Knowing the capitals of Spanish-speaking countries is not only useful for your Spanish studies, but also gives you a deeper understanding of the cultural and geographic diversity of these places. Expand your knowledge of Spanish and locate each country on the map to discover a very diverse culture.

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Capital cities of Spain

As you may know, Spain is the birthplace of the Spanish language, as it is where the language originated. The capital of Spain is Madrid, known for its rich history, art, and lively nightlife.

Although Spain is characterized by its well-known cities spread throughout the country and its unique culture. The country is made up of 17 Autonomous Communities, and each has its own capital. Here is the list of the 17 Autonomous Communities and their respective Spanish capitals:

• Andalusia. Almeria, Cadiz, Cordoba, Granada, Jaen, Huelva, Malaga, and Seville. Seville is the capital.
• Aragon. Huesca, Zaragoza, and Teruel. Zaragoza is the capital.
• Asturias. Its capital is Oviedo.
• Balearic Islands. It is an archipelago formed by 5 islands: Menorca, Mallorca, Ibiza, Formentera, and Cabrera. The capital is Palma de Mallorca.
• Canary Islands. It is made up of 7 islands and divided into two provinces. The province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife with: Tenerife, La Gomera, La Palma and El Hierro. And the province of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria with: Gran Canaria, Fuerteventura, and Lanzarote. The capital is Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.
• Cantabria. Its capital is Santander.
• Castilla La Mancha. Toledo, Ciudad Real, Guadalajara, Cuenca and Albacete. Its capital is Toledo.
• Castilla y León. León, Palencia, Salamanca, Burgos, Zamora, Valladolid, Soria, Segovia, and Avila. This Autonomous Community does not have a capital city, but the seat of government is in Valladolid.
• Catalonia. Barcelona, Tarragona, Lerida, and Gerona. The capital is Barcelona.
• Valencian Community. Castellon, Valencia, and Alicante. The capital is Valencia.
• Extremadura. Caceres and Badajoz; the capital is Mérida.
• Galicia. La Coruña, Lugo, Ourense and Pontevedra. Its capital is Santiago de Compostela.
• La Rioja. Its capital is Logroño.
• Madrid is the capital of Spain.
• Region of Murcia. Its capital is Murcia.
• Navarra. The name of its capital is Pamplona.
• Basque Country. Alava, Guipuzcoa and Vizcaya. It has no official capital, such as Castilla y León.

Spain also has two autonomous cities, Ceuta and Melilla, located on the African continent.

Countries on the American continent

In addition to Spain, other countries in the world also have Spanish as their official language. These places are mainly located in South and Central America, although there is also one in Africa. Here is the complete list of the 20 Spanish-speaking countries and their respective capitals:

North America:

• Mexico – Ciudad de Mexico

Caribbean:

• Cuba – La Habana
• Dominican Republic - Santo Domingo
• Puerto Rico – San Juan

Central America:

• Costa Rica – San Jose
• El Salvador – San Salvador
• Guatemala – Ciudad de Guatemala
• Honduras – Tegucigalpa
• Nicaragua – Managua
• Panamá – Ciudad de Panamá

South America:

• Argentina – Buenos Aires
• Bolivia – La Paz, Sucre
• Chile – Santiago
• Colombia – Bogotá
• Ecuador – Quito
• Paraguay – Asunción
• Peru – Lima
• Uruguay – Montevideo
• Venezuela – Caracas

Africa

• Equatorial Guinea - Malabo

In this complete list of Spanish-speaking countries and their capitals, how many Spanish capitals did you already know; did you locate all the countries on the map? Tell us about it.

Each country has its own history, culture and beauty. By getting to know the Spanish capitals, you not only expand your Spanish vocabulary, but you also connect with the cultural richness of these places. Don't you feel like visiting one of them?

So, if you want to continue expanding your knowledge of the Spanish-speaking world, don't hesitate to continue learning Spanish. At don Quijote you can choose the Spanish course that best suits your needs, your level and your age. We have schools in 11 different destinations in Spain and in 9 different countries in Latin America.

Ask us about your doubts and we will help you choose the destination that best suits your needs so that learning Spanish will be a fascinating journey for you.

Cherry Blossom in Spain

Cherry blossoms are usually associated with Japan or even Washington D.C. but Spain also has its own particular cherry blossom festival.  In a corner of Spain between Salamanca and Cáceres, close to the town of Plasencia, is a valley tucked into the mountains of the central system. Within this 70 kilometer long valley—Jerte Valley—is a growing region home to the Picota cherry, one of the sweetest cherries on earth. This cherry comes with a Denominación de Origin (Denomination of Origin) certificate that classifies this fruit as being of the highest quality and coming from only this area of the world.

Every year in spring this valley comes to life with the blooming of the trees and arrival of thousands of Spaniards that come to see a beautiful, fleeting event.  The region prepares an agenda of activities that range from bird watching to participating in the actual picking of the cherries. This area wakes up from a winter hibernation to a calendar of activities that is actually pretty dizzying.

More than 1.5 million cherry trees occupy this basin with many growing up steeply rising hillsides. These trees pertain mostly to small family farms (there are 3,737 registered growers) and are grown in a very traditional and sustainable manner. For example, it is very common to see during picking season the cherries laid out on beds of fern leaves which protects the fruit while it is being gathered.  Unfortunately for most Americans, tasting these incredibly delicious cherries is practically impossible: 60% of the productions is consumed domestically while the rest is exported principally to Germany and the United Kingdom.

Right now the trees are starting to bloom and the second act of a three-act play of nature is happening.  The locals have given a name to these three moments: Despertar el valle (the valley wakes), Cerezo en Flor (Cherry trees in bloom), and Lluvia de Pétalos (shower of flower petals). This is the moment when most people come to the valley to take in some incredible views and walk along the numerous paths that wind between the trees and the different villages within this area.

If you want to come and take part in an incredible show of nature, you better hurry because by the beginning of May the flowers will be gone and the fruit will be start to be growing on the tree. Not all is lost, though, if you come after the flowers have gone since the fruit will be ready and picked in June and July. You will then be able to taste some the best and rarest cherries in the world. I’d say that would be worth the trip.

How to get to the Valle del Jerte

To get to the Valle del Jerte from Madrid you can go north through Ávila or west, by way of Plasencia—either way the trip takes about 2 1/2 to 3 hours making an overnight stay in a casa rural an excellent option. In spring, the weather is usually warm during the day with cool nights without the extremes of the neighboring areas due to the excellent micro-climate the valley creates.

University New Year in Salamanca

Every year on the penultimate Thursday of the academic term, thousands upon thousands of students from all corners of Spain descend on the small Castilian city of Salamanca for the annual Nochevieja Universitaria – translated as University New Year. This impressive celebration was inaugurated in 1999, when students wanted to be able to celebrate New Year with their university friends, before going home for the Christmas holidays. Since then it’s become a highlight in the university calendar, not just in Salamanca, but across the country. People come in busloads from as far as Seville just to be part of this magical night, before heading home early next morning (literally) after a whole night of partying.

A couple of days ago I was lucky to be able to experience Nochevieja first hand, going with some friends from work to see for ourselves what all the fuss was about. We all decided to meet at 10 pm, thinking that the Plaza Mayor – where the ‘countdown’ to the New Year takes place – would already be jammed with people. We were a little surprised to find that at this point it was only half full, if that. Regardless, the atmosphere was extremely jovial, with a raised platform and DJ underneath the famous reloj (clock), playing all our favorite tunes – with Avicii’s Wake Me Up receiving a screaming reception.

Nevertheless, the idea of standing there for the next two hours was not so appealing, so we went to a nearby bar and had a few drinks and some dancing. We stayed there for about an hour, before heading back to the Plaza Mayor for the strike at midnight. On our way there, we bumped into another friend from work who had unfortunately lost her phone, which reminded us all to keep an eye on our belongings, especially since by this point the Plaza Mayor was jam packed. We pushed our way into the center of the square, nestled between a group of Spanish students, and some sweet Americans. There was still about half an hour left before the “big moment”, but it flew by with more club classics from the rather excitable DJ.

Spanish New Year's Traditions

It is a Spanish New Year’s tradition to eat twelve grapes at midnight, one for each time the clock chimes ding dong. On our way into the Plaza Mayor we had each been handed a little box of twelve grapes (for free!) for us to reenact the tradition at “New Year” – or, in our case, when Thursday became Friday… With about five minutes to go, the DJ stopped doing his thing, and was replaced by a spectacle of lights and drumming music. The Plaza Mayor was changing different colors – red and green – and the façade with the clock had a visual show projected onto it. The main theme of this production was a series of dates, but none of us knew what the dates stood for, and my research has so far proved fruitless. Maybe it was key dates in Salamanca’s history, or Spain’s, or of the night’s sponsor, Brugal? Anyway, the point is it was really cool.

The final segment of this 3D mapping show was a 10-second countdown to midnight, at the completion of which we all hurriedly ate our grapes. The task was significantly harder than we’d expected; eventually I found myself with about four grapes in my mouth at once because the clock was dinging faster than I was eating! And then that was it… once midnight had passed it was the end of Plaza Mayor’s turn to host the thirty thousand students, who then went out into the large number of bars and clubs that hug the center of the city – but only after a ten-minute struggle to leave the Plaza Mayor, a difficult task with so many people going in so many opposite directions. We found ourselves at a bar very near to the Plaza Mayor which was playing typical Spanish club songs. I didn’t recognize any of them, but happily danced away for the next few hours.

When we left the club – slightly deafened from having spent all our time next to the speakers – we thought about going to another, but the Englishness in us had work the next morning firmly at the back of our mind, and the thought of partying until 6 am Spanish-style didn’t appeal. But, we were glad we’d experienced one of the highlights of the academic year in Spain, and it will definitely be a great memory for years to come.