mapSpain provides sf objects for Spain’s administrative boundaries, including Autonomous Communities, provinces and municipalities.
mapSpain also provides a plugin for the leaflet package. It loads several basemaps from Spain’s public institutions and supports downloading and processing static tiles.
The full package website, with examples and vignettes, is available at https://ropenspain.github.io/mapSpain/.
Install mapSpain from CRAN:
install.packages("mapSpain", dependencies = TRUE)Check the documentation for the development version at https://ropenspain.github.io/mapSpain/dev/.
You can install the development version of mapSpain using the r-universe:
# Install mapSpain in R:
install.packages(
"mapSpain",
repos = c(
"https://ropenspain.r-universe.dev",
"https://cloud.r-project.org"
),
dependencies = TRUE
)Alternatively, you can install the development version of mapSpain with:
# install.packages("pak")
pak::pak("rOpenSpain/mapSpain", dependencies = TRUE)The following examples highlight some key features of mapSpain.
library(mapSpain)
library(sf)
library(dplyr)
census <- mapSpain::pobmun25 |>
select(-name)
# Extract Autonomous Community codes from the base dataset.
codelist <- mapSpain::esp_codelist |>
select(cpro, codauto) |>
distinct()
census_ccaa <- census |>
left_join(codelist) |>
# Summarize by Autonomous Community.
group_by(codauto) |>
summarise(pob25 = sum(pob25), men = sum(men), women = sum(women)) |>
mutate(
porc_women = women / pob25,
porc_women_lab = paste0(round(100 * porc_women, 2), "%")
)
# Merge into spatial data.
ccaa_sf <- esp_get_ccaa() |>
left_join(census_ccaa)
can <- esp_get_can_box()
# Plot with ggplot.
library(ggplot2)
ggplot(ccaa_sf) +
geom_sf(aes(fill = porc_women), color = "grey70", linewidth = 0.3) +
geom_sf(data = can, color = "grey70") +
geom_sf_label(
aes(label = porc_women_lab),
fill = "white",
alpha = 0.5,
size = 3,
linewidth = 0
) +
scale_fill_gradientn(
colors = hcl.colors(10, "Blues", rev = TRUE),
n.breaks = 10,
labels = scales::label_percent(),
guide = guide_legend(title = "% women", position = "inside")
) +
theme_void() +
theme(legend.position.inside = c(0.1, 0.6)) +
labs(caption = "Source: CartoBase ANE 2006-2024 CC-BY 4.0 ign.es, INE")
You can combine sf objects with static map tiles.
# Get census data.
census <- mapSpain::pobmun25 |>
mutate(porc_women = women / pob25) |>
select(cpro, cmun, porc_women)
# Get municipality and province geometries.
shape <- esp_get_munic_siane(region = "Segovia", epsg = 3857)
provs <- esp_get_prov_siane(epsg = 3857)
shape_pop <- shape |> left_join(census)
tile <- esp_get_tiles(shape_pop, type = "IDErioja.Relieve", zoommin = 1)
# Plot
library(ggplot2)
library(tidyterra)
lims <- as.vector(terra::ext(tile))
ggplot(remove_missing(shape_pop, na.rm = TRUE)) +
geom_spatraster_rgb(data = tile, maxcell = 10e6) +
geom_sf(aes(fill = porc_women), color = NA) +
geom_sf(data = provs, fill = NA) +
scale_fill_gradientn(
colours = hcl.colors(10, "RdYlBu", alpha = 0.5),
n.breaks = 8,
labels = function(x) {
sprintf("%1.0f%%", 100 * x)
},
guide = guide_legend(title = "", )
) +
coord_sf(
xlim = lims[c(1, 2)],
ylim = lims[c(3, 4)],
expand = FALSE
) +
labs(
title = "% women in Segovia by town (2025)",
caption = paste0(
"Source: INE, CC BY 4.0 www.iderioja.org, ",
"CartoBase ANE 2006-2024 CC-BY 4.0 ign.es"
)
) +
theme_void() +
theme(
title = element_text(face = "bold")
)
If you need to plot Spain alongside other countries, use the giscoR package, which is installed as a dependency of mapSpain. Here is a basic example:
library(giscoR)
# Set the same resolution for a perfect fit.
res <- "20"
all_countries <- gisco_get_countries(resolution = res) |>
st_transform(3035)
eu_countries <- gisco_get_countries(resolution = res, region = "EU") |>
st_transform(3035)
ccaa <- esp_get_ccaa(moveCAN = FALSE, resolution = res) |>
st_transform(3035)
library(ggplot2)
ggplot(all_countries) +
geom_sf(fill = "#DFDFDF", color = "#656565") +
geom_sf(data = eu_countries, fill = "#FDFBEA", color = "#656565") +
geom_sf(data = ccaa, fill = "#C12838", color = "grey80", linewidth = 0.1) +
# Center in Europe: EPSG 3035
coord_sf(xlim = c(2377294, 7453440), ylim = c(1313597, 5628510)) +
theme(
panel.background = element_blank(),
panel.grid = element_line(colour = "#DFDFDF", linetype = "dotted")
) +
labs(caption = giscoR::gisco_attributions("es"))
Some datasets and tiles may be larger than 50 MB. You can use mapSpain to create a local cache directory by setting the following option:
esp_set_cache_dir("./path/to/location")When this option is set, mapSpain looks for cached files before downloading them again, which speeds up subsequent calls.
Hernangómez D (2026). mapSpain: Administrative Boundaries of Spain. doi:10.5281/zenodo.5366622. https://ropenspain.github.io/mapSpain/.
A BibTeX entry for LaTeX users is:
@Manual{R-mapspain,
title = {{mapSpain}: Administrative Boundaries of Spain},
year = {2026},
version = {1.1.0.9000},
author = {Diego Hernangómez},
doi = {10.5281/zenodo.5366622},
url = {https://ropenspain.github.io/mapSpain/},
abstract = {Administrative boundaries of Spain at several levels (Autonomous Communities, provinces and municipalities), based on GISCO from Eurostat <https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/gisco> and CartoBase ANE from Instituto Geográfico Nacional <https://www.ign.es/>. It also provides a plugin for the leaflet package and tools to download and process static map tiles.},
}
Check the GitHub page for the source code.
This package uses data from CartoBase SIANE, provided by the Instituto Geográfico Nacional.
See https://github.com/rOpenSpain/mapSpain/tree/sianedata.
This package also uses data from GISCO. GISCO (FAQ) is a geospatial open data repository with multiple datasets at various resolution levels.
From GISCO > Geodata > Reference data > Administrative Units / Statistical Units
When data downloaded from this page is used in any printed or electronic publication, in addition to any other provisions applicable to the whole Eurostat website, data source will have to be acknowledged in the legend of the map and in the introductory page of the publication with the following copyright notice:
EN: © EuroGeographics for the administrative boundaries
FR: © EuroGeographics pour les limites administratives
DE: © EuroGeographics bezüglich der Verwaltungsgrenzen
For publications in languages other than English, French or German, the translation of the copyright notice in the language of the publication shall be used.
If you intend to use the data commercially, please contact EuroGeographics for information regarding their license agreements.