For five centuries from 218 BC, Spain was under the rule of
the Romans, and who left remnants of their
culture throughout the country. Spain then came under the
rule of the Visigoths, who rapidly integrated
with the inhabitants until they were driven north by the invading
Arabs. Muslim culture soon
established itself, most notably in the south, where the region
centred on Cordoba and Granada
became a hub of Arabic culture and learning. The evidence
of Arabic influence is still strong, particularly in the wealth
of remaining Moorish architecture.
During the Middle Ages, Christianity gradually gained ground.
Many kingdoms including Aragon, Castile, Navarre,
Leon and Portugal, were established,
most of them constantly at war.
The spirit of Reconquista, the fierce flame that burned throughout
so much of the medieval period (roughly comparable to the
Islamic concept of Jihad or holy war), produced heroes, legend,
folklore, staggering architectural achievements and great
acts of bravery and chivalrous folly. After centuries of intermittent
fighting finally there was a triumph for Christianity.
In 1469, Ferdinand and Isabella, respectively King
of Aragon and Queen of Castile,
then the two most powerful kingdoms in Iberia,
united by marriage – captured Granada,
the last Muslim stronghold on the peninsula. The same year
saw Columbus’ discovery of America,
financed by Castile, and the beginning of
Spain’s Golden Age as the centre of
the far-flung Habsburg Empire of Charles V (Charles, or Carlos
I of Spain).
The reign of Philip II during the late-16th
century was also one of the most artistically fertile in the
country’s history, with Cervantes,
El Greco, Lope de Vega and
Velazquez coming to prominence during this
time. The Habsburg monarchy became progressively
less able to deal with the serious political and economic
problems of its empire during the 17th century, and the dynasty
reached its nadir under the inept rule of King Carlos
II. There was a revival under the Bourbons,
notably Carlos III, but the late 18th and
early 19th centuries saw Spain suffering from the protracted
drain of the Napoleonic wars and internal political vendettas.
The abdication of King Alfonso XIII in 1931
brought into being a left-wing republic.
This was short-lived and was effectively crushed by General
Franco in the Spanish Civil War
of 1936-39. His fascist regime lasted until his death in 1975,
when the monarchy was restored. By March 1978, a democratic
constitutional monarchy had been set in place.
During the 1980s and the early-1990s, domestic politics were
dominated by the Partido Socialista Obrero Español
(PSOE, Socialist Party), under the leadership of Felipe
Gonzalez, an archetype of the new generation of Spanish
socialists who favoured pragmatism and technocratic development
in favour of ideology. The Socialists won four consecutive
elections from 1982 onwards. Their main achievement in office
was to establish Spain as a valuable and enthusiastic member
of the European Union, which it joined in
1986 and from which it has benefited considerably. Spanish
ratification of the Maastricht Treaty on
European Union was completed in November 1992 and the single
European currency was adopted upon its inception in January
1999. Gonzalez also took Spain into NATO in 1982 and continued
membership was confirmed in a referendum held in 1986.
Corruption scandals fuelled growing popular disillusionment
with the PSOE, and during the early 1990s,
it was able to govern only in coalition with Basque
and Catalan regional parties.
The withdrawal of the Catalan from the government
precipitated an early general election in March 1996. At this
point, the Spanish nation overcame its distrust of the right,
a legacy of the civil war, and the PSOE was replaced as the
largest party in the Cortes by the right-wing
Partido Popular (Popular Party) under Jose
Maria Aznar.
After initial difficulties, the new government found its feet
after several years in office and became a confident and reasonably
competent administration. The expected outcome, a third consecutive
term for the PP, was dramatically undermined in the aftermath
of a horrific terrorist attack 3 days before the poll. A co-ordinated
series of bombings of Madrid commuter trains claimed 200 lives
and many more were injured. The Spanish government immediately
blamed the Basque separatist group ETA (see
below), although there were strong indications that Islamic
extremists were responsible. It held to this position over
the following days, even as evidence of al-Qaeda’s involvement
mounted. This appears to have had a crucial bearing on the
election result as voters registered their anger at the PP
government’s apparent dissembling to gain electoral
advantage. Many also felt that Spain’s official support
for the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, and to which the
vast majority of Spaniards were opposed, had provoked the
attack. The PSOE (Socialist Party) forms
the new government under party leader Jose Luis Rodriguez
Zapatero.
Territorial problems have taxed successive Spanish governments,
especially the Basque province and Gibraltar.
Governments of both complexions have pursued a hard line against
the Basque separatist paramilitary organisation, ETA.
After undertaking spectacular attacks in its early years,
notably the assassination of premier Admiral Carrero
in 1973, ETA’s campaign has gradually been diminished
by internal splits and attrition by the security forces. But
while the Socialists were prepared to explore political options,
the previous Azna government resolutely refused to seek any
accommodation and was solely interested in a security-based
resolution of the conflict. The pro-independence party, Herri
Batasuna, which is seen by Madrid as the political
affiliate of ETA, was banned by the Madrid
government in 2002, after operating legally since the early
1980s. The political consequences of this are unpredictable
and, although ETA has been relatively inactive of late, the
organisation has been erroneously written off before.
The problem of Gibraltar has proved just
as intractable, for very different reasons. A British colony
since the 19th century, Gibraltar’s single-minded attachment
to the UK has consistently frustrated the most inventive schemes
of the London and Madrid governments to resolve its status.
The Spanish have a similar historical anomaly of their own,
in the form of the Ceuta and Melilla enclaves
on the north coast of Morocco, along with
a group of tiny island possessions. One of these latter, Perejil,
became the subject of an odd, almost comical dispute between
the Spanish and Moroccan governments in late 2002. Relations
between Spain and Morocco
have since thawed and both governments now plan a sub-Mediterranean
tunnel linking them. Spain’s wider historical relations
with the Arab world have been somewhat set back, however,
by Spain’s keen support for the Anglo-American invasion
in Iraq in 2003. Across the Atlantic, Spain naturally enjoys
substantial and deep-rooted ties with the Spanish-speaking
nations of Latin America. |
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