SPAIN

SPAIN / ESPAÑA.

Explorers of Oceania.
Ruy López de Villalobos and Map.
Stamp issued on 22.06.2021.
Face value: 2.50 euro.
Printing: Offset lithography on wood paper.
Printed by F.N.M.T. (Fábrica Nacional de Moneda y Timbre), Madrid.
Print: 160,000 copies.
Size: 57.75 x 41 mm.

- Edifil No. 5498.
- Michel No. 5548.
- Scott No. 4538.
- StampWorld No. 5552.
- Unificato No. 5281.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 5253.

Beginning with the expedition of Magellan and Elcano (1519-1522), Spain made numerous expeditions to the Pacific Ocean, resulting in the exploration and discovery of numerous territories, many of which were later incorporated into the Spanish Empire. On November 1, 1542, Ruy López de Villalobos sailed with six ships and about 400 men from Barra de Navidad (Jalisco, Mexico) heading southwest towards the South Pacific and reached the island of Mindanao, after discovering some land. From there the expedition headed for the Spice Islands (Moluccas). Among Villalobos' discoveries are the Clarión Island; Wotje Atoll in the eastern Marshalls; the insular group of Kwajalein atolls (what they called “The Garden Islands”), in the central Marshalls; Fais Island in the western Marshalls and Yap Island in the western Carolinas. Villalobos died on April 4, 1544 on the island of Ambon, in the Moluccas.

SPAIN

SPAIN / ESPAÑA.

Missions of the Capuchin Fathers in the Orinoco.
Map of a part of the Orinoco River by Pablo Díaz Fajardo (1733).
First stamp in a set of 5, issued on 12.10.1968.
Face value: 40 cents of Spanish peseta.
Printed by F.N.M.T. (Fábrica Nacional de Moneda y Timbre), Madrid.
Printing: Photogravure.
Print: 8,000,000 copies.
Size: 26 x 41 mm.

Catalogs
- AFA No. 1888.
- Edifil No. 1889.
- Michel No. 1782.
- Scott No. 1547.
- StampWorld No. 1788.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 1947.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 1549.

In 1681 the Catalan Capuchin Fathers were authorized to cross the Atlantic to carry out evangelization in American lands. However, until 1722 they did not obtain the first fruitful results. In 1772 two of them, Benet de la Garriga and Marià de Mataró, went up the Orinoco River, crossed the Gran Sabana and entered lands still unknown to Europeans, on the banks of the Caroní River; they were later joined by other religious of the same order. 28 Capuchin missions were established, linked together by a network of roads. Although the task of these missionaries began to decline at the end of the 18th century, the Capuchins paved the way for other religious and lay expeditionaries. In the first decades of the 20th century some missions were still active.

The map reproduced on the stamp was made in 1733 by the Spanish soldier Pablo Díaz Fajardo, who gave his name to the island that can be seen in the upper part, at the confluence of the Caroní River with the Orinoco, where the current Ciudad Guayana is located.

SPAIN

 SPAIN / ESPAÑA.

Nature.
Duratón River Gorges Natural Park.
First stamp in a set of 2, issued on 10.03.2008.
Face value: 0.31 euros.
Printed by RCM.-FNMT (Real Casa de la Moneda - Fábrica Nacional de Moneda y Timbre).
Printing: Photogravure.
Print: 1,000,000 copies.
Size: 40.9 x 28.8 mm.

Catalogs
- AFA No. 4428.
- Edifil No. 4397.
- Michel No. 4302.
- Scott No. 3556.
- StampWorld No. 4310.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 4344.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 4007.

The Duratón River Gorges Natural Park (Spanish: Parque Natural de las Hoces del Río Duratón) covers an area of 5,037 hectares (12,450 acres) in the province of Segovia, Community of Castile and León; It extends over land in the municipalities of Sepúlveda, Sebúlcor and Carrascal del Río. It was established on June 27, 1989. The park contains a series of 100 m (330 ft) high gorges that were formed by the Duratón River, a tributary of the Douro. It is home to a population of griffon vultures, along with Egyptian vultures, common kestrels, and peregrine falcons. The park space has been occupied by humans since prehistoric times; The oldest finds are Neolithic ceramics dating from 3000 BC. The gorges were classified as a Special Protection Area, becoming part of the Natura 2000 Network in April 1991 and declared a Site of Community Importance (SCI) in January 1998.

SPAIN

SPAIN / ESPAÑA.

Stamp Exhibition ESPAMER 96, Seville.
Air postal line Seville-Larache 1921.
Map of southern Spain and northern Morocco with the route.
First stamp in a minisheet of 4, issued on 04.05.1996.
Face value: 100 Spanish pesetas.
Printed by F.N.M.T. (Fábrica Nacional de Moneda y Timbre), Madrid.
Printing: Photogravure.
Print: 1,200,000 copies.

Catalogs
- AFA No. 3357.
- Edifil No. 3433A.
- Michel No. 3277.
- Scott No. 2851a.
- StampWorld No. 3283.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 3011.

The Seville-Larache airline was inaugurated on October 15, 1921 with a De Havilland DH-9 plane from CETA (Compañía Española de Tráfico Aéreo [Spanish Air Traffic Company], created in 1920) piloted by the Englishman Jack Hatchett, carrying, in addition to its postal cargo , three passengers and an autograph letter from King Alfonso XIII addressed to General Emilio Barrera, greeting the Spanish troops fighting in Africa.

SPAIN

SPAIN / ESPAÑA.

Sciences of the Earth and the Universe.
Map of the border between Castilla-La Mancha, Castilla y Léon and Extremadura.
First stamp in a set of 2, issued on 16.02.2007.
Face value: 0.30 euro.
Printed by Real Casa de la Moneda - Fábrica Nacional de Moneda y Timbre, Madrid.
Printing: Offset lithography.
Size: 40.9 x 28.8 mm.

Catalogs
- AFA No. 4327.
- Edifil No. 4314.
- Michel No. 4205.
- Scott No. 3480.
- StampWorld No. 4213.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 4263.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 3910.

The Rosarito reservoir, which appears on the map, dams the waters of the Tiétar River and is located in the Tagus River hydrographic basin, in the central area of the Iberian Peninsula, between the provinces of Ávila (Castilla y León) and Toledo (Castilla la Mancha). It was built between 1940 and 1958 for irrigation use, and has a capacity of 82 cubic hectometers. The dam is 123.35 m (404.69 ft) long and 37.5 m (123 ft) high. The reservoir constitutes an important wintering nucleus for the common crane.

SPAIN

SPAIN / ESPAÑA.

Issue EUROPA (C.E.P.T).
Ordesa and Monte Perdido National Park.
Second stamp in a set of 2, issued on 02.05.1977.
Face value: 12 Spanish pesetas.
Printed by F.N.M.T. (Fábrica Nacional de Moneda y Timbre), Madrid.
Printing: Photogravure.
Print: 8,000,000 copies.
Size: 45 x 33 mm.

Catalogs
- AFA No. 2399.
- Edifil No. 2414.
- Michel No. 2300.
- Scott No. 2042.
- StampWorld No. 2306.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 2463.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 2053.

Ordesa and Monte Perdido National Park (Spanish: Parque Nacional de Ordesa y Monte Perdido; Aragonese: Parque Nacional d’Ordesa y d’as Tres Serols) is situated in the Pyrenees, into the Huesca Province (Aragon). There has been a National Park in the Ordesa Valley since August 16, 1918. Its protected area was enlarged on July 13, 1982 to cover the whole region (including Monte Perdido), amounting to 156.08 km² (6,026.28 sq mi). Its altitude ranges between 700 m (2,296 ft) on the Bellos River and 3,348 m (7,375 ft) on the Monte Perdido. In 1977 it was declared a Biosphere Reserve, in 1988 a Special Protection Area for birds and in 1997 a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. The basic morphology of the park is due to two orogenies, but mainly to the alpine folding and elevation of the Tertiary era, later shaped by glacial erosion during the Quaternary era, giving rise to a series of very defined glacial cirques and valleys, such as the Ordesa Valley (represented on the stamp) and the Pineta Valley.

SPAIN

SPAIN / ESPAÑA.

Nature.
Órganos de Montoro.
Stamp issued on 17.11.2003.
Face value: 0,51 euro.
Engraved and print by RCM - FNMT, Madrid.
Printing: photogravure.
Print: 1,200,000 copies.
Size: 40.9 x 28.8 mm.

Catalogs
- Edifil No. 4035.
- Michel No. 3897.
- StampWorld No. 3903.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 4007.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 3611.

The Órganos de Montoro is a natural set comprising a large number of stunning limestone needles over two hundred feet high, found in the Maestrazgo / Maestrat mountain region in rhe province of Teruel (Aragon). Named after the resemblance to the pipes of a church organs. Its surface is 187.60 ha. The altitude ranges between 800 m (2,625 ft) above sea level in the Guadalope River and 1,183 m (3,881 ft) in the Peña de los Órganos.

SPAIN

SPAIN / ESPAÑA.

Balearic Islands on a map by Diogo Homem (1563).
Stamp issued on 08.07.1981.
Face value: 7 Spanish pesetas.
Printed by F.N.M.T. (Fábrica Nacional de Moneda y Timbre), Madrid.
Printing: Photogravure.
Print: 12,000,000 copies.
Size: 50 x 34 mm.

Catalogs
- AFA No. 2596.
- Edifil No. 2622.
- Michel No. 2505.
- Scott No. 2243.
- StampWorld No. 2511.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 2649.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 2250.

The Balearic Islands (Catalan: Illes Balears; Spanish: Islas Baleares) are a Spanish archipelago in the western Mediterranean Sea, near the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula, formed by four largest islands: Mallorca, Menorca, Ibiza, and Formentera, and many minor islands and islets. Its total area is 4,992 km² (1,927 sq mi) and its population, in 2020, was 1,215,174 inhabitants.

Diogo Homem (1521-1576) was a Portuguese cartographer, member of a family of cartographers. Due to a crime of murder, in which he was connivent, he was forced to exile from Portugal, first in England, and then in Venice. It was there that he produced numerous manuscript atlases and charts, many of them of the Mediterranean. His work is of an exceptional graphical quality and beauty.

SPAIN

SPAIN.

National and Natural Parks.
Sanabria Lake Natural Park, and wolf.
Last stamp in a set of 3, issued on 15.09.2010.
Face value: 0.45 euro.
Printing: Photogravure.
Print: 320,000 copies.
Size: 57.6 x 40.9 mm.

Catalogs
- Edifil No. 4591.
- Michel No. 4532.
- StampWorld No. 4540.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 4546.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 4237.

The Sanabria Lake Natural Park (Parque natural Lago de Sanabria, currently Parque natural Lago de Sanabria y sierras Segundera y de Porto) was established on October 27, 1978. It is located in the northwest of the province of Zamora, Community of Castile and León, and includes the municipalities of Galende, Cobreros, Trefacio and Porto. The area of ​​the park is, since it was expanded in 2015, 323.02 km² (124.72 sq mi), and its altitude varies between 997 m (3,271 ft) on the shores of the lake, up to 2,127 m (6,978 ft) at the peak of Peña Trevinca. On June 9, 2015, UNESCO declared it part of the Iberian Plateau transboundary biosphere reserve. Sanabria is the largest lake of glacial origin in the Iberian Peninsula, with 3.18 km² (1.23 sq mi) and a maximum depth of 53 m (174 ft), and throughout history, until the beginning of the 20th century, it has received different names, such as Lake San Martín de Castañeda or Lake Villachica. The fauna and flora of the park are very rich in species.

SPAIN

SPAIN / ESPAÑA.

Centenary of the Royal Geographic Society (Real Sociedad Geográfica).
Map of Mediterranean and North Africa, from the Islario General (1541) by Alonso de Santa Cruz.
Minisheet issued on 01.10.2003.
Face value: 1.85 euro.
Printing: Offset lithography and recess.
Printed by Real Casa de la Moneda - Fábrica Nacional de Moneda y Timbre, Madrid.
Print: 600,000 copies.
Size: 105 x 78 mm.

Catalogs
- Edifil No. 4021.
- Michel No. BL120.
- StampWorld No. 3888.
- Stanley Gibbons No. MS 3993.
- Yvert et Tellier No. BF 119.

The Real Sociedad Geográfica (Royal Geographical Society) is an association created under the name of Sociedad Geográfica de Madrid (Madrid Geographical Society) in 1876, with the aim of disseminating geographic knowledge and research and study of it, mainly in Spain and the countries linked to it for cultural or linguistic reasons. On February 18, 1901, it was renamed with the current name of Real Sociedad Geográfica. During the Second Spanish Republic, between 1931 and 1939, its name was the Sociedad Geográfica Nacional (National Geographic Society). It is a member of the International Geographical Union (IGU), the European Association for Geography (EUGEO) and the European Association of Geographers (EUROGEO).

The Islario General de todas las Islas del Mundo (General Islarian of all the Islands of the World), known simply as Islario General, is a geography text in four volumes by Alonso de Santa Cruz Produced in 1542 at the request of King Philip II. It is composed of eight regional maps and 103 local maps, and a map of Mexico. The map reproduced on the stamp is a fragment of Plate III of the work.

SPAIN

SPAIN / ESPAÑA.

Nature.
Cañón del Río Lobos Natural Park.
First stamp in a set of 2, issued on 09.03.2009.
Face value: 0.43 euro.
Printing: Photogravure.
Printed by RCM-FNMT (Real Casa de la Moneda - Fábrica Nacional de Moneda y Timbre), Madrid.
Print: 450,000 copies.
Size: 40.9 x 28.8 mm.

Catalogs
- Edifil No. 4480.
- Michel No. 4402.
- StampWorld No. 4410.
- Stanley Gibbons No.4430.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 4107.

Cañón del Río Lobos Natural Park is a protected limestone landscape in the autonomous community of Castile and León, located between the provinces of Soria and Burgos. It was declared a Natural Park by the Junta de Castilla y León (regional government) on October 10, 1985, and includes a Special Protection Area for birds declared in 1987. The surface of the park is 101.76 km² (39.29 sq mi) distributed among seven municipalities. Morphologically, it is a deep gash excavated in the Mesozoic limestone of the Lobos riverbed, which has exposed huge walls of several dozen meters in elevation. The whole area is an immense karst with many caves and chasms, as well as sinkholes. The groundwater and aquifer system is very complete.

SPAIN

SPAIN (Republic) / ESPAÑA (República).

Expedition of Captain Francisco Iglesias to the Amazon.
Antique map of the Amazon river in South America, and Caribbean Islands.
Stamp issued on 12.10.1935.
Face value: 30 cents of Spanish peseta.
Printing: Recess.
Printed by Fábrica Nacional de Moneda y Timbre, Madrid.
Print: 1,000,000 copies.
Size: 34 x 27 mm.

Catalogues
- Edifil No. 694.
- Michel No. 646A.
- Scott No. 556.
- StampWorld No. 634.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 785.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 539.

Francisco Iglesias (1900-1973) was a pioneer of aviation, military, engineer and Spanish explorer. In 1932, the Madrid government approved the most relevant scientific project in republican Spain, an expedition to the Amazon, a mission that it entrusted to Iglesias. While he was preparing the expedition in Peru, with the help of the emigrant and bookseller Cesáreo Mosquera, the philologist Lucas Espinosa and the adventurer Alfonso Graña, who was already living among the Shuar Indians of the Peruvian jungle, he participated as a mediator in the international conflict between Colombia and Peru, the so-called Leticia Incident, supporting the Peruvian positions before the League of Nations. However, the outbreak of the Spanish civil war in July 1936 made it impossible for this expedition to take place.

SPAIN

SPAIN / ESPAÑA.

Tourism.
Bohí Valley (Vall de Boí), Catalonia.
First stamp in a set of 5, issued on 16.05.1966.
Face value: 10 cents of Spanish peseta.
Printed by F.N.M.T. (Fábrica Nacional de Moneda y Timbre), Madrid.
Printing: Recess.
Print: 7,500,000 copies.
Size: 34 x 29 mm.

Catalogues
- Edifil No. 1726.
- Michel No. 1616.
- Scott No. 1353.
- StampWorld No. 1622.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 1786.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 1380.

The Bohí Valley (in Catalan, Vall de Boí; in Spanish, Valle de Bohí) is located in the Catalan comarca of Alta Robagorça, northeast of Catalonia. Its area is 219.5 km² (84.75 sq mi). The valley is especially known for its nine early Romanesque churches, making it the site of the densest concentration of Romanesque architecture in Europe, declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site on November 30, 2000. The valley too includes the highest ski resort in the Pyrenees, in Boí-Taüll, and is bordered to the northeast by the Aigüestortes i Estany de Sant Maurici National Park.

SPAIN

SPAIN / ESPAÑA.

5th Centenary of the Juan de la Cosa map.
Minisheet issued on 14.07.2000.
Face value: 150 pesetas.
Printing: Photogravure.
Print: 1,500,000 copies.
Size: 163,6 x 87 mm.

Catalogues
- Edifil No. SH 3722.
- Michel No. 3555.
- StampWorld No. 3561.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 3289.

Juan de la Cosa, probably born in Santoña (Cantabria) between 1450 and 1460, was a Spanish navigator and cartographer who participated in seven of the first voyages to America. After his return from Columbus's second voyage (1493-1496) he settled in El Puerto de Santa María (Andalusia), where in 1500 he made the oldest preserved map showing the American continent, painted on two skins of parchment joined in the shape of an irregular rectangle 96 cm wide and 183 cm long. It reflects the results of the discoveries made in America during the 15th century. It is decorated with compass roses, flags, ships, cities, kings, characters from the Bible and mythological figures. Some rivers are represented and most of the place names are written in old Spanish. Juan de la Cosa died February 28, 1510 in Turbaco, north of present-day Colombia, in an armed confrontation with indigenous people, victim of a poisoned arrow.

The famous map was rediscovered in 1832 by Baron de Walckenaer, Dutch plenipotentiary minister in Paris, on the death of which, in 1853, it was auctioned and purchased by the Spanish government. Since then it has been exhibited in the Naval Museum of Madrid.

SPAIN

SPAIN / ESPAÑA.

Hispanic community.
Map of the bay and the city of San Juan de Puerto Rico (1792).
Last stamp in a set of 4, issued on 12.10.1972.
Face value: 8 pesetas.
Printing: Photogravure.
Printef by Fábrica Nacional de Moneda y Timbre, Madrid.
Print: 6,000,000 copies.
Size: 29 x 41 mm.

Catalogues
- Edifil No. 2110.
- Michel No. 2005.
- Scott No. 1737.
- StampWorld No. 2011.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 2168.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 1764.

Puerto Rico was an overseas territory of the Spanish Crown from the arrival of Christopher Columbus (who named the island San Juan Bautista) on November 6, 1493 until the promulgation of the Autonomy Charter of Puerto Rico in 1897, and administratively it was a Spanish province from 1897 to the Spanish-American War of 1898. Shortly after the arrival of Columbus, the city of San Juan became the most important military post in America. In 1508, Juan Ponce de León was appointed governor of the island and founded the original settlement, Caparra, to the west of the current metropolitan area. The map reproduced on the stamp, from 1792, is the work of the Spanish engineer Francisco Mestre, and is kept in the Military Historical Service in Madrid.

SPAIN

SPAIN / ESPAÑA. Canary Islands / Islas Canarias.

The Risco Caído (Fallen Cliff) and the Sacred Mountains Cultural Landscape.
Minisheet issued on 05.10.2020.
Face value: 4 euro.
Photography: Nacho González.
Printing: Chacography and offset.
Print: 125,000 copies.
Size: 150 x 104.5 mm (for the stamp: 47 x 63.5 mm).

Catalogues
- StampWorld No. 5489.

Risco Caído is a landform and archaeological site on the island of Gran Canaria. The site contains prehistoric cave dwellings, temples and granaries attributed to the Canarian aborigines, in the period between the arrival of the North African Berbers, towards the beginning of our era, until the first Spanish settlers in the 15th century. Located in an extensive mountainous area in the center of Gran Canaria, Risco Caído comprises cliffs, ravines and volcanic formations in a landscape of rich biodiversity. In July 2019, Risco Caído was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

SPAIN

SPAIN / ESPAÑA.

Explorers and colonisers of America: Venezuela.
Map of Santiago de León de Caracas.
Last stamp in a set of 5. issued on 12.10.1968.
Face value: 6 pesetas.
Printed by F. N. M. T. (Fábrica Nacional de Moneda y Timbre), Madrid.
Stamp: 8,000,000 copies.

Catalogues
- Edifil No. 1893.
- StampWorld No. 1792.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 2001.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 1553. 

In 1560, a mestizo from Margarita Island installed a small cattle establishment in the north of Venezuela, where later the Spanish conqueror Juan Rodríguez Suárez arrived, who established the Villa de San Francisco there to defend the area from frequent confrontations between indigenous tribes. In 1567 another Spanish conqueror, Diego de Losada, populated the place and on July 25 of the same year he founded the city of Santiago de León de Caracas (Caracas was the transcription of the name that the indigenous Caribs gave to that region). Shortly after, Governor Juan de Pimentel established it as his residence and administrative capital of the province of Venezuela. In 1578 Pimentel designed the first urban map of Caracas, which is the one reproduced on the stamp.

SPAIN

SPAIN / ESPAÑA.

50th anniversary of the Higher Geographic Council (Consejo Superior Geográfico), 1923-1973.
Nautical chart from the 14th century (Western Europe, North Africa and the Atlantic Ocean).
Stamp issued on 26.01.1974.
Face value: 2 pesetas.
Print: 10,000,000 copies.

Catalogues
- Edifil No. 2172.
- StampWorld No. 2073.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 1827.

The Higher Geographic Council (Consejo Superior Geográfico) was created in 1923 by the board of General Miguel Primo de Rivera to establish the cartographic needs of the country and allocate resources. It was a military body, dependent on the Ministry of War, chaired by the second chief of the Central General Staff. In October 1931 it was suppressed by the government of the Spanish Republic, and restored in 1942 by the regime of General Franco. Currently, as the governing body of the National Cartographic System (Sistema Cartográfico Nacional), it depends on technical ministries (Fomento, Transportes or with the name given by each government).

SPAIN

SPAIN / ESPAÑA.

"Exfilna'88", National Philatelic Exhibition. Pamplona, June 25 - July 3.
Minisheet with a stamp of 20 pesetas and the representations of an old nautical chart of the
southern Caribbean Sea and the Greater Antilles, a small map of the Iberian Peninsula and,
on the stamp, the representation of the Citadel of the Spanish city of Pamplona.
Issued on 25.06.1988.
Face value: 20 Spanish pesetas.
Printing: Rotogravure.
Printed by the F.N.M.T. (Fábrica Nacional de Moneda y Timbre), Madrid.
Print: 3,500,000 copies.
Size: 120 x 60 mm.

Catalogues
- Edifil No. SH 2956.
- Miche No. B32.
- StampWorld No. 2841.
- Yvert et Tellier No. BF38 (minisheet) and 2868 (stamp).

The National Philatelic Exhibition (Exposición Filatélica Nacional, EXFILNA) is the most important national stamp exhibition in Spain. It is organized annually since 1963 by the Spanish Federation of Philatelic Societies (FESOFI), with the sponsorship of the State Correos y Telégrafos Society. The Exhibition is also competitive in nature, which is why it is also known as the Spanish Philately Championship. For underage stamp collectors, JUVENIA, Exposición Nacional de Filatelia Juvenil (National Youth Philately Exhibition), is held every odd year, dedicated to the promotion and dissemination of stamp collecting among children and young people.