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Connected International Meeting
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by Pete Olympia, Ph.D. Late afternoon this gorgeous October day finds us barreling down a lightly traveled highway on the way to Seville, Spain from the Algarve region of southern Portugal. The highway is lined on both sides by fruit-laden Valencia orange trees as far as the eye can see. Manuel, our Spanish driver who speaks fluent English, is giving us a quick introduction to Spanish culture and Sevillano lifestyle. Around this time last year, I was scheduled to be
around these parts but September 11 changed my plans just as surely as it did
the travel plans of others. In
preparing for that trip I had done some research on Spain, in general, and the
Andalusian region, in particular, so I have some understanding of what the next
several days hold for us.
Much of Spain’s (and Seville’s) history and culture
were influenced by its neighbor across the Strait of Gibraltar—Morocco.
Although the Romans ruled the country for some 500 years, it was the
Moors who ruled for 800 years after that, along with Jews and Christians that
shaped Spanish culture. The Moroccan Muslims (“Moors”) were Arabs originally from
Damascus and Medina and their influence remain even in today’s Spain,
particularly the Mudejar architecture style, and elegant buildings and
monuments. There are words in both
the Spanish and English language with Moorish origin, for example, arsenal,
algebra, alcohol, almanac and many other “al-“ words.
Even the name Rock of Gibraltar appears to have been derived from the
term jabal Tariq, or Tariq’s mountan, presumably after Tariq,
the Muslim who marched into Spain in 711 with 12,000 troops and destroyed the
Visigoths. Jews were early settlers in Spain and had symbiotic relationships with the Moors. Jews provided supplies to the invading Moors and guarded newly conquered towns so more Muslim troops could be committed to battle in the continuing quest for more territory. This clearly did not sit well with the Christians who were convinced it was the Jews who invited the Muslim invasion. And then came the end. Any continuing Jewish or Muslim influence in the country ended in 1492 following the purge that accompanied the Spanish Inquisition supported by Ferdinand and Isabella—patrons of Columbus.
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Spain
is a relatively populous European country (about 40 million strong—four times
Portugal’s) with an area more than twice the size of Oregon, and a coastline
that stretches for more than 3,100 miles.