11 Fun Facts About Spain: From Don Quixote to UNESCO Sites

I’ve had the chance to visit Spain, one of the first countries I traveled to on my own. Despite not speaking Spanish well, my friend and I explored Barcelona with a phrasebook in hand. We wandered through Las Ramblas and admired Antoni Gaudí’s landmarks like the Sagrada Familia and Park Güell.

Spain is also home to my first music festival, the Benicàssim Festival, which brings international acts from indie rock to electropop. It was a fun, four-day event where I met new people and camped for the first time.

Beyond my experiences in Europe, Spain is full of interesting facts. Here are 11 fun facts about Spain.

1. Spain’s tooth fairy is a mouse

Spain’s tooth fairy is a mouse called Ratoncito Pérez. In countries such as the U.S. and the U.K., the tooth fairy will come and exchange a child’s tooth for money, in Spain and Latin America, Ratoncito will collect the tooth and leave behind a small gift instead. Though it has Spanish origins, the concept of a ‘tooth mouse’ also exists in Italy.

2. Don Quixote is one of the most widely translated novels in the world

Don Quixote is widely recognized as being one of the most translated novels in the world, as it has been translated into over 140 languages. The story, which was written in 1605 by Spanish author Miguel de Cervantes, has been credited as being “the first modern novel” due in part to its diverse range of characters with different beliefs and points of view.

Additional related fact: Spain has another Guinness World Record for creating the tallest marzipan statue in the world — a statue of Don Quixote.

3. Spain is the second-largest country in the European Union

Spain is the second-largest country in the European Union thanks to the Canary Islands and its territories along the North African coast, covering over 195,000 square miles (around 506,000 square kilometers). It comes second to France which has a surface area of over 246,000 square miles (around 638,000 square kilometers). Spain is also the only country in the European Union to share a land border with an African nation as the autonomous city of Ceuta is in North Africa.

4. Spain has the 5th most UNESCO World Heritage Sites

Me sitting in Park Güell, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Spain has 50 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, the 5th highest number in the world. Such sites include the Royal Site of San Lorenzo de El Escorial, a traditional residence of the King of Spain, and the Segovia Aqueduct, a Roman aqueduct constructed in the first century AD.

Highest Number of UNESCO World Heritage Sites

5. A Spanish dictator changed Spain’s time zone

Spain’s geographical position suggest that it should be in the GMT time zone along with Portugal and the U.K., and it once was. However, Spanish dictator Francisco Franco, who took power following the Spanish Civil War, changed the time in 1940 to Central European Time in order to align the country’s clocks with Germany. Spain has since become a democratic European nation, but it remains in the CET time zone today.

6. Spain is home to four languages

Spanish is the official language of Spain. However, there are autonomous communities in Spain with their own languages. Catalan is spoken in Catalonia, Galician is spoken in Galicia, and the Basque language is used in Basque country in northern Spain.

7. The world’s oldest restaurant is located in Spain

The world’s oldest restaurant is located in Spain, according to the Guinness Book of World Records. Casa Botín in Madrid has been continually operating since it opened in 1725, and has been visited by literary greats such as Ernest Hemingway. Hemingway was such a fan of the restaurant that Casa Botín and its suckling pig feature in both Death in the Afternoon and The Sun Also Rises.

Spain was recognized as one of the world’s best cities for food in 2025, according to Time Out (March 15, 2025).

8. Spain has the most Blue Flag beaches in the world

Spain set the world record for the greatest number of Blue Flag beaches in 2022. The Blue Flag is a voluntary program run by the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE) which requires beaches to meet a series of benchmarks related to the environment, education and safety. As of 2022, Spain had 621 Blue Flag beaches.

9. Some aspects of Spanish culture have been influenced by Islam

Spanish culture has had some influence from Islam as Muslims from Africa invaded Spain in 711 and took over the Iberian Peninsula. The Moors, as they were known, remained in power until Christians in Northern Spain conquered them in 1492.

During this period, Islamic culture spread. Flamenco music was influenced by the music played by the Moors. There are several remaining landmarks today that show the Moors’ former presence in Spain, such as Córdoba’s Mosque-Cathedral which displays influences from Islam and Christianity. There are also 4,000 Arabic or Arabic-derived words in the Spanish language as a result of this period.

Foreign students learning flamenco dance, at the Escuela de Idiomas Nerja (Nerja Language school).

10. The Sagrada Familia is set to be completed in 2026

The Sagrada Familia is set to be completed in 2026 according to a statement in May 2024 from the organization in charge of the project. The building, Antoni Gaudí’s masterpiece, which has been under construction since 1882, is one of the most iconic sights in Barcelona. Visitors will surely flock to see it in its complete form.

The Sagrada Familia, designed by architect Antoni Gaudí, has been under construction since 1882.

11. Spain is in the top 10 places in the world in terms of life expectancy

Spain is among the top ten countries in the world in terms of life expectancy. According to the UN’s statistics for 2023, the longest life expectancy by country and territory is as follows:

1. Monaco (87.14)
2. Hong Kong (85.96)
3. Macau (85.65)
4. Japan (85.08)
5. Liechtenstein (84.92)
6. Switzerland (84.52)
7. Singapore (84.39)
8. Italy (84.35)
9. South Korea (84.26)
10. Spain (84.19)