Works of Spanish cartography, as reflected in the National Report 2007-2009, show overall excellence in organisation, precision, appearance and utility. The report, compiled by the Spanish Society for Cartography, Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing and presented to the international community at the 24th International Cartographic Conference (ICC) in Santiago de Chile in November 2009, is a richly illustrated account of significant achievement in cartography (1). The structure of cartographic activity at national and regional levels is presented, with strong emphasis on the production of maps and spatial databases.

Showing the Way
The highlights of an active period (2007-2009) are described in detail: the National Plan for Aerial Orthophotography (PNOA) now has continuous coverage of Spain in 50cm or 25cm resolution colour orthophotography, and the national Land Cover and Land Use Information System (SIOSE) is also complete. A national Digital Terrain Model at 5m grid interval and the National Topographic Database, BTN25 at scale 1:25,000 are complete and continuously updated. The Spanish Spatial Data Infrastructure (IDEE) is an OGC- and ISO-compatible collaboration of governmental resources at all levels, with the assistance of private companies, universities and local citizens, and is showing the whole of Europe how to develop its INSPIRE programme. The National Atlas of Spain, winner of an ICA award in 2009, is now available on the web, CD-ROM/DVD, and in six volumes.

Productive Policies
It is clear that policy issues are guiding much development in Spanish cartography: decentralisation has led to the maturing of outstanding regional cartographic institutes in Catalonia and Andalusia, also described in detail in the report; university education in cartography and geomatics is well-supported in many places; and a range of topographic map series, specific thematic maps and extensive geospatial databases have been developed to contribute to socio-economic and scientific management.

World Stage
Spanish cartographers have always been highly engaged with the international community. The report outlines this, as illustrated in international competitions and awards. It also notes the contribution to NATO mapping and the global nature of hydrographic, oceanographic and earth-sciences mapping. In addition to map and geodatabase production, activities such as research, archiving, cadastral records, GPS and image data handling, and commercial publishing are all presented. This report is an excellent summary of the extensive scope of the propios trabajos of Spanish cartography, of which the country may be proud.