Spain at the Beginning of 21st Century/Culture

Languages ​​and religions

The official language common to all of Spain was Castilian or Spanish, while in some autonomous communities there was also a second co-official language: Catalan in Catalonia and the Balearic Islands, Valencian in the Valencian Community, Basque in the Basque Country and part of Navarre, and Galician in Galicia. From 2006, Aranese became a co-official language in part of Catalonia. Other languages ​​(Aragonese, Asturian and Leonese) were not official at all, although they did have some kind of protection.

As for religions, the majority was Catholic Christianity, although the number of non-believers (atheists and agnostics) was increasing. The number of believers of other religions was also increasing, such as Muslims and Protestant and Orthodox Christians, mainly due to immigration. There was also a presence of believers of many other religions, such as Buddhists, Jews or Hindus.

Music, cinema and literature

During the first decade of the 21st century, singers and groups such as David Bisbal, Alejandro Sanz, La Oreja de Van Gogh, Amaral, Estopa, Melendi, La Quinta Estación, Maldita Nerea or Macaco, among many others, stood out in Spanish music.

Regarding cinema, actors such as Javier Bardem, Penélope Cruz, Antonio Banderas, Elena Anaya, José Coronado, Maribel Verdú, Luis Tosar, Eduardo Noriega, Blanca Suárez, Santiago Segura or Antonio de la Torre, and directors such as Pedro Almodóvar, Alejandro Amenábar or Álex de la Iglesia stood out.

Finally, in terms of literature, writers such as Javier Marías, Juan José Millás, Rosa Montero, Arturo Pérez-Reverte, Antonio Muñoz Molina, Enrique Vila-Matas, Almudena Grandes, Eduardo Mendoza, Manuel Rivas and Javier Cercas stood out.

Media

The national newspapers with the largest circulation were El País, ABC, El Mundo and La Vanguardia, as well as AS and Marca, in the sports press, and numerous local and regional newspapers.

The main radio stations were SER, COPE, Radio Nacional de España (Radio 1 and Radio 5) and Onda Cero, as well as music stations such as 40 Principales, Cadena Dial, M80, Cadena 100, and the music stations of Radio Nacional de España (Radio 3 and Radio Clásica).

As for television, at the beginning of the 21st century there were the following national channels: Televisión Española (TVE-1 and La 2), Antena 3, Telecinco and Canal + (replaced in 2006 by the new channel Cuatro). In 2006, La Sexta appeared as a new channel, and with the arrival of Digital Terrestrial Television the available channels multiplied. Many autonomous communities had one or more regional television channels. There were also numerous local channels.

Sports

The most popular sport in Spain in the first decade of the 21st century was football, especially the First Division of La Liga, and the Copa del Rey, with high-level teams such as Real Madrid and FC Barcelona. In 2010, the Spanish national team won the World Cup held in South Africa. During this period, world titles were also won in other sports, such as basketball in 2006. The decade also saw several successful Spanish cyclists, winners of the Tour de France or the Vuelta a España (Roberto Heras, Óscar Pereiro, Alberto Contador, Carlos Sastre) and the women's Tour de France or "Grande Boucle" (Joane Somarriba), and saw the emergence of two great figures of Spanish sport: the Majorcan tennis player Rafa Nadal, and the Asturian Formula 1 driver Fernando Alonso (the first Spaniard to win the Formula 1 world championship). Other notable Spanish sportspeople of this period were the swimmer Mireia Belmonte, the tennis player Virginia Ruano, the rally driver Carlos Sainz, the motorcyclists Jorge Lorenzo and Dani Pedrosa, and athletes such as Marta Domínguez, Ruth Beitia and Jesús España.