#276 Spain...Thanks Guillermo!

The 30p stamp is from 1995 Archaeology issue showing Ruins of Torralba,Minorca,which is an archaeological site in northern Spain where large mammal remains and stone tools from 400,000 years ago suggest early hominid hunting or scavenging

The 5p stamp is from 1970 Tourism issue showing The Gate of Vitoria,which is located in northern Spain and is the second largest Basque city, after Bilbao.

The 25p stamp is from 1978 Famous People issue honoring Pio Baroja.

Pío Baroja (1872–1956) was a Spanish Basque writer, one of the key novelists of the Generation of '98.he is best known internationally by the trilogy entitled La lucha por la vida (The Struggle for Life, 1922–1924) which offers a vivid depiction of life in Madrid's slums. Ernest Hemingway was greatly influenced by Baroja's work.

The 0.34€ stamp was issued in 2010 celebrating Spanish Presidency of European Union during the first six months of 2010.

Since Spain joined the EU in 1986, it is the fourth time that it holds the Presidency of the European Council, also known as Council of Ministers. On previous occasions, the Spanish presidency was held in the first half of 1989, second half of 1995 and first half of 2002. The primary responsibility of the presidency is the functioning of the European Institutions and the task is undertaken by an entire national government. The presidency is rotated between European Union (EU) member states every six months, from January to June and from July to December. On December 1st 2009, the Treaty of Lisbon entered into force altering the structure of the EU’s institutions and how they work and amending the periods of tenure in office.

The EU is made up of democratic European countries and its aim is to provide peace, prosperity and stability for its peoples; overcome the divisions on the continent; ensure that its people can live in safety; promote balanced economic and social development; meet the challenges of globalisation and preserve the diversity of the peoples of Europe; uphold the values that Europeans share, such as sustainable development and a sound environment, respect for human rights and the social market economy. Important institutions and bodies of the EU include the European Commission, the Council of the European Union and the European Parliament.

The stamps depict the logo of the Spanish Presidency with the letter “eu” in italics. This design was the result of a public contest amongst design students in Spain, Belgium and Hungary, the three countries that will successively preside over the EU from January 1st 2010 to June 30th 2011. The winner was Belgian born Antoine Durieux. This is the first time in the history of the EU that the same logo will be shared by various countries during their presidency, the only difference being the colour of the logo which will be in the colours of each country’s national flag.