Everybody in Spain eats a great many "churros." Churros are something like doughnuts, but they are twisted into odd shapes and fried in olive oil until they are crisp all the way through, not just on the outside. They are very fine for breakfast with hot chocolate, and they are also good with sugar sprinkled on them as a between-meals snack. Another snack is almonds, grown right in Spain, and shrimp the size of your little finger.
Some of the foods the Spanish children eat are the same ones their great-great-great-grandfathers and mothers ate, too. Mostly, the houses where they live are also very old—as old as the holiday customs that haven't changed in hundreds of years. These old ways and scenes are some of the reasons Spain has been called "the land where time stands still."
Only just now is this old Spain about to become modern Spain. New roads, railroads and airfields are being built to help people get around the country faster and to send food from farms and seacoasts to markets in a hurry. All over Spain you hear the sound of hammers and chisels, busily building a new life for the people.
Spain has joined the United Nations and Spanish boys and girls are eager to join all boys and girls who want their countries to be partners in progress. If, in getting to know Spain, you have learned to like it, perhaps you'll want to say "hello" and "good luck" to your Spanish friends. Here is how to say it: "Saludos, amigos!"
History
Before 200 B.C.—Earliest people lived in caves in northern Spain; were conquered by Iberians, then Celts. Phoenicians and Greeks came, and finally all were conquered by Carthaginians.
201 B.C.—Romans conquered Carthaginians, began a rule lasting more than 500 years.
406 A.D.—Barbarians, especially Visigoths, came into Spain from central Europe and eventually drove out the Romans.
711 A.D.—The Moors came from North Africa and conquered all Spain in less than 10 years. Although the Christian Spaniards started fighting almost immediately for the "Reconquest" of Spain, the Moors were masters for almost 800 years.