SPAIN + PORTUGAL: THE IBERIAN UNION

The word "Spain", comes from the latin word HISPANIA. That's how the romans called the peninsula which was also named IBERIA by the greeks. Then with the time, the roman name survived for the country (its evolution, to España), and the greek name survived for the geographical name of the land: Iberian peninsula.

May some people would ask why Portugal exist as an independent territory, in the western corner of Spain. Are Spain and Portugal so different? Not at all.

So well: from the beginning, the ancient peoples of the peninsula (iberians and celtics), were mixed as the same way, making no differences between the current Spain or current Portugal. After the roman invasion, they called the land Hispania. They divided the peninsula into several provinces. Parts from both countries were united into same provinces, making no difference.

After roman fall, in  V Century, Hispania was invaded by "barbarians" (germanic and caucasian peoples). Then, it was funded the KINGDOM OF HISPANIA. In that kingdom, the territories of Spain and Portugal, were still just one.

Years later, Hispania was invaded by the arabic caliphate, then the kingdom was broken. The new christian king, hidden in the very north, began the RECONQUEST of the land. Nevertheless, like was common during middle age, there was not a only kingdom, but the territory started to be divided into smaller kingdoms, who were reconquering the territory from north to south. Around the year 1100, the main spanish crown, the Kingdom of Leon-Castille, had in its territory also the territory or Portugal til the line of Lisbon.

Someday, a lord from a western territory declared his domain as independent. Then in te reconquest were 5 kingdoms and 1 county: Portugal, Leon, Castilla, Navarra, Aragon and Barcelona county. During next times, those territories began to unify, due to dinastic marriages, familiar treaties, etc. That way, Castilla and Leon formed an only crown. Aragon absorbed the Barcelona county. During XV century, it happened 2 options, a marriage between castillian  Queen with the King of Aragon or King of Portugal. Any of both decisions would created a different new Kingdom... and finally the chosen was Castilla+Aragon (conquering after Navarra by force). When that kings finished the reconquer, taking the moorish Kingdom of Granada, Spain, a new kingdom was born.

The Catholic Monarchs and the Portugal king, wanted that their sons would married each other, to create finally 1 only kingdom in the whole peninsula, big and powerful. But the heritors sadly died and that union was not possible. Then another marriage made a dinastic union between Spain and Germany. Years after, the King Philip II, reached the dream, Spain and Portugal got unified during the Golden Century, creating the most powerful empire on earth.

After Philip death, another lord claimed the throne of Portugal, and started a war. Then, Spain was the hegemonic 1st world power, and the british empire his worst enemy. The english, in their way to make Spain weaker, supported the independence of Portugal, what was reached. But even that, London declared Portugal as their main allied, and they guaranteed to the portugueses crown its independence. Any attempt of Spain to reconquer Portugal, would mean a war with England. Then, during all modern times, never was possible to make the dream of the iberian peoples, to see their territory unified in only 1 kingdom.

TODAY: THE UNION IS MORE NECESSARY THAN EVER.

We live in crisis times. The biggest nations of the world are growing in a velocity impossible to reach for the classical european nations, who has little territories, comparing to the rest of continents. The UNION MAKES FORCE. Spain and Portugal had been looking each other back to back since their independence. Not enemies, but not friends, just ignoring each other during long time... their biggest mistake ever.

An union between the current 2 countries would create a biggest and powerful country, unifying finally the whole peninsula. A big country that would create a concentrical axis, with the huge city of Madrid, and very important portuary cities in the mediterranean coast at east, and in the atlantic coast at west. Its numbers, will create a country with same population and economic size than UK, Italy and France, the 3 bigers under Germany. 

That union would include also 6 archipelagos, one in the Mediterranean, and the 5 archipelagos from the Macaronesia, in the Atlantic. That would include in the union the little country of CABO VERDE. That islands were firstly ever colonizated by Portugal, and belonged to Portugal until 1975. They have portuguese as the only oficial language.

 - Balearic Islands: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balearic_Islands

- Azores Islands: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azores

- Madeira Islands: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madeira

- Canary Islands: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canary_Islands

- Savage Islands: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Savage_Islands

- Cape Verde: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cape_Verde

NUMBERS OF SPAIN+PORTUGAL UNION:

- TERRITORY: 601.069 km²

- POPULATION: 58.328.084

- GDP: 1.580.579

BIGGEST CITIES (metropolitan population):

1- Madrid: 6.052.247

2- Barcelona: 4.542.490

3- Lisboa: 2.832.384

4- Porto: 2.459.470

5- Valencia: 1.729.491

6- Sevilla: 1.360.361

7- Málaga: 953.251

8- Bilbao: 910.578

9- Zaragoza: 746.152

10- Alicante-Elche: 785.020