All information copyright Graham Rhind 2024. Any information used should be acknowledged and referenced.