[closewith]

Three counter examples against literally millions in common use, including how the countries involved refer to themselves.

> This isn't exactly an obscure question. I'm not sure where you got the idea that Spain might not be part of Western Europe, but it wasn't by contact with reality.

I take it you did ask your social circle and didn't get the response you wanted, as you're right that this isn't an obscure question.

[thaumasiotes]

Here's the first person I asked:

> What would you say is included in "Western Europe"?

> Germany

> Anything else?

> Spain, why?

You really don't seem to have any idea how people use this term, what might be evidence of common usage, or how newspapers work. Documenting that major media outlets refer to Spain as part of Western Europe is already proof that common usage considers Spain part of Western Europe, unless you have specific reasons to discount those outlets (such as "that's The New Yorker"). Article authors can't just use whatever terminology pops into their head; this is why style guides exist. One example from the Washington Post means hundreds of examples from the Washington Post.

Here's what Spain thinks of itself: ( https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Europa_Occidental )

> en verde en general según el concepto tradicional usado en geopolítica [in [non-dark] green generally following the traditional concept used in geopolitics]