Spain historical timeline

The Iberian Peninsula has been inhabited since prehistoric times, but Spain's layered history really begins with successive waves of colonization and conquest -- Phoenicians, Greeks, Carthaginians, and finally the Romans, who controlled the peninsula (Hispania) for over 600 years and left roads, aqueducts, and the Latin roots of the Spanish language itself.

Following Rome's collapse, Visigothic kingdoms ruled until 711 AD, when Muslim Moorish forces crossed from North Africa and conquered most of the peninsula within a few years, beginning nearly 800 years of Islamic rule (Al-Andalus) that left an extraordinary architectural legacy, including Granada's Alhambra and Córdoba's Mezquita. The centuries-long Reconquista, the Christian kingdoms' gradual reconquest of the peninsula, finally ended in 1492 with the fall of Granada -- the same year Christopher Columbus's voyage, funded by Spain's newly unified crown, reached the Americas and launched Spain's vast colonial empire.

Spain's empire made it one of the most powerful nations on Earth through the 16th and 17th centuries, funded largely by American silver and gold, though the empire's slow decline over the following centuries culminated in the loss of most remaining colonies by 1898. The 20th century brought the devastating Spanish Civil War (1936-1939), followed by Francisco Franco's authoritarian dictatorship, which lasted until his death in 1975.

Spain's transition to democracy after Franco, culminating in a new constitution in 1978, is widely regarded as one of the more successful peaceful democratic transitions of the 20th century. The country joined the European Union in 1986 and has since balanced a strong national identity with the distinct regional identities -- Catalan, Basque, Galician among them -- that continue to shape its modern politics and culture.