Spanish-language Geography

ALBET, A., ZUSMAN, P.

International Encyclopedia of Human Geography

Elsevier

Lugar: London; Año: 2008; p. 296 - 301

In Spain, geography reached an effective institutionalization only after 1940 but its solid university status arrived in late 1970s when students massively enrolled and a geography degree and some geography departments could be created. Vidalian geographical tradition has been the most influential until very recent times, but most of the Spanish geography is still very descriptive altough the introduction of quantitative methodologies gave a touch of apparent modernity. In recent years geography has established itself as an emerging profession in Spain, mainly in applied fields, but concurrence with other professionals is strong. By the end of the 19th century, Latin America´s geography was associated with the practices of the modern nation states defining their territories and sometimes the role of military geographical institutes was crucial. In the 1960s a proposal for a critical geography was designed and the idea of ?social space? appeared as a key concept of the analysis, having Milton Santos as an influential figure. More recently, and after the dark period of the dictatorships, the interest raised by the environmental issues and by GIS have led to a renaissance for geographic studies.