If someone ask my wife what country that she liked to live or even what country she’d rather live, the answer is immediate: Spain. I would answer the same despite some other great countries. For example Italy, Australia, Brazil…
In my opinion no other region in the world has a history as rich as that of Spain. The Iberian Peninsula has been inhabited since the man came out of Africa. During the Iron Age Spain was inhabited by Celtic and indigenous tribes, after it was dominated by the Romans and then by centuries of Arab domination. Until the arrival of the Catholic Kings. Just to give an idea of the influence of Spain in world history, remember that in a single year, 1492, the Catholic Kings completed the expulsion of the Arabs (and most of the Jews) of the Iberian peninsula, gave more power the Inquisition and dispatched Columbus to discover America. Imagine the consequence of these three events for the history of the world.
The Spanish Empire that followed the discovery of America, and when during the reign of Felipe II joined the Portuguese Empire, was the largest empire that ever existed on the face of the Earth. In the 16 century (1501-1600) in Spain in addition to the Iberian Peninsula had possessions in Europe, notably in the Netherlands and Italy. Owned everything that was known in the Americas, with particular attention to the riches of Mexico and Peru, but also conquered the Philippines (which was named in honor of Philip II), inherited Japan from the Portuguese and had possessions in other parts of the Asia-Pacific region. At that time Spain had plans to conquer England and China, which did not materialize because of the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588.
As you can see the history of Spain is very interesting, but that is not all. Today, Spain is divided into at least 17 autonomous communities. It’s like several countries within a single country. Each region of Spain offers distinctive customs, culture, language, cuisine and history. Visiting Spain, learning about its history, experiencing its cuisine is an unforgettable experience.
But there is another reason why my wife and I like Spain so much. It’s in the blood!
Both my grandfather on my father’s side, as my wife’s grandfather on her father’s side, immigrated to Brazil from Spain. One from Galicia and the other from Valencia, opposite sides of the Iberian peninsula. They never met, either in Spain or in Brazil and I believe, they never thought that families that immigrated from Spain could be together like this someday. We’re trying to find birth certificates of our grandparents, but it has been hard, I am sure we will have to make the effort and visit Spain several times to find them…
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