MetaFilter posts tagged with Spain

Want to change the world? There's nothing to it.

goodnewsfortheinsane — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 18:15:08 -0800

This YouTube video seems to break my browser. Does it play alright for anyone else?

Oh my goth!

cjorgensen — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 18:08:04 -0800

Amazingly Consistent Obama Smile "On Wednesday, the Obamas hosted a reception at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, during which they stood for 130 photographs with visiting foreign dignitaries in town for the UN meeting. The President has exactly the same smile in every single shot." (via) Make your own video using the State Department’s flickr stream. One of these photos of the Obamas posing with Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, his wife Sonsoles Espinosa, and two daughters, Laura, 16, and Alba, 13, has created a kerfuffle, since a Spanish law prohibits pictures of the Zapatero daughters from appearing online or in print. Megan McCain weighs in. So do the goths. Gawker spills State secrets.

The Immaculate Tirant

Iridic — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 15:18:12 -0800

"God save me!" quoth the priest, with a loud voice, "is Tirante the White there? Give me him here, neighbour; for I make account I have found in him a treasure of delight, and a mine of entertainment. Here we have Don Kyrieleison of Montalvan, a valorous knight, and his brother Thomas of Montalvan, and the knight Fonseca, and the combat in which the valiant Tirante fought with the mastiff, and the smart conceits of the damsel Plazerdemivida, with the amours and artifices of the widow Reposada; and madam the empress in love with her squire Hypolito. Verily, gossip, in its way, it is the best book in the world..."

-Don Quixote de la Mancha, Part I, Chapter 6 Tirant Lo Blanc, written in the late fifteenth century by the Valencians Martorell and Joan de Galba, combines a fictionalized history of the two-fisted mercenary general Roger de Flor with elements of The Decameron, The Travels of Sir John Mandeville, and Ramon Llull's Book of the Order of Chivalry. A sense of life lifts the work above both its influences and the third-hand tropes of its contemporaries; as Cervantes writes, "here the knights eat and sleep, and die in their beds, and make their wills before their deaths; with several things which are wanting in other books of this kind." This realism was a revelation to Cervantes, whose own exploration of the border between high duty and base necessity inaugurated the Western novel. As such, Tirant the White is perhaps the most quietly influential book in all of literature. Bonus Cervantes Inspiration: Amadis of Gaul - in blog form!

The state of high-speed rail, August 2009

acb — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 19:12:59 -0800

The Guardian ran a series of articles looking at the state of high-speed rail travel today. France intends to double its length of track over the next decade, and China is planning a massive rail-building programme, including a high-speed line which will halve the travel time between Beijing and Shanghai to 4 hours. In Germany, domestic air travel is rapidly going extinct, and Spain's network has made day trips between Madrid and Barcelona a possibility. The USA, which has long neglected its rail network, is planning up to 10 high-speed lines. Meanwhile, Britain's only high-speed line goes to France, but there is talk of a 250mph line from London to Birmingham and beyond, possibly by the early 2020s. Meanwhile, the CEO of France's rail operator, SNCF, weighs in on what the UK should do.

Illicit Air

CaptKyle — Thu, 14 May 2009 16:18:30 -0800

Go to Spain, breathe, get high Scientists have recently discovered that there is a small amount of cocaine and LSD in the air of the Spanish cities Madrid and Barcelona.

3 on 23-F

Skeptic — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 15:40:57 -0800

Most Spaniards over 35 remember exactly where they were in the evening of February 23, 1981, best remembered as "23-F". It was the day of the last big stress test of Spain's then young democracy, when a group of conspirators tried to seize power by force. When armed policemen assaulted Parliament, and started shooting their machineguns to intimidate the lawmakers, on the benches, only three very different men refused to take cover. Santiago Carrillo remained seated and calmly lit a cigarrette, even if he knew that, in the case of a successful putsch, he'd probably be the first man shot. Not only was he the leader of the Spanish Communist Party at the time, but, as a young Councillor for Public Order in the Defense Council of Madrid during the Spanish Civil War, he was blamed by many for the summary executions of over thousand alleged "fifth columnists" in Paracuellos del Jarama. Having spent most of his life in exile, he'd only arrived back to Spain four years earlier, originally under disguise. The acting Prime Minister, Adolfo Suárez, also remained defiant. That plenary session of Parliament was actually meeting to replace him in his post, after the lawmakers of his own party had turned against him. Nevertheless, this centrist politician, who had started public life as an upwardly mobile technocrat in Franco's "National Movement" and then, as PM, smoothly led Spain's transition to democracy, was determined to preserve the dignity of his position as an elected representative of the people. The acting vice-PM and minister of Defence, Lt.-Gen. Manuel Gutierrez Mellado, however, did not just stay seated. The 73-year-old, as military superior to the assaulters, indignantly stood up and confronted them, even as they shot their submachine guns. As a young officer, he had actually joined Franco's rebellion and his intelligence service. As an agent in Madrid, not only did he escape prison himself, but he also had helped many others escape...Carrillo's squads, quickly rising in the military ranks after the war. At the end of Franco's regime, however, he had also been one of the few generals to reckon the need for change, and steadfastly pushed for reform within the military, to prevent the kind of coup which seemed to be taking place at the time. The coup ultimately floundered, when King Juan Carlos appeared on television ordering the military to respect the will of the people. Quite remarkably, Carrillo is still alive, no longer a Communist, yet an eager political commentator. Quite cruelly, while Suárez is now fondly remembered by most Spaniards as the best political leader Spain possibly ever had, he can't remember it himself: he suffers from advanced stage Alzheimer's disease. After leaving politics, and shocked by the death by overdose of a friend's son, Gutierrez Mellado created the FAD Foundation for Support against Drug Addiction. He died in a traffic accident on his way to a fundraising event.

Ghost Train

Artw — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 14:31:06 -0800

Abandoned Amusement Parks in Asia - 1, 2, 3

"There are no more Jews in Portugal"

orthogonality — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 01:24:09 -0800

What is a Spaniard?: Forcibly Crossing the Cross, the Crescent, and the Star

"The conversions came at the end of one of the most successful Jewish periods in human history... Their success led them to call their land Sepharad, a name from the book of Obadiah that implied that Spanish Jews were the successors to the Jews of Israel. This world ended in 1391."

"At the appointed time, those children who were not presented voluntarily were seized by the officials and forced to the font.... In many cases, parents smothered their offspring in their farewell embrace. In others, they threw them into wells in order to save them from the disgrace of apostasy, and then killed themselves. Sometimes, even old men were dragged to the churches and forcibly baptized by over-zealous fanatics,... In all other cases, the unwilling neophytes, some mere babies, were distributed throughout the country, as far as possible from home, to be brought up in Christian surroundings."

The first link, above, details a recent genetic study, the second begins in 1391 in Spain, the third jumps forward to 1407 in Portugal. The remaining links, below, attempt to provide context. It's difficult to try to adequately cover over two centuries of the history of the forced conversions and "ethnic cleansing", in two (or more) nation states, of two different minority religions. I've omitted much: the earlier Muslim history of Iberia; motivations for the conversions and expulsions; King Ferdinand's purported Jewish ancestry; the forcible conversions of Jews and native populations in the New World; the Spanish Inquisition as a tool to enforce "sincere" conversions; the use of forced adoption to literally steal a group's future, similarly used in Argentina's Dirty War and in Franco's Spain; later Spanish relations with North African Moors; and, except in the first link, 500 years of the aftermath of the ethnic and religious cleansing in the 14th and 15th centuries. My original intent was just to link the first article, on the genetics of Spain. In an effort to avoid editorializing, I've use block quotes to link to (long) texts giving the basic background of the forced conversions, and later, expulsions, of Jews and Muslims from Spain. The links below follow more or less chronologically, first the forced conversions, then the expulsions, of the Jews and then then Moors. The "New Christians":

"New Christians" is a term applied specifically to three groups of Jewish converts to Christianity and their descendants in the Iberian Peninsula. The first group converted in the wake of the massacres in Spain in 1391 and the proselytizing fervor of the subsequent decades. The second, also in Spain, were baptized following the decree of Ferdinand and Isabella in 1492 expelling all Jews who refused to accept Christianity. The third group, in Portugal, was converted by force and royal fiat in 1497. Like the word Conversos, but unlike Marranos, the term New Christian carried no intrinsic pejorative connotation, but with the increasing power of the Inquisition and the growth of the concept of "limpieza de sangre," cleansing the blood, the name signaled the disabilities inevitably heaped on those who bore it.

Vicente Ferrer:

... the Dominican friar Vicente Ferrer... traveled from one end of Castile to the other, and everywhere zealously urged the Jews to embrace Christianity, appearing with a cross in one hand and the Torah in the other. His impassioned sermons won him great influence, and he accomplished his ends in Murcia, Lorca, Ocaña, Illescas, Valladolid, Tordesillas, Salamanca, and Zamora. He spent the month of July, 1411, in Toledo; he invaded the large synagogue, which he transformed into the Church of Santa Maria la Blanca, and he is said to have baptized more than 4,000 Jews in that city.... At Ferrer's request a law consisting of twenty-four clauses, which had been drawn up by Paul de Burgos*, was issued (Jan., 1412) in the name of the child-king John II. The only object of this law was to reduce the Jews to poverty and to further humiliate them. They were ordered to live by themselves, in enclosed Juderias, and they were to repair, within eight days after the publication of the order, to the quarters assigned them under penalty of loss of property. They were prohibited from practising medicine, surgery, or chemistry, and from dealing in bread, wine, flour, meat, etc. They might not engage in handicrafts or trades of any kind, nor might they fill public offices, or act as money-brokers or agents.... These laws, which were rigidly enforced, any violation of them being punished with a fine of from 300 to 2,000 maravedis and flagellation, were calculated to compel the Jews to embrace Christianity.... ...Ferrer's fanatic zeal succeeded also in Aragon in leading many Jews to pretendedconversion, especially in Saragossa, Daroco, and Calatayud. Besides the places mentioned, he made proselytes in Albacete, Astorga, Avila, Benevent, Burgos, Leon, Mayorga, Majorca, Palencia, Paredes, Toro, Segovia, etc. The total number of Jews converted by him in Spain was, according to Mariana, 35,000; according to Zacuto ("Yuḥasin," p. 225), more than 200,000.... ...One of Vicente Ferrer's most zealous assistants in the work of conversion was Joshua ibn Vives Lorqui, or Geronimo de Santa Fé, who aimed at nothing less than baptisms en masse....

*Paul of Burgos, mentioned above, first from the Catholic Encyclopedia: ...He was the most wealthy and influential Jew of Burgos, a scholar of the first rank in Talmudic and rabbinical literature, and a Rabbi of the Jewish community. The irresistible logic of the Summa of St. Thomas led him to the Faith of Christ.... Then a different view, from the Jewish Encyclopedia: "...Paul, who even after he had been baptized continued to correspond with several Jews, including Joseph Orabuena, chief rabbi of Navarre, and Joshua ibn Vives, became a bitter enemy of Judaism, and tried his best, frequently with success, to convert his former coreligionists...." The Expulsion of the Spanish Jews: "The King gave them three months' time in which to leave...."

The Jews' expulsion had been the pet project of the Spanish Inquisition, headed by Father Tomas de Torquemada. Torquemada believed that as long as the Jews remained in Spain, they would influence the tens of thousands of recent Jewish converts to Christianity to continue practicing Judaism.... With their most important project, the country's unification, accomplished, the king and queen concluded that the Jews were expendable. On March 30, they issued the expulsion decree, the order to take effect in precisely four months... Throughout those frantic months, Dominican priests actively encouraged Jews to convert to Christianity and thereby gain salvation both in this world and the next.

The conversion and expulsion of the Spanish Muslims:

...Shortly after the start of the sixteenth century, however, the fortunes of Peninsular Muslims in general began to change. Pressured by the Toledan Archbishop Francisco Jiménez de Cisneros to take measures to bring the Muslims of Granada into the Christian faith, and aware that alleged Christian abuses had provoked an uprising in the Alpujarras, King Fernando and Queen Isabel issued an order in 1502 requiring all Muslims in Castile and Leon to convert to Christianity or leave at once. The same law would reach Navarre in 1515 and Aragon in 1525. The royal order was widely enforced (executed in large part by mass baptisms and coercive tactics), and by the end of the first quarter of the sixteenth century, the official Muslim population of Spain had been reduced from nearly half a million to nearly zero....

"Yesterday they were kings in their own homes":

It is ironic that those same Old Testament passages which have been used to support the theory that Palestine is the Jewish promised land were not only cited by apologists for a policy of mass expulsion for the Moriscos but were cited by anti-Jewish theologians in advocating the need for statutes of purity of blood.

The Short Films of Nacho Vigalondo

Staggering Jack — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 15:46:30 -0800

The Best Youtube Videos of Spanish Filmmaker Nacho Vigalondo (previously). A few additional Nacho links: -his blog (in Spanish). -Io9 interview on his upcoming movie Timecrimes. -2005 Salon article about 7:35 in the Morning.

Truth will never be denied.

adamvasco — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 12:43:21 -0800

Don Quixote - or a superhero? Judge Baltasar Garzón has launched a criminal investigation into the fate of tens of thousands of people who vanished during the country's civil war and General Francisco Franco' s dictatorship. This is upsetting some people. The Spanish Civil War left an estimated half a million people dead. The Spanish Civil War had global resonations. Latin American (and the Philippines) were never “de-Falangized.” Franco and his fascists remained in power in Spain until 1975. The decisive influence of Latin American fascists in the decades following the war (including their intimate collaboration with elements of U.S. intelligence) is a matter of public record. The legacy of the Falange Exterior is very much with us today. This investigation is taking place with against a rising tide of fascist influence in Europe.

Bachall Isa

Skeptic — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 04:55:11 -0800

The O'Donnell clan claims descendancy (like, dare I say, a significant part of the Irish population), from Niall of the Nine Hostages, legendary High King of Ireland. The O'Donnell clan ruled over the kingdom of Tyrconnell, in modern-day County Donegal, well into the modern age. However, after the discovery of the Gunpowder Plot, Rory O'Donnell, Earl of Tyrconnell, fled Ireland together with Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone, in the Flight of the Earls. Rory O'Donnell's descendents ultimately found their calling, like many fellow Wild Geese, in military service to the King of Spain. So it was that, over two centuries later, Leopoldo O'Donnell became successively, general, prime minister and Duke of Tetuan. So it is that one of Madrid's main streets is the Calle O'Donnell, and His Excellency Don Hugo O'Donnell y Duque de Estrada, Duke of Tetuan and Grandee of Spain is next on the line to the title of Prince of the Name of O'Donnell.

Urban Air Trees

Surfin' Bird — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 11:01:18 -0800

Video report about the newly constructed "Urban Air Trees" in Madrid, Spain. These unique structures are designed to both affect the surrounding environment and act as a social centers. Using live plants and photovoltaic cells the Air Tree produces a substantial amount of oxygen and energy. Designed by Urban Ecosystems.

... and living on a prayer

bwg — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 17:21:04 -0800

Living on the Edge Welcome to Ronda, a beautiful city in southern Spain which is split in two by el Tajo gorge. As a result, certain buildings have been perched on the edge of the gorge’s vertical walls, enormous cliffs bridged by the 200 year old Peunte Neuvo. Now, although living on the edge of that gigantic 130m crack would give me the shakes, I'd much rather live there than Bonifacio…

Righteous among the Peoples

Skeptic — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 15:59:58 -0800

In March 1944, Nazi Germany occupied its ally Hungary and immediately began preparing the extermination of Hungary's Jews. A small band of diplomats from neutral countries and the Red Cross put their lives at risk to try to smuggle as many Jews as possible out of Hungary from under Adolf Eichmann's nose. While Raoul Wallenberg remains the best known of these "Righteous among the Nations", there's no doubt that the most intriguing character was Giorgio "Jorge" Perlasca. A fugitive himself, as an Italian national who had refused his allegiance to Mussolini's puppet Salò Republic, Perlasca had found refuge at the Spanish embassy, where he immediately received a Spanish passport as a veteran from the Italian Francoist volunteers of the CTV in the Spanish Civil War, and joined the Spanish chargé d'affaires, Ángel Sanz Briz, in protecting as many Sephardic (and not-so-Sephardic) Jews as possible under a 1924 Spanish decree granting citizenship to these descendants of the Jews expelled from Spain in 1492. When the Spanish diplomats were withdrawn to Switzerland, Perlasca appointed himself Spanish ambassador and continued Sanz Briz' efforts at enormous personal risk. After the war, he proceeded to retreat into obscurity until rediscovered forty years later.

Spain - 2008 European football Champions.

goodnewsfortheinsane — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 15:49:04 -0800

Felicidades España! Turkey tiptoed through the eye of the needle — twice even — but were no match for the German machine. And the Dutch may have been dazzling against World Champions Italy and runners-up France, but they stumbled hopelessly against a rugged Russia — who in turn fell to a superior Spanish side. In the end, it was Fernando Torres who shot Spain to its first title in 44 years - without top scorer David Villa, no less. It's been a blast. Congratulations, Spain, and see you all in four years.

Old Weird Europe

huskerdont — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 10:53:44 -0800

German newspaper Der Spiegel decided to take a look at Europe's oddest folk traditions and festivals. Perhaps you can have a metaphorical hard-on for the phallus festival of Tyrnavos, Greece. Maybe you're hungry for how a small Belgian town celebrates the practice of swallowing live fish. Or, alternately, you can look down on those bizarre practices... while chasing a giant wheel of cheese down a hill. Or maybe you'd just rather celebrate the annual fireworks war of Chios or jump over a baby while wearing a silly costume. Some of the festivals are recent inventions to boost tourism; others are relics of ancient paganism that survived Christianization. What are your favorites?

The Tribute of the Three Cows

homunculus — Thu, 29 May 2008 14:30:58 -0800

The Peasant-Nobles of the Roncal Valley and the Tribute of the Three Cows.

If God gives you lemons...

Skeptic — Wed, 28 May 2008 12:19:49 -0800

Among European countries, Spain has been hit particularly badly by the global credit crisis. Miguel Marina, a recently unemployed real estate agent (what else?) has been one of its victims. Unable to keep up with his mortgage payments or to find a buyer for his home, he has found an original solution: he's raffling his apartment at 5€ a ticket. Considering that the total value of the tickets he's selling is 320,000 €, and that the Spanish press (which is all over the story) is reporting that his previous asking price for the apartment was 200,000 €, and that his current debt is of 188,000 €, Mr. Marina may end up pocketing a tidy profit, after all. The lawfulness of the raffle is however disputed (in Spanish).

Cliff Richard and General Franco: the 1968 Eurovision mystery

nthdegx — Mon, 12 May 2008 07:34:58 -0800

It's the story that has Britain in uproar*: Cliff Richard and General Franco: the 1968 Eurovision mystery. Did General Franco scupper the judging? Exhibit A: Cliff's UK entry, Congratulations. Exhibit 2: Spain's winning entry by Massiel, La la la. For added measure, exhibit iv: here's Cliff's 1973 entry, which believe it or not also did not win, Power to all our Friends (though Cliff's spectacular moves should not sway your opinion on the controversy* in any way). [*not really].

Engaged...

fearfulsymmetry — Fri, 02 May 2008 11:24:47 -0800

La Cabina (The Telephone Box) 1, 2, 3, 4 Emmy winning short Spanish film. Saw this once as a kid and I’ve never forgotten it… There's no subtitles but that doesn't really matter.

Mujer Libre

Abiezer — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 00:46:09 -0800

The Scots voice of the Spanish revolution [Embedded DivX video 1hr15m; also downloadable] Ethel MacDonald was a young working class Scots woman who hitch-hiked to Barcelona to do her part in the war. There she became the English-language voice of the anarchist movement as a radio station announcer. Newspapers at home dubbed her the "Scottish Scarlet Pimpernel" for her role in helping comrades escape the crackdown that followed the May Days. Her remarkable story is told in this recent drama-documentary.

3D Animation Short Films in Spanish

jlori — Sun, 23 Dec 2007 09:21:44 -0800

A YouTube Channel devoted to 3D animation student projects

Antonio de Felipe, Spanish pop artist

cmgonzalez — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 13:39:50 -0800

Antonio de Felipe is a Spanish pop artist whose work is heavily influenced by pop culture, Hollywood, classic art and movies, animation, advertising, and simply growing up in Spain. Among the actresses he frequently depicts are Audrey Hepburn (as well as melding different sources) and Marilyn Monroe. He has also recreated some international masterpieces in pop art form. Some may be familiar with his work from the art he created for Pedro Almodóvar's film Live Flesh. Altogether, his work transcends national boundaries while still maintaining a distinct Spanish flavor. Click "obras" on the first link to look at a selection of his work, including more homage to Velásquez.

Neighbourhood Watch 2.0?

goodnewsfortheinsane — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 12:56:52 -0800

Frustrated with perceived inefficacy of local law enforcement and government, residents of Calle de la Montera have started posting video of criminal behaviour (mainly prostitution) on their street to YouTube. The Data Protection Agency (tasked with privacy enforcement) is not amused (in Spanish; machine translation), but the neighbourhood watch group maintains it is not breaking the law (m.t.).

Allí, ese 16 de marzo, Bush, Blair y Aznar decidieron sustituir al Consejo de Seguridad de Naciones Unidas y usurparon sus funciones para declarar por su cuenta y riesgo la guerra contra Irak.

amberglow — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 19:50:52 -0800

Bush and Aznar pre-Iraq Invasion-- Transcript of their private conversations in Crawford, Feb 22, 2003: "Quedan dos semanas. En dos semanas estaremos militarmente listos. Estaremos en Bagdad a finales de marzo", le dijo a Aznar. ("2 weeks. In 2 weeks we will be ready militarily. We'll be in Baghdad by the end of March", he told Aznar.) Consider this historical documentation. Full transcript here, and audio clips in first link. PB. Me parece muy bien. Chirac conoce perfectamente la realidad. Sus servicios de inteligencia se lo han explicado. Los árabes le están transmitiendo a Chirac un mensaje muy claro: Sadam Hussein debe irse. El problema es que Chirac se cree Mister Arab y en realidad les está haciendo la vida imposible. Pero yo no quiero tener ninguna rivalidad con Chirac. (Bush: Chirac knows the reality perfectly. Your intelligence services have told it. The Arabs are sending a very clear message to Chirac--Saddam must go. The problem is that Chirac thinks he's Mister Arab and the reality is that he's in a dream world(?). But i don't want to have any rivalry with Chirac. )