The Last Emirate of Spain
The emirate of Granada – Islam’s last polity in Spain – was surrendered to the Catholic monarchs on 2 January 1492.
Spain
The Death of Charles the Bad
On 1 January 1387 Charles II, the medieval king of Navarre, died as he had lived – with great violence.
‘El Generalísimo’ by Giles Tremlett book review
El Generalísimo: Franco: Power, Violence and the Quest for Greatness by Giles Tremlett considers the making of the mediocrity at the heart of modern Spain.
Spain Was Different: Tourism Under Franco
How did Spain, Western Europe’s last dictatorship, become one of its most popular tourist destinations?
Pelayo: the Reluctant Visigoth and the Reconquista
Pelayo, King of Asturias, is Spain’s first national hero, credited with beginning the Reconquista with his victory at the Battle of Covadonga. What do we really know about him?
The Ballad of the Inquisition’s Greatest Witch Trial
How a lost ballad detailing the Inquisition’s sentencing of 28 alleged Basque witches spread a witchcraft panic through 17th-century Spain.
‘Spice’ by Roger Crowley review
In Spice: The 16th-Century Contest that Shaped the Modern World, Roger Crowley explains how Spain and Portugal turned up the heat in the age of imperialism.
How Mexico Fought Franco
Just two countries supported the Republic during the Spanish Civil War: the Soviet Union and Mexico. While Soviet help came with strings attached, Mexico’s reflected the country’s contentious relationship with its old colonial master.
The Valladolid Debate on the Rights of Indigenous People
Was the subjugation of indigenous peoples a just means to expedite Christianity? On 15 August 1550, a humanist scholar and a Dominican friar debated.
The Penguin History of Modern Spain by Nigel Townson review
An up-to-date history of modern Spain, from 1898 to the present.