UND- Music and Culture-Spain: History

The Iberian Peninsula

Spain is part of the Iberian Peninsula, which has a rich history of various cultures. The Iberian Peninsula is made up by Portugal, Spain, Andorra, and the British Crown Colony of Gibraltar. On its southern tip, it is only five miles away from Africa. It is a mountainous region and has been very important to geologists because it contains rocks from every geological period. The southern parts of the peninsula have desert like qualities, but still has a winter season. It tends to be very dry during the summer, with a large rainfall near spring and fall. This peninsula is unique because it serves almost like a portal coming in and going out of Europe. It can be considered like a cultural highway and because it has been largely influenced by many different cultures.

History of Spain

Time line of conquest

Spain has a rich history of culture. The oldest human remains on earth have been found here. The Cave of Altamira contains the drawings of Paleolithic peoples, one of the first forms of human art and aesthetics.

There is a vast history of conquering and being conquered in these lands. One of the firs t groups of civilization in this land was the Celtic people. They were conquered by the Romans, but there is a whole region of Spain, Galicia, that is rich in this culture. There are legends and folklore that say the Celts settle in this part of Iberia before they went out to conquer Ireland.

The Romans brought a whole new element to Spain and other parts of the Iberian Peninsula as their reign and territories grew. The other huge thing that Rome brought along to Spain was Christianity, specifically Catholicism. This is the country’s main religion (70% of the population), so obviously it has had a major effect on Spain.

The other large group that had invaded Spain was the Moors who came from Africa. The Moors had a long reign over Spain, until they were eventually conquered during the Crusades. The Moors have left on huge stamp on Spain. The Moors themselves were heavily influenced by the Greeks, especially in various areas of academics. The Moors particularly had a heavy mathematical influence over Spain, with one example being the invention of Algebra. The Moors also heavily influenced the architect of Spain. The picture below shows the Moorish influence of architecture in Spain. When the Moors were finally driven out of Spain, their huge palaces and beautiful cities were not destroyed, rather they were simply taken over by the Spaniards. A perfect example of this is the Alhambra of Granada, a large Moorish palace built by José Contreras that is still in beautiful condition today.

Mezquita, Catedral de Córdoba

La Alhambra, Grenada

Spain has also been heavily influenced by many groups of people like the Phoenicians and Visigoths (Germanic people of the fifth century). Spain also had a large group of Jewish settlers, that eventually were forced to leave in 1492 after Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabel of Castile re-conquered the land from the Moors. They are referred to as Sephardic Jews because of their origins in Iberia. They had been in Spain many years prior to their ordered removal, which prompted the Spanish Inquisition. This was a time when Spain globally was expanding under the name of the Catholic Church. This led to the battle of Latin America, with Portugal, eventually England, and other European nations. Because of this, Latin American countries have also largely influenced the culture of Spain in areas like art, language, etc.

Both Spanish and Latin American music have largely influenced the other. As Spain started bringing more of its own people and it's slaves, a blending of cultures started to happen. Spain brought slaves over from Africa to its new colonies, which had a tremendous impact on Latin American music. In return styles like Tuna (which is discussed in more detail in the "Styles of Music"), which is said to be "Spain's Mariachi Band," have tremendously impacted Spain.

As you can see, Spain has a vast history and has been influenced by many different kinds of people. Because of its geographical location, it has served as a cultural highway in and out of Europe. From the Celts, to the Romans, to the Moors and everyone in between, it has been stamped with a very unique identity. All of these stamps have played a very important role in the creation of Spanish music and culture in general.