The Rain in Spain Trivia Quiz

Answer: Montjuďc

Montjuďc can be found to the south-west of central Barcelona. Its relatively flat top stands at about 185 metres (607 feet) above sea level and is home to Montjuďc Castle, a 17th century fortification. The area on its slopes, now occupied by the Olympic Park, was cleared in the late 19th century to provide parkland for the city and the main buildings, including the stadium, were built in the 1920s for the 1929 International Exposition.

Viminal Hill is one of the Seven Hills of Rome, Mount Sutro is in San Francisco and the Corcovado is the mountain in Rio de Janeiro that is home to the statue of Christ the Redeemer.

Answer: Miguel de Cervantes

The novel referenced in the question is 'Don Quixote' by Miguel de Cervantes, originally published in two separate volumes of 1605 and 1615. It is Cervantes' most famous work, although he also wrote other novels including 'Journey to Parnassus' and 'Exemplary Novels', along with a range of poems and plays.

The question of whether Cervantes ever studied at the University of Salamanca remains in some doubt. Several of his biographers have made this claim, but no actual hard evidence exists - in fact there are surprisingly few written sources of evidence about the life of perhaps the most famous Spanish author of all time.

Juan Ramon Jiménez was a Spanish author and poet who won the 1956 Nobel Prize for Literature; Francisco Gómez de Quevedo was a Spanish nobleman and writer born in 1580; and Pablo Neruda was a 20th century Chilean author.

Answer: Grus grus

The common (or Eurasian) crane is a large, generally greyish bird, with a distinctive red flash on its head and an impressively plumed tail. It is normally found across northern Europe and Asia from Norway and Denmark in the west to Russia and Mongolia in the east. However, each winter these birds embark on relatively long migrations to the warmer climes of Spain, northern Africa, India and southern China. To be honest though, no common crane deciding on Spain as a holiday destination would be likely to expect a thorough soaking during its stay.

Buteo buteo is the common buzzard, Coturnix coturnix is the common quail, and Gallinargo gallinargo is the common snipe.

Answer: Granada

The city of Granada can be found in southern Spain, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. It is probably most famous as the home of the Alhambra, a Moorish palace and fortress built in the 11th century from the ruins of an older 9th century fortification. The Alhambra palaces provided a royal base for the Nasrid dynasty for nearly 300 years until the Islamic rulers were defeated in 1492 by 'The Catholic Monarchs' - King Ferdinand II of Aragon and Queen Isabella I of Castile.

The poet Federico Garcia Lorca was born in a small town near Granada in 1898 and spent most of his life living in the city. His first poetry collection was published in 1921 and he went on to write many more poems along with plays, scripts and even an (unfinished) opera. He was also politically active - his socialist views are among the reasons put forward for his arrest and assassination in 1936 during the early part of the Spanish Civil War.

The incorrect options are all cities in Andalusia.

Answer: A street

La Rambla (sometimes known as Las Ramblas) is a popular tourist destination in Barcelona. It is a long tree-lined street stretching for 1.2 km (0.75 miles) through the city centre from Plaça de Catalunya down to the harbour area. It is best known for its array of cafes, restaurants and bars; the usual tourist paraphernalia of souvenir shops; and famous buildings such as the Liceu Theatre (an opera house) and Virreina Palace (a Baroque building constructed for the Viceroy of Peru).

La Rambla was originally outside Barcelona's city walls - not surprising given that it was often filled with sewage and occasionally flooded with water draining off the Collserola hills to the north of the city. It became a street in the 15th century after the city walls were extended and the watercourse was diverted.

Answer: Philip V

The Spanish House of Habsburg had followed a policy of inter-marriage for generations and by the 17th century many members of the family had distinctive abnormalities such as the 'Habsburg Jaw', suffered from learning difficulties or simply died as young infants. The last Habsburg monarch, King Charles II, died childless in 1700 and therefore named his great-nephew Philip, Duke of Anjou as his successor. The problem was that Philip (who became King Philip V of Spain) was a grandson of the Bourbon King of France and the situation of both France and Spain being ruled by the House of Bourbon upset the delicate balance of power in Europe. By 1701, pretty much the whole continent was at war and the extensive British, French and Spanish interests in the Americas meant that the war also spread across the Atlantic.

The war lasted for 13 years and ended in a complex series of treaties that effectively partitioned the Spanish Empire. Philip retained his position as King of Spain but renounced any claim on the French throne. His reign lasted until 1746 and he became known as Philip the Spirited.

King Philip I of Spain was also known as Philip the Handsome, King Philip II was known as 'the prudent' and King Philip III as 'the pious'.

Answer: Paella

An original Valencian paella consists of white rice, chicken (or sometimes rabbit), white beans and green vegetables with various seasonings, although saffron or rosemary is most commonly used. However, many varieties exist that use different meats or seafood, alternative vegetables or different types of rice. Traditionally it is both cooked and eaten from a large shallow pan (known as a paellera) with the cooking process taking place over an open fire fuelled by pine wood and cones.

Cooking enormous paellas has become a popular custom in Valencia, with record breaking attempts including a paella capable of feeding around 100,000 people that was created in March 1992.

Zarangollo is a type of salad originating from Catalonia, Gazpacho is a cold tomato-based soup from Andalusia and Frangollo is a dessert from the Canary Islands.

Answer: Andalusia

The Pure Spanish Horse or PRE (Pura Raza Espańola in Spanish) is also known as an Andalusian. It is perhaps the best known of the 18 officially recognised breeds of Iberian horse. Most Andalusians are grey or bay (brown with a black mane and tail) and by definition males have to stand at least 15 hands high (the females are allowed to get away with being just 14.3 hands). Throughout history these horses have been highly prized, particularly for their ability as war horses, and have been ridden by many European monarchs - both Spanish and otherwise.

Although native to Spain and Portugal, the Andalusian breed was common in other parts of the world even in medieval times, in particular due to the habit of Spanish governments giving out the horses as diplomatic gifts or to seal trade deals.

Aragon, Cantabria and Navarre are all autonomous communities of northern Spain.

Answer: Greece

Princess Sophia of Greece and Denmark became the Queen of Spain when her husband, Juan Carlos, succeeded to the Spanish throne in 1975. Following her husband's abdication in 2014 she became known as Her Majesty Queen Sofia - she had changed the spelling of her first name to the Spanish version 'Sofia' on her marriage in 1962.

She was the eldest daughter of King Paul of Greece, but was known as a princess of Greece and Denmark due to the fact that her great-grandfather, King George I, started his life as Prince William of Denmark before being elected to the position of King of the Hellenes by the Greek National Assembly in 1863. He wasn't the Greek's first choice for a new king though - that honour went to Prince Alfred, the second son of Queen Victoria of Great Britain. However Alfred was swiftly ruled out due in part to the fact that his mother didn't approve and was definitely not amused by the idea.

Belgium has had an independent monarchy since 1830 - in 1962 the reigning monarch was King Baudouin who held the position until his death in 1993. The Polish monarchy ended in 1795 following the country's partition between Prussia, Russia and the Austrian Empire. In modern times, Finland has never had a monarchy as an independent nation.

Answer: Sierra Nevada

The highest mountain in mainland Spain is Mulhacén in the Sierra Nevada range, with a peak of about 3,500 metres (11,400 feet) above sea level. The Sierra Nevada stretches across Andalusia in southern Spain; part of the area became the Sierra Nevada National Park in 1999 and it is also popular with tourists for both skiing in the winter and its warm Mediterranean climate in the summer. The actual highest peak in Spain as a whole is Mount Teide - a volcano on the Spanish island of Tenerife.

The Spanish Sierra Nevada should not be mistaken for the mountains of the same name in California. They should also not be mistaken for the rainiest part of Spain - that title is often given to the Sierra de Grazalema, another mountain range in Andalusia.

The Sierra Morena (or 'dark range') is a system of mountain ranges in south-west Spain; the Sierra del Sueve is part of the foothills of the Cantabrian Mountains in the Asturias region of northern Spain; and the Sierra de Cuera also forms part of the Cantabrian Mountains.