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In times like the ones we
are living now, when there is no room for optimism in my country.
These are times when there is no room to remember the wonders Spain
contains. It feels like you cannot feel proud anymore of what we own,
of our heritage, of our beauty, of our history, of our country. There
is only time for the crisis, the unemployment and the social drama.
People forget that it is now, in these moments, when we really need
optimism and surround ourselves with as much beauty as we can. There
is always place for beauty in our lives and we should also write
about that.
As a Spaniard who lives
in a foreign country, i have many times felt quite disappointed when
the time came to talk about Spain. After the conversation, i could
only feel a bitter aftertaste. People who just wanted to show how
passionately they could defend a certain position regarding a very
difficult and sensitive issue despite not having the slightest idea
about it (i.e Catalonia or Basque Country and separatism). People
falling into really bad cliches, and people who ignored even the
existence of a country called Spain. To all this i have to add a new
group of people in the past months, who the first thing they do when
they find out you are a Spaniard is to ask you about the crisis, to
make brilliant questions such as: how can a country function with an
unemployment rate that is over 20%? Some people should be more
sensitive and also think a bit more before formulating a question. I
have a special mention for that stranger who used beautiful
adjectives such as “swines” to refer to all the Spaniards when he
heard some Spanish coming out of my mouth. It seems that it is not
time to write well about Spain.
The worst thing is
however to feel that there is so much beauty in Spain that is unknow
to most of the people... I would like to hear much more than simply
“tapas”, “siesta” or “mañana”, accompained by a smile,
when i say i am from Spain. Perhaps they think that by saying that we
will engage into some special complicity. Spain is much more than
that and believe it, Spaniards do not spend all their time just
eating tapas and sleeping around doing nothing. To all those who want
to know more about my country and to all those Spaniards who are sick
of just reading and listening to sad things, i hope you enjoy this.
This is a homage to my beautiful country, Spain.
Think of the first human
populations migrating to Europe. Of our earliest predecessors and you
will think of Spain. It holds the oldest record of human occupation
in Europe, consiting of a lower jaw that has been dated to about 1.2
million years old. The jaw appeared together with flint tools at Sima
del Elefante cave deposit, next to la Gran Dolina, where the first
human fossils of the species Homo antecessor were found. A
country full of precious records of ancient times, with some of the
richest deposits, including rock art, tools and human fossils dating
back to the lower Paleolithic (800.000 B.C).
When you think of Spain,
think of a country that has hosted the oldest urban realm dating back
from the Bronze age and whose city was “Tartessos”. Think of one
of the most advanced cultures of the era and one of the first
civilizations of the West. This civilization extended around the
valley of the Guadalquivir river, in current Andalusia. They appear
in Greek sources which are un turn based on Phoenician stories.
Herodotus described it as “beyond the Pillars or Heracles”, so
important in Greek mythology and which, by the way, are the
promontories that flank the entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar.
Spain, ancient land where
some of the most fascinating civilizations lived or used to trade.
The Phoenicians, trading partners of the Tartessos people, who
founded Gadir in 1100 B.C (current Cádiz, and possibly the oldest
continuously-inhabited city in the whole southwestern Europe). The
Phoceans, greek sailors who founded Ampurias around the 600 B.C. The
Iberians, which may have arrived as early as in the Neolithic period
and inhabited the eastern and southeastern Iberian Peninsula. The
Celts, arriving through the Pyrinees and giving rise to a set of
different settlements (galaicos, astures, cántabros, lusitanos...).
Imagine the trading and cultural exchange between all these
civilizations. Art, culture, alphabet, agriculture, currency, urban
development, ceramic production, craft industry... When you think of
Spain, think of the Carthaginians, founding cities like Ebusus (on
moder Ibiza) or Carthago Nova (Cartagena) and creating huge armies of
mercenaries to fight the burgeoning Rome. Think of the Celtiberian
infantry or the Andalusian cavalry, the best of Hannibal's army, with
which he arrived at the gates of Rome. Think of all these
civilizations and you will have a minimum idea of the world heritage
they left in Spain. The ruins in Tartessos; the Carthaginian
necropolis of Terracota, Puig; the Greek city of Emporion (incredible
ruins); the numerous Celtic hillforts like the one in Baroña;
Ullastret, the Iberian village...think of all the burial chambers,
city walls, amphorae and other ceramics, the new crops like the
olives or grapes, the Phoenician and Greek alphabets...
When you think of Spain,
think of Scipio Africanus defeating Asdrubal Barca in Tarraco and
conquering Carthago Nova during the Second Punic War. The Romans
would stay in Spain for 6 centuries, but the conquest would not be
easy. Julio Cesar needed 7 years to subdue the Gaul. The Romans
needed two centuries to subdue Hispania, from the Second Punic War
(II B.C) to the times of the emperor Augustus and that is why the
Romans refered to Hispania with the following sentence: “The first
to be invaded...the last to be dominated”. Think of the long siege
of Numancia or of Viriato and his guerrillas. The Romans brought us
their culture, their language and their law. Think of cities like
Sagunto, Tarragona, Mérida (Emerita Augusta), Itálica, Lugo,
Astorga, León, Toledo...think of their theatres like the one in
Mérida or the amphitheatre in Itálica. The Arch of Triumph in
Medinaceli or the public works such as the bridges of Alcántara and
Mérida (the last one with a length of 792 m and 62 arches), the
impressive aqueduct of Segovia or the modified lighthouse “Hercules
Tower” in La Coruña (the only Roman lighthouse and the oldest
running one in the world). Think of Hispanic writers like Seneca and
Lucano, and of the Hispanic emperors Trajano, Adriano and Teodosio.
After the first germanic
invasions, finally the Visigoths arrive (V A.C) as the allies of the
Romans to subdue the Swabians, Vandals and Alans, getting back the
most romanized provincies while the Swabian realm kept its
independence until the sixth century. Neither the hispanorroman
aristocracy nor the Bizantine Empire could handle them, the Visigoths
arrived and were determined to stay. The Visigoths converted to
Catholicism at one of the Councils of Toledo. Hispania was
politically and religiously unified. The oldest standing church in
Spain is a legacy from the Visigoths, called Church of Saint Juan, in
Baños de Cerrato, Palencia. It is the year 711 and there is
conflict. Witiza the king is dead and the pretenders Agila II and
Roderico (Don Rodrigo) become enemies. History would be repeated and
just as the Romans asked the Visigoths to helpe them with the
germanic tribes, Agila II requested this time the help of the Arabs.
They defeated Rodrigo in the battle of Guadalete, they arrived and
did not leave. In 5 years they conquered most of the Peninsula, which
became Al-Andalus, first a province of the Caliphate of Damascus, to
then become an emirate and finally an independent Caliphate with
Capital in Cordoba (the biggest capital in western Europe and the
cultural hub of the whole Europe). This caliphate would collapse due
to the civil wars, and split into a number of Taifas, that would be
taken first by the Almoravids, and second by the Almohads.
Science flourished and
while other parts of Europe remained in darkness, Al-Andalus shone.
Through Al-Andalus the astrolabe, the compass, paper (appearing in
the year 732 and the first paper workshop founded in Cordoba in 1036)
and gunpowder (first reference of its use for military purposes in
the siege of Algeciras, the year 1343 although according to the
chronicles of Alfonso X its first use in Spain was in the conquest of
Niebla, 1262) arrived to Europe . Al-Andalus brought incredible
advances in sciences such as medicine (use of plaster to treat bone
fractures, surgery techniques, anesthesia, hygienic standards...),
astronomy and mathematics (huge advances in algebra and trigonometry,
the numerical system still in use nowadays and different catalogs of
stars), botany (use of hundreds of plants for medical purposes),
agriculture (irrigation and drainage systems, windmills, and many new
crops and flavors like sugar, rice, jasmine, saffron...) or
chemistry. Al-Andalus became the bridge between East and Europe,
through it philosophy flourished, not only thanks to translations of
Greek works etc, but also throught thinkers like Averroes. When you
think of Spain, think of the beautiful muslim legacy, with amazing
art and architecture (Alhambra in Granada, the Mosque-Cathedral of
Cordoba, the Golden Tower in Seville, the Aljaferia in Zaragoza...).
However, when the muslims
came they didnt know that the inhabitants of Hispania never falter
and, just as they did with the Romans until exhaustion, they fought
the muslims to victory. This time, under the banner of Christianity
and the idea of the lost Hispania, the Hispanic people would expel
the muslims. A small group lead by Pelayo offered the first
resistance already in the year 722, when they defeated the muslims in
the Battle of Covadonga. Pelayo then founded the kingdom of Asturias
and, for the next 7 centuries, the christiants extended their
dominions until, in 1492, the Catholic kings conquered Granada. When
you think of Spain, think of the Toledo School of Translators. When
Toledo was reconquered by the Christians in 1085, a group of scholars
made an incredible work during the XII and XIII centuries,
translating many of the philosophical and scientific works from
classical Arabic, classical Greek and ancient Hebrew and interpreting
many Greco-Latin classical texts. The multi-cultural richness of
Spain was admired and incomparable and many European scholars dreamed
with a chance to go and study there. Under the King Alfonso X of
Castile, translations occured in the Romance language called
Castilian and thus, the Spanish language flourished, the language
that has more native speakers worldwide than any language other than
Mandarin Chinese.
When you think of Spain,
think of Cristopher Columbus and the Atlantic expansion. Think of all
those brave men who abandoned their land in search of a new future,
in search of adventure. Think of “La Pinta”, “La niña” and
“La Santa María” arriving to Guanahani after two months
surrounded by ocean. Think of all those who made of Spain the first
global empire, an overseas empire with territories in all continents
(Spain's territorial reach beyond Europe spanned 6 centuries). It is
a common mistake to think that the sentence “The empire on which
the sun never sets” was originally coined to describe the British
Empire. It was originated with a remark made by fray Franciso de
Ugalde to Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor and King of Spain. It is not
the purpose of this post to open a debate about colonization. We all
know many wrong things occurred and this is not a claim that Spain
should become an empire again. Please refrain from comments in that
direction. I just acknowledge the bravery and the thirst for
adventure and knowledge that pushed many Spaniards to enroll in a
ship and travel beyond what was known. Think of Vasco Núñez de
Balboa, who discovered the Pacific Ocean. Think of Fernando de
Magallanes, or of Juan Sebastián Elcano (first person going around
the world and therefore demonstrating the sphericity of the world).
These people began the history of the Pacific Ocean as the “Spanish
lake”. Think of Legazpi, or Pinzón, think of scientific
expeditions such as that of José Celestino Mutis y Bosio (botany) or
that of Malaspina (enormous amount of material in botany, geology and
zoology plus 70 new nautical charts). Think of Japan, California, the
Philippines, Siam, Formosa, China, Indochina, Guam...think of all the
sailors that explored the Pacific Ocean way before the Brithis Cook
or anyone else and you will think of Spain. The influence of Spain in
the development of modern geography and cartography is of extreme
importance. Spain was a pioneer in cosmology during the XVI century,
when the “House of Trade in Seville” was created to encompass all
matters regarding transatlantic shipping, to study mathematics and
astronomy, to develop instruments...
Spain's contribution to
the world is enormous and unfortunately, extremely underestimated.
When you think of Spain, think of the Spanish Golden Age during the
Hasburg dinasty. Think of the great Miguel de Cervantes who founded
the modern novel and wrote masterpieces like “Don Quijote” or
“Novelas Ejemplares”. Think of Lope de Vega and Calderón de la
Barca and their contribution to comedy and teather. The Spanish rogue
exercised considerable influence in Europe. The German romanticism
always found inspiration in Spain and playwrights like Calderón
became their aesthetic symbol. Think of universal literary myths like
“La Celestina” or “Don Juan”. Think of the incredible poets
Francisco de Quevedo and Luis de Góngora. Think of artists like
Diego Velázquez or Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, of Zurbarán and
Ribera! Think of “El Greco”, who, although not originally from
Spain, found a new home in the flourishing and radiant Spain. When
you think of Spain think of “El Escorial”, its unique
architecture, its library with more than 40,000 volumes, its
reliquaries...When you think of Spain think of Goya and his “Black
Paintings” and other works, a clear aesthetic revolution. When you
think of Spain, think of that unique “Generation of '98”. What an
unmatched number of intelectuals! Miguel de Unamuno, Valle-Inclán,
Azorín, Pío baroja, Antonio Machado...Think of the “Generation of
'27”: Dámaso Alonso, Federico garcía Lorca, Luis Cernuda, Pedro
Salinas, Rafael Alberti...Any field in the XX century such as
literature, art, science, philosophy...has been enriched with the
Spanish input. From philosophy to cinema, thinking of the greatest
such as Ortega y Gasset, Gregorio Marañón, Joan Miró, Juan Gris,
Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dalí, Severo Ochoa, Ramón y Cajal or Luis
Buñuel. The Spanish contribution to European culture and world
heritage will be always admirable.
Spain, land of contrasts,
rich also in natural wonders. When you think of Spain think of
“Sierra Nevada”, the largest mountain range in western Europe
after the Alps. Think of fantastic National Parks such as Doñana,
Timanfaya, Aigüestortes i estany de Sant Mauricio, Teide, Garajonay
or Islas Atlánticas. Think of incredible formations such as “Las
Médulas”, “Torcal de Antequera”, “Bárdenas Reales” or
“Lagunas de Ruidera”. Think of a country with 44 Unesco World
Heritage sites (both natural and cultural), second only to Italy. And
last but not the least, yes, the food. The castilian roasts,
morcilla, cheese, jamón de Guijuelo...gazpacho, salmorejo, pescaíto
frito, queso and pisto manchegos, pollo al chilindrón, sopa de
farigola, crema catalana, pulpo a la gallega and all the seafood,
paella, fabada, cocido, cochifrito, chistorra, gambas al ajillo, the
cod and the hake in the tradicional Basque cuisine...all the
embutidos (chorizo, jamón, salchichón, lomo etc) and of course our
tortilla de patatas. It is simply magnificent and incomparable. Not a
single country can tackle our culinary culture. Not a single country
can match our lifestyle, our culture of life, our “tapas”, our
human contact in the day to day.
This is my country, and
no matter how long i am away from it or how much i dislike many
things of it, I have, and will always love it.
"Oyendo
hablar a un hombre, fácil es
acertar
dónde vio la luz del sol;
si
os alaba Inglaterra, será inglés,
si
os habla mal de Prusia, es un francés,
y
si habla mal de España, es español."
Joaquín
M. Bartrina
