España·~40 millones
Peninsular Spain (Madrid + Castile)
El castellano de Madrid, Castilla, y la base de lo que aprendes en Espani.
Pronunciation
The distinctive 'distinción': 'ce', 'ci', and 'z' are pronounced /θ/ — 'zapato' sounds like 'thapato'. The 's' is sharp. Most speakers merge 'y' and 'll' (yeísmo) so 'llama' and 'yama' sound identical. Words ending in -ado often drop the 'd' colloquially: 'cansao' for 'cansado'.
Grammar and register
Vosotros for plural-informal 'you all'. Ustedes is reserved for formal address. Perfect tenses (he comido) are far more common than in Latin America for recent-past events: 'hoy he comido' where most of LatAm would say 'hoy comí'.
Distinctive words
okay (all-purpose)
“Vale, nos vemos a las seis.”
mobile phone (Spain only)
“Se me ha olvidado el móvil en casa.”
to take / catch (totally neutral in Spain)
“Voy a coger el metro.”
dude / mate (colloquial)
“Oye tío, ¿qué tal?”
cool
“Qué guay este sitio.”
computer
“Mi ordenador no arranca.”
Context
The dialect of officialdom and of most Spanish-language news from Europe. RAE (Real Academia Española) is headquartered here. Most Spanish-as-a-second-language courses in Europe default to this variant; the Cervantes Institute is its official ambassador.