I would like to apologize if this is not a proper top level reply for this sub, but I'd rather point out that this question stood as a sophism to me: Spain is the 4th largest economy in the Eurozone, has some great universities, ... The fact that OP has not "heard a single piece of news, or well anything at all in that Country, in my entire life other than in history books" probably speaks more of the OP than of Spain, no offense intended.

This is a great question and I invite you read the following post. Feel free to ask further if you need a more refined answer!

Well for starters it has a much smaller population then Japan and a relatively smaller population then Britain and France. Population size counts for a lot in terms of global relevance.

On top of that their economy is struggling like much of the eurozone so there isn't many world beating companies or technology coming out of the country.

Also the Spanish empire peaked and subsequently lost power and influence at a much earlier date then the British empire did.

However I think you may be underestimating them a bit. You may not think they are culturally relevant as you are (most likely) a native English speaker. Cultures are very much seperated by language. That's why countries like the UK, US, Australia, New Zealand, Canada etc are all very aware of each other and each others cultural output. Spain is much more concerned and connected with the Spanish speaking parts of this world.