SPAIN AND PORTUGAL

A cursory history of the peninsula and an olla-podrida (""Today's Iberia"") of an atypical family portrait, assistance to the poor, concern for Spain's image abroad, and scraps on education, economy and relations between church and state introduce a discursive description of the regions of Spain and Portugal. This comprises the bulk of the book and its only justification--a rather weak justification since most of the information is on the level of a tourist brochure (local traits, geography, ways of life, industries, festivals). Interspersed are such curios as a learn-by-play school for gypsies in Grenada, a fish auction in remote Sagres, Portugal. All this is of random interest, and some of it is fodder for reports, but no single aspect is treated thoroughly or coherently. You may want it for local color; you'll certainly want the Land and People and Nations Today volumes for background and current issues.