Iberia
Iberia....Isn't that an airline?
One of the most common questions I get when talking about my business pertains to the meaning of Iberia. That’s partly my fault. Even in my website copy, I frequently refer to my focus on Spain and Portugal and then turn around to talk about how I focus on Iberia. So if you are not clear on exactly what Iberia is, it’s OK. In fact, I think it would be a bit strange if you did.
The Iberian Peninsula from Space
The easy answer is pretty straight forward. It's the peninsula at the southwest corner of the European Continent containing the nations of Spain and Portugal. Furthermore, we can say that the Pyrenees mountains set the northern limit of the peninsula and generally separate it from France and the rest of Continental Europe. And now we can breathe a sigh a relief for a moment since we are all on the same sheet of music. However, I want to take a look at a couple of minor discrepancies that result from our elegant answer. Nothing to be too concerned about, but a small matter that you can use to impress friends on trivia night. Here’s the thing. Spain and Portugal are not the only national denizens of the Iberian Peninsula. (And yes, Iberia and the Iberian Peninsula are geographic synonyms.)
The first problem we have is the French. (They always seem to cause trouble, don’t they! :) Without going into detail, part of France is actually located in Iberia. The Cerdagne region was left south of the Pyrannese following a 1659 treaty. It’s a beautiful area, and I’ll come back to it in a future blog post.
The Principality of Andorra. Andorra is indeed an independent nation, and as such, is one of the smallest in the world. Located in the Pyrenees, sharing borders with France and Spain, it is an important player in both commerce and tourism. It’s a fascinating destination, and will also be the focus of a future post.
Now here’s one you already knew about: The British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar. Talk about a political sore spot for Spain! You may have heard more about Gibraltar recently because nobody really understands what its status would be if the British move forward with their exit from the European Union. In the meantime, it’s full of great pubs and some very clever monkeys which we will get back to in the future.
Picos de Europa (Visible as the snow capped mountains in the Northwestern corner of the satellite image above.)
So now you know that Iberia is really the peninsula that contains Spain, Portugal, Andorra, Gibraltar, and part of France. And here’s what makes it even more unfair that I tend to use Spain/Portugal and Iberia interchangeably…... Spain and Portugal are not limited to Iberia! From archipelagos to overseas territories, these nations are certainly not constrained by the Peninsula. More on that in the next issue of The Iberian Compass.
Happy New Year to all of you!
