The history of Spain

Spain's history is as rugged and colourful as the land itself. It is a tale of Moorish domination and a glorious Golden Age; of empires and colonies conquered and defeated; brave knights and foolish kings; and a bloody and destructive Civil War that saw Spain excommunicated from the international community for some three decades of the 20th century.

The earliest inhabitants of the Iberian Peninsula were Paleolithic people who probably arrived via a land bridge linking Europe and Africa between Gibraltar and Morocco. As Europe moved into the Ice Age, the first Spaniards put on their bearskin coats, stoked up their fires, and fed off deer, bison, and wild horses just like those depicted on the walls and ceilings of caves discovered in Cantabria, near Altamira, which date back at least 15,000 years.

During the Bronze Age, Celtic immigrants settled in northern and central Spain, while the south and east were inhabited by various Iberian tribes of North African origin. The Iberians had their own written language, sophisticated industry, and tools, and they created fine artworks such as the stone sculpture of a goddess, known as La Darna de Elche (The Lady of Elche), a star attraction at Madrid's Archaeological Museum. The Celts and the Iberians interacted where their territories overlapped and developed a distinct Celtiberian culture for which the Celts supplied the brawn, and the Iberians the brains. The Celtiberians soon gained fame as soldiers and it is said that they invented the two-edged warrior's sword (later to become standard equipment in the Roman army, and to be used against them).

Important dates in Spanish history include:

3,000 B.C. Bronze Age: Celts seem in north, Iberians in south.
1,100 B.C. Phoenicians found Gadir (Cadiz).
3rd Cen. B.C. Carthaginians conquer much of Spain. first cen. B.C. Romans complete conquest of Spain. first cen. A.D. Christianity introduced.
4th Cen. Decline of Roman Empire.
6th Cen. Visigoths make Toledo their capital.
711 Moors invade Andalusia; control most of Spain.
722 Christian Reconquest at Covadonga.
758 Cordoba becomes Moorish capital.
1474 Ferdinand of Aragon marries Isabella of Castile.
1478 Inauguration of the Inquisition.
1492 Jewish and Arab expulsion. Columbus' voyage.
1516 Charles I inherits Spanish throne.
1556-1598 Philip II rules from Madrid.
1588 Defeat of Spanish Armada. 1618-1648 Thirty Years' War.
1701-1714 War of Spanish Succession. Philip Vwinscrown.
1804-1814 War of Independence. Ferdinand VII re-throne.
1833-1876 internal strife: Carlist Wars.
1898 Spanish-American War: end of empire.
1914-1918 Spain is neutral in World War I; domestic unrest.
1923-1930 Primo de Rivera's dictatorship supported by king.
1931 Anti-monarchist election victory; king into exile.
1936 Left-wing government elected; start of Civil War.
1939 Republicans defeated; Franco in power.
1975 Franco dies; King Juan Carlos accedes. Democracy.
1986 Spain joins EU.
1992 Barcelona Olympics; Seville hosts Expo '92
1996 General Election won by Popular Party. Jose


In the meantime, Phoenicians, sailing from bases in North Africa, founded several colonies in southern Spain. The first of these, founded in about 1100 B.C., was Gadir (present-day Cadiz). Carthage, which was itself a Phoenician colony, established an empire of its own that spread as far north into Spain as Barcelona. The profit-seeking Carthaginians exploited Spain's silver and lead mines and drafted the country's young, able-bodied males into their army.
During the third century B.C., the Carthaginian forces under Hannibal were defeated by the Romans in the Second Punic War. This left the way open for Rome to take control of the peninsula, though it took nearly 200 years to subjugate the stubborn Celtiberians.

Spain and the Roman Empire

Second to the homeland itself, Spain was to become the most important part of the Roman Empire. All over the country, the stamp of Roman civilization remains in walls and roadways, villas, monuments, and vineyards. Three living Spanish languages are descended from Latin: Gallego (Galician), Castilian, and Catalan. Roman law forms the foundation of the Spanish legal system, and Spain gave birth to Roman emperors as memorable as Trajan and Hadrian, as well as the writers Seneca and Martial.

The Romans divided the peninsula into two: Hispaniae Ulte­rior and Hispaniae Citerior ("farther" and "nearer" respectively). When it was later carved into three provinces, the capital cities were established at what are now Merida (Extremadura), Cordoba (Andalusia), and Tarragona (Catalonia). Christianity came to Spain early in the Roman period. The word may have been carried by St. Paul himself (he is said to have preached both in Aragon and at Tarragona). However, the Christian community suffered considerable persecution.

The Visigoths in Spain

Overstretched and increasingly corrupt, Rome watched its far-flung colonies disintegrate. Germanic tribes, some with a deserved reputation for barbarism, hastened into the vacuum. The Vandals had little to contribute to Spanish culture. However, the Gaulish Visigoths from France did bring a certain constructive influence. Former allies of Rome, they ruled from Toledo, where they displayed their intricate arts and built opulent churches.

The 300-year regime of the Visigoths never achieved any measure of national unity, and eventually foundered on the thorny question of succession. The commendably democratic principle of elective monarchy fostered a web of intrigue and assassination as contenders attempted to secure the crown. These, as well as other problems were often blamed on the handiest scapegoat: the industrious and successful Jews. They had fared well under the Romans and early Visigoths, but at the start of the seventh century non-Christians were forced either to convert to Catholicism or face exile.

Moorish Spain

During A.D. 711, an invited expeditionary force of around 12,000 Berber troops from North Africa sailed across the Straits of Gibraltar and poured ashore into Spain. The expertly planned invasion was led by General Tariq ibn Ziyad (the name "Gibraltar" is a conuption of Gibel Tariq- Tariq's Rock). His ambition was to spread the influence of Islam.

Within just three years, the Moors or Moros (as North African Muslims are usually called in Spanish history) had reached the Pyrenees. Due in part to the Visigoths' military disorganization, the Moors' initial success was also assisted by ordinary citizens attracted to promises of lower taxes and a chance of freedom for serfs. Spanish Jews welcomed the Moors as liberators since, initially at least, the occupation stipulated religious tolerance. However, conversion to Islam was thoroughly encouraged, and many Christians chose to embrace the Muslim creed.

The most tangible relics of this time are now among Spain's greatest tourist attractions: the exquisite Moorish palaces and mosques of Cordoba, Granada, and Seville. The Alhambra Palace in Granada is Spain´s most visited tourist attraction, and you can hire a car from Malaga Airport or Granada Airport and drive into the city. Thanks to the irrigation techniques imported from North Africa, crops like rice, cotton, and sugar were planted, and lush orchards of almonds,
Pomegranates, oranges, and peaches thrived. Other Moorish innovations made possible the production of paper and glass, and the art of medieval Moorish artisans is preserved in today’s best Spanish craft buys -ceramics, tooled leather, and intricate silverwork.

Christian Spain and the Reconquest

The Moorish juggernaut that trundled north from Gibraltar in 711 met no serious resistance. It was eleven years before the fragmented defenders of Christian Spain won their first battle. Exiled to the northern territory of Asturias, the Visigoth nobles, led by Pelayo, joined with local mountain folk to strike the first blow for the Reconquest (or Reconquista). Further Christian vlctories would be a long time coming, but Pelayo's success at the Battle of Covadonga (the village is now a shrine) gave heart to a struggle that was to simmer for centuries.

In the middle of the eighth century, the Christians of Asturias, under King Alfonso I, took advantage of a rebellion by Berber troops to occupy neighbouring Galicia. Here, at SantIago de Compostela, the alleged discovery of the tomb of the apostle St. James (Santiago) was to become the religious focal point for Spanish Christians and a rallying call to defenders of the Christian faith throughout Europe. More breathing space from Moorish pressure was won in what became Catalonia. Charlemagne, King of the Franks, established a buffer zone between Islamic Spain and France, south of the Pyrenees, and captured Barcelona. Spanish Christians then seized the advantage and expanded south and west into the area between Catalonia and Asturias, which soon had so many frontier castles it was called Castile.

The Reconquest see-sawed on for hundreds of years, as each side gained and lost political advantage and military initiative under a succession of leaders. Over the centuries, squabbles amongst the Moors resulted in alliances of convenience with the Christians, and the intermingling of the two cultures was commonplace. Christians who thrived in the Moorish regions, known as Mozarabes, and the Moorish inhabitants of Christian enclaves (Mudtjars) gave their names to the two most important art styles of this period.

Early in the tenth century, the Asturian capital was transferred approximately 120 km (75 miles) south from Oviedo to Leon, a symbolic step deep into former "infidel" territory. However the Muslims were far from on the run. United under the dictator al­Mansur ("the victorious"), they reclaimed Leon, Barcelona, and Burgos, and, in a severe blow to Christian morale, sacked the town of Santiago de Compostela. The death of the charismatic aI-Mansur in 1002 revived Christian hopes. In 1010, they succeeded in recapturing al-Mansur's headquarters of Cordoba, and the city of Toledo fell in 1085.

The fall of Toledo sent out shock waves to Moorish rulers elsewhere in Spain and they called for help from the AI­moravids, a North African confederation of puritanical Muslim Berber tribes based in Marrakesh. Known for their military prowess, they halted the Reconquest, but in the 12th century sent for further reinforcements from the Almohad fundamentalists, who stepped up the persecution of Jews and Mozarabes. The turning point of the Reconquest is held to be the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa in 1212. In its wake, the Christian forces regained most of Spain south to Andalusia, the point where the final Moorish stronghold at Granada was recaptured in 1492.

Ferdinand and Isabella

Up until the 15th century, the various regional kingdoms of Spain remained resolutely independent. There were some sporadic moves towards unity, which usually involved strategic marriage contracts, and it was one such royal marriage which united the shrewd Ferdinand of Aragon and strongly religious and patriotic Isabella of Castile. Under the Catholic Monarchs (as Pope Alexander VI entitled them), a single Spain was created, comprising most of the nation we know today, though the component parts of the newly united kingdom retained their individuality and institutions.

Aiming to further unite the country, Ferdinand and Isabella inaugurated the Inquisition in 1478. Initially intended to safe­guard religious orthodoxy under Isabella's influential confessor, the fanatical Tomas de Torquemada, it became a byword for the persecution of Jews, Muslims, and later, Protestants. Several thousand suspected heretics were horribly tortured and many publically burned. In 1492, Torquemada convinced Ferdinand and Isabella to expel the surviving unconverted Jews-perhaps 200,000 in all.

The year 1492 was a momentous one for Spanish history. Not only did it witness the expulsion of the Moors and the Jews, but also Europe's discovery of the New World by Genoese explorer Christopher Columbus. Sponsored by Queen Isabella (who, according to legend, pawned her own jewels to raise the money), the expedition and subsequent annexation of the New World territories laid the foundations for Spain's Golden Age.

Spanish royalty

While Ferdinand and Isabella were Spain personified, their grandson and heir to the throne, Charles I, born in Flanders in 1500, could barely compose a sentence in Spanish. Through his father, Philip, Duke of Burgundy, he inherited extensive possessions in the Low Countries; he was appointed Holy Roman Emperor (Charles V) in 1519. An unpopular king, Charles alienated his Spanish subjects by appointing Flemish and Burgundian supporters in key posts such as Archbishop of Toledo and regent

During his frequent absences. Charles's expansionist foreign policies consolidated Burgundy and the Netherlands as Spanish provinces. He also annexed Milan and Naples and drew Spain into a series of costly European wars funded from the seemingly bottomless pit of Spain's New World bounty.

In 1556, overwhelmed by his responsibilities, Charles abdicated in favour of his son, Philip II. Born and educated in Spain, the new king gave top jobs to Castilians and proclaimed Madrid his capital, thereby converting an unimpressive town of 15,000 into the powerhouse of the greatest empire of the age. As litera­ture and the arts flourished, Philip worked endlessly to administer his over-extended territories. He captured Portugal, and shared in the glory following the destruction of the Turkish fleet at Lepanto (1571). However, the destruction of the Spanish fleet in the disastrous Armada episode (1588) and the spiralling costs of maintaining the empire eventually robbed Philip of his health and severely depleted the Spanish treasury. He died in devout seclusion at EI Escorial, the palace-monastery in the hills north­west of Madrid.
Though Spain was still the dominant force in Europe at Philip's death, the Golden Age and empire were on the wane. Philip III delegated his responsibilities to his favourites, involved Spain in the Thirty Year War of Catholics fighting Protestants, and expelled the remaining Moriscos, many of them farmers, thereby precipitating an agricultural crisis.

The final century of the Habsburg era was a gradual, then a rapid, decline in Spanish fortunes. Ironically, in contrast to the severe loss of territorial possessions and despite the ravages of war, pestilence, and famine, the beautiful work of Velazquez, Zurbaran, Murillo, and Ribera celebrated the high point of Spanish art.

The last of the Spanish Habsburgs, Charles II, died without an heir in 1700. He willed his crown to the Duke of Anjou, grandson of France's Louis XIV, who claimed the title Philip V of Spain. Archduke Charles of Austria (another Habsburg) contested the claim, which sparked the War of the Spanish Succession, ended by the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713.

Spain and the Bourbons

Philip V eventually secured the throne, but his diminishing empire was now shorn of Belgium, Luxembourg, Milan, Sicily, and Sardinia. To add insult to injury, Britain snatched strategic Gibraltar. The most successful Spanish king of the 18th century, Charles III, recruited capable administrators, disbanded the Inquisition, invigorated the economy, and paved the streets of Madrid. But Spain came increasingly under the power of France during the Bourbon period.

After the defeat of the Franco-Spanish fleet by the British at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805, Charles IV had to abdicate. Napoleon appointed his brother Joseph as Jose I, and the Spanish uprising resulted in the Peninsula War (Spaniards call it the War of Independence). The French were finally ousted, with the help of British troops led by the Duke of Wellington in 1814. Meanwhile, several of Spain's most valuable American colonies had taken advantage of her preoccupation to win their independence.

With a Bourbon Spanish king, Ferdinand VII, once again on the throne, Spain failed miserably to prosper. Political infighting, a repressive monarchy, and anti-clerical revolts led to the domestic Carlist Wars. The century ended with another disaster as Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines were lost in the Spanish-American War.

The Spanish Civil War

Spain escaped the horrors of World War I, watching the carnage from a position of neutrality. Alfonso XIII backed the dictatorship of General Miguel Primo de Rivera (1923-1930), but went into exile (never to return) after anti-royalist forces won a land­slide victory in the 1931 elections. The new Republic was divided by bitter ideological conflicts, particularly between the Left and Right. A left-wing victory in the 1936 elections and the assassination of the Monarchist leader, Calvo Sotelo, ignited nationalist and conservative fears of a Marxist revolution. Monarchists, clergy, and the right-wing Falange organization united behind the Movimiento Nacional, led by the war hero General Francisco Franco. Meanwhile, a motley band of liberals, communists, socialists, and anarchists cast their lot with the newly-elected Spanish government.

The inevitable outcome was the Civil War: three years of horrific bloodshed and destruction which gutted towns and cities and claimed between 50,000 and 75,000 lives as father fought son and region battled against region. Franco emerged victorious, but Spain was shattered, physically and emotionally.

Spain and Franco

Although he was sympathetic to the Axis powers during World War II, Franco opted for neutrality, and quietly began to rebuild Spain. The trains ran on time and the streets were safe again, but there was a heavy atmosphere of repression and economic recovery was slow. On Franco's death in 1975, his chosen successor was Juan Carlos de Borbon, grandson of Alfonso XIII, who was crowned king of a constitutional monarchy, and who proved an able and popular helmsman on Spain's road to democracy.

Fundamental changes in the political landscape came thick and fast in the 1970s and 1980s as the Falange was wound down, the Communist party legalized, and a degree of autonomy was granted to the regions of Catalonia, Euskadi (Basque), and Galicia. Today, as a member of the United Nations, NATO, and the EU, Spain's long separation from the world and European mainstream is over.

The last few years have seen further remarkable changes in the world view of Spain, and in the national psyche. The formerly poor relation of Europe is economically strong, culturally vibrant, and able to look ahead confidently to the challenges of the 21st century.