Spain — Media Gallery

The Puerta de Alcala (Alcala Gate) monument in the Plaza de la Independencia (Independence Square) in Madrid. Inaugurated by King Carlos III in 1778, it originally functioned as an enormous gate in the city's wall.

View of the 16th-century Cathedral of Segovia as seen from the Torre de Juan II (Tower of John II) in the Alcazar. Built between 1525 and 1577, this late Gothic structure - dedicated to the Virgin Mary - is referred to as the "Dame of Spanish Cathedrals."

View of the Valley of the Fallen, a memorial to the dead of the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939), in the municipality of San Lorenzo de El Escorial.

Garden at the Alcazar (fortress) in Segovia.

The Alps may be more famous, but the Pyrenees have been around much longer - tens of millions of years longer, in fact. These mountains formed between 100 and 150 million years ago when the landmass that Spain occupies pushed into the one that France occupies. The mountains have served as a natural barrier between the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal) and the rest of Europe ever since. Stretching east to west across 430 sq km (166 sq mi), the Pyrenees fall mostly within Spain's borders, but also pass into the independent state of Andorra. The NASA Terra satellite captured this image of part of the Central Pyrenees - the highest part of the range - on 1 August 2000. In this false-color image, clouds appear white, snow appears pale blue, vegetation appears green, and bare ground appears as either pink or dark, bluish-purple. Water on the ground appears dark blue (or nearly black). In this shot, the vegetated areas are mostly to the north, and the peaks to the south are mostly bare rock. Patches of dark purple that are visible along rivers and in valley floors are probably developed areas. Image courtesy of NASA.

Area comparison map

The crypt of the Cathedral of the Holy Cross and Santa Eulalia in Barcelona. The saint is the patron of the Spanish city.

This space shuttle photo was taken near sunset. Two packets of tidally-generated internal waves are highlighted by sunglint off the surface waters in the Strait of Gibraltar. The older packet (labeled) contains at least 14 waves, which can be counted like tree rings. A younger group is forming near the middle of the strait (marked by the carat south of Gibraltar). The waves are generated as a diurnal tidal pulse flows over the shallow Camarinal Sill at Gibraltar. The waves flow eastward and refract around coastal features; they can be traced for as much as 150 km. Image credit: NASA.

The treasure chamber in the Mezquita of Cordoba houses a remarkable monstrance - a vessel used to display a consecrated Eucharistic Host - constructed by the German master goldsmith Heinrich von Arfe between 1510 and 1516.

A view of the city of Toledo. On the right is the castle-fortress known as the Alcazar.

Evidence of damage dating back to the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) may be seen on this church wall in the Old City in Barcelona.

Original Moorish Garden at the Alhambra, Granada.

The bull ring in Malaga.

Looking north to Spain from the side of The Rock of Gibraltar.

Church of Santa Maria de la Asuncion in Castro Urdiales, a northern Spain seaport town in the autonomous community of Cantabria; rear view.

Doric columns supporting the roof of the lower court that forms the central terrace at the unique Park Guell garden complex in Barcelona. Designed by the Catalan architect Antoni Gaudi and built between 1910 and 1914, the park is full of his mosaics including this ceiling rondel.

View from the Gibralfaro Castle over the city of Malaga, the second largest port in Spain.

Church of Santa Maria de la Asuncion in Castro Urdiales, a northern Spain seaport town in the autonomous community of Cantabria; front view.

Castillo San Cristóbal is a fortress in San Juan that was built by Spain to protect against land-based attacks on the city; it is part of San Juan National Historic Site. This is a view of the from Norzagaray Street. Photo courtesy of the US National Park Service.

A view of Gibraltar Harbour with Algeciras, Spain in the background.

Town seal of Castro Urdiales on a manhole cover.

The Monument to the Restorers in Lisbon was erected in 1886 to celebrate the restoration of Portuguese independence from Spain in 1640.

Monument in Cadiz to the 1812 Spanish Constitution, the first in Spain. The Constitution was established on 19 March 1812 by the Cortes of Cadiz, the first Spanish legislature.

View of Cordoba showing the Roman Bridge and the massive Mesquita complex on the left.

Looking north along the crest of The Rock of Gibraltar one can see just how narrow the rock formation is. The coast of Spain is visible in the background.

Contrasting walls. The wall on the right belongs to one of the palaces in the Alcazaba in Malaga.

Building of the Government Subdelagation along the Gran Via in Bilbao, Bizkaia Province.

Courtyard garden of the Cuartos de Granada (The Granada Quarters) in the Inner Citadel of the Alcazaba of Malaga.

Equestrian statue of King Philip IV at the Royal Palace in Madrid.

Narrow street in Cadiz.

The eclectic Palacio de Comunicaciones (Palace of Communications) in Madrid successfully combines elements of Gothic, Romanesque, and Renaissance architecture. Opened as the headqusrters for the Post and Telegraph State Company in 1909, it became the municipal headquarters of Madrid in 2007.

Ceiling detail in the Cathedral of Segovia.

View of the Royal Palace in Madrid from the Plaza de la Armeria.

The south facade of the Royal Palace in Madrid.

Huge Ficus Centenario tree in Cadiz. The city is among the oldest settlements in Spain, founded by the Phoenicians about 1100 B.C. It was a major port for trade with the Americas.

Moorish doorway in the Inner Citadel of the Alcazaba of Malaga.

The Tower of Hercules in La Coruna was built by the Romans as a lighthouse in the 2nd century A.D. The 55 m Tower sits on a 57 m hill. The first 34 m of the Tower date back to Roman times; the rest of the Tower was added during a renovation in 1791. The lighthouse is still working, and its light can be seen from 35 km at sea. The Tower is the best- preserved Greco-Roman structure of its kind and is the oldest functioning lighthouse in the world.

The Catedral Basílica de la Encarnación (Cathedral Basilica of the Incarnation) in Malaga was constructed over a 250-year period (between 1528 and 1782).

Town steps in Castro Urdiales.

Remains of a Roman amphitheater in Malaga. Some Roman building materials were used in constructing the Alcazaba (Moorish castle complex), which may be seen in the background.

Gibralfaro Castle walls, Malaga.

The neo-Gothic facade of the Cathedral of the Holy Cross and Santa Eulalia in Barcelona (built 13th-15th centuries).

The stone walls in the Alcazaba in Malaga show different periods of construction. The Alcazaba is a complex of palaces that sits high atop a hillside. It was built by the Moors in the 11th century and formerly connected to the Gibralfaro fortification that overlooks the city and is situated higher still.

Courtyard of the Cathedral of the Assumption of the Virgin (Mezquita) in Cordoba. The cathedral was originally a church (constructed about A.D. 600) that was considerably expanded and converted to a mosque during the Muslim conquest (it became the second-largest mosque in the world). Following the recapture of the city in 1236, the building was reconsecrated as a Christian church and additional architectural alterations were added in subsequent centuries.

Pathway in the gardens of the Alcazar in Seville.

Algeciras, Spain (left), the Bay of Gibraltar (Bahia de Algecira), and Gibraltar itself (right) are featured in this detailed vertical view over the European side of the Strait of Gibraltar. Ship traffic in the bay can easily be seen. Image courtesy of NASA.

The town seal of Castro Urdiales in street tiles.

Completed in 1900, the Palacio de la Diputacion de Bizkaia in Bilbao is the seat of the local provincial government.

Town Hall in Ayuntamieto Square in Castro Urdiales.

The Igrexa de San Francisco (Saint Francis Church) in the town of Betanzos dates to 1387.

Flowers in a square in Bilbao, the capital of Bizkaia (Basque) Province. Signs are in Spanish and Basque.

Monument in Cordoba to the famous Andalusian-Arab polymath Ibn Rushd (1126-1198; known in European literature as Averroes).

Saharan dust blowing off the west coast of Africa and over the Canary Islands (a Spanish archipelago) on 11 November 2006. The horizontal line is the border between Morocco (to the north) and Western Sahara. The plumes of dust are more distinct off the coast of the former than the latter. The fine particles blow to the northwest, and although the islands of Tenerife and Gran Canaria appear unaffected, the neighboring islands of Fuerteventura and Lanzarote are receiving a strong dusting. Click on photo for higher resolution. Image courtesy of NASA.

Alley in Betanzos, a Galician municipality about 20 minutes inland from La Coruna.

Moorish gateway in the Inner Citadel of the Alcazaba of Malaga.

Courtyard in front of the Royal Monastery of San Lorenzo de El Escorial.

Scene in the old walled town of Pensicola in Andalusia.

Gateway in the gardens of the Alcazar in Seville.

Ronda, a city perched on cliffs in the province of Malaga. This mountainous area of Andalucia is roughly 750 m (2,500 ft) above sea level.

The facade of the City Hall in Barcelona.

The library at El Escorial, the Royal Monastery of San Lorenzo El Real, contains many priceless manuscripts, as well as artwork by Titian, El Greco, Valazquez, and many others.

Courtyard of the Lions at the Alhambra, Granada.

Well-preserved Roman aqueduct a few kilometers north of the city of Tarragona.

La Giralda, one of the two bell towers of the Catedral de Santa Maria de la Sede (Cathedral of Saint Mary of the See) at Seville. The lower two-thirds of the structure are a former minaret.

Alhambra garden viewed through an archway, Granada.

The small Spanish enclave of Ceuta occupies a narrow isthmus of land on the African side of the Strait of Gibraltar; the rest of the surrounding territory is Morocco. Densely populated Ceuta occupies the center of the image, its pink and white residential and industrial rooftops occasionally broken by patches of green - city parks and athletic fields. North of the city, seawalls enclose a small bay and harbor. On the beach, bright blue patches are large water parks. The Spanish fort at Monte Hacho on the eastern isthmus tip commands a clear view of the Strait. Image credit: NASA.

North facade of the Royal Palace in Madrid.

The Catedral de Santa Maria de la Sede (Cathedral of Saint Mary of the See) at Seville is the largest Gothic cathedral - and the third largest church - in the world.

West facade of the Royal Palace in Madrid as seen from the Campo del Moro (Garden of the Moors).

Fountain in the Garden of El Estanque in the Alcazar in Seville.

A view of Barcelona from the heights overlooking the city.

View of the gardens through a window at the El Escorial.

Tombs of Spanish kings and queens at the El Escorial.

View of Granada from the Alhambra.

The Patio de las Doncellas (Courtyard of the Maidens) in the Alcazar in Seville.

The Strait of Gibraltar provides a natural physical barrier between the countries of Spain (north) and Morocco (south). This photo shows the mountainous northern coast of Morocco and the coastal mountains of southern Spain, including the dagger-shaped, snow-covered Sierra Nevada Mountains of southeastern Spain. The British territory of Gibraltar is located on the thin, wedge-shaped peninsula on the east side of the bay in the southernmost protrusion of Spain. The city of Ceuta is a Spanish enclave on the extreme northeastern coast of Morocco. Image courtesy of NASA.

Interior of the Mezquita in Cordoba showing some of the distinctive Muslim architecture and a section of the dome.

Part of the Palacio Real de Aranjuez fan collection.

Cordoba monument honoring a native son, the eminent Jewish philosopher Maimonides (1135-1204).

Chapel of St. Agatha in the Palau Reial Major (Grand Royal Palace) in Barcelona. The royal chapel was built in the 14th century.

The Palacio Real (Royal Palace) in Aranjuez, 48 km (30 mi) south of Madrid, is one of the residences of the King of Spain. It was commissioned by Philip II in the late 16th century, but not completed until the middle of the 18th century.