Editing Soft power (section)

===Spain===
{{main|Spanish Empire|Hispanophone}}

The main power of the [[Age of Discovery]], Spain began the conquest of the [[New World]] in 1492, giving rise to the [[Spanish Empire]]. Controlling vast portions of the [[Americas]], parts of [[Africa]], various territories in [[Asia]], [[Oceania]], as well as territory in other parts of Europe, the Spanish Empire became, in conjunction with the Portuguese, the first empire to achieve a global scale and [[largest empires in history|one of the largest empires in history]]. The [[Hispanic culture]] is the legacy of the vast and prolonged Spanish Empire, whose cultural background is primarily associated with [[Spain]], regardless of racial or geographical differences. The whole sense of identity of the Hispanic population and the [[Hispanophones]] is sometimes referred by the term ''Hispanidad'' (Hispanicity).

Since the so-called [[Spanish Golden Age|''Siglo de Oro'']], a period of flourishing in arts and literature in Spain coinciding with the political rise of the Spanish Empire under the [[Catholic Monarchs of Spain|Catholic Monarchs]] and the [[Habsburg Spain|Spanish Habsburgs]], the Spanish [[Spanish art|art]], [[Spanish architecture|architecture]], [[Music of Spain|music]], [[Spanish literature|literature]], [[Spanish poetry|poetry]], [[Spanish painting|painting]], and [[Spanish cuisine|cuisine]] have been influential worldwide, particularly in [[Western Europe]] and the [[Americas]]. As a reflection of its large [[Culture of Spain|cultural wealth]], Spain has one of the world's largest numbers of [[World Heritage Site]]s and is the world's [[World Tourism rankings|second-most visited country]]. Its cultural influence extends over 600 million [[Hispanophone]]s, making [[Spanish language]] the world's [[List of languages by number of native speakers|second-most spoken native language]] and the world's most widely spoken [[Romance language]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cervantes.es/sobre_instituto_cervantes/prensa/2017/noticias/Presentaci%C3%B3n-Anuario-2017.htm|title=572 millones de personas hablan español, cinco millones más que hace un año, y aumentarán a 754 millones a mediados de siglo|website=www.cervantes.es|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210513000611/https://www.cervantes.es/sobre_instituto_cervantes/prensa/2017/noticias/Presentaci%C3%B3n-Anuario-2017.htm|archive-date=13 May 2021}}</ref>