D'Espagne ou De l'Espagne

Question

Do these two sentences mean different things, or is one of them incorrect ?
1.  Je viens d'Espagne
2.  Je viens de l'Espagne

To say “the customs of Spain”:
1.	Les coutumes d’Espagne
2.	Les coutumes de l’Espagne

To say “under the influence of Spain”:
1.	Sous les influences d’Espagne
2.	Sous les influences de l’Espagne.

Answer

Bonjour Arman !

There is indeed a difference between "d'Espagne" and "de l'Espagne".

The distinction here is between d' to express "from", or de l' which means "of [the]".
So when you express where the thing comes *from* (its origin), you'll use d', but when you want to say that thing *belongs to* this country, you'll use de l' .

Thus "je viens d'Espagne";
either "les coutumes d'Espagne" (where these customs come from) OR "les coutumes de l'Espagne" (its own customs) => here you would more colloquially say "les coutumes espagnoles";
"Sous l'influence de l'Espagne"

I hope that's helpful!
À bientôt !