Why I admire Spain...

Spain is a nation state, i.e. a state associated with a particular cultural entity (a nation) & a sovereign territorial unit, that lies on the Iberian Peninsula of Europe.

Anyone who knows me would say I admire Spain because of their footballing pedigree & they're right but that is not the only reason. Although I have never been in person to Spain - media, the internet & social media has made it possible for me to see what the Spanish are like. I really do believe that Spain is indeed one of the closest country's to perfect any modern land can hope to be. Why? 

• Spain still has managed to maintain their ancient cultures alive in the modern age including having a monarch of the land. Many countries around the world have opted to dispose of the ancient system of being ruled by a legitimate (descended from a royal bloodline) monarch except a few around the world. Some might say that it's of little if any importance to have a descendant of a royal bloodline in charge but royalty does add an air of authority to a state. Knowing that a descendant of ancient rulers is still alive & is in governance adds to the weight of the decisions the country makes to some extent. 

• The Spanish language is vibrant & well-developed. Known as Castilian (Castellano) in Spain, the Spanish language is not a stagnant language that struggles to fit in with changing times as it's rarely left out in the user interface of modern technological devices. This can, perhaps, be attributed to the fact that Spanish is still spoken in Spain's former colonies. Although colonialism can be considered a negative blemish in Spain's history, especially since Spain has only recently let go off it's colony of Western Sahara. 

• Governance in Spain is delegated to autonomous territories. This can be considered a little careless since some of Spain's autonomous territories speak their respective languages & have separate identities. So should any autonomous territory in Spain feel a surge of nationalism, they could easily go down the road of secession from Spain as we've seen in the Basque country & Catalan regions of Spain. But this also ensures that no autonomous region in Spain feels disrespected minimising the chance of civil war, genocide & discrimination of people of other territories in Spain within Spain as opposed to countries who find separate identities in a land & chose to blend them together causing tribalism, racism & even genocide & civil war in extreme cases which, in itself, could cause for territories calling for independence. 

• The economy of Spain. Spain benefits from cultural exports & cultural tourism allowing them to obtain finances for other fields such as technology & infrastructure. They have also benefited from using the unifying currency of Europe, the Euro. 

• Spain is unapologetically Spanish. They do not reserve their Spanish identity for national holidays or special occasions. Spain is Spanish 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. They are Spanish in their work, play & national events (e.g. their national soccer team that won the World Cup is entirely made up of players with Spanish blood). Their national motto is "Plus Ultra" meaning "Further Beyond" in Latin encouraging the Spanish to forever strive for better & forever be Spanish. 

 

• Bonus: Spain's footballing heritage. As football (soccer) is the country's favourite pasttime, Spain ensures that they invest a lot in it's football development & infrastructure. They have done this by making their football clubs among the best in the world which has translated to success in their national team.