Bitcoin ATMs In Spain: a cross-section of the Bitcoin ATMs market in the country

Historical background

The Kingdom of Spain traces its current shape and history to the early modern era. In 1492 it succeeded in ousting the Arabs from the Peninsula after almost 800 years of reconquest, that is, fighting the Muslim invaders, and under the influence of Isabella of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragon united the state through their marriage. Earlier history, however, is very rich, in ancient times the peninsula was inhabited by the Iberians (it is to them that we owe the name of the peninsula), the Celts and also the Basques, whose origin is still one of the greatest anthropological mysteries. It is worth remembering that the Basques still inhabit Spain today and speak a completely different language, which is closest to the Caucasian languages (including Georgian). They have their own culture and have a very strong sense of separateness, which they often manifest in football stadiums and, until recently, also through the unpopular activities of the Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (ETA) organization, which fought for Basque independence through terrorist methods. 

In antiquity, more powerful civilizations began to arrive on the Iberian Peninsula over time - the Phoenicians, who settled on the southern coast, the Greeks - on the eastern coast and finally the Romans, who, as a result of their victory in the Second Punic War, conquered the Peninsula through Scipio of Africa. The period of Roman rule was a time of so-called Romanization, which also resulted in the fact that Spanish belongs to the group of Romance languages. After the collapse of the Western Roman Empire due to, among other things, barbarian invasions, the Peninsula came under the rule of one of the barbarian peoples - the Visigoths. They adopted the Roman heritage in culture, but their rule lasted only two centuries, due to the great Arab invasion.
The Arab times had a huge impact on what Spain looks like today, especially its southern part - Andalusia. However, at the end of the 15th century, when Portugal was already sailing the seas and oceans, Spain too decided to start searching for gold, spices and other valuables. Thus began the Age of Geographic Discovery, which was ushered in for Spain in 1492 by Christopher Columbus. Over the next 200 years of Habsburg rule, Spain became one of the largest colonial empires in world history. Spain was said to be the country over which the sun never sets - the Spanish flag flew in the Philippines, the Americas, as well as Equatorial Guinea and the Sahara. Through a 40-year personal union with Portugal in the late 16th century, Spain also ruled over the coast of all of Africa, India and also Brazil. It was not until the 18th century and the reign of the Bourbon dynasty that Spanish power came to an end. American colonies - from Argentina to Mexico between 1811 and 1821 declared independence under the leadership of distinctive liberators (Libertadores) such as Simon Bolivar and Jose de San Martin. 

At the end of the 19th century, Spain lost its last colonies - Puerto Rico, the Philippines and Cuba - as a result of the war with the United States. King Alfonso XII decided to seek new territories in Africa and, through the annexation of Northern Morocco, triggered the Rifen uprising, which lasted 20 years. Ultimately, Spanish Morocco remained with the Bourbon crown until 1956. By World War II, Francisco Franco seized power in the country, defeating supporters of the Republic and beginning authoritarian rule. At the time, Spain was a military dictatorship, without a king, as the king was overthrown back in 1931 when the Republicans won the elections. Spain's current borders were formed precisely during the Francoist period - then Western Sahara was incorporated into Morocco and Equatorial Guinea voted for independence. Today Spain is a member of NATO, the European Union, and is also part of the Schengen Area. The Socialists, headed by Pedro Sanchez, are currently in power.
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Administrative division of Spain

Spain is divided into 17 autonomous communities (Comunidades Autónomas): from the northwest: Galicia, Asturias, Cantabria, Basque Country, La Rioja, Navarre, Aragon, Catalonia, Valencia, Murcia, Castile and Leon, Castile-La Mancha, Madrid, Extremadura, Andalusia, the Balearic Islands and the Canary Islands. Additionally, in Africa, two autonomous cities, Ceuta and Melilla, are remnants of colonial times. Due to the problem that occurred in democratic Spain after 1975, namely the huge separatist movements (especially in Catalonia and Baskonia), it was decided in light of the 1978 constitution that each region would have autonomy. This was to prevent these two regions from seeking independence. Of course, some things (such as tax issues) are organized differently in these two regions, to their benefit.

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This is because both Catalonia and the Basque Country are among the most important sources of state revenue, as evidenced by the 2020 GDP figures, where the richest community is Madrid, the second is the Basque Country, the third is Navarre (which is also considered by some Basques to be part of the Basque Country - Basques consider 7 provinces to be "Basque" - 3 from the Basque Country, 4 is Navarre, and the other three are on the French side. There historically was the Kingdom of Navarre, which was the Basque Country), and the fourth Catalonia. The fifth Aragon is also historically linked to Catalonia, as for hundreds of years both communities were part of the Kingdom of Aragon, a powerful medieval maritime state. Interestingly, the Basque provinces also still owe their special privileges to medieval law - the so-called fueros, when, by incorporating the Spanish part of the Kingdom of Navarre, the King of Castile decided to grant special economic privileges so as not to stir up rebellions among the dissenting Basques. Spain in general shows a similar phenomenon to Italy - a division between the rich north and the poor south. Among the poorest communities are the Canary Islands, Andalusia, Extremadura, Castilla La Mancha and Murcia. 

Of course, the division into autonomous communities is not a definitive division, another administrative unit is the provinces. There are exactly as many provinces as there are American states - 50. Their division is presented in the map below:

Among the richest provinces are those with large cities: Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Seville, but also the smaller Alicante, Bizkaia (with its capital in Bilbao - the capital of the Basque Country) or the Balearic Islands. The list of the country's largest cities includes, in addition to the big four, Zaragoza, Malaga, Murcia, Palma in Mallorca, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria or these Bilbao. Spain is home to 48 million people (January 2023 census, compared to Poland's 37 million). The lowest in the hierarchy are the municípia or municipalities, although municipio is often also synonymous with city. Spain's capital Madrid is home to more than 3 million people, second-place Barcelona to 1.6 million, and third-place Valencia to nearly 800,000.
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Spanish language. Is it for sure?

To fully understand Spain, it is also useful to know about regional differences. Seemingly, Spaniards do not communicate with each other in Spanish but in Castilian. This is a language specific to historic Castile, the central part of the peninsula, and to Andalusia, where Arab rule took place in medieval times. A great many Arabicisms are still present in Spanish/Castilian today, and by extension have also entered the rest of European languages - such as the word alcohol. People learning Spanish in the vast majority of cases learn a variant of Castilian, and even more specifically Madridian, which is one that will be easily understood in the Spanish capital. Trips to the farther reaches of the country (not to mention America) can involve big communication problems. For a Pole speaking Castilian, it can be difficult to understand Gallego (that's how the inhabitants of Galicia are referred to; in Polish, Galician is rather associated with an inhabitant of the former Austrian partition - present-day Malopolska and Podkarpacie, where Galicia administered by the Austrians was located) even if he speaks Castilian Spanish. 

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The Galician variety of Spanish is very close to Portuguese, an element of which is the famous "rustling" (something like the name of the coach of the Polish national team - Santos should be read as "Shantosz"). Asturian language is, in a sense, an old-Spanish language only alive (that is, as if in which region of Poland the Polish language from Sienkiewicz's "Teutonic Knights" continues to be used). The Basque language is a relic on a global scale and even scientists have a hard time understanding its phenomenon. Of course, it is probably not surprising that there is no single Basque language only many different variants and in each of the "seven provinces" they speak their own version of the language. The Basque language has come back into favor in the last 20 years, and it is possible to notice in regional education an interesting trend that young people are very eager to take lessons in this language (a phenomenon quite different in the British Isles, for example). Currently, it is most popular in two provinces - Bizkai and Gipuzkoa (Bilbao and San Sebastián). The Aragonese, Catalan and Valencian languages are very similar to each other and are derived from a single language spoken in the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. Nowadays, due to the position of Catalonia, but also due to the popularity of the Catalan club FC Barcelona, it is Catalan of these languages that has the strongest position and Catalans consider the other variants simply as Catalan. In Valencia or Alicante a proud resident would take great offense at such a statement because he does not speak Catalan but valenciano. In the Balearic Islands they actually speak a variant of Catalan and without any problem a resident of Barcelona will communicate with a compatriot from La Palma.

A final point is the case of the Canary Islands - the inhabitants of these seven islands speak a variant of Andalusian (that is, a southern variant of Castilian) which resulted from the history of geographical discovery. The same with the rest is true of many varieties of Latin American languages, where the inhabitants speak a Spanish most similar in Spanish version to Andalusian. The islands were settled before colonization times by the Guanche tribe, who spoke a language similar to the Berber languages - so travelers visiting the islands may wonder what some words mean that are not spoken on the Iberian Peninsula. There are also some grammatical differences, for example, they don't use the Preterito Perfecto tense (the equivalent of English present perfect) only the Preterito Indefinido (Past Simple) tense in its place, which is not the case on the Peninsula. 

How does all this relate to Bitcoin ATMs?

This is a very good question that is hard to answer unequivocally. Looking at the dry statistical data from the percentage turnover for the last month, one can see a simple analogy:

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Big cities - bigger profits

By far the largest shares are generated by Bitcoin ATMs in Barcelona, Valencia, Alicante, Malaga, Madrid or Zaragoza. In the case of Barcelona, it is noteworthy that all four Bitcoin ATMs, which are strictly in the city and not on its outskirts (Sabadell, Viladecans and Badalona) together generated 25% of the profit from all of Spain.

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In comparison, Madrid had twice the turnover. Why? Perhaps the locations have an impact, as Bitcoin ATMs are outside the historic center of the city (in Barcelona, Bitcoin ATM on Carrer de Bordeus which alone generated 7.5% is located next to the Barcelona Stadium and very close to the center, while Bitcoin ATM in the very center of the Catalan capital on Carrer de Tordera generated 5% - of course there are exceptions to the rule like this, that Bitcoin ATM on Carrer de Pardo is in an industrial district practically on the edge of the city - perhaps it paid out the "fat money" there), but for some promotional issues as well - much more emphasis has been placed on Barcelona in the last six months than on Madrid. 

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Poor provinces - small profits

An analogy exists in the juxtaposition of the smallest shares - provinces widely considered the poorest in the country generate less revenue. For example, Extremadura (Badajoz), despite its location close to the border with Portugal, where Bitcoin ATMs does not exist, does not play the role of Bitcoin ATM in Slubice, stormed by customers from across the border. The situation is similar in the Canary Islands, which, despite the popularity of tourism, are not profitable at all (they are themselves a poor region despite the developed tourism, which can essentially be carried out all year round for climatic reasons). The situation is much better in the Balearic Islands, where three Bitcoin ATMs generated a turnover of 7%. 

The status as of July 7 is that Spain has 48 Bitcoin ATMs, the only autonomous communities without Bitcoin ATM are Asturias (Gijon, Oviedo), Cantabria (Santander), Navarra (Pamplona) and Castilla La Mancha. In the first three, due to the affluence of these provinces (especially Navarra), it would be worthwhile to consider exploring the possibility of installing Bitcoin ATMs. In Castilla La Mancha, the only reasonably sensible location might seem to be Albacete located about halfway between Madrid and Alicante (interestingly enough on Twitter, there have been customers asking about this particular location, it is perhaps a clue), it is also the largest city in the province (180,000 people, almost twice as many as the second Guadalajara). 

Of the big cities where there is no Bitcoin ATMs , it would be worth considering Valladolid - the largest city in Leon in the heart of Castile and Leon (where Bitcoin ATM was, but in Zaratan, on the outskirts of the city), Gijón - the largest city in Asturias, Santiago de Compostela - a destination for pilgrims from all over Europe, as well as the aforementioned Santander and Pamplona, among others. Other new sensible places I don't see too much. It is certainly worth thinking about looking for a location in the center of Madrid, as there is a good chance in my opinion for big profits with a well-organized promotion. 

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