[The following is a newsletter I wrote while travelling in 2000. It was originally sent to an e mail list on 17 November 2000. Please note: conditions in Spain may have changed significantly since then. My opinions and positions may also have changed significantly since then.]
Adapting in Spain
Howdy! In the following paragraphs I discuss my experiences in Spain. Send me a letter with your reactions or to tell me what’s happening in your community or your life. I would really like communication from you!
While the letter is long, I’ve tried to organize it into clearly identifiable parts which give the busy reader a chance to skip to parts more interesting to that reader. Look out for words in upper case which identify headings and subjects.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
i. disclaimer
1. Spain- Intro
a. General Comments b. Economy c. Cultural Differences d. Urban Design and Architecture e. Politics2. Closing
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DISCLAIMER
In the following paragraphs I try to make commentary about Spain. A great deal of it is based on my impressions and not on hard factual information. Thus it cannot be said to be a perfect interpretation nor wholly accurate. It is hard to get exact information about my host countries in English. I apologize in advance for any inaccuracies or offensive misinterpretations. If you disagree with what I´ve written please tell me! Send me an e mail or a letter!
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1. Spain- Intro
Spain was a good first country for adapting to travel. I visited Madrid, Cordoba and Algeciras before Morocco, and Algeciras and Barcelona after Morocco. While different from the U.S., it was similar enough to afford a chance to adapt to the challenges of daily living out of a backpack. One of the first things that Spain taught me is how hard it would be to evaluate foreign countries in the same way that I think about the U.S. Because of the language barrier, and being outside the social fabric, getting information, thoughts and opinions about politics and culture was nearly impossible. What follows is an adjusted content based on what I could gather.
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1.a. General Comments
Compared to the U.S., Spain appears to have a very PUBLIC CULTURE. While in Madrid, I stayed near the Puerta del Sol, a vast plaza at the center of town. This area was mobbed with people around 6 in the evening, and to a lesser degree at other times. The same scene was repeated in Las Ramblas, the main public area in Barcelona. I’ve long suspected that the U.S. had a less public culture due to TV and the settlement pattern of suburban sprawl. The public culture in Madrid and Barcelona supported my view.
Like the U.S., Spanish culture in Madrid is also deeply rooted in COMMERCIALISM, materialism and fashion. The throngs of people are downtown primarily to buy from trendy shops. All of the young women are dressed in chic, seemingly expensive clothing, fully made up to go out in public. These young women appear to have bought the Vogue and Mademoiselle sales pitch quite entirely. Like the U.S., large billboards and advertisements figure prominently in the public landscape.
The culture in Barcelona is slightly different, since more people are living lifestyles that don’t support the commercialist ethic. Also, the culture in Barcelona places more emphasis on art and expression.
POVERTY and homelessness was less visible in Spain. Only in Barcelona did I see anything approaching poverty like that in the U.S. But it may be that I never visited the most impoverished parts. Some travelers have suggested that in Europe the poor often live in the suburbs rather than near downtown. This was impossible to confirm because I didn’t visit the suburbs at all.
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1.b. Economy
The commercial culture in Spain is quite different than the U.S. In Spain small shops proliferate and are an important part of the neighborhood fabric. These small shops provide variety, specialization, and distribute the profits of business more evenly. One interacts with a variety of self sufficient owners, and the landscape of small shops in old buildings makes the city of Madrid more interesting than any mall in the U.S.
The lone exception seems to be “El Corte Ingles”, a department store which is heavily advertised. While it is more similar to the U.S. pattern, it doesn’t constitute as large of a proportion of the retail economy of Spain as do similar stores in the U.S.
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1.c.
Cultural Differences
Many cultural differences escape the traveler, or are too sensual to put into words. But a few unique features are worth noting. The Spaniards are known for late night partying, as late as 4 or 6 a.m.! Indeed, on only one occasion did I even remotely approach staying out so late.
Then, in the afternoon, the Spaniards have SIESTA, a 2 or 3 hour interlude from work. According to Lonely Planet guides this is not a time to sleep, but rather for a leisurely lunch. As a result of siesta, Spanish businesses are open much later than 5 in the evening.
The Spaniards have a special propensity for Public Display of Affection (PDA). On several occasions I would see two young people in a grandiose kiss, right in the middle of a public footpath, as if no one were around. At night the city’s parks were full of pairs in various stages of courtship. This PDA was in stark contrast to Morocco, where pairs are more rare and handholding the limit.
From Madrid and the cities I visited before Morocco I had the impression that few of the young people in Spain presented themselves in a countercultural way by rebelling against the codes of conformity imposed on them. However, it appeared to me after visiting Morocco that all of the nonconformists live in Barcelona! These nonconformists are the punks we see with piercings, bizarre hairdos and black leather, the neo hippies in colorful clothes, and the hip hop ravesters in their respective costumes. Their presence in Barcelona illustrates the difference between the two great cities of Spain- Barcelona and Madrid. This difference appears to reflect Madrid’s status as the administrative center of the country, while Barcelona is in the independent and culturally distinct Catalan region.
However, in every city I visited the norms of Spanish society have been violated by the prolific graffiti painted all over everything. In Madrid, the graffiti appeared to have become practically a societal crisis, so prevalent was the paint. The graffiti seemed to be of two varieties- the first being stylistic “tagging” associated with hip hop in the U.S., and the second was unstylistic and unappealing individual scrawls. In Algeciras and Barcelona the graffiti took on a political color, as I shall note in the politics section.
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1.d. Urban Design and Architecture
Madrid, Barcelona and Cordoba were very impressive in the appearance of the cities. The streets are compact and aesthetically pleasing, with many streets opening onto small plazas where people sit in gardens or on benches. The streets are paced with small shops above which balconies hang over the streets, decorated with plants. Unlike the U.S., there are virtually no skyscrapers; businesses have their offices in other large buildings which are more integrated into the cityscape. In general, people on foot have more of a place in the design of the city; often the space for pedestrians is larger than that for automobiles.
Unlike the downtown area of Madrid, in the countryside the buildings seem to be in considerable decay, bricks tumbling, roofs lost or falling in, long abandoned. This may be explained by the migration of many Spaniards from the interior to the countryside.
Of course Spain has its great monuments. One of the most bizarre was the MEZQUITA in Cordoba. Andalusia was ruled for centuries by the Moroccans, and so the Mezquita was originally a mosque. Hence it bears the layout of a mosque and has the telltale Moorish arches. However, when the Christians reconquered the south of Spain the Mezquita was converted into a Cathedral. Hence it has layers and layers of Christian art and decoration over the original Muslim design. The Mezquita is really a strange mish mash of cultures. The old downtown area of Cordoba also has a close resemblance to the old medinas of Morocco, since it was once a Moorish city.
The architectural style of Barcelona is both majestic and unique. While it featured the same neat, orderly, towering rowhouses as seen in Madrid, it also had a series of buildings called MODERNIST. This style is a dramatic departure from the traditional architecture, featuring curves and building materials which violate the norms of traditional architecture.
The architect Gaudi left the greatest mark on Barcelona. The buildings in the public park called Park Guell in particular crack the norms- they look like fantasy gingerbread houses one might see in a children’s book. You get the feeling that Gaudi is playing with you, pushing your buttons, toying. Another building featured multicolored tiles that suggest a dragon’s back. Colorful mosaics with curvy, wavy lines, and rough spires made from rocks stuck together, break out of the mold of straight, smoothly hewn marble we usually see in old European architecture.
The psychological affect of this modernist architecture is very liberating. The surroundings seem magical and you feel like you’re waking up from a strong bout of seriousness. Gaudi’s artwork informs us that the world can be more playful and fun if we construct it that way.
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1.e. Politics
Spain was run by the dictator Franco until 1975. After that it became a democracy, with an elected Socialist President until 1995.
An ongoing issue for Spain is the SEPARATIST MOVEMENT in the BASQUE region. This region in the Northeast on the border with France is also known as the location of the world famous Mondragon Cooperatives. Many of the Basques, who speak a different language and have a distinct culture, want to break off from Spain and have their own country. In the latest of a series of violent actions to demonstrate their desire for independence, a Spanish minister was murdered in the streets while visiting the Basque region. A few days later Spanish and French authorities rounded up numerous suspected leaders of ETA, the extreme separatist group. Tourists have reported that signs posted for their benefit declare, “You’re in the Basque country, not in Spain.” This conflict, like the one in Northern Ireland and that of the Kurds in Southeast Turkey, seems unlikely to end without the eradication of the rebels or a compromise from the government.
In Barcelona and the region of Catalonia there is also a movement to be independent. In fact, Catalonia has enjoyed numerous periods in which it was an independent state. It bears the unique distinction of being the most economically successful region in Spain, giving another dimension to its quest for independence. However, the Catalonian independence movement is not nearly as radical as the Basque movement, or at least does not use such destructive tactics.
In Barcelona I observed a public demonstration in support of the Palestinians, and denouncing the violence in Israel. The demonstrators, who appeared to be mostly from Muslim or Arabic countries, were quite militant in their statements. They used provocative symbols such as the Israeli flag with a swastika on it; another demonstrator burned the Israeli flag. The Spaniards who witnessed the demonstration appeared surprised at this interruption of their daily routine. This kind of demonstration is similar to others that have taken place all over Europe where there is a large population of immigrants from the Arab world.
Posters, murals, and graffiti in Madrid and Algeciras speak to Spain’s political situation. While I didn’t feel there were a lot of public notices and flyers, this may relate to the recency of Franco’s grip, and the consequent lack of development of a democratic culture. But in Lavapies, a very multicultural neighborhood in Madrid, the flyers murals and writing seemed very pronounced. Two separate flyers with a small circulation encouraged people to protest the World Bank and IMF in sympathy with the Prague protests. Other signs focused on immigration, racism, and multiculturalism, such as spray paint stenciled signs on the corners which declared “This is a multicultural zone.”
Not expecting to find much in the polluted port town of Algeciras, my departure city to Morocco, I was surprised by a political struggle being carried out in the unlikely terrain of graffiti. The four groups represented were the Young Communists of Andalucia, the Anarchists, a party linked group which advocated voting, and Nazis and anti immigrant groups. The Communists wrote, for example, “Long live the Cuban Revolution!”, while the anarchists wrote “Active Abstention (anarchy symbol)”, encouraging people not to vote. Another wrote, “the future of Andalucia is in your vote, vote P.A.” (I don’t know what political party this is.) Graffiti of those on the right included “Stop Immigration”, repeated often, and Nazi symbols, some swastikas chalked onto walls in sizes over 4 feet tall. Graffiti in which the author could not be categorized included “Catholic Hypocrites!” and “Come together! No more repression!”
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2. Conclusion
Spain was a great country to adapt to traveling. In some ways similar to the U.S., the differences are also quite deep and at first difficult to perceive. Unfortunately I could not spend as long of a time as I would’ve liked here because of the costs. It certainly was a rich and multiple layered country of which I only saw a small part.
If you have any response, reactions, comments or disagreements I certainly would like to hear them! Send me an email at
Hasta Luego!!
