When you understand a brief history of Spain, it will help you to understand a little about the country and also the people. You will find it well worth your time to learn about the country before you set off on your vacation.
Spain lies between Europe and Africa and has been invaded from both areas. The Romans invaded in the 3rd century AD, and again they were invaded by Germanic tribes in 409 AD. They ruled until 711 when the Muslims came via the Strait of Gibraltar. By 714 the Muslims ruled everywhere except the Northern part of Spain and they ruled the country for almost 800 years.
It was during this time that the arts and sciences were prosperous, and lots of new agricultural ideas were introduced; as well as, Mosques and other buildings not seen in Spain before were built.
Before the end of the 13th Century there were two main powers, Isabel of Castilla and Fernando of Aragón were married. They were the Catholic monarchs and Spain became one under them. But in 1478, the Spanish Inquisition took place, where thousands of Jews and Non-Christians were either killed or expelled from the country. In 1482, Granada was invaded and the last of the Muslim Kings surrendered to them. As Spain developed an empire it then had a number of wars with France, Netherlands and Britain. After a tempestuous time and various wars in which they were defeated, Spain started to lose the countries in their empires. During a 20 year period, the Inquisition was re-established and the Americas won their independence. By the end of 1898, the Spanish Empire was ended. When Spain fought America they lost Cuba, Guan, Philippines and Puerto Rico.
In 1936 Spain split into two parts and it was during this time that the army tried to overthrow the government. What followed was the Civil War which lasted until 1939. The Nationalists won the war and more than 350,000 Spaniards died during this time. After the war ended it was thought that around 100,000 people had been killed or had died in prison. Spain then had 35 years of dictatorship which caused Spain to be isolated. It was in the early 50’s that America gave them some funds which caused the country to start to recover from the recession.
When Franco died, his grandson was the successor. Spain then went from a dictatorship and became a democracy. 1977 was the first time elections had been held for many years and, following this election, a new constitution was written. Following this was a failed military coup, and in 1982 there was an election which resulted in a socialist government. But, there still remained the problem of ETA who wanted an independent country for the Basques and around 800 people have been killed.
Spain joined the European Union in 1986, hosted the Olympic Games in 1992 and Expo 1992. Following another election in 1996, the conservatives were voted in to lead the country. Following a terrorist attack in Madrid in 2004, when 192 people were killed, the government lost the election returning the socialist party to lead the country. Since then the government has made many changes to the way the country is run.
This is a brief history of Spain, which will help you to understand some of the buildings you will see, the history of the people and the culture of the country.
Leave a Reply