# Picture the outline of Spain. Be honest, did you include Portugal? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 23, 2011, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picture-the-outline-of-spain-be-honest-did-you-include-portugal/597301 "2011-09-23T04:13:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Blaster\_Master](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/cab0a1/32.png) [@Blaster\_Master](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blaster_Master)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picture-the-outline-of-spain-be-honest-did-you-include-portugal/597301/21 "2011-09-23T15:56:22Z")
Funny, I was in the process of drawing the border along Portugal and Spain in my mind as I read the second part of the tile of the OP. As someone else said upthread, it probably would have worked better to have excluded the mention of Portugal from the title. ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picture-the-outline-of-spain-be-honest-did-you-include-portugal/597301/22 "2011-09-23T16:08:59Z")
I picture the entire Penninsula, but with Portugal grayed out as the “non-Spain” portion. I maintain a set of colored maps, and have had to be very familiar with the outlines of individual countries. About a month ago, someone asked me why that “face on the left side of Spain” was not colored correctly. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picture-the-outline-of-spain-be-honest-did-you-include-portugal/597301/23 "2011-09-23T16:32:51Z")
> [@The\_Controvert](#): > > My mental picture of “Spain” is the entire Iberian Peninsula. Is yours? I think your question would have been more effective if you hadn’t given away the kicker in the thread title. I pictured the Iberian Peninsula, with Spain in red and Portugal in blue; that is, I automatically cut out the latter country. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picture-the-outline-of-spain-be-honest-did-you-include-portugal/597301/24 "2011-09-23T16:34:27Z")
Yep, I picture the whole thing even though I am obviously aware of Portugal. ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picture-the-outline-of-spain-be-honest-did-you-include-portugal/597301/25 "2011-09-23T17:07:58Z")
> [@Koxinga](#): > > This, except I picture Spain as violet and Portugal as yellow. There’s probably a mid-70s elementary school geography book to blame. Yes, the same way that my outline of California is yellow. But yes, I pictured the whole peninsula with a yellow Portugal. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picture-the-outline-of-spain-be-honest-did-you-include-portugal/597301/26 "2011-09-23T19:29:17Z")
Not exactly: my process is “draw the peninsula and extra fading lines to represent the south of France, take Portugal out”. It also works when you’re using a paper napkin as the “map”: the whole square is the peninsula, cut out Portugal (and, if relevant, tear it up to represent the isles). The “France goes here” is important, because most of the time I’m drawing that map it’s to show people where am I from. For some reason I keep running into people who, when I say I’m “from the north-center” say “oh, Barcelona?” No, damnit, the OTHER end of the Pyrinees! Barcelona is in the NorthEAST, not the NorthCENTER :mad: (Well, ok, at least it’s only foreigners, I still haven’t met a Spaniard who failed that thoroughly) ---
**Author:** ![AndyLee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/898d66/32.png) [@AndyLee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AndyLee)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picture-the-outline-of-spain-be-honest-did-you-include-portugal/597301/27 "2011-09-23T19:30:48Z")
I read this and kept thinking about the game RISK. Most places aren’t even close, though the Congo and a few of the island nations are ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2011, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picture-the-outline-of-spain-be-honest-did-you-include-portugal/597301/28 "2011-09-24T01:05:15Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > The “France goes here” is important, because most of the time I’m drawing that map it’s to show people where am I from. If you were from Michigan (the lower part), you’d never have to draw a map; you’d always carry it with you. If were a guy, then the same would go if you were from Florida. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2011, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picture-the-outline-of-spain-be-honest-did-you-include-portugal/597301/29 "2011-09-24T02:30:59Z")
> [@Balthisar](#): > > If you were from Michigan (the lower part), you’d never have to draw a map; you’d always carry it with you. > > If were a guy, then the same would go if you were from Florida. 😃 I carry a [handy map of the San Francisco Bay Area](http://sf.curbed.com/uploads/2008_11_handy-map.jpg) with me wherever I go. ---
**Author:** ![JoThrive](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/87869e/32.png) [@JoThrive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoThrive)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2011, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picture-the-outline-of-spain-be-honest-did-you-include-portugal/597301/30 "2011-09-24T03:56:45Z")
The whole Iberian peninsula came to my mind. 🙂 I really can’t imagine Spain without Portugal. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picture-the-outline-of-spain-be-honest-did-you-include-portugal/597301.md?page=1)