Photos from San Sebastián and Zaragoza

Over the last few weeks I've taken two trips to cities located in the northern regions of Spain: Donostia-San Sabastián and Zaragoza. Each city represents a unique aspect of Spanish history and culture, especially in regards to their relationship with the Muslim reign over Spain in the medival ages and the broader Spanish political and cultural community in the 20th century.

In the case of Zaragoza, the city has a unique place in the development of medieval Spanish history: it is an excellent case of the impact of the reconquista by Christian forces, which began in the 10th and 11th centuries and took full force in the 13th and 14th centuries, on the city's architecture. The city's history, however, extends much further back into the times of the Roman Empire. The city, which was founded between 24 and 12 BCE, was a major Roman urban center in Roman Hispania notable for its name: Caesar Augustus. The city's settlers named the city in honor the Roman Empire's first emperor, a gesture that has stood the test of time: Saraugustus in Latin; Saraqusta in Arabic; Zaragoza in Castellano.

The Roman Forum in the City

As the Arabic name indicates, the city was conquered by Muslim forces in the 7th century and became one of the northern regions of the Islamic Caliphate after Charles Martel defeated these forces in the Battle of Tours in 732 and pushed them back to the northern regions of the Iberian peninsula. After the Islamic Caliphate dissolved in the 10th century, the taifa of Saraqusta emerged as an independent kingdom until the end of the 11th century when Christian forces retook the city and established it as the center of the independent kingdom of Aragon.

Given that the new rulers of the city did not expel all Muslims from the city limits, the steady presence of Muslim culture influenced the development of the architecture at the time. Many of the churches in the city were built in the mudejar -- literally those who were allowed to stay, e.g Muslims -- style of architecture by Muslim architects and builders. As a result, many of the churches that exist in the city have a marked similarity to mosques. One only needs to look at the bell towers of these churches to notice their superficial appearance to the minarets of mosques in a country such as Morocco or Syria.

One of several Mudejar churches in the city

One of my Fulbright colleagues once explained to me that the style was very much in vogue in Christian cities during the 11th through 14th centuries even though it was associated with the rival Muslim forces due to the fact that it had permeated the aesthetic sensibility of individuals in the Iberian peninsula over the course of several centuries of Muslim rule. In other words, the style is a distinct product of a fusion of cultures and sensibilities that marked the dynamic interchange of ideas in medieval Spain.

Furthermore, the city's Christian rulers -- namely the famed Prince Ferdinand of Aragon who united Spain with Queen Isabella de Castilla and supported Columbus' trip to the Americas -- took the city's palace, the Aljafería, the place of joy, and continued to use it as the center of administration until the early modern period. The palace, which is now the center of administration for the Communidad Autonoma de Aragon's legislators, represents another example of the prevalence of Islamic and Mudejar style architecture in post-Muslim Zaragoza. In fact, one can rank the palace as one of the three best examples of Islamic architecture in Spain; the other two sites are the Catedral de la Mezquita in Cordoba and the Alhambra in Granada.


This history aside, I should also note that the city was the center of the world expo in 2008, which focused on water preservation and environmental awareness as its theme. This theme wouldn't surprise a Zaragozan: the city has a number of wind farms outside of its city limits to produce renewable energy for consumption throughout the metropolitan area. Zaragoza is also a centrally located city: it is equidistant from Barcelona, Madrid, Bilbao, Velencia, and Toulouse, France.



Given Zaragoza's place in the development of medieval Spanish history, San Sebastián, which is found in the País Vasco or Euskana Hereria in Basque, represents a different component of Spanish history and culture: its regionalism. Spain, as I have noted previously, recognizes four official languages: Castellano, 'Español' in the rest of the world; Catalán, which is the official language of the Communidad Autonoma de Catalunya as well as Valencia, where it is known as Valenciano; Gallego, which is the official language of Galicia; and Vasco, which is the official language of the Communidad Autonoma de el País Vasco.

Within these four languages, Vasco has a unique place in the hearts of linguists everywhere for a special reason. Whereas the other languages are related to Western Romance languages that emerged from Latin, the source of the Basque language is unknown. Most linguists agree that Basque is a form of a pre Indo-European language that managed to survive the arrival of the Romans, who named these tribes 'Vascones,' throughout the southern regions of Roman Gaul (France) and the northwest portions of Roman Hispania (Spain).

One can attribute the persistence of the language into modern times to the Basque people themselves. Much like their language, the Basque people do not have any cultural or genetic connections to other Indo-European peoples. In a certain way, this unique trait reflects the amount of self rule that the Basque people have enjoyed for centuries, mostly in the medieval ages; many Basques have proudly proclaimed that their people have never fallen to invaders to other lands, including the famed Charlemagne, whose rear guard troops were slaughtered in the battle of Ronvevaux Pass after retreating from a failed conquest of Zaragoza in 778.

Although the suppression of Basque self-rule has occurred throughout history, the most recent suppression of Basque culture emerged under the Franco regime. Franco imposed Spanish as the only official language over the Basque country as well as Catalunya and Galicia. Basque cultural traditions were informally banned informally, if officially outlawed. Within this legal and political context, a modern form of Basque nationalism heralded by ETA - 'Euskadi Ta Askatasuna,' Basque Homeland and Country - in the 1960s as a Marxist-Leninist movement dedicated the creation of an independent Basque homeland based on language. (One must remember that this period of time is marked by several national liberation movements throughout the colonies of European powers, a clear inspiration to the founding members of ETA).

Although the terrorist organization does not represent the full range of Basque views of self rule, it demonstrates the complex relationship that exists between Madrid and the Basque Country, even after the Spanish Government granted the Communidad Autonoma del País Vasco a great deal of independence after the transition to democracy in the late 70s. The Basque nationalist position that a historic community with no ties to the wider Spanish culture should remain independent of Spain clashes with the perspective that the Basque Country should preserve its ties with Spain while maintaining its autonomy under the Spanish Constitution. Given that the Basque people had the highest number of abstention rates during the referendum to approve the Constitution in 1977 and 1978, however, these positions can come into direct clashes and demonstrate the intense regionalism that continues impacts the development of Spanish politics.

Of course, this history cannot overshadow the incredible food that is prepared in the city. San Sebastián, which has the third best restaurant in the world according to the Michelin guide (and the highest number of Michelin starred restaurants outside of Paris), is incredible. One of the unique aspects of cuisine in the city and the Basque country in general are pintxos. Although tapas were invented in Andalucía, the Basques took the form and perfected it. The sheer diversity of pintxos that exist in bars throughout the city is absolutely astonishing to someone used to plain tapas from Madrid.


Part of this elaborate presentation of a simple bar food emerges from the all male eating societies that exist in the Basque country. Typically men will gather at a restaurant with fresh ingredients and wine to cook and socialize for hours on end with spectacular culinary results. Of course, the innovation of food does not emerge solely from these societies given that the tradition of preparing excellent food, whether 12 course tasting menus or simple pintxos, extends throughout the Basque culture. Whether this affinity for culinary artistry is related to the region's proximity to France or its defiant independence from Madrid, I am unsure. However, the results are spectacular and have made me incredibly fond of the city, its food, and its beaches, which are among the most beautiful in Europe.


Finally, the País Vasco and the Communidad Autonoma de Aragon, which has Zaragoza as its capital, have a special connection to my research: the parliaments of both Communidades Autonomas filed appeals of unconstitionality against the LO 8/2000. Both Communidades Autonomas maintain progressive positions on the rights of immigrants and continue to advocate for the integration of these individuals within their own borders and throughout Spain as well.

The photos of Zaragoza can be viewed here. The photos of San Sebastián can be viewed here.

A Few Interesting News Stories from the BBC and the NYTimes

While I am preparing the post on my trips to San Sebastián and Zaragoza, three interesting stories from the BBC and the NYTimes:

First, here is a BBC story on the Congreso de Diputados decision to pass a law to curtail the universal jurisdiction of one of Spain's high court, the Audencia Nacional, which can pursue war crime cases against individuals or organizations in other countries.

Second, another piece from the BBC on the exodus of British expats from Spain back to the UK:

Finally, two pieces: an older piece from the NYTimes about the exodus of immigrants from various EU countries including Spain to their countries of origin and a piece from the BBC that focuses on the same phenomenon in Spain.

A few thoughts: Spain's Audencia Nacional has frequently been the forum for individuals living in Spain to lodge complaints against various institutions and laws. Although the nation's Tribunal Supremo also receives complaints from individuals living in Spain, its jurisdiction does not extend to international human rights violation cases. (The Tribunal Constitucional, which issues the sentences that form the foundation of my research, can only rule on constitutional matters based on appeals filed by diputados, the parliaments of the nation's 17 autonomous communities, or the ombudsman, the Defensor del Pueblo.) In this sense, the Congreso's decision to pass this law has undermined the legal framework for the prosecution of human rights violation cases because it undermined a legal body's ability to push forward cases of war crimes without any temporal restrictions. (The ICC can only prosecute cases from the date of its inception, 2002. The arrest warrant against the president of Sudan, Omar Al-Bashir, emerged from war crimes committed during 2004-2005.)

Although I have been critical of the Spanish government's decisions to curtail the rights of immigrants and refugees vis a vis the reforms of the laws regulating these two trends, I am quite surprised to see the Congreso taking steps to limit the country's ability to promote the protection of human rights abroad. Diplomatic pressures aside, I think it demonstrates another manner that the Spanish Government has begun to capitulate its dedication to human rights, especially after it managed to pass through major legislation on gay rights (gay marriage is legal in Spain) and a massive regularization of undocumented immigrants in 2005.

As for the three pieces related to immigration, a few things to note: immigrants from EU member countries excluding Eastern European nations tends to come from the UK and other wealthier nations. The reason is simple: the weather is great, the cost of living is low, and the economy, until 2008, was booming. As a result, Spain saw a major increase in the number of UK expats and retirees coming to live on the coasts of Andalucía and other Communidades Autonomas with beachfront properties. Spain, in other words, functions as the Florida of the EU (without the sketchy dealings of Floridian politics).

Ironically, these same factors also drew immigrants from poorer nations including Eastern European EU member states to Spain even as the Spanish Government under the PP enacted laws that completely restricted the rights of undocumented immigrants and created major adminsitrative to gain residency and work contracts. In fact, the number of immigrants increased during the year 2000 to 2004 under the vigilence of the restrictionist LO 8/2000 and the LO 14/2003, laws that sought to discourage irregular immigration and promote the importation of 'desirable' migrant workers to feed the construction boom that was driving Spain's economic growth.

Given the disparate differences between the origins and laws regulating the movement of these two groups of immigrants, it is interesting but unsurprising to see that economic factors pull them into Spain during a boom and drive them out during a bust. In this sense, the laws of the labor market rather than Spanish immigration laws clearly have a larger impact on the fluctuations of immigrants. From a legal perspective that promotes the rights of immigrants, then, the idea that restricting the rights of immigrants to dissuade them from entering a country is absurd. Instead, the laws must work with the immediate demands of the labor market while preserving the rights of individuals who enter Spain to live and work for an indeterminate amount of time. Whether or not these types of policies come into existence during an economic crisis, however, remains to be seen as the Spanish Government takes on the task of restricting the rights of immigrants as part of a plan to "deal with the recession."

Views from the City: Immigrant Protests Against The Spanish Government's Proposed Reforms of the LO 4/2000 Modified by the LO 8/2000

As I mentioned briefly late last year, I am currently a volunteer with the Comisión Española al Ayuda al Refugiado (CEAR), one of the most important pro immigrant, pro refugee NGOs in Spain. The NGO, which was founded in 1979 with the purpose of providing individuals seeking assistance with their solicitations for asylum and refugee status and promoting their rights in Spain and abroad, has grown into a multi-service non profit with offices throughout Spain that promotes these goals and causes in two major ways.

First, the Commission provides direct legal, social/psychological, and professional development assistance for individuals seeking these legal statuses (e.g helping these individuals process applications for these legal statuses, evade expulsion at Madrid's airport, receive psychological treatment, and participate in professional development classes to assist with the job search in Spain). In other words, the organization serves as a 'one stop shop' to assist individuals fleeing from dangerous situations with the process of settling in Spain as a means to find a better life.

The non profit also works with other pro immigrant NGOs such as Asociación Pro Derechos Humanos de España, religious organizations such as Cáritas Española and Asociación Musulmana de España, NGOs formed by immigrants themselves, the three major political parties (PSOE, PP, and Izquierda Unida, the nation's hard left party), and labor unions to organize conferences and public ad campaigns to promote awareness over the issues facing immigrants and refugees in Spain and beyond, mobilize demonstrations and lobbying efforts to pressure the Spanish Government to legislation laws that protect the rights of these individuals, and create wider networks with other European NGOs such as European Network Against Racism to promote these causes within the European Union.

Within this organizational framework, volunteers can work in each of these capacities so long as their professional background allows them to successfully carry out this work. Lawyers, for instance, can serve as counsel for individuals who are applying for refugee status at the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry that processes foreign applications for residency and refugee statuses. Other volunteers serve as translators for documents related to a case of an individual applying for refugee status within the Ministry of the Interior. In my case, I am working as a member of the Reports Team, which creates in depth reports regarding the situation of human rights in different nations for attorneys who assist refugees and asylum seekers with their application for a protected legal status.

My work, however, does not remain in the NGO's headquarters. I have participated in protests over the Spanish Government's proposed reforms over the LO 4/2000 modified by the LO 8/2000 as well as its modifications of the law over asylum. These shots are from a protest in May that was organized by several pro immigrant/immigrant formed NGOs, including CEAR. Although it is small, it does reflect the desire of immigrants in Spain to pressure the Spanish Government to respect their rights as people and nothing more.

Photos from San Sebastián Coming

As always, another trip, another set of photos to post online. This time around the photos are from my first trip to one of the major destinations in the Basque Country, San Sebastián. I have previously commented on the city's reputation as a gastronomic center that extends beyond the borders of the Iberian peninsula. In addition to discussing the city's incredible food offerings, the next post will also touch on the history of the Basque Country as well

Shots from Toledo/Aranjuez

In the middle of planning and preparing for the conference, my parents came out to visit me in their first trip to Europe. Given that I have become a fairly adept tour guide over the last year, I took them around to various sites throughout the city (e.g the Prado, Reina Sofia, Plaza Mayor, Parque de Retiro, etc) as well as day trips outside of the city. Although I did not accompany them to Segovia, I traveled with them to Toledo, which I visited on a previous occasion with my friend Julia, and Aranjuez. Given that I discussed my trip to Toledo in a previous post, I will focus on a few facts on Aranjuez before noting one interesting sight in Toledo.

Aranjuez, which is 45 minutes outside of Madrid via suburban rail, is the home of the the Palacio Real de Aranjuez, the historical spring residence of the kings of Spain dating back to the late 1800s. The palace, which was used from April to June, was commissioned by Philip II in the late 1500s and completed in the mid 1700s under Ferdinand VI. Being a typical 1700s style palace, the opulance of the interior design - including a spectacular recreation of a room from the Alhambra - is comparable to Madrid's Palacio Real.

The difference between both sites revolves around the fact that the Palacio Real continues to host functions for the royal family while the Palacio de Aranjuez serves as a museum that includes the wedding dresses for King Juan Carlos's daughters and his daughter in law, the Princess of Austurias and future queen of Spain, Letizia, wife of Prince Felipe, the heir to the Spanish throne. Needless to say, this part of the musuem was mobbed by an adoring crowd of Spaniards who obsess over all things royal in Spain.

The Palacio's gardens are also a noteworthy for their size -- in their time they were the most important Hapsburg gardens in Spain -- as well as the inspiration for Joaquín Rodgrigo's famous piece for classical guitar and orchestra, el Concierto de Aranjuez. The piece has been performed by Paco de Lucía as well as Miles Davis, who interpreted the piece as a classical flamenco jazz piece with an orchestra in the seminal album Sketches of Spain.

On the subject of Toledo, I think it is interesting to note that I finally visited two synagogues and a mosque converted into a church from the 10th and 11th centuries. As I have discussed previously, these sites emerged during the rule of the Islamic Caliphate, which dominated the Iberian peninsula from the 9th through the 12th centuries. One of the unique trademarks of this period of Spanish history was the convivencia, a term that describes the peace that existed between Jews, Muslims, and Christians during this time. Architecturally, the islamic mudajar style of architecture, which manifests itself most spectacularly in the Alhambra in Granada but also appears in these buildings, was the architectural link between the design of places of worship for all three of these religions.

Much like other Spanish cities from this period of time, Toledo has a judería, a Jewish section of the city, which houses the two synogogues in the city. These buildings count as two out of the three synogogues that exist in Spain; the other site of worship can be found in Cordoba. The rest were destroyed or remodeled before, during, and after the Spanish inquisition in the 1500s, which aimed to create a wholly Christian nation through the expulsion or conversation of adherents of non Christian faiths. Similar motives promopted Christian rulers who conquered muslim cities to convert the city's mosques into churches as Christian armies from the North began to retake the Iberian peninsula in the 13th and 14th centuries. Although Cordoba's cathedral/mezquita is a spectacular example of this process, Toledo's tiny church, mezquita serves as another excellent ejemplar of this custom.

The photos are available here.

The Immigration Conference: A Success!

With rave reviews from friends and colleagues, I am happy to report that our immigration conference, "De emigrante a inmigrante: el nuevo mundo de España. Siete perspectivas estadounidenses sobre la inmigración en España," which drew a standing room crowd, was an absolute success on every level. Allow to make a few points about the successful event.

First, our moderator, Oscar Perez de la Fuente, a professor of law and philosophy at my institute at the Universidad Carlos III, gave a strong introduction to the evening's proceedings, focusing on the manner that immigration demonstrates the contradictions in the evolution of a supposedly "flat," globalized system of countries and markets. For instance, the modern global economy, which is supposedly based on the free movement of capital, ideas, and people, creates open borders for capital, but creates walls for the free movement of immigrants seeking a new life in another country unless a government decides to open up its borders boost its number of cheap laborers or 'qualified' individuals to meet the demands of its labor market.

Sala Borges, the site for our conference

It was a strong introduction and I am happy to have worked with a brilliant and affable individual who has been a major supporter of our effort to put on this conference and an excellent partner in the development of the theoretical underpinnings of the links between our presentations and research projects.

On the issue of presentations, each individual researcher used their own style and medium to outline the findings of their work, which ranged from a study of the experiences of Colombian women who work as domestic workers in Madrid, the evolution of cultural traditions within public and private spaces in South American immigrant communities in Madrid, a documentary about the experiences of Sub-Saharan African men who live and work in Madrid.

Opening remarks from a representative from Casa de América

Although I have discussed my presentation and work at length in several postings, I feel that my presentation was strong and communicated the findings of my research quite well. I could have added some detail on the manner that the Spanish Government could find ways to fully implement the spirit of the Tribunal Constitucional's sentences against the LO 8/2000 -- for instance, reforming the LO 14/2003, which forces immigrants to apply for their visas and work contracts from their country of origin or to wait three years without deportation to apply for residency in Spain -- but managed to include some more detail over these issues in the question and answer session that followed the presentations.

Making my concluding points duing my presentation

On the level of audience and audience participation, I was happy to see an excellent mix of immigrants and representatives from pro immigrant/immigrant managed NGOs who worked with us, academic and professional experts on the subject, and our individual friends as well as our Fulbright peers who came out to support us. Our moderator commented that it was refreshing to see so many different people from different walks of life stay for the whole conference (2.5 hours!) and participate in a lively discussion over the topic. Indeed, it was interesting to hear the audience's perspectives -- especially the perspectives from Spaniards themselves -- about our work and our views on immigration to Spain. Aside from being impressed by the breadth and depth of our work, the Spanish commentators felt that many Spaniards lacked interest in studying the impact of immigration on different economic, political, social, cultural, and legal Spanish institutions.

Although I am sure that our research may not impact the development of immigration research in Spanish academia, I feel that it is important to support research studying this issue to help develop a more comprehensive and accurate discussion about immigration in Spanish civil society. Given that the center right Partido Popular, which has legislated the LO 8/2000, won a greater majority of seats to represent Spain in the European Parliament in today's election, it is crucial that to find new means of social mobilizing and communication to counter xenophobic responses from right wing parties and push left wing parties to respect immigrant rights in Spain and Europe. Expanding education and research on this issue is an excellent first step in meeting this goal, one which will take and effort as the economic crisis continues to create an excellent cover for individuals to place blame on immigrants for a myriad of social troubles that emerge from wider structural issues in the evolution of the European welfare state in the post industrial age.

But that comes with time. In the meanwhile, the fact that seven individuals who decided to put on a conference manage to find support within host institutions such as the Universidad Carlos III and organizations like the Casa de América and the wider community to put on a successful event demonstrates the manner that an excellent idea coupled with a strong marketing scheme based on spreading the word through the internet and word of mouth can give people the opportunity to present their work, even in a foreign country.

More importantly, it demonstrates that we have grown into individuals who have strong ties to the communities in Madrid and Spain and have made efforts to invest in their well being as a way to thank them for their support in our work that we have carried out over the last year. It was truly an amazing evening and I am incredibly proud of what we have managed to accomplish in so little time. Now time to begin the last push to finish my work in Madrid...

If you want to see more photos from the event, please take a look at my colleague's website: http://www.peterholderness.com/esp/nocheca/index.html

The Immigration Conference: Last Minute Thoughts Before Putting on the Big Show

The day has arrived to put on the immigration conference that I have been working on for almost two months. The presentation feels solid and the team of seven Fulbrighters along with the venue and other NGOs have done an excellent job of spreading the word about the event. I can definitely say that I am extremely proud of having the opportunity to put together this conference; it serves as an excellent means to finish off the year presenting my work to a responsive audience.

It also serves as an excellent example of the manner that individuals can use their collective resources and talents to work in a democratic fashion to put on an event without initial backing from a major institution or organization. In other words, Kos would be proud of the fact that we had an excellent idea - seven Americans presenting work about immigration in Spain - and found a way to turn it into a full fledged event with internet advertising created via photoshop, word of mouth publicity, and good old fashion poster/postcard distribution to bring in folks to the event. I am excited and proud to have been a part of this process.

I should have a blog post up within the week detailing the event's proceedings. Fired up and ready to go!