Observations on change & continuity in Spain

Like most of the countries in the world, Spain is never an unchanging or unchanged society. In the antiquity, Spain was very well known for its religious orthodoxy and also the Inquisition. Nowadays, the people in Spain enjoy not only the freedom of religion but also freedom from belief in their still culturally Catholic-majority country. 'There are still bullfightings but there are now also people who think the old tradition is pretty cruel and dangerous. Spain has also contributed to the world one of the greatest masterworks of literature, viz. Don Quixote de la Mancha written by Miguel de Cervantes (1547-1616). 'Meanwhile, the Spanish language remains one of the 'six diplomatic languages of the United Nations ('UN'), 'lingua franca of the majority of the population in the Latin American republics and also the second most widely used second language in the United States. Many Spaniards are believed to be moving to the republics in Latin America to look for jobs. Most of these Spanish-speaking republics in Latin America are actually the ex-colonies that freed themselves in the late 18th or early 19th century.