The coast of Granada

Tropical Coast is the name of the coast of the province of Granada. With more than 320 sunny days every year and an average temperature of 20 degrees it’s almost an unique paradise in Europe. A lot of foreigners of Northern Europe have an apartment in the villages and they go there on holidays. Some of the locations and the attractions are:

Motril´s beach is a very familiar and nice beach with an extensive maritime walk. There are many bars and restaurants, hotels and camping sites and many pubs to go out for drinks and music. At nights there are many, many parties. There are also many places where you can practise sports.

Playa-Granada beach is very near Motril beach. But, this beach is more luxurious and there are many flats with enormous swimming pools. People from Motril and Playa-Granada meet at nights to go out.

Chiringuitos are very popular here, on Spanish beaches. They are like bars, but they are in the middle of the beach. Here you can have lunch, dinner, or just have a tapa of pescaito or whatever you want. Also at night you can see monologues or have parties like in pubs.

Castell de Ferro is a town located in the coast of Granada.

Every year on June 24 people celebrate St John's Night and they make Bonfires of San Juan, where the fire burns to remove everything unpleasant that happened during the previous year , as a symbolic ritual.. People go to the beach, they eat, sing, drink and bath in the sea.

Salobreña is a town located in the heart of the Tropical Coast which is in the Midwest part of the Granada coast. Some interesting places in Salobreña are the castle, the promenade, the old town and the cane sugar factory (the last in Europe). You can visit the restaurant “Chanquete” too.

La Herradura is a little town situated at the western end of the Granada coast. Some interesting places in La Herradura are the castle and the beach, where you can eat fried fish.

Almuñécar is a coastal region located on the coast of Granada. It is the second most important town. Here there are a lot of apartment buildings where people from all over Europe and Granada live in summer, and there are also a lot of hotels. People go out at weekends to “Los Bajos” and they drink and go to pubs. Almuñecar is a very important town that produces subtropical fruit such as avocados, custard apple, mango, kiwi, persimmons, and many others.

Well, these are the interesting and attractive villages and customs in the coast of Granada. We really encourage you to go and enjoy them!

SWEDEN

Hello my country is Sweden, called Sverige in Swedish!

My country is a member of the European Union.

The nationality of its inhabitants is Swedish. But the country has at least 17 000 indigenous Samis among its population – a community that derives most of its income from reindeer. Sweden is also home to a small number of ethnic Finns.

The dominant national language is Swedish, but it does not appear as the official language of the country. Other languages spoken in this country are Finnish, Danish and English.

Sweden is a Constitutional monarchy. It became part of the European Union in 1995. In 1971 the Riksdag became a single-chamber Parliament. Its 349 members are elected on the basis of proportional representation for a four-year term.

Sweden has a population of 9.2 million and a total area of 449 964 km².

Sweden has the largest population of the Nordic countries. It is separated in the west and north from Norway by the Scandinavian Alps. In the east is Finland and the Gulf of Bothnia with Baltic sea. And in the southwest, it is separated from Denmark by the Straits of Oresund, Kattegat and Skagerrak. It has the island of Gotland and Oland in the Baltic Sea.

Although it belongs to the European Union, they do not use the Euro, but they have their own currency, the krona.

Sweden's cities are famous for their beauty, organization and sustainable urban fabric. The Capital city is Stockholm and it is the largest city in the country. The most important area of Stockholm is the core area of medieval times. The other important districts in this city are Gamla Stan, with the Drottningholm Palace, the residence of the Royal Family of Sweden. Other important cities are Uppsala, Gothenburg , Kalmar, Malmö. Gotland is considered as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

Sweden is the country of origin of the Germanic ethnicity and culture. in the 9^th and 10^th centuries Swedish Vikings invaded and settled in parts of Eastern Europe as far as Caspian Sea. They founded the first kingdom of Russia. In 2006 Sweden was ranked second in the European Union and fifth in the world, at the Human Development Index. Since 2006, Sweden has won 27 Nobel prizes among them 5 awards for peace.

Sweden played a pioneering role of the early days of cinema. Leading the way were Mauritz Stiller and Victor Sjöström. Later on, directors like Ingmar Bergman and actresses such as Greta Garbo, Ingrid Bergman and Anita Ekberg made careers abroad. Sweden has given the world some of the best pop groups and singers such as Abba, The Cardigans, Teens, King Diamond... The '70s pop group.

Swedish cuisine is known by the smorgåsbord (buffet varied and abundant), Baltic herring, pea soup and Pannkaka with ärtsoppa. Sweden is part of the vodka belt and historically distilled beverages such as brännvin and snaps.

I would love to live there because it is a beautiful and joyful country! The Swedish people are very polite and clean. They look after their country. The protection of nature is a priority for governments. People can walk or cycle peacefully. There are many green areas and public transportation is very timely. The public transportation system is effective, timely, comfortable and clean. I love skiing, I would love to ski in the Scandinavian Alps!

On the other hand I would not like to live there, because life is more expensive and there are fewer holidays than in Spain; and in addition, Spanish food is the best!

Ireland

The people who live here are the Irish. The languages spoken here are the Irish English and the Irish Gaelic. It’s a republic and the political system is the democracy. The currency is the euro (€).

About 4.5 million people live here. It’s a country next to Great Britain and it has been independent since 1922. The only border country it has is Northern Ireland. Its area is about 70.000 square kilometres. The capital city is Dublin and other big cities are Cork or Galway.

Let's talk about its history. Its first inhabitants were the Celts. Saint Patrick christianized the Celts and the Romans. Around the 11th century the Vikings invaded them, and in the 12th century the British invaded the country and until 1922 the Irish haven’t been independent. The Great Famine killed about two million people between 1846 and 1851 because potatoes couldn’t be eaten.

Ireland has had a lot of artists, such as Bono or the drummer of U2. The great writer James Joyce was from Dublin and the actor Colin Farrell is also Irish.

Here it is common to drink Stout beer, and the basic food is the potato.

I wouldn’t mind living here because they drink a lot of beer and I like their music. The only thing I dislike is the cold weather.

Portugal

I am Portuguese, so I am from Portugal and in my country we speak Portuguese.

Portugal's political system is the Republic. The population here is about 10.6 million people.

Portugal is in the Atlantic Ocean and it has borders with Spain. The Açores and Madeira are also Portuguese.

Our currency is the Euro because Portugal has been a country member of the European Union since 1986.

Portugal has a total area of 92072 km². The capital city is Lisbon and other important cities are Porto and Braga.

Portugal is a country with a rich history of seafaring and discovery. Portugal's history has had a lasting impact on the culture of the country: Moorish and Oriental influences in architecture and the arts are prominent.

Over the past 3 000 years, Portugal has witnessed a constant ebb and flow of civilisations. Phoenician, Greek, Celt, Carthaginian, Roman and Arabic cultures have all left their imprint. In the 15th century, Portugal’s intrepid maritime explorers led by Vasco da Gama discovered new territories, leading to the accumulation of an overseas empire. At home, the university of Coimbra, established in 1290, is one of the oldest in Europe.

Some famous people from Portugal are Luís de Camões and Fernando Pessoa (poets), José Saramago (writer) and Cristiano Ronaldo, Luis Figo(footballers) and José Mourinho (coach).

Each region of Portugal has its traditional dishes made with various kinds of meat and seafood. In particular, the country is particularly well known for its one hundred ways of cooking cod.

I wouldn't mind living in Portugal because I like its language, because it has beaches and because it is very close to Spain.

New Zealand

My country is New Zealand.

The people of my country are New Zealander. In my country we speak Maori and English. Our political system is a constitucional monarchy with a parlamentary democracy.

Queen Elisabeth II is the Queen of New Zealand and the head of state.

We have a population around 4 million people and a total area of 268,021 km 2.

Is a island country located in the southwestern Pacific Ocean with two islands : North and South islands and it is notable for his geographic isolation.

Our currency is the New Zealand dollar.

The capital city is Wellington and there are other important cities as Auckland, Hamilton and Tauranga.
New Zealand was discovered and settled by the Maori over a thousand years ago when they came by sea from Polynesia in the South Pacific.

In 1840 Maori chiefs signed the Treaty of Waitangi with the British Crown, by which the government accepted British in exchange for a series of guarantees as to the ownership of their lands and treasures.

Some famous people of my country are for example: the actress Melanie Lynskey or Jessica Grace Smith, the actors David de Lautour or Manu Bennet or the director as Peter Jackson.

The typical dishes are two:

Fish and chips: they are very similar to the English.

Colonial Goose: is a preparation of roast leg of lamb.

New Zealand is not a member of the European Union because is of Australasia.

Finally, I would like to live in this country because its cities are among the best quality of life in the world and is a developed country that is always positioned at heights of several international lists about many topics, including the absence of corruption, the level of education and the economic freedom.

Belgium

Belgium

I am Belgian and I am going to talk about Belgium.

In Belgium you can speak three different languages; German, French and Dutch.

It borders in the northern part with Netherlands, in the eastern part with Germany and with

Luxembourg, in the southern part with France, and in the western part with the North Sea.

The currency is the euro and the total area is of 30 528 km².

Belgium has a population of 10.7 millions of people.

Belgium is a federal state divided into three regions: Dutch-speaking Flanders in the north(A),French-speaking Wallonia (C), in the south and Brussels, the bilingual capital, where French and Dutch are the official languages (B). There is also a small German-speaking minority in the eastern part of the country (D).

Independent since 1830, Belgium is a constitutional monarchy. The two houses of Parliament are the Chamber of Representatives,whose members are elected for a maximum period of four years, and the Senate,whose members are elected too. Given its political situation,Belgium is generally run by coalition governments.

Among the best known Belgians are Georges Rémi (Hergé),creator of the Tintin comic-strip.

Painters like René Magritte are the modern-day successors of Rubens.

Georges Rémi "Hergé"

Belgium is famous for its chocolates, which are appreciated the world over. A favourite dish is mussels and chips (French fries) which, according to legend, are a Belgian invention. The country also produces over 1 000 brands of beer.

This country is one of the founding member of EU in 1952.

I would like to live in this country because this country has a lot of work in services sector, and I would like to work as a doctor or as a scientist. In this country the education is very good and I would like to study there. The languages are not a trouble because I speak French and I would like to study German.

ALBANIA by Maria Q

SWITZERLAND

I live in Switzerland, so I am Swiss. In my country we speak German, French, Italian and Romansh. The Romansh is only spoken here. Our political system is democracy and it is a federal republic.

The population of Switzerland is 7,866,500 people. The country is situated in western Europe, where it is bordered With Germany to the north, France to the west, Italy to the south, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east.

Our currency is the Swiss franc and it is used by Liechtenstein too. The total area of Switzerland is 41,285 sq km. Bern is the capital city but there are cities more important and famous like Geneva or Basel. In fact, Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland.

This country was founded in 1291, but in 1798, Napoleon conquered it. Finally Switzerland regained its independence in 1815. In the Twentieth Century Switzerland was not invaded during either of the world wars.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau is from Switzerland, as well as the mathematician Leonhard Euler. Maybe the most successful Swiss in the world is the tennis player Roger Federer. Switzerland is also very famous because of the Gruyère or Emmental cheese, and chocolate. In fact, the Swiss Daniel Peter invented the milk chocolate bar.

This is the Swiss hymn.

Switzerland is not a member of the European Union.

I like living here because is a very beautiful and special country. It has a lot of varied landscapes in a small area. On the Swiss Alps there are a lot of great mountains, valleys and lakes but also there are internationals cities like Zurich or Geneva. So I think Switzerland is a good place to live in, but it is a bit expensive. For me, it is perfect because I love chocolate.

SOUTH AFRICA by Guillermo

My country is South Africa so I am South African. In my country we have eleven official languages: Afrikaans, English, Ndebele, Northern, Sotho, Swazi, Tswana, Tsonga. The official name of my country is Republic of South Africa. South Africa is a parliamentary republic, the Presidents is the head of government, and nowadays he is Jacob Zuma. The population of South Africa is about 50.000.000 people.
South Africa is a country located at the southern tip of Africa. To the north of the country lie the neighbouring territories of Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe; to the east are Mozambique and Swaziland; while Lesotho is an enclave surrounded by South African territory.