Resumen de Introduction: Spanish in Spain: an illustrious stranger
Spain's sociolinguistic situation is not as well known on an international level as it should be. Spain as a country projects a marked historical and social image (Lamo de Espinosa 1996). This reality has some clearly positive effects, but also produces some damaging consequences. According to Javier Noya (2002: 4), we Spaniards possess an almost excellent cultural and artistic image of ourselves. On the other hand, however, we are surrounded by the halo of a strong simplifying stereotype, which in turn is surrounded by a great lack of knowledge regarding the reality of the country.
