Spanish punctuation--dashes, hyphens

Hello,

I am editing a document in four languages and would like to know what the convention in Spanish is for dashes or hyphens.

1. What is the punctuation used in Spanish for the dash between numbers and dates (indicating "from...and including")? In English, this would be the en-dash, as in, for example: 1978 - 1980 (can't reproduce the mark here but you can produce it by pressing CTRL and the dash button on the number pad).

2. What is the punctuation used for the dash to indicate a break of thought? In English, this would be the em-dash (produced by pressing CTRL and ALT and the dash button on the number pad). Examples include:
- in headings; e.g., Session 1--Working Group Reports
- in text; e.g., It was a beautiful day--one of those splendid fall days...

Does Spanish make a distinction between hyphens and the two types of dashes?

Thank you for your help!

Hi, Linden, why don't you take a look at this entry in Diccionario Panhispánico de Dudas del Español published by Real Academia Española?
DPD 1.ª edición, 2.ª tirada
Here you will find all the information you may need as regards punctuation rules in Spanish.
Hope it helps!

Thank you!

Spanish language doesn't make any differences between hyphens and dashes.By example it is better to understand :
eg:
1) Between 1978 - 1980.
Spanish :entre 1978 - 1980

2) She set the dish in front of me -- it looked pretty good -- and turned quickly to Edward.
Spanish :Dejó el plato delante de mí - se veía bastante bien - y se volvió rápidamente a Edward.

McGraw Hills
Certified Spanish translator, Colorado