one day have a king again, but the person who becomes king must be at least twenty-five years old. The old king is dead and there is nobody for the job right now. But the king's grandson, young Prince Juan Carlos, is taking special studies so he will be ready to be king when he is old enough. And of course there are still people who would like to see Spain become a democratic republic, like the United States, and not have a king at all.

In the meantime, the Spanish people and their government have a lot to do to make their country stable and strong again. If you were to visit Spain, you would see why the Spanish people love their country so much. You could also understand why so many different nations wanted to conquer Spain. Spain is a very beautiful country and also a country that can produce many good things. It has minerals such as iron, lead, copper and sulphur in the earth. In the south, it has a warm climate that helps grow luscious crops of oranges, lemons, olives and grapes for wine.

You might like to take a trip from one region to another by riding on a little donkey as Spanish boys do, or in a little high-wheeled cart pulled by a donkey, the way little Spanish girls might do. Your donkey would probably not have a saddle, but just a rug or a straw mat folded across his back, and he might wear a headband of bright red and blue wool woven into a gay pattern to shade his eyes from the sun. You could carry your food and clothes for the journey in a pair of straw bags hung one on each side of your donkey's back. Along the way, you would see dozens of other little donkeys and burros. The burro is a donkey-cousin but even smaller. Donkeys and burros work with the Spanish men and boys in the fields or carry stones to help build new roads, or carry jars of water from a well to someone's house. These gentle little animals work to earn their keep in Spain.

Suppose you start your trip in the north. At the very most northwestern tip of Spain is the region of Galicia, which everybody thought was the end of the world before Columbus showed them it wasn't. People in Galicia call themselves "Gallegos," and they live in a country of rocky seacoasts, where the ocean pokes long fingers called "rias" back into green hills and fog rolls in almost every day. In Galicia and the neighboring region of Asturias, fathers earn their living by fishing or by farming, and mothers make all the clothes for their families from cloth they weave themselves. Families live in houses built from stones cleared from their own fields. This is where the bagpipes are played while the young people, gaily dressed in red and green, dance their lively dances.

This northern region is quite different from the sunny south, where the climate is very hot in the summer and never really gets cold in the winter. Here in the south is Andalusia, where mountain ranges may have snow on their peaks all year round, but down in the valleys and plains sweet-scented tropical flowers bloom in bright colors every single month. On the hillsides, grapes are grown to make wine, or silvery-green olive trees make groves against the red earth. This is a region of horses and good horsemen. Here big ranches stretch along the river banks and huge black bulls are raised.

The people of Andalusia are full of music, dancing and the love of life. They live in white houses built around courtyards full of flowers, with windows covered with designs in black wrought iron. Black-haired Andalusian women wear black lace mantillas draped over their heads, a kind of veil and shawl. They like to carry lacy fans and wear long flashing earrings. Lots of gypsies live in Andalusia, many of them in caves in the chalky-white hillsides. Gypsy girls wear long red or green or blue dresses dotted with white. They fold bright-colored silk fringed scarves around their necks, and they love to wear many gold bracelets. Andalusia is the region the Moors loved the most, so this is where you'll see many of their lovely stone buildings full of lacelike carvings.

It's like going into another world to journey from Andalusia into western Spain. In Extremadura, the land where the Conquistadores lived, and in León, there are great sweeping plains where the land is not very fertile because there are long dry seasons. Raising sheep, fruit and pigs are the main sources of making a living, and the people must work very hard. They don't have time for as much fun as the Andalusians do. These people are quiet but proud. They are especially proud of their universities, libraries and cathedrals.

Still another little world in this country of contrasts is found in the eastern part of Spain, along the Mediterranean coast and in the region inland from this coast. The coastal regions are called, from north to south, Catalonia, Valencia and Murcia, all very pretty names. Catalonia has a long seacoast which is cut by many bays and coves reaching back right into the mountains, which rise straight from the sea. Many white sand beaches, rimmed with pine trees, invite you to stop and swim and sun. If you stopped, you could have fun climbing around the ruins of old walls and watchtowers on the hills looking out to sea. Once upon a time on these hills, lookouts used to give warning when pirates were sailing up to plunder the villages. One of these Catalonian villages, called Tossa de Mar, has a whole village built inside the walls on top of a hill above the regular village. People used to gather in this hilltop hideout for protection against pirates. The second largest city in Spain, Barcelona, is in Catalonia, and it has a very busy harbor where ships of all nations sail in and out every day.

Valencia, south of Catalonia, is a land of flowers. Carnations, roses, jasmine, scarlet bougainvillea vines, and orange and lemon blossoms fill the air with perfume. Every Spaniard loves flowers, and every window and courtyard is full of blossoms. In the city of Valencia there's a Battle of Flowers every year during one of their festivals. Great baskets of