Wrapped in a carpet, the horribly bloated and badly decomposing body of Pope Alexander VI was pummelled and pushed unceremoniously into a hastily made and too small coffin.  No priests attended his burial nor were there wax tapers, lights, solemn masses or chanting monks.  It was August 1503 at the Vatican and the Spanish Borgia’s iron grip on power was unravelling fast.  With Alexandar VI dead, the Borgias had, in all senses of the word, lost their ‘Godfather’,

Back in the Vatican, Alexander VI’s private chambers had already been pillaged, so that all that remained were a few hangings and cushions.  Meanwhile, the Pope’s son, the ruthless and terrifying Cesare Borgia was desperately trying to secure his position, despite barely recovering from the illness that had killed his father.  As Captain General of the church, he had already taken possession of his father’s treasures and sent for reinforcements, whilst his men under his loyal and cruel henchman, Michelotto, held the Borgo.  But no one knew better than Cesare how fragile Borgia power was, now that the Pope was dead.  With enemies in every direction, the very existence of the Borgias was suddenly at stake.  Quite simply, the Pope had died too soon.

Ultimate power for the Borgias had always depended upon the Papacy, which they had first obtained in 1455 when Alfonso Borgia had been elected Pope Callixtus III.  Elected as a compromise candidate, aged 77, Pope Callixtius III lasted only three years, although by then he had promoted two of his nephews to the Cardinalate.  One of these was Rodrigo Borgia, who was only 25 when appointed, before being elevated to Vice-Chancellor of the church.  He was to serve five Popes over the course of the next 34 years before becoming one of history’s most notorious Popes, remembered for his astonishing excesses and his creation of one of the first ‘mafia’ crime families.

In fact, there had been nothing exceptional about the blatant nepotism of Callixtus III.  This was the age of ‘secular’ Popes who, at best, combined piety with a rapacious lust for wealth and temporal power.  Living in a splendour that was the envy of kings, the poverty and modesty of early Christianity had long been forgotten by the Papacy.  Indeed, in the explosive and dangerously unstable atmosphere of High Renaissance Italy, being Pope was about securing power and riches – with the Borgias developing this particular talent into a state of the art.

Indeed, 450 years later their reputation, and that of the supreme creativity of Italy at the time of the Borgias, was summed up succinctly by Orson Welles in his legendary film The Third Man (1949).  The protagonist, Harry Lime, says: ‘…in Italy for 30 years under the Borgias they had warfare, terror, murder, and bloodshed, but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and the Renaissance. In Switzerland they had brotherly love – they had 500 years of democracy and peace, and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock.”

All the King’s Men – democracy in Spain          Big Bang – the birth of Modern Spain

Orson Welles may have been a bit unfair to Switzerland but he was not exaggerating about the Borgias nor the incredible emergence of stunning artists.   Alongside Michelangelo and Leonardo Da Vinci were Titian, Raphael and Bramante – all working in an environment of extraordinary decadence. For political or church leaders the stakes could not have been higher.  With mind-boggling corruption the norm, political in-fighting was, literally, murderous within a frightening environment of bitter intrigue and dark betrayal.

Certainly, by the time the incredibly wealthy Cardinal Rodrigo Borgia bribed his way to becoming Pope in 1492, Italy was a land of massively wealthy, feuding states.  In turn these were, at various times, claimed or fought over by Spain, France and the Holy Roman Empire.  Meanwhile, much of central Italy (the Papal States) was, in theory, controlled by the Pope.  In practice, these valuable temporal lands were held by ‘princes’ who paid the Vatican little more than lip service.  However, this was to change under the ambitious, brave, skilled and ruthless rule of Pope Alexander VI.

Pope Alexander VI defies all contemporary notions of the papacy.  He was a deeply religious man, particularly revering the cult of the Virgin Mary.  However, he pursued wealth and temporal power single-mindedly, using every instrument at his disposal, including the assassination of his enemies.  Amazingly, he also loved hunting, orgies, riotous parties and, perhaps most of all, women.  He had several long term mistresses who bore him at least nine adored children, of whom two in particular (Cesare and Lucretzia), were to play a major part during his papacy.   Like the ‘Godfather’, immortalised in Mario Puzo’s book of the same name, his family was everything and furthering their interests was paramount.

As soon as he was Pope, Alexander VI began to consolidate and increase the power and wealth of his family.  Cesare was made a Cardinal when he was only 18 and his elder bother, Giovanni, was made Duke of Gandia (the Spanish ancestral home of the Borgias).  Meanwhile, Lucrezia, in a magnificent ceremony in the Vatican Palace, was married to the strategically important Lord of Pesaro (Giovanni Sforza).  Alexander’s plan was to take control of the Papal States of central Italy to increase the wealth and secular power of the church – whilst also distributing lands, titles and ever further riches to his own family.

What did the Moors do for us?          El Cid – Spanish national hero and extraordinary soldier

In 1497, to Alexander’s appalled grief, his son Giovanni was murdered.  This was possibly done by Cesare, who the following year resigned as a Cardinal to become Duke of Valentois and Alexander’s military right hand man.  By 1500 Cesare had conquered the Romagna and been appointed by Alexander as Captain General of the church and thereby one of the most powerful men in Italy.

In Cesare, Alexander had the perfect person to forward his grandiose plans.  Utterly ruthless, highly intelligent, brave and secretive Cesare was an opportunist who was supremely ambitious.  His motto was ‘Either Caesar or nothing’ and he operated on the basis that the ends always justified the means.  Dressed dramatically in black, often masked (to hide syphilitic scars), he was charismatic, a master politician and able general.  He was also a cold blooded murderer who killed his sister’s defenceless lover (Perotto) and her second husband Alfonso of Aragon.  Notoriously, in 1502 at Senigallia, he also executed his own unsuspecting condottieri (mercenary) leaders by garrotting them when he doubted their loyalty.  At the time, he was the most feared man in Italy, although beloved by his father, the Pope, who admiringly condoned his actions.

Lucrezia was the favoured daughter of Alexander and vital as a means for the Borgias to secure alliances through her marriages.  A femme fatale, she was engaged twice by the time she was 11 and subsequently married three times, as the shifting political alliances of Alexander and Cesare demanded.  Amazingly, at 21, she was made Regent of the Vatican (and therefore caretaker of the church!) whilst Alexander was away inspecting his new conquests.

Controversial Spain – the hidden truths about Spain!

But Alexander’s efforts to create a powerful and long lasting Borgia dynasty were not to succeed.  Just before Cesare could consolidate Borgia power, the Pope died, possibly (and ironically) from poisoning.  Hated by the Italians as a Spanish mafia, the Borgias had lacked sufficient time to build a long term, solid, power base.  Universally feared, Cesare had made too many enemies to exist without the overt support of the papacy and, shortly after the death of Alexander, was stripped (by  Pope Julius II) of his church titles and Papal possessions and sent back to Spain as a prisoner.

Eventually escaping, Cesare died as he had lived: outnumbered and killed in a bloody ambush.  However, unlike ‘The Godfather’ film, there was no Al Pacino figure to take over from Cesare – and with him died supreme Borgia ambitions and one of the most notorious episodes in Papal history.

TIMELINE

1450 – 1527  High Renaissance
1455                 Alfonso de Borgia becomes Pope (Callixtus III)
1458                 Pope Callixtus III dies
1484                 Boticelli paints The Birth of Venus
1492                 Rodrigo Borgia becomes Pope (Alexander VI)
Last Moorish stronghold in Granada conquered by Ferdinand and Isabella
Columbus finds the New World
1494 – 1559  Italian Wars (a series of conflicts that involved all the major countries of Europe and the states of Italy)
1495                 French invade Italy
1497                Leonardo Da Vinci paints ‘The Last Supper’
1499                Cesare starts conquest of the Romagne
1500                Jubilee Year
Caesare murders Lucretzia’s second husband Alfonso of Aragon
1502                Donato Bramante’s Tempietto constructed
Leonardo Da Vinci starts the ‘Mona Lisa’
1503                Pope Alexander VI dies
Pope Pius III lasts 26 days
Pope Julius II crowned and reigns until 1513
1504                Cesare surrenders Romagne to Pope Julius II and sent to Spain as a prisoner
1506                Donato Bramante’s masterpiece St Peter’s Basilica started
Swiss Guard formed
1507                Cesare Borgia killed in an ambush in Navarre
Pope Julius II proclaims indulgences to aid rebuilding of St. Peter’s
1508                Michelangelo starts painting the Sistine Chapel
Raphael starts ‘Rapheal Rooms’ in the Vatican Palace
1513                 Machiavelli writes ‘The Prince’ based upon Cesare Borgia
1514                 Copernicus first states that the Earth circles the Sun.
1517                 Martin Luther nails 95 theses on church door in Wittenburg ref. indulgences
1518                 Titian completes the ‘Assumption of the Virgin’
1519                 Lucrezia Borgia dies
1520                Martin Luther excommunicated by Pope Leo X

PERSONALITIES

Alfonso Borgia 1378 – 1458
Pope (Callixtus III) 1455 – 1458
Born in Xativa, Valencia
1^st Borgia Pope
Made two nephews Cardinals (including Rodrigo Borgia at 25)
Pious but nepotistic

Rodrigo Borgia 1431 – 1503
Pope (Alexander VI) 1492 – 1503
Born in Xativa, Valencia
Had 10 children and adored his family
Handsome, clever, ruthless and brave
Deeply religious but saw a distinction between his religious and secular life
Loved women, hunting, power and riches

Cesare Borgia 1475 – 1507
Son of Pope Alexander VI
Made a Cardinal at 18 and then became the 1^st man ever to resign as a Cardinal
Ruthlessly ambitious, secretive and murderous
Syphilitic and dressed in black
Ably commanded Papal armies as Captain General of the Church
Died alone in an ambush in Navarre
The inspiration for Machiavelli’s ‘The Prince’

Lucretzia Borgia 1480 – 1519
Favourite daughter of Pope Alexander VI
Femme fatale, engaged twice by age 11 and had three husbands
Caesare murdered one of her lover’s and her second husband
In 1501 made Regent of the Vatican when Pope Alexander was absent
Accused of incest and murder by poisoning
Painted by Titian and Veneziano

Guiliano della Rovere 1443 – 1513
Pope (Julius II) 1503 – 1513
The ‘Warrior Pope’ who drove French out of Italy
Hated the Borgias and destroyed Caesare Borgia
Master politician and strategist
Morally indifferent, probably a homosexual and had a daughter
Patronised Michelangelo, Bramante and Rafael

INCIDENT

Banquet of Chestnuts (1501)
An orgy held in the Vatican Palace and hosted by Cesare in the presence of Pope Alexander VI.  By the light of candelabra set on the floor, 50 naked prostitutes searched for hot chestnuts scattered on the floor.  They were quickly joined by the party goers who were rewarded according to their displays of virility.

Death of Cesare 1507
In light armour, riding a massive charger and carrying a huge, double pointed lance Cesare out paced his escort.  Arriving in a ravine, he was ambushed by three knights and their foot soldiers.  Mortally wounded, he fought desperately before being overwhelmed.

Nick Snelling - Culture Spain

(Noms de plume: Alexander Peters, Elena Suarez, Alberto Diaz)

FURTHER RELEVANT ARTICLES ABOUT THE HISTORY OF SPAIN

All the King’s Men – democracy in Spain

Big Bang – the birth of Modern Spain

What did the Moors do for us?

El Cid – Spanish national hero and extraordinary soldier

Controversial Spain – the hidden truths about Spain!

On the second day of January 1492, Boabdil, the last Moorish ruler in Spain, reluctantly handed over the keys of Granada and the beautiful Alhambra palace to the Christian monarchs King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella.   This was the catalyst for an extraordinary time.  By the end of the year, Christopher Columbus had discovered the Americas for Spain and, within thirty years, Spain had unexpectedly exploded, like a meteor, onto the international scene to become the dominant power in Europe.  Rich, powerful and newly intolerant, Spain had finally come of age, after a sustained history of disunity and international impotence.

In fact, until 1492 Spain had never been united for long, in any meaningful sense, as a single nation.  Over a thousand years it had been invaded or colonised by the Phoenicians, the Romans, the Vandals and the Visigoths.  Finally, in 711 the Moors crossed into Spain and, helped by ferocious Berber mercenaries, subdued most of the Iberian peninsular.

The Moors remained in Spain for almost 800 years bringing technical advances and tremendous scholarship into the country.  They were also remarkably tolerant to other cultures and religions allowing Jews, Christians and Moors to live together in relative peace.  Cordoba became the capital of ‘Al Andalus’ (Moorish Spain) and was famous throughout Europe for its learning and extraordinarily beautiful architecture.

But Moorish rule was opposed almost from the start, initially from the tiny Asturias in the 8^th Century.  Then, over hundreds of years, Christian forces gradually pushed Moorish control ever southwards.  From the 11^th Century the removal of the Moors took on a strongly religious aspect, consistent with the hysterical Christian fanaticism of the time.  Increasingly, the Reconquista was seen as tantamount to a Crusade, with a medieval vision being to create a strong and independent Christian Spain.  However, as the Moors were slowly overwhelmed, a series of independent fiefdoms and kingdoms emerged throughout Spain, splintering any potential national unity.

A major step towards unifying Spain finally occurred when the two most powerful kingdoms were effectively joined by the marriage, in 1469, of Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile.  By chance, this not only firmly allied two powerful kingdoms, it also brought together two remarkably competent leaders who ruled as equal partners.  Isabella was clearly a feisty, politically astute and determined woman, whilst Ferdinand was a master diplomat of Machiavellian talents.

All the King’s Men – democracy in Spain          What did the Moors do for us?

Ferdinand and Isabella immediately set out to remove the last remaining Moors from their strongholds in Granada, whilst securing and extending their own authority throughout their domains.  Over ten years, the Moors in Granada were remorselessly overwhelmed by a sustained and determined campaign that honed Ferdinand and Isabella’s military into a battle hardened and experienced force.  This was to prove important in the years to come, as Spain extended her influence to the Americas and secured her future territories in Italy and elsewhere.

Of course, after nearly 800 years of occupation, Spain had numerous Moors and Jews who had integrated over the generations, albeit retaining their own distinct religions and customs.  Indeed, to its credit, Spain had become one of the most heterogeneous countries in Europe and one renowned for its toleration.  However, this was a concern for Ferdinand and Isabella, who were understandably worried that a possible ‘fifth column’ of indifferent loyalties remained in a country still struggling to unify under a national identity.  In 1478 the Inquisition was formed, with the radical and brutal hypocriteTomas de Torquemata created Grand Inquisitor in 1483.

The Inquisition was a vital political tool for Ferdinand and Isabella, as it was the only institution with undisputed authority throughout the kingdom.  It served to purify the population into hard line Catholic Christians and was devastatingly effective in attacking or weakening political opponents.  As the appointment of the Grand Inquisitor was in the sole remit of Ferdinand and Isabella, it provided the monarchy with a critical implement with which to tighten their control over Spain.  In 1492 all Jews who had not converted were expelled and, in 1502, the Muslims in Granada were told to convert or leave the country.  Spain was fast losing its tolerance and laying the grounds for the Counter Reformation, later in the century, when it would become a pillar of hard-line European Catholicism.

By extraordinary fortune, in the very year that Spain gained its independence from the Moors, Christopher Columbus was finally authorized to find a route to India and China by going west across the Atlantic – appropriately known as the ‘Sea of Darkness’ by the Moors.  After five weeks sailing, Columbus found the Bahamas, thinking that he had come across India.  In fact, of course, he had touched upon the Americas, until then an unknown landmass.   During the course of three further journeys, he was to discover South America and make the previously inconceivable concept of crossing the Atlantic an almost pedestrian event.

The importance of Columbus’ discoveries was not lost on Ferdinand and Isabella and they agreed, at the Treaty of Tordesillas in 1494, with King John 11 of Portugal to divide up the New World.  A north/south line was drawn through the Atlantic, with Portugal agreeing that Spain had a right to possession of all lands lying to the west.  Effectively, Portugal gained modern day Brazil, whilst Spain benefited from the enormous but still unknown territories of the rest of the Americas.

El Cid – Spanish national hero and extraordinary soldier          The Borgias – either Caesar or nothing

For Spain, ‘ownership’ of the Americas was to have a profound effect that cannot be underestimated.  In modern terms it was like a poor country finding fantastic reserves of oil on its territory.  Within three decades, Spain was to have access to an almost inexhaustible supply of gold and silver with which to fund the country’s extraordinary growth and international ambitions.  Spain’s monarchs would become the richest in Europe and have power unthinkable to any previous Spanish ruler.

If the overthrowing of the Moors was the catalyst for modern Spain then access to the Americas was to become the means to greatness.  However, Spain’s acceleration was to be given a further critical and incredible push.  In 1516, Ferdinand died, Isabella having predeceased him in 1504.  Through a quirk of fate, the throne passed to Ferdinand and Isabella’s grandson, Charles 1, who inherited the lands of no less than four European royal houses, including that of the Habsburgs.

By 1419, after enormous bribery, Charles 1 of Spain consolidated his power by becoming Holy Roman Emperor (Charles V) making him, by far, the most powerful ruler in Europe.  Spain now controlled the Low Countries (roughly the modern day Netherlands), vast tranches of Germany, Naples, Sicily and, of course, a fast developing empire of fabulous value in the New World.

And, in the New World, matters moved with extraordinary speed, due to the actions of a few intrepid, ruthless and driven men.  By 1521 Hernando Cortez had subdued the Aztecs and by 1533 the Inca Empire had been brutally destroyed and brought under the control of Spain by the cruel and relentless actions of Francisco Pizzarro.  As each year passed, Spain’s American territories and associated riches were increasing at a rate that made other European country’s efforts look paltry by comparison.

Controversial Spain – the hidden truths about Spain!

By the 1520’s Spain had, for the first time, become a recognizable, modern state and one ruled by a single, undisputed and absolute monarch.  It had also become a country with a defined, albeit imposed, national identity – as a Catholic Christian state.  Furthermore, through Charles 1’s extensive inherited territories throughout Europe, Spain had suddenly, and improbably, become a major power broker within European affairs.  And, of course, with colossal wealth coming to Spain from its New World colonies, Spain was actually in the happy position of being able to exert its influence, whether by bribes or military means.

Unfortunately, Spain’s explosively sudden golden age was not to last long, even if the idea of a unified state of Spain was never again to be seriously disputed.  The future centuries were to bring appallingly costly wars, often fought as Spain sought to act as a bulwark of Catholicism against Protestantism.  Perhaps, more damaging, ironically, was its long term linking with the decaying Habsburg Empire and the wars of succession that erupted periodically over the next two hundred years.

Finally, Spain also made the critical mistake of relying too heavily on its wealth from the New World.  It made no serious effort to industrialise and little of the riches produced by its colonies were used to invest within Spain itself, to develop a strong self-perpetuating infrastructure.  Power and wealth in Spain remained within the hands of the monarchs and an un-dynamic aristocracy, resulting in a country of tremendous inequality, poverty and oppression.

What happened so explosively between 1492 -1530 created Spain and defined its very future.  Like a meteor, it had a brief glorious period, before decaying into one of the most economically and politically backward states in Europe.  It is only in the past thirty years that Spain has regained its dynamism and energy, having discarded its religious intolerance, gained politically stability and developed a powerful economic base.  Let us hope that Spain’s future has now been set upon firmer foundations than those of the 16^th Century.

Nick Snelling – Culture Spain

TIMELINE

711 – 1492 Moorish occupation of Spain
1469             Marriage of Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castille
1478             Formation of the Inquisition by Papal Bull
1480            Appointment of the Grand Inquisitioner (Tomas de Torquemata)
1492             Reconquista completed with the fall of Granada and Spain united under the rule of Ferdinand 1 and  Isabella  as joint rulers
Christopher Columbus’ 1^st voyage of discovery to the America’s
Alahambra Decree expelling all Jews
1494            Treaty of Tordesillas dividing the unknown world between Spain and Portugal
1499            Moorish uprising
1502           Muslims in Granada told to convert or leave Spain
1504           Queen Isabella dies
1513            Vasco de Nunez de Balboa reaches the Pacific
1516            Ferdinand 1 dies
Charles 1 proclaimed king
1519            Charles 1 of Spain becomes Holy Roman Emperor Charles V uniting   the House of Bourbon with the House of Habsburg
1521            Hernando Cortes defeats the Aztecs and becomes Governor of Mexico
1531-33    Francisco Pizzaro defeats the Incas

PERSONALITIES

Ferdinand of Aragon (1452 – 1516)
King 1492 – 1516
A master diplomat and administrator

Isabella of Castile (1451 – 1504)
Queen 1492 – 1504
Feisty, religious and strong

Charles 1 of Spain (Holy Roman Emperor Charles V)
1500 – 1558
King 1516 – 1556 (abdicated in favour of his son Philip 11)
Brought to Spain the Netherlands, part of modern Germany and Italy
Spoke: “Spanish to God, Italian to women, French to men, and German to my horse.”

Gonzalo de Cordova (The Great Captain)
1433 – 1515
First ‘modern’ General
Re-organised Spanish army
Great tactician

Tomas de Torquemata (Grand Inquisitor)
1420 – 1498
Appointed Inquisitor General in 1483
Travelled with 50 mounted guards and 250 armed men
Fanatical and chief supporter of the expulsion of the Jews
Synonymous with torture and hypocrisy

Christopher Columbus
1451 – 1506
In 1492 found the America’s
4 voyages of discovery
Claimed Americas for Spain

Hernando Cortez
1485 – 1547
Insubordinate
Conquered the Aztecs with 600 men
Initiated Mexico City the most important city in the Americas

Francisco Pizarro
1471 – 1541
Illiterate and illegitimate: a driven and cruel man
Ruthlessly conquered Inca Empire with 168 Spanish soldiers
Founded Lima

BY NICK SNELLING – Culture Spain

FURTHER RELEVANT ARTICLES ABOUT SPANISH HISTORY

All the King’s Men – democracy in Spain

What did the Moors do for us?

El Cid – Spanish national hero and extraordinary soldier

The Borgias – either Caesar or nothing

Controversial Spain – the hidden truths about Spain!

Consider a creaking infrastructure with an uneven economy and much of the population existing at subsistence level, at direct variance to the rest of Europe.  To make matters worse, imagine an uncertain future with a dying dictator.  Perhaps, you are in your mid-fifties and, as a young man, fought in the civil war, with nightmare memories of drawn blood still fresh.  Maybe, you, or a member of your family, were an oppressor during the dark years after the war and are awaiting the vengeance of others upon the demise of the regime.

Of course, this was Spain in the early 1970’s.  Only some 35 years ago.  A potentially volatile and fractious state.  And yet, now, Spain is a triumphantly secure parliamentary democracy, in which a return to a dictatorship (left or right wing) would be unthinkable.  Just as incredible has been the transition of Spain from being a poor and backward country to a nation that now boasts the 9^th largest economy in the world and the fifth biggest in the EU.  Remarkably, all of this was achieved almost completely peacefully despite barely closed wounds.

General Franco had certainly not envisaged a parliamentary democracy after his death and would have been appalled to think that, within seven years, a socialist party (the PSOE) would govern the country for 14 consecutive years. In 1969 he had anointed the future King, Juan Carlos 1, as his successor and Head of State, envisaging a continuing dictatorship, albeit under an absolute monarch.

To his credit, the future king, started meeting clandestinely with liberal opposition leaders, in the years preceding Franco’s death.  Sworn in as king and Head of State, two days after Franco died on the 20^th November 1975, Juan Carlos 1 stated immediately that his aim was to restore democracy and be king of all Spaniards.  At the time, this was a bold move, as he was walking a tightrope between powerful, establishment forces and the expectations of much of the country for a modern democracy.

King Juan Carlos initiated limited reforms straight away under an inherited and ineffective prime minister (Carlos Arias Navarro), before replacing him with the more canny Adolfo Suarez in 1976.  By 1977 a referendum had been passed by a huge majority introducing universal suffrage and a two-chamber parliamentary system.  This was followed, the following year, by the legalising of the socialist party (PSOE) and the calling of the first general election for 41 years.  The centrist party of Adolfo Suarez won the election and then appointed 7 ‘wise men’ from all the political parties to draft a new constitution.

Big Bang – the birth of Modern Spain          What did the Moors do for us?

With the political landscape maturing fast, the new constitution was approved in 1978 and King Juan Carlos 1 relinquished absolute power, in favour of a defined parliamentary democracy.  Amongst other things, the new constitution forbade a state religion, allowed anyone over 18 to vote and, importantly, started a process of power dissolution to the 17 autonomous regions.  True democracy was now on the ‘starting blocks’ and a general election with a mandate to govern was called for March 1979.

Adolf Suarez’ party regained power after the 1979 election.  However, his centrist (UCD) party was starting to splinter under the conflicting pressures of deeply entrenched conservative interests and the necessity to continue the momentum of radical social and economic reforms.  More dangerous still, was the insecurity of the military, whose 36 year long grip on power under Franco, was disappearing fast.  Spain’s new democracy had yet to be tested by fire, notwithstanding the dangers that lay all around from both reactionaries and hard-line conservatives.

In February 1981 the world was shocked to see the Congress of Deputies under the command of Lt. Col Antonio Tejero Molina of the Guardia Civil supported by some 200 armed men.  For eighteen tense hours, he held the members of the Congress hostage, whilst he awaited military support to secure the coup.  In Valencia, General Jaime Milans de Bosch (Commander of the 3^rd Military Region) in support of the coup, placed tanks on the streets and called a State of Emergency.  Meanwhile, General Alfonso Armada, the coup leader, tried desperately to gather support amongst the rest of the army to support the uprising.

However, behind the scenes, King Juan Carlos was strongly voicing his disapproval of the coup and telling leaders, both military and political, that he was against it.  His lack of support and vehement disapproval of the coup proved critical and the crisis passed with Tejero surrendering and the plotters being quickly arrested.  Miraculously, no-one had been hurt, but Spanish democracy had felt the white heat of confrontation at a particularly delicate time.  It was not to happen again.

El Cid – Spanish national hero and extraordinary soldier          The Borgias – either Caesar or nothing

The king was pronounced a hero and secured the overwhelming approval of the nation for his actions, with even the leader of the communists, Santiago Carillo, famously stating: ‘Today, we are all monarchists’.   Ironically, the failed coup helped to change the political landscape, but in directly the opposite fashion to that intended by hard-line conservatives.  When a general election was called in 1982, it was overwhelmingly won by the socialist (PSOE) party in a powerful and significant rejection of hard-right politics.  Indeed, under Felipe Gonzalez, the socialist (PSOE) party was to remain in power for 14 consecutive years until 1996, winning four general elections in the process.

Divisive and demoralised, the conservative wing of Spanish politics echoed the experience of the UK Labour party during the Thatcher years.  Several leaders were tried and found wanting and it was not until the conservatives re-invented themselves in 1989 as the Partido Popular (PP) party that they found a leader in Jose Maria Aznar capable of restoring their credibility.  However, it still took until 1996 before the conservative (PP) party succeeded to power by forming a coalition government.

Certainly, by the mid 1990s the socialist (PSOE) party had become associated with a number of scandals, the most devastating of which was the GAL (Grupos Antiterroistas de Liberacion) murder squads.  These were shocking, government approved assassinations against ETA members.   Furthermore, like so many long-serving governments, the socialists were considered arrogant and had been associated with many incidences of corruption.  Perhaps more damning, was that they were perceived as being incapable of effectively running the economy and re-vitalising Spain after the depression years of the early 1990s.

More vitally, with the election of the conservative (PP) party in 1996, Spain showed that it had come of age as a democracy and felt able to bring back into power a right wing party, without fear of it reverting to the terrifying extremism of the past.  In fact, like so much of the democratic world, Spain now has, effectively, two major, national competing political parties: the socialists (PSOE) and the conservatives (PP).  Both parties roughly mimic the Democrats and Republicans in America or Labour and Conservative in the UK and tend to squabble over politically centrist ground.  Neither are radical in any historic sense and both would consider any form of undemocratic government abhorrent.

Controversial Spain – the hidden truths about Spain!

Jose Maria Aznar’s conservative (PP) party governed reasonably effectively after 1996, winning an overwhelming mandate in the 2000 elections.  However, the ecological disaster of the ‘Prestige’ oil tanker, support for the Iraq war and the spiraling price of housing reduced their popularity.  Nonetheless, they were expected to win the general elections scheduled for the 14^th March 2004.

Three days before the 2004 general election, a cataclysm of horrendous proportions hit Spain that had a dramatic effect upon the election, resulting in the current socialist (PSOE) party taking power.  On the morning of the 11^th March 2006, Al Qaeda terrorists exploded a series of bombs at three train stations in Madrid during rush hour.  Some 191 people were killed and over 1,800 hurt, with Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar repeatedly, and incorrectly, blaming ETA for the atrocity.  As the truth for who was responsible for the bombing came to light, the conservative (PP) party lost critical credibility and their grip on power.

The next general election is scheduled for 2008 with the possible result difficult to predict.  However, what is certain is that democracy in Spain is safe, for the first time in its turbulent history.  This is a remarkable achievement and a tribute to the Spanish people, who have determinedly put behind them the dreadful divisions of a bitter civil war and cruel dictatorship, all within the living memory of many.  There are few nations that could have achieved this and shown such maturity and tolerance in such a short period of time.  Long may it continue.

Nick Snelling – Culture Spain

PERSONALITIES

King Juan Carlos 1
Born 1938
King since 1975
Constitutional monarch and head of the armed forces
Nominated as General Franco’s successor but restored parliamentary democracy
Decisively opposed Tejero’s 1981 coup attempt
The symbol of Spanish unity

General Francisco Franco
1892-1975
Youngest general (34) in Spain’s army 1926
Nationalist leader during the Civil War 1936-1939
Dictator 1939-1975
The symbol of Spanish division

Adolfo Suárez
Born 1932
Appointed prime minister 1976
Led UCD party to victory in Spain’s first free elections in 41 years in 1977
Resigned 1981 and retired from active politics 1991
Now suffering from Alzheimer’s disease
Remembers nothing of his years as prime minister

Felipe González
Born 1942
Former head of socialist party (PSOE)
Prime Minister 1982-1996
Won 4 elections
Consolidated Spanish parliamentary democracy
Spain’s ambassador for the bicentenary celebrations of Latin American independence in 2010

José María Aznar
Born 1953
Former head of conservative party (PP)
Prime Minister 1996-2004
Won 2 elections
Introduced Euro and revitalised economy

José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero
Born1960
Current head of PSOE
Prime Minister since 2004
Promotes vision of ‘Nueva Via’ – similar to Tony Blair’s ‘Third Way’

TIMELINE

1936 – 1939    Spanish Civil War (Fascist against Republican)
1939 – 1975   Fascist dictatorship under General Franco
1955                   Spain joins United Nations
1975                  Franco dies and Juan Carlos 1 becomes King.
1976                  Adolfo Suarez appointed Prime Minister
1977                 General Election to form a constituent assembly to draft a new democratic constitution.  King Juan Carlos’ father renounces any claim to the Spanish throne
1978                  Spanish Constitution approved.  King Juan Carlos gives up absolute power.
1979                  Centrist (UCD) party wins election and Adolfo Suarez remains Prime Minister
1981                   Tejero mounts unsuccessful right wing military coup
1982                   Socialist (PSOE) win elections.  Felipe Gonzalez becomes Prime Minister. Spain joins NATO
1986                   Socialist (PSOE) win elections again.  Spain joins the European Union
1989                   Conservative (PP) party formed from failed AP.  PSOE win elections again.
1992                   Barcelona Olympics and Sevilla Trade Fair
1993                   Socialist (PSOE) lose support in general election and form coalition government
1996                   Conservative (PP) party form a coalition government.  Jose Maria Aznar         becomes Prime Minister
2000                  Conservative (PP) party win majority at general election.  Aznar remains Prime Minister
2002                  Peseta replaced by Euro
2004                  Madrid bombings by Al Qaeda 3 days before general election.  Socialist (PSOE) party gain surprise majority.  Jose Luis Zapatero becomes Prime Minister
2008                 General election won, again, by Zapatero’s PSOE (socialist) party
2011                  General election won by Mariano Rajoy and the PP (conservative ) party.

 BY NICK SNELLING (nom de plume Elena Suarez) (www.culturespain.com)

FURTHER ARTICLES ON THE HISTORY OF SPAIN

Big Bang – the birth of Modern Spain

What did the Moors do for us?

El Cid – Spanish national hero and extraordinary soldier

The Borgias – either Caesar or nothing

Controversial Spain – the hidden truths about Spain!

One of the curiosities of Spain is the seeming denial by the Spanish of the past existence of the Moors in their country. Certainly, much is made of the ‘heroic’ Christian Reconquista, but rarely is the Moorish invasion of Spain looked upon as having provided any intrinsic benefit.  In fact, apart from a few scintillating buildings, such as the Alhambra and the Cordoba Mezquita, it would be easy to imagine that, during their 780 years presence, the Moors contributed nothing of consequence to Spain.

In fact, the Moors had a profound influence not just upon Spain but the whole of Western Europe.  Indeed, it has been said that they laid the foundations of the Renaissance that brought Europe out of the intellectual and physical gloom of the Middle Ages.

In the 10^th Century Cordoba, for example, was not just the capital of Al Andalus (Moorish Spain) but also one of the most important cities in the world, rivalling Baghdad and Constantinople.  It boasted a population of 500,000 (200,000 more than now) and had street lighting, fifty hospitals (with running water!), three hundred public baths, five hundred mosques and seventy libraries – one of which held some 500,000 books.  All of this, at a time when London had a largely illiterate population of around 20,000 and had forgotten the technical advances of the Romans some 600 hundred years beforehand.

More importantly, the Moors brought enormous learning to Spain which, over the coming centuries, would percolate through to the rest of Europe.  In fact, it was the intellectual achievements of the Moors that were to have a lasting effect, well beyond their more prosaic contributions towards construction, irrigation systems and agriculture.  Indeed three of the greatest thinkers of the Middle Ages emerged from Moorish Spain: Ibn Rushd (Averroes), Ibn Arabi and the Jew Maimonides.

Strange though it may seem now, Islam actively promoted learning and scholarship during its Golden Age (750 – 1258) with rulers across the Arab world vying with each other to develop and patronise great centres of learning.  This was totally consistent with the teaching of the founder of Islam, Mohammad, who believed that ‘the scholar’s ink is holier than the martyr’s blood’ and that ‘seeking knowledge is required of every Muslim’.

All the King’s Men – democracy in Spain          Big Bang – the birth of Modern Spain

So dynamic was Islam during its Golden Age, that Arabic became both the international language of scholarship and the language into which original, and often ancient and nearly forgotten, manuscripts in Greek, Latin, ancient Egyptian and Chinese were translated.  The vast body of work created was of the first importance, as it preserved ideas and thoughts from previous ages and amalgamated them into a form capable of rigorous study.  In turn, this nurtured an environment that generated great intellectuals, who were able to expand upon a range of vital matters from philosophy to astronomy through to medicine, the development of higher mathematics, navigation and dramatically new farming techniques.

The Umayyad Moorish rulers of Spain ardently wanted their Al Andalus possessions to equal that of Baghdad in both splendour and learning and, in Cordoba, actively sought out and patronised scholarship.  By the time Abd al-Rahman III had established a formal Caliphate, Cordoba had become a magnet for scholars from both the East and Western Europe, irrespective of religion.   This tradition reached its apogee during the reign of his son Al Hakim, before the Umayyad dynasty collapsed and Al Andalus descended into anarchy.

However, by good fortune, the libraries of Toledo, in particular, survived the conquest of that city by the Christian King Alfonso VI in 1085 and Toledo quickly became a European centre for the translation of Arabic texts into Latin – the universal, educated language of Western Europe.  Under some enlightened rulers, most notably Alfonso X (The Wise), the scientific and philosophical works of the Moors were translated and their knowledge dispersed around Europe.

One of the most influential Moors was the philosopher Ibn Rushd (Averroes) who was born in Cordoba.  He translated the largely lost works of Aristotle (perhaps the greatest thinker the world has known and someone committed to logic and intellectual rigour) whilst commenting upon the texts.  These had a lasting effect upon Western philosophy, were taught in universities for the next four hundred years and were highly commended by St Thomas Aquinas himself.

Meanwhile, an almost contemporaneous philosopher, Ibn Arabi, born in Murcia was to have a possibly greater impact on the Muslim world.  A prolific writer of some 800 texts, Ibn Arabi was a radical thinker and teacher who is still revered today for his articulation and development of Sufism, the Islamic tradition of mysticism.

Finally, in this hot-house time for philosophers, Moses Maimonides, a Jew from Cordoba was writing seminal works on Jewish philosophy, law and ethics.  So influential were his writings that even today he is considered one of the foremost Rabbi’s and thinkers of the Jewish religion.  Somehow, at the same time, he also managed to rise to such pre-eminence as a doctor that he was also considered to be the greatest medical practitioner of his era.

El Cid – Spanish national hero and extraordinary soldier          The Borgias – either Caesar or nothing

But, of course, the Moors did not just support great translators and developers of ideas and cerebral concepts.  Moorish Spain was nothing if not diverse and produced a range of important practical advances, particularly in the field of medicine.  Spurred on by Mohammad’s order to: ‘make use of medical treatment, for Allah has not made a disease without appointing a remedy for it…’ a real urgency to improve medical care occurred throughout Muslim controlled territories.

In Spain, the ‘father of modern surgery’, Abu al-Quasim (Al Zahrawi), was born in Cordoba.  During a practice that lasted fifty years, he developed a range of innovative and precise surgical instruments, whilst writing a text book that was to be a cornerstone of Western medical training for the next 500 years.

Around the same time Ibn Zuhr (Avensoar) 1091 – 1161, from Seville, was practising as one of the greatest physicians of the Middle Ages and using inhaled anaesthetics on his patients.  He was the first person to describe diseases caused by parasites, was an expert in anatomy and wrote books that, when translated into Latin, were used until the eighteenth century.  Meanwhile, al-Baytar (died 1248) wrote authoritatively on drugs and medicinal plants, al-Nafis (1213 – 1288) was the first to discover the pulmonary circulation of blood and Ibn Hasim tackled medical ethics and hygiene (a concept virtually unknown in Western Europe).

Controversial Spain – the hidden truths about Spain!

The Moors in Spain were also famous as astronomers and mathematicians.  Indeed, algebra comes from the Arabic al-jabr and the previously unknown, and critically important, Eastern concept of zero (probably originating from Babylonia) was introduced to Europe via Spain.  Certainly, the Moors had a keen interest in mathematics and in al-Zarquali (Arzachel) from Toledo they produced a man of prodigious gifts who contributed to the Toledan Tables (a compilation of astronomical data).  He also developed a flat astrolabe, precision astronomical instruments and compiled tables of latitude and longitude.

The Moors scientific curiosity had even extended to flight with the polymath Ibn Firnas making the first scientific attempt to fly, in a controlled manner, in 875.  This evidently worked, although the landing was less successful.

Of more practical daily use, was the introduction by the Moors, into Spain, of new food crops such as rice, hard wheat, cotton, oranges, lemons, sugar and cotton.  Importantly, along with these foodstuffs came an intimate knowledge of irrigation.  This was complemented by sophisticated metalworking and weaving techniques and complex interior design skills that took buildings to new heights of intensive and intricate decoration.  Paper making was also brought to Spain, allowing the growth of books and, thereby, the accurate preservation and dispersal of knowledge – with Xativa, in Valencia, having the first paper factory in Europe.

Of course, now, much of what the Moors achieved has been lost in time and largely appears to be restricted to a few ostentatiously gorgeous buildings.  However, we still meet traces of the Moors in the language of Spain, as it is peppered with Moorish words.  Hola derives, from the Middle Eastern greeting of ‘Allah’, Ojala from ‘in sha’Allah’, Madrid was Majrit (water channel) and Beni, which is used in many place names, is Moorish for ‘son of’.  Perhaps, they should act as daily reminders of the past importance of Moorish influence and make us a little more tolerant of Islam’s current dangerously hysterical intellectual insecurity.

Because the Moors were important and contributed greatly, ironically, to the development of Christian civilisation in Western Europe.  In the Dark Ages, when Europe had descended into medieval ignorance, it was the Moors who kept alive the lost philosophy and analytical powers of reasoning of the Greeks, together with the learning of ancient civilisations.  They preserved this knowledge and, through their burning desire for scholarship and advancement, greatly improved upon what was then known, across multifarious spectrums.  Accidentally, though it was, they kept alive the flame of Western progress when it was most in danger of being extinguished.  It was a flame that was, during the Renaissance, to explode the West to the forefront of world civilisation.

Nick Snelling – Culture Spain

TIMELINE

711   Moors cross into Spain. Tariq ibn-Ziyad brings Moorish army
Moors defeat last Visigoth King (Roderick 1 at Battle of Rio Barbate)
719   Moors control almost all of Spain and their control reaches to the Pyrenees
732   Moors defeated by Charles Martel at Poitiers in France – the limit of their northern advance
750 – 1258 The Golden Age of Islam
756    Abd al-Rahman I (Umayyad prince from Syria) makes Cordoba the capital of Al Andalus
912 – 961 Reign of Abd al-Rahman III.  Established Caliphate and intellectual tradition of Cordoba
1031  Umayyad dynasty collapses
1031- 1086   Anarchy
1085 King Alfonso V1 captures Toledo
1118  Christians capture Zaragossa
1145  Almohad Dynasty come to power
1147  Almohads capture Sevilla and make it the capital of Al Andalus
1212  Moors defeated at the Battle of La Naves de Tolosa by the united armies of Castille, Aragon,  Navarre and Portugal
1232 – 1492 Granada is the only Moorish territory on the Iberian Peninsular
1232  King of Granada is Muhammad 1
1238 – 1358  Construction of the Alhambra palace (Granada)
1238  Valencia re-captured by the Christians
1492  Moorish rule ends with the fall of Granada to Ferdinand and Isabella.

PERSONALITIES

Muhammad 570 – 632
Prophet
Founded the religion of Islam
Promoted the importance of learning and scholarship

Abd al-Rahman 731 – 786
Reigned 756 – 786
Founder of Umayyad dynasty that ruled Iberia for 300 years
The ‘Falcon of Andalus’
Started construction of the Mezquita of Cordoba

Abd al-Rahman III 891 – 961
Reigned 912 – 961
Caliph and greatest Umayyad  ruler
Patron of the arts and fine administrator
Cordoba became the greatest centre of learning in Europe

Al Hakim  unknown – 976
Reigned 961 – 976
Had a library in Cordoba of over 500,000 books
Expanded Cordoba’s mesquita

Alfonso X of Castille 1221- 1284
Nicknamed ‘El Sabio’ (The Learned)
A writer and intellectual
Patronised The School of Translators of Toledo

Abbas Ibn Firnas 810 – 887
Born Ronda
Polymath – scientist, musician , inventor
The first man to try flying scientifically

Abu al-Quasim (Al Zahrawi) 936 – 1013
Born in Cordoba
Father of modern surgery
Wrote a 30 volume medical encyclopedia (Kiab al-Tasrif)
Influenced medicine for 500 years
Designed new surgical instruments and techniques

Al Zarquali (Arzachel) 1028 – 1087
Lived in Toledo
Mathematician, astronomer and inventor
Contributed to the Tables of Toledo
Influenced the re-birth of mathematical astronomy

Ibn Rushd (Averroes) 1126 – 1198
Born Cordoba
‘The Commentator’
Father of secular thought in Western Europe
Intellectual and polymath
Brought Aristotle’s ides of logic and analytical thinking back to the West

Moses Maimonides 1135 – 1204
Born in Cordoba
Jewish scientist and philosopher
Considered the greatest doctor of his time
Greatly influenced by Averroes

Ibn Arabi 1165 – 1240
Born in modern day Murcia
Philosopher and mystic
Wrote some 800 works
Has exerted a huge influence on Islamic spiritual thought

Nick Snelling – Culture Spain

FURTHER RELEVANT ARTICLES ABOUT THE HISTORY OF SPAIN

All the King’s Men – democracy in Spain

Big Bang – the birth of Modern Spain

El Cid – Spanish national hero and extraordinary soldier

The Borgias – either Caesar or nothing

Controversial Spain – the hidden truths about Spain!

SOFT CONSTRUCTION WITH BEANS (A PREMONITION OF CIVIL WAR) BY SALVADOR DALI

The Spanish Civil War 1936-39 was a conflict notable for its brutality and for the way it savagely divided Spain.  It resulted, of course, in General Franco’s long dictatorship (which only ended in 1975) and was a defining moment for Spain – the results of which can be felt even now.

However, the Civil War in Spain was also notorious for being incredibly ‘messy’ politically – so much so that understanding what was happening can be extremely difficult.  Everyone, it seems, was fighting everyone, at one time or another, as a bewildering array of political views sought dominance in Spain from extreme anarchists through to communists, socialists, fascists and republicans.  Different areas, different members of families and competing regional interests all collided in a war that was the inevitable, explosive expression of a country that had long been in turmoil.

But what were the precise origins of the Spanish Civil War?

Well, that is something that my friend Rod Younger of Books4Spain explains in one of the most lucid and penetrating articles about the Civil War in Spain that I have read for a long time.  As Rod acknowledges, one of the best reference works on the origins of the Civil War in Spain and its conduct can be found in Anthony Beevor’s classic book ‘The Battle for Spain’ – but for a brief explanation (and ‘taster’) you could do a lot worse than read the article by Rod below.

Nick Snelling – Culture Spain

The underlying causes of the Spanish Civil war

As an Anglo Spaniard with over 45 years’ experience of visiting, working and, for the last 10 years, living in Spain, and whose parents were raised in Spain during the Civil War, I am sometimes asked what were the true causes of the Spanish Civil War and often told by foreigners with little knowledge of Spain or its history, how terrible it was that Franco won and how he set Spain back 40 years.

This last point is a moot point and perhaps one that I will return to another day, for now I’d like to summarise the root causes which have been set out superbly by Antony Beevor in the Introduction and opening Chapters of his seminal work – The Battle for Spain.

At the outset, I have to admit that I have never read one serious book about the Spanish Civil War – apart from Homage to Catalonia many, many years ago.  What I do know from my Spanish roots, family history and experience is that the conflict was not as black as white as many people believe and, as Antony Beevor says in his Introduction, “The Spanish Civil War remains one of the few modern conflicts whose history has been written more effectively by the losers than by the winners.” and “Truth was indeed the first casualty of the Spanish Civil War.”

The common perception of at least 80% of the people who ask me about this and who also purport to know about the cause of the Spanish Civil War, state with certainty that Franco over threw a democratically elected Republican government – end of story.

That statement, read as is, is correct.  However, if only it were so simple and clear cut.  Franco’s intervention was not only the results of several years of political infighting, intrigue, machinations, violence, etc. (which Beevor covers admirably) but, equally importantly, the seeds of the conflict were sown over the centuries, not decades or the few turbulent years prior to 17 July 1936.  In fact, the Spanish Civil War was, in my opinion, the inevitable consequence of Spain’s economic and political decline after its Golden Age, although, as Beevor points out “this view contravenes the informal yet important rule of history that nothing is inevitable”.  This decline was, of itself, due to three key factors identified by Beevor, namely:

• Class conflict;
• Authoritarian rule versus libertarian instinct; and
• Central government against regionalist aspirations.

To quote Beevor (which I will do with some frequency!) – “The genesis of these three strains of conflict lay in the way the Reconquista of Spain from the Moors had shaped the social structure of the country and the attitudes of the Castilian conquerors.”

In essence, the monarchy, the aristocracy and, following closely behind, the Church, took possession of Spain – a Spain that had never previously been united (except perhaps under the Romans).  To complete and sustain this “united” Spain money, not food, was required and, as Beevor points out, Merino wool was the cash crop.  So, common land was seized for sheep grazing and agriculture and food production suffered accordingly.  Tending sheep is not labour intensive and the “only alternatives to starvation was the army and, later, the empire.” As a result, Spain’s population is estimated to have fallen from about 14 million in the Middle Ages to a little over 7 million at the end of the eighteenth century.  Here were the seeds of class conflict.

The Church’s role in the Reconquista was vital – initially promoting and often participating in military action, moving to a more political role once the Moors had been expelled. “The army conquered, then the Church integrated the new territories into the Castillian state.” The power of the Church was based on fear and culminated, as we know, in the creation of Inquisition by Isabella.

The Church controlled every aspect of education and promoted Castilian qualities “such as endurance of suffering and equanimity in the face of death.”  It encouraged parsimony, mental and physical, and rejected the papacy because of its corruption.  “The Church provided spiritual justification for the Castilian social structure and was the most authoritarian force in its consolidation.”  Here we find authoritarian rule.

Lastly, centralism against regionalism:  As mentioned above, Spain had never really been united but theReconquista, along with marriages between different royal families, created a centralised government (Monarchy) with the Church effectively in control.  A monarchy which disregarded the local rights and customs of regions or Kingdoms which had previously been independent, for example Catalonia and the Basque country.

“Castile had established a central authority in Spain and built the empire but …. the wars in northern Europe, the fight against the French in Italy and destruction of the Armada..”  presaged the decline of “imperial power, developed in less than two generations.”

In short no lessons were learnt and the Catholic Church’s unbending conservative orthodoxy and disdain for trade “made the Castilian ruling class introverted.”

So we have an increasingly impoverished and marginalised country with limited natural resources being ruled by a highly conservative Catholic Church disconnected from the more liberal and less overtly political church emerging in other parts of Europe and a Castilian Monarchy who saw the rest of Spain and its dwindling empire as a source of funds.

In 1640 the Catalans, who had had considerable autonomy and power in the Mediterranean, along with the Portuguese, rose against Philip IV.  Portugal won her independence but Barcelona, who had acknowledged Louis XIII of France as its king, fell to Philip IV in 1652.

In 1700, after the death of the last Spanish Hasburg the first of many wars of Spanish Succession started and Catalonia sided with England against Louis XIV’s grandson, Philip of Anjou.  The English betrayed Catalonia in the Treaty of Utrecht (gaining Gibraltar and Menorca), the bourbon King Philip V abolished Catalonia’s rights.  The force of the Church was waning and the monarchy resorted to implementing the centralist ideas of his Sun King grandfather “But ruthlessness did not solve the problem; it only stored up trouble for the future.”

Apart from war, the other major factor that held back Spain’s economic development was the Spanish Church’s anti-capitalist, anti-usury, line and the Spanish nobleman’s disdain for commercial enterprise.  In fact the census of 1788 showed that almost 50% of adult males were not involved in any form of productive work, to quote Beevor – “one half of Spain east bit does not work, while the other half works but does not eat.” is a famous proverb which appears to have arisen around this time.

The turbulent times continued in 19^th, starting with the “War of Independence” (known as The Peninsular War by the British), followed by the Carlist Wars and culminating in the disastrous Spanish-American War in 1898 and the loss of Cuba.  Throughout this century liberalism and traditionalism clashed and corruption was rife.  The army acquired a taste for overthrowing governments – between 1814 and 1874 there were 37 attempted coups.

Spain became poorer and poorer and in February 1873 Amadeo of Savoy abdicated and the First Republic was declared.  It only lasted a few months as the army imposed its will and in 1874 Alfonso XII was proclaimed King.  A new constitution returned power to the Church and the landowners and political and economic corruption spread throughout the country from Madrid.

When Alfonso XIII became King in 1902, poverty was so great that half a million Spaniards, out of a population of eighteen and half million, emigrated to the New World in the first decade alone.  Life expectancy was around 35 years, the illiteracy rate averaged 64% and two thirds of Spain’s active population still worked on the land – with huge variations in terms and conditions between the regions.  Hardly an auspicious start to the century.

At the same time, the colonial war in Morocco was extremely unpopular, leading, indirectly, to the Tragic Week uprising in Barcelona in 1909 – culminating in the execution of Francisco Ferrer, founder of the libertarian Modern School, on trumped up charges.

Nevertheless, the repatriation of money from the old empire and the First World War, in which Spain remained neutral, resulted in a mini economic boom and a significant increase in the birth rate – which was to have an impact twenty years later in the 1930s.  The end of the First World War saw an end to the economic boom, unemployment and discontent followed fanning a rise in anarchism and socialism (both of which had been present in parts of Spain – mainly Andalucia and Catalonia, since the last quarter of the 19^th century).  The large overstaffed army remained a major obstacle to any reform and between 1917 and the declaration of the Second Republic in April 1931 (after Primo de Rivera’s disastrous rule) Spain suffered a series of economic and political crises.

The new government inherited an economic mess, both from the massive debts from public spending projects and the collapse of the peseta as well as the world depression brought on by the 1929 Crash (sound familiar??).  The new government introduced or proposed various reforms, including to the army, its relationship with regions like Catalonia, landownership, personal rights of women, freedom of religious worship etc.  reforms leading to regular clashes with the establishment (Church, Army and landowners).

At the same time, there were increasingly violent internal struggles between the various left wing parties themselves, as well as with the Falange, which had been founded in 1933.  As a result, between 1931 and 1936 there were several uprisings, strikes, coup attempts, elections and an increasing polarisation between the various political parties, especially on the left.

The general election of February 1936 led to a very narrow victory by a coalition of left wing parties who then fell to bickering amongst themselves, with the hard left faction urging a Bolshevik revolution.  It was as turbulent a time as any, ultimately, resulting in the military, led by Franco, feeling it necessary to step in and restore order in July of that year – the Spanish Civil War was officially born, but the country had already been effectively as close to civil war as is possible without it being nominated a civil war.

Rod Younger MD of Books4Spain writing about: The Battle for Spain by Anthony Beevor

 RELEVANT ARTICLES ABOUT SPAIN AND THE POLITICS AND CULTURE OF SPAIN

ALL THE KING’S MEN - Politics in Spain and the thrilling story of the death of General Franco, the development of democracy in Spain and the deadly Tejero crisis.

BIG BANG - The birth of modern Spain and the astonishing rise of Spain as it was united and became the greatest power in Europe helped, of course, by its merciless conquistadors.

WHAT DID THE MOORS DO FOR US? – The Moors entered Spain in 711 and left (reluctantly) hundreds of years later. Although they are much reviled now, in fact they contributed an amazing amount to both Spain and Europe.

THE BORGIAS - Few families in the world have been as notorious as the Borgias with Lucrezia Borgia and Caesar Borgia famous worldwide.  Were they really as bad that portrayed?

'THE SPANISH TEMPER' IS A MUST-READ FOR ANYONE INTERESTED IN SPAIN

As an Anglo-Spaniard with a long history of living and working in Spain on and off over the last 40 years, I was keen to read this recently re-published book of Pritchett’s views and opinions about Spain and its people based on the 4 years he spent in Spain in the 1920s and subsequent visits in the 1940s and 50s.

Pritchett follows in the footsteps of other foreign travellers, such as Borrow, Ford, Maugham, Sanford Marden and his contemporaries Norman Lewis and Gerald Brenan, who have also reflected on the nature of the Spanish character arising from their own experiences of travelling and living in Spain.

The difference is that Pritchett’s primary focus is on the Spanish character and what factors have shaped and formed it, whereas for the aforementioned writers their observations on the Spanish character were mainly secondary to describing their personal experiences in Spain.  The exception being Gerald Brenan, who’s “The Spanish Labyrinth” Pritchett himself acknowledges as being a seminal work on the social and political background to the Spanish Civil War and which covers in some detail the agrarian and landowning situation in Spain, which in turn is crucial to understanding the underlying causes of the war.

The description provided with The Spanish Temper is essentially as follows: Pritchett’s meditative work on Spain is comprised of a string of sketches, woven around the author’s musings on the Spanish character. Pritchett is well placed to deliver such a report, and his resulting narrative is both well informed and delightfully written.

Well, what I can say is that the description does not come close to doing this book justice.  In The Spanish Temper Pritchitt takes the reader on a tour through most of Spain, from the Basque country through Castile, Andalusia, the Levante and Catalonia.  He discusses the characteristics of each region in terms of political, economic and cultural history, as well as its geography, and how this has impacted on the character of the people living in these regions.

Not only is it well written but, for someone who only spent 4 years living in Spain 80 years ago, his insightful and astute observations demonstrate a deep knowledge and understanding of Spanish social, political and cultural history from art and literature to Franco to flamenco and bullfighting and, more importantly, a tremendous insight into the Spanish character and what underpins it.  He also shows his knowledge of leading Spanish intellectuals and writers, such as Ramiro de Maeztu, Ganivet, Benavente, Unamuno, Perez Galdos, Maranon, etc.

In short, Pritchett’s analysis (and understanding) of the Spanish character, both the good and the bad, mirrors observations made by many other foreigners living and travelling in Spain but is far more in-depth and is probably the most intellectually rigorous and robust examination I have come across.  If I had to find fault with the book it would be Pritchett’s tendency to “go off track” occasionally and to pontificate.  For example, in my opinion he spends too long discussing the motivations behind, and impact of, the two key Spanish “international” books, Don Quixote and Don Juan but the sections dealing with flamenco and bullfighting are very instructive.

Based on my own knowledge and experience of Spain and its people, some of his analysis into, and observations of, Spanish life and the people’s character remain as valid today as they were then.  For example, the Spaniards love of noise, music, dance and fiestas; “their capacity for producing the perfect blueprint which is never put into operation”; that, on the whole, Spaniards are not an “imaginative or innovative people” are all relevant even today, albeit not so prevalent.

He also observes that corrupt town clerks were making fortunes from corruption, which certainly rings true today, as does “Spain is full of anxious, idle lawyers…” – at least in certain parts of the country!  Of course, their kindness, generosity and hardworking ethos are also mentioned, but to be honest, only in passing.

On the other hand, he cites the Spaniard’s hatred of progress and Europeanisation at all levels of society (except in Catalonia) and “so much of Spanish life is locked up or emotionally fixed in the Middle Ages”.  Today, nothing could be further from the truth and these comments reflect the fact that this book was written in the 1950s and was based on hundreds of years of no, or very minimal, economic, social and political progress.  So, at the time of its writing, and perhaps for a number of years afterwards, Spanish Temper represented, in my opinion, an accurate and incisive analysis of the Spanish character.

However, Spain’s emergence from dictatorship into democracy and joining the EU resulted in changes to some of the underlying factors which had helped form the Spanish character over the past 300+ years.  For example, the ending of its isolation from much of Europe, improved communications (internal and external), higher standards of living, better education, universal suffrage, etc. have clearly led to changes in the way the Spanish “think” and act.

This is turn, appears to have resulted in a change from what some academics term a “shareholders” society, where there is a small group of haves who are in control (management) and a large group of have nots with little real say in how the “company” is run (the shareholders), to a “stakeholders” society which is more democratic, meritocratic, progressive and inclusive.

However, the permanence of this change is being questioned given what has been occurring in Spain over the last few years, e.g. an unsustainable economic boom, driven by largely external factors such as the euro and low interest rates; over reliance on construction/property sector for the generation of wealth; large scale political corruption; subsequent bust with over 20% unemployment, uncompetitive/productive industry; poor education system; poorly managed banking sector, etc., and raises the question of whether Spain, its people and its society will revert to many of the characteristics and traits so accurately described by Pritchett (and those before him).

This is therefore a must read book for anyone with more than a passing interest in the Spanish character and what has helped form and shape it but who also has an eye on how the present crisis, in Spain and Europe, may impact on it in the future.

Spanish Temper is just one of many superb books about Spain that can be bought from the specialist on-line bookstore Books4Spain

Rod Younger – Books4 Spain for Culture Spain

George Anson's capture of a Manila galleon by Samuel Scott.

One of the more curious and lesser known chapters in the history of conflicts between Spain and England was the strangely named ‘War of Jenkins’ Ear’ that took place between 1739 and 1748.

The title of the war relates to an incident in 1731 when the British merchant vessel Rebecca was boarded by the Spanish coastguard – during which Captain Robert Jenkins had his ear sliced off by a belligerent Spanish coast guard captain called Julio Leon Fandino.

Under the Treaty of Utrecht an agreement had been reached for a thirty year asiento (contract) allowing the British to import up to 500 tons of goods a year into the Spanish colonies and also to trade an unlimited number of slaves. It was Julio Leon Fandino’s boarding of the British vessel to check on the cargo and his belief that Jenkins was smuggling goods above the agreed quota that led to the removal of the captain’s ear.

BIG BANG          WHAT DID THE MOORS DO FOR US?

The Spanish captain accused Captain Jenkins of piracy on the high seas and, returning the severed organ to Jenkins, informed him to “go and tell your king that I will do the same to him, if he dares do the same!”

Relations between the Spain and Britain steadily worsened over the next few years and the British made frequent incursions into the Spanish colonies in the Caribbean and the isthmus of Central America.

In due course, the ear-challenged Captain Jenkins was asked to appear before a committee of the House of Commons.  Reputedly, he waved a bottle containing the pickled, shrivelled and fossilised appendage at the assembled, furious members of Parliament.

Jenkin’s parliamentary appearance in March 1738 together with other incidents, were considered sufficient to give ‘casus belli’ or a justifiable cause for war against Spain. Having said that, the British had recently attacked the Spanish silver exporting town of Porto Bello in Panama with six Men of War and stayed in occupation for over six weeks causing ever greater tension to mount between the two countries.

In fact, it was the British public’s approval of the occupation in Panama that led to the naming of Portobello Road in London and also the small village (now a suburb) of Portobello near Edinburgh on the River Forth. It was also at this time that anti-Spanish, bellicose public sentiment was inflamed with the first singing of the song Rule Britannia at a dinner to honour the Commodore of the successful British squadron, Admiral Vernon.

The War of Jenkins’ Ear between Britain and Spain continued over the next few years, with skirmishes by the British in 1741 and 1742 into the Spanish colonies of New Granada (nowadays Colombia), Cuba and Venezuela. The Spanish retaliated by unsuccessfully attacking the British colony of Georgia on the American mainland in 1742.

Eventually hostilities between Great Britain and Spain where overtaken by the wider pan European war of Austrian Succession, which polarised the major countries of Europe into two competing alliances. Although still at war with Spain, Britain’s main focus became France and the threat of invasion of southern England.

THE BORGIAS          ALL THE KING’S MEN         EL CID

The war of Austrian Succession finally came to an end in 1748 with The Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle. Two years later in 1750 the Treaty of Madrid between Britain and Spain bought the start of much improved diplomatic reactions between the two countries. Indeed, Britain wished to cultivate Spain as an ally and Spain wished not to be seen as a puppet of France. As a result of the Treaty, Britain once again traded with the Spanish colonies and in the Seven Years War of 1754-1763 (mainly between Britain and France) Spain was a neutral country.

As for Captain Jenkins?

Well, he continued his career as a sailor and was, for a brief time, in charge of the island of St. Helena in the South Atlantic although as for his ear – history fails to record what happened to it…

Iain Henderson - Culture Spain

Iain lives in Spain, was a professional soldier and is a businessman who has lived in many different parts of the world.  His lovely villa in Valencia, Spain is available for rent during the summer months.

FURTHER ARTICLES ON THE HISTORY OF SPAIN

BIG BANG - The birth of modern Spain and the astonishing rise of Spain as it was united and became the greatest power in Europe helped, of course, by its merciless conquistadors.

WHAT DID THE MOORS DO FOR US? – The Moors entered Spain in 711 and left (reluctantly) hundreds of  later. Although they are much reviled now, in fact they contributed an amazing amount to both Spain and Europe.

THE BORGIAS - Few families in the world have been as notorious as the Borgias with Lucrezia Borgia and Caesar Borgia famous worldwide.  Were they really as bad that portrayed?

ALL THE KING’S MEN - Politics in Spain and the thrilling story of the death of General Franco, the development of democracy in Spain and the deadly Tejero crisis.

EL CID – genuine Spanish hero and extraordinary soldier, who never lost a battle!

ETA's ACRONYM IN ALTSASU (courtesy of Wikipedia)

On Thursday the 20th October 2011 ETA declared that they would no longer use violence in Spain to obtain their objective of gaining Basque country independence from Spain.  This has been heralded as a breakthrough, with the Spanish Prime Minister (Zapatero) calling it: “a victory for democracy, law and reason”.

Certainly, the ‘war’ conducted by ETA in Spain, to most people, seemed nothing if not unreasonable.  Some 829 people have been killed by ETA since its creation fifty two years ago (in 1959) with many of them civilians.  It is difficult to know how many more people have been maimed or had their lives destroyed.

And yet, to most people, the actions of ETA are hard to comprehend.  Their objective, of course, has been to obtain independence for the Basque country (Pais Basco) from Spain.

But why?

Well, I have certainly found most Spaniards perplexed by ETA (which stands for Euskadi Ta Askatasuna – and means Basque Homeland and Freedom) and its raison d’etre.  After all the Basques are as Spanish as the Catalans, Valencians or Andalusians.  Meanwhile, the Basques share the same religion (the vast majority are Catholic) as the rest of Spain and appear to have been no more nor less oppressed, over the course of Spanish history, than any other part of Spain.

Of course, the Basques have their own language (Euskardi) but so do the Galicians and the Catalans – with neither the Galicians nor the Catalans resorting to a campaign of violence to obtain their independence.

It is hard not to come to the conclusion that ETA has long been an anachronism.  Whilst they may have had some reason to exist (as a democratic revolutionary movement) under the repressive dictatorship of Franco (1939 – 1975), the achievement of democracy (the Spanish Consitution was passed in 1978) must surely have rendered ETA’s aims somewhat pointless.

Indeed, one of the more extraordinary aspects to the Spanish Constitution is that it created Autonomous Regions in Spain (17) and two Autonomous cities (Mellila and Ceuta) that were provided with enormous powers.  Indeed, each Autonomous Region in Spain has an elected Legislative Assembly with an elected council headed by a President, who is appointed by the king.  Every region also has a Supreme Court of Justice which is one step below the Supreme Court of the whole Spanish state.

In fact, Spain is notable within Europe for its decentralisation and the significant devolved powers of authority to its Autonomous Regions – of which one is: the Comunidad Autónoma Vasca (Autonomous Region of the Basque country).

So, what more freedom did the Basque country want after 1978?

Well, some Basques wanted complete independence from Spain itself – and nothing else – and this continued to be the aim of ETA and the Basque political radicals who supported the organisation.

However, after 1978 the overall support within the Basque country for total independence dropped and with it support for ETA although this did not stop it from taking violent action that resulted in the killing in Spain of some 623 people between 1978 -1995.  Interestingly, only 10 of these were politicians or public offic holders.

From 1995 -2005 ETA killed ‘only’ 85 people although 1/3 of these were politicians.  The reduction in killings was due to the greater effectiveness of the Spanish security services which, over the past ten years, have semed to have had one success after another in capturing the leadership of ETA, its operatives and arms dumps (helped by active French support).

Reeling from operational blows and a dropping level of support, ETA agreed to (and broke) several ceasefires, the last of which was in September 2010.  On the 20th January ETA stated that the September 2010 ceasefire was to be permanent and this was the prelude to the expected complete cessation of violence declared on the 20th October 2011.

So, what has all the violence in Spain caused by ETA achieved?

Very little, it would seem – except bloodshed and significant gangsterism (ETA have survive economically through extensive extortion rackets, amongst other things).

In fact, the President of the Basque region seems to have summed matters up rather well when he said that ETA: ‘acknowledged its defeat because it met its end without achieveing any of its objectives’.

Certainly, in the 21st century there really is something very strange about a movement trying to gain freedom from its EU mother country.  After all, we are all part of the EU now and the days of hardline nationalism within Europe have passed – as we have all been subsumed by the EU.  So, any meaningful ‘independence’ needs to be not just from the mother country but also from the EU itself and that is economically ridiculous…

Frankly, for ETA (like the IRA) I suspect the playing fields over the past thity five years have moved so far that the original goal posts had become irrelevant – with the Basque population understanding this much quicker than its leadership.

So, what of the future of ETA?

Hopefully, ETA’s renunciation of violence in Spain will stick.  With their political party, Bildu, they have achieved political power (in San Sebastian) and this may now encourage any radicals to follow the proper democratic path to power.  However, what will be interesting will be whether ETA gives up its weapons, its ‘gangsterism’ and extortion rackets.  If it does then real, tangible progress will have been made following the 20th October 2011 declaration!

SPANIARDS ENJOYING THE SUMMER AT GANDIA BEACH

Like most countries, Spain relies upon a ten yearly national census to provide an update on the country and the evolution of the population in Spain.  The last census in Spain was in 2001 so, of course, a further national census is due to occur this year.  Indeed, if you live in Spain you may receive a census form to fill in, at any time.

For reasons that I do not know (probably due to cost restrictions), the census in Spain this year is being done on a very restricted basis.  For the past 150 years the census has involved an exhaustive review of every house in the land.  However, the 2011 census in Spain is going to involve only 12% of the population of Spain and is therefore, in reality, just a ‘snapshot’ – albeit complemented by existing facts about Spain and specific statistics held by Spanish government ministries.

The last census in Spain showed some interesting changes in the population of Spain and the evolution of the country and its population.  As you can see, from the charts below, the Spanish population more than doubled between 1900 (18,855,008) to 2001 (40,476,273 million).

SPANISH POPULATION GROWTH

Interesting, is it not, that such a huge country should have had so tiny a population at the turn of the last century?  This, I believe, says much about the innate poverty of Spain (as a whole) for most of its history and echoes what I still hear from many Spanish friends.  They often tell me that ´Spain is a poor country, you know’.

Indeed, the reality is that many Spaniards know that the ten year Spanish economic boom, which ended in 2007, was something of a glorious illusion – built on uncertain foundations…

For the record – the World Bank estimated the population of Spain in 2009 as 45,957,671 people although it is now (2011) thought to be around 46.1 million.

Interestingly, the fascinating pyramid charts at the bottom of this article seem to bear out the poverty of Spain at the turn of the last century.  Note the 1960 chart which shows the results of the trauma suffered by the Spanish both before and after the ferocious Spanish Civil War (1936/39), during which some 500,000-600,000 Spaniards were killed and many emigrated.

What the population charts show, very dramatically, is the massive difference in longevity of the Spanish population between 1900 and 2001.   You can clearly see a reasonably neat triangle in 1900 – where infant mortality was high and life expectancy was low.

However, by 2001 the pyramid chart had inverted with very low infant mortality and a much higher life expectancy in Spain – to the point at which there is even a fair expectation for some (mainly female!) Spaniards to reach the age of 85 or more.  The implications for Spain with its ‘ageing’ population for pensions and healthcare expenditure are, of course, obvious and profound…

Meanwhile, there has been profound change over the past hundred years  in the way that people in Spain live.  Spain has changed from being an agrarian society to one in which the vast majority of the population live on the coasts and within the cities working in the service sector and industry.

Incidentally, if you are interested in the top 5 most populated provinces in Spain (as of 2001) then they were:

Province              Inhabitants

Madrid                 6,481,541
Barcelona            5,526,536
Valencia               2,275,997
Alicante               1,931,751
Seville                  1,927,109

So, what are the likely results of the census in Spain for 2011 and what interesting facts about Spain will be established?

Of course, no-one can be sure – but I would keep an eye out for a significant rise in the population of Spain and a dramatic surge in the number of foreigners resident in Spain, although establishing this number exactly will be well-nigh impossible.

Certainly, there has been massive immigration to Spain over the past few years.  Indeed, the small number (1,370,657)   of foreigners in Spain in 2001 may have surged to a point at which the number of foreigners resident in Spain now comprises something like 10-15% of the population of Spain!  If this is the case then it may be the source of possible concern to the Spanish who, in only ten years, will have experienced a radical change to their traditional demographics that may, at some point, impact upon the very culture of Spain itself.

All of this may be exacerbated by (to quote El Pais) the fact that ‘the number of deaths in 2019 will exceed the number of births. Within the next decade Spain will have 1.4 million people over the age of 64, 17.8 percent more than at present.’  This is due to a drop in the number of women of child bearing age due, evidently, to a drop in births during the 1980s.

Meanwhile, the economic crisis in Spain may well initiate a significant increase in the number of (mainly young) Spaniards moving abroad to seek work.  I doubt that this will be shown in the 2011 census in Spain – but this trend may be of significance in the years to come…

Nick Snelling – Culture Spain

SPANISH POPULATION EVOLUTION

SPANISH POPULATION LONGEVITY 1991 AND 2001

Certainly, some of the topics that I was asked to write about were nothing less than eye openers – to put it very mildly!

Of course, what these articles about Spain reveal is the complexity of Spain – something that I have always found fascinating.  Indeed, Spain, like many countries, becomes ever more interesting the deeper you delve into it.  In fact, researching and writing investigative articles about Spain can be like peeling back of the skin of an onion.  Often, just as you think you have found a definitive answer to a topic, you find another layer of complication and hidden depth that reveal subtleties you never thought existed.  This can be both a joyous and disturbing process…

So, if you like wildly disparate articles and information about Spain then have a look at some of these:

ALL THE KING’S MEN - Politics in Spain and the thrilling story of the death of General Franco, the development of democracy in Spain and the deadly Tejero crisis.

BIG BANG - The birth of modern Spain and the astonishing rise of Spain as it was (finally!) united and became the greatest power in Europe helped, of course, by its merciless conquistadors and the discovery of the Americas and almost infinite quantities of gold.

CONFESSIONS OF A CALL GIRL IN SPAIN - The amazing story of a top class prostitute in Spain, what she does, why she became a prostitute and what it is like to work in a brothel in Spain.

HOOKED - ‘The gateway to Hell’, the reality of drugs in Spain, the drugs war, the types of drugs used and the stories  of drug addicts and those working to help them.

MELTDOWN IN MARBELLA - ‘The Godfather, a face lift and Mr Clean’, the incredible tale of corruption in Marbella and the appalling problems that this created.  Just check out Gig y Gil and Roca.  How did they get away with it for so long?

ON THE ROCKS - Divorce and domestic violence in Spain is a major issue and one that is a scar upon Spain despite the urgent efforts of the government to help women.  But why has Spain got one of the highest divorce rates in Europe?

CLUBBING TOGETHER - Spain’s brothel culture is a huge surprise for anyone who thought that Spain was a conservative and deeply religious country.  Quite clearly this is not the case and this article will make you think twice every time you pass a neon sign saying ‘Club’ on the roadside.  Are you looking at a nightclub or (far more likely) one the many brothels in Spain…

THE BIG ISSUE – Few issues in Spain are more controversial than immigration with the mass immigration in Spain that has occurred over the past few years a cause of deep concern to many Spaniards.  This has been a shock to the Spanish but then they needed mass immigration – or did they?)

THE BORGIAS - Few families in the world have been as notorious as the Borgias with Lucrezia Borgia and Caesar Borgia famous worldwide.  Were they really as bad as that portrayed or was Pope Alexander misunderstood?

WHAT DID THE MOORS DO FOR US? – The Moors entered Spain in 711 and left (very reluctantly) hundreds of later.  Although they are much reviled now, the Moors in Spain contributed an amazing amount to both Spain and Europe.  Without them, would Europe ever have dug itself out of the ‘Dark Ages’?

Do feel free to give me your thoughts on these articles about Spain.  Do they match the reality of your experience of Spain – or are there other even more revealing topics about Spain that you find particularly fascinating?

Nick Snelling – Culture Spain