An Australian comes to Spain

Leaving for home

I left Spain in a bus headed for Lisbon. Our female bus driver was horrified when her bus was almost rammed by another bus-driver. She followed him for five blocks and then delivered a torrent of abuse that continued for a couple of minutes. Suggestions were added by myself and a guy at the back of the bus, apparently Spanish-American : "hey, you haven't called him this one yet…". A helpful list is supplied on the web, if you're not squeamish. Spanish is a great melodic language for the fluent, and I listened open-mouthed as some of those I saw could speak in an unbroken torrent, virtually without drawing breath, for some fifteen minutes.

And as we headed into the setting sun, I reflected on those explorers who headed west with a small boat full of thieves and cut-throats in search of India, spices, and gold. The triangular trade in slaves, gold, rum, cotton and other things between places like Virginia, West Africa, Cuba and Spain was a massive engine which affected three or four continents and their development.

I was probably lucky not to be targeted by thieves in Spain and Portugal. My seat companion on the plane home had been in a five-star hotel in Lisbon, waiting at reception to put the whole family's passports and money into safety deposit. Suddenly there was a commotion. Someone shouted "They put paint on your shirt! It looks terrible!" There was a ruckus ; and suddenly the hotel clerk jumped over the desk and ran to the front door. He returned holding the thief and my companion's bag, passports and money.

A sick nation with a glorious past?

A number of countries have been called the "sick man of Europe", Spain included. More recent commentaries seem to suggest that Spain is recovering. That may be true, but the last I heard, Spain has no proper government, only an acting Prime Minister. It's not hard in eastern Sydney to meet young baristas and waiters who have fled Spain to have a holiday or find work. The conspicuous wealth displayed in Spanish palaces and churches, and a glorious past, don't help young people much. We're lucky that the problems in so many parts of Europe aren't being felt in Australia.

Spain is a massive contradiction: they have enormously creative geniuses from Gaudi to Goya, and yet they still have huge bull-rings. It's the country that gave us the Borgias and the Inquisition. Yet there are wonderful cathedrals. Spain gave us Tomas Luis de Vittoria, and a lot of other fantastic music. In many ways it's conservative and deeply Catholic, though it's a bit confronting to be told "Jesus will meet you at the airport". At best it shows open-mindedness and tolerance of eccentric geniuses. At worst it is nasty and hates any difference , as treatment of a referee showed recently. For my part, I'm glad that Australia wasn't colonised by Spain. The British were bad enough. The Spanish would have been far worse.