A GLIMPSE AT SPAIN AND EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 1493-1795

Did you know...?

• In 1493, Spanish explorers were the first known Europeans to reach what is now the United States of America when Christopher Columbus visited Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. .
  
  
• In 1513, Juan Ponce de León was the first to reach the present-day US mainland, when he disembarked on the northeast coast of a place he named La Florida..
  
  
• From 1528 to 1536, nearly three centuries before Lewis and Clark, Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca and three other Spaniards were the first known humans to cross what would one day be the United States. After surviving a shipwreck in Florida, they set out on foot for New Spain, and eventually reached California and the Pacific Ocean. They then continued down to Mexico City. Cabeza de Vaca and one of the other men eventually returned to Spain, but the other two remained. One of those, a Black man named Estevanico (Esteban), is believed to have later died in what is now New Mexico. He has been referred to as the first African-American.
  
  
• In 1529, cartographer Esteban Gómez drew the first map of the Eastern coast of North America, and did so almost perfectly. He named the river that empties into New York City the San Antonio River, a name it retained for about 80 years. It was not until Englishman Henry Hudson explored the river in 1609 that it was renamed the Hudson River.

• In 1533, the name California was first applied to what is now the west coast of North America, during a Spanish expedition led by Diego de Becerra and Fortun Ximenez. The name California comes from a 16th-century novel, Las Sergas de Esplandián (The Exploits of Esplandian) by Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo. Set on an island populated by Black female warriors who use gold for tools and weapons, and ruled by Queen Calafia, the book describes it as being east of the Asian mainland and “near the side of Terrestrial Paradise.”

• In 1540, Hernando de Soto undertook an extensive exploration of what today are Georgia, The Carolinas, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas and Louisiana.

• In 1540, Francisco Vásquez de Coronado led 2,000 Spaniards and Native Americans across today's Arizona-Mexico border. Coronado traveled as far as central Kansas, close to the exact geographic center of the continental United States. In September of that year, a group dispatched by Coronado, led by García López de Cárdenas and guided by Hopi Indians became the first Europeans to reach the Grand Canyon. The first Europeans to navigate the Colorado River were also on missions of the Coronado expedition, one led by Hernando de Alarcón, the other by Melchior Díaz. Colorado means 'red colored' in Spanish.

• In 1541, Hernando de Soto became the first European to reach the shores of the Mississippi River. This was near the current city of Memphis, Tennessee, an event that is depicted in a painting on display in the US Capitol building in Washington D.C.
  

   
  
•  In 1542, Cabeza de Vaca published the first book about what would one day be the United States, specifically the US Southeast and Southwest. The book, originally titled La relación de Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca (The Account of Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca), details his travels from Florida to California and Mexico.

• In 1542, the first Europeans explored the California coast as far north as what today is Mendocino County. This sailing expedition was led by Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo.

• In 1543, Spaniards were the first Europeans to visit what is today the state of Oregon. The earliest evidence of the etymology of the name Oregon points to Spanish origins. The term "orejón" appears in the 1598 historical chronicle La Relación de la Alta y Baja California (The Account of Upper and Lower California), written by Rodrigo Montezuma, who used the word in reference to the area around the Columbia River.

• In 1565, Pedro de Aviles founded St. Augustine, Florida, the oldest continuously
  

  

  inhabited European-founded city in the 50 United States. The city celebrated its 450^th anniversary in 2016, with the King and Queen of Spain, Felipe and Leticia, as honored guests. (The oldest continuously inhabited European-founded city anywhere in the US is San Juan, Puerto Rico, while the oldest town of any origin anywhere in the US is Acoma Pueblo in New Mexico, which has been inhabited by Native-Americans since 1144. Hilo, Hawaii is also believed to date back to the 1100s, but there is no firm date for its establishment.)

• In 1565, the first documented Christian marriage performed in what is now the US took place in San Augustine. The ceremony joined Miguel Rodríguez, a White man born in Segovia, and Luisa de Abrego, a Black woman originally from Seville.

• Canarian-Americans, also known as Isleños, are Americans with ancestors from the Canary Islands, Spain. Their forbears were among the first settlers of North America. The first of these arrived in Florida in 1569. Over the next 250 years they were followed by thousands of Canarian immigrants, with the biggest wave occurring in the 18^th century. Most settled in what today is Louisiana, but Florida and Texas also had significant Canary Island immigration.

• In 1587, the first known Asians to set foot in North America were Filipino sailors who arrived in Spanish ships at Morro Bay, in what today is San Luis Obispo County, California.

• The modern rodeo (which means 'round up' in Spanish) grew out of the practices of Spanish ranch hands, called vaqueros ('cowboys'). Originally a mixture of cattle wrangling and bullfighting, it dates back to the 16^th century. These events gained popularity throughout the Viceroyalty of New Spain and became even more prevalent after these lands emerged as Mexico and the Western United States.

• In 1602, Sebastián Vizcaíno was sent to map the California coast. Arriving on his flagship San Diego, he surveyed the harbor at what are now Mission Bay and Point Loma. He named the area for Saint Didacus, a Spaniard more commonly known as
  

  San Diego de Alcalá. 

• In 1607, New Mexico's second Spanish governor, Don Pedro de Peralta, founded Santa Fe, originally called La Villa Real de la Santa Fe de San Francisco de Asís ('The Royal Town of the Holy Faith of Saint Francis of Assisi). In 1610, he designated it as the capital of the province, which it has almost constantly remained, making it the oldest state capital in the United States.

• In 1610, the oldest church in the continental US was built in Santa Fe. The original adobe walls and altar of San Miguel Chapel were built by members of the Tlaxcalan tribe. Much of the structure was rebuilt in 1710.

• In 1613, Juan Rodriguez, a native of what today is the Dominican Republic, became the first known immigrant to reach the shores of Manhattan. He was born in the Spanish colony of Santo Domingo to an African mother and a Portuguese father. Rodriguez took it upon himself to gain the friendship of the natives, set up a trading post, and live comfortably on Manhattan Island. He is, therefore, also considered the first person of African heritage, the first person of European heritage, the first Spaniard, the first Latino, the first Dominican, and the first merchant to settle in Manhattan. He arrived there 12 years before the Dutch established the colony of New Amsterdam and 52 years before the British renamed the settlement New York.

• In 1654, the first group of Spanish and Portuguese Jews arrived in New Amsterdam. After being initially rebuffed by the leader of the colony, these 23 individuals were finally given official permission to settle there in 1655 and that year they founded the Congregation Shearith Israel. Although they were not allowed to worship in a public synagogue throughout the time of Dutch rule, nor during the first years of the British period, the Congregation did establish a cemetery in 1656. In 1730, they were finally able to build a synagogue of their own, which resulted in the first synagogue in Manhattan. Shearith Israel is now the oldest Jewish congregation in the United States, although its present building dates from 1897.

• In 1706, Albuquerque was founded as La Villa de Albuquerque in the provincial kingdom of Santa Fe de Nuevo Mexico. It was originally a farming and shepherding community, and a strategically located trading and military outpost along the Camino Real de Tierra Adentro. The Camino Real was a historic 2,560-kilometer-long (1,590 mile) trade route between Mexico City and Ohkay Owingeh, New Mexico from 1598 to 1882. Long before Europeans arrived, the various indigenous tribes and kingdoms had established the route as a major thoroughfare for hunting and trading.

• In 1716, Luis Moises Gomez, a Jewish community leader from New York City, purchased 1,200 acres with river access in what is now Marlborough, NY. Gomez, a Sephardic Jew, had come to America to escape his family's persecution in Spain, France and then England. He and his sons built a home on the Hudson Highlands, where several Indian trails converged, and it served as a frontier trading post. Other pioneers, fleeing tyranny and cruelties in Europe for the promise of a new life, followed his lead to settle in the Hudson Valley. His house was continuously inhabited for 280 years before it was bought by the Gomez Foundation, an organization established by his descendants. It is the earliest known surviving Jewish residence in the country, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and is now a museum.

• In 1718, Father Antonio de San Buenaventura founded the mission of San Antonio de Valero in what was then the Spanish Province of Texas. Today this mission is better known as The Alamo.

• In 1731, sixteen Spanish families (56 people) from the Canary Islands arrived at the Presidio de San Antonio de Bexar fort. Joining a military and religious community that had been in existence since 1718, they established the first regularly organized civil government in Texas, and founded the city of San Antonio. 
  
  

  

   

• In 1738, Francisco Menendez, a slave from a plantation farm in South Carolina, escaped to the Spanish territory of Florida to regain his freedom. He established Fort Mose near St. Augustine, the first settlement for freed African Americans in North America. Today the site is the location of the Fort Mose Historic State Park.

• In 1750, a Spanish galleon sank off the coast of Virginia and Maryland. Some of the horses onboard managed to swim from the shipwreck to the shores of Assateague Island. Their descendants still roam freely there and are known as the Assateague Wild Horses.

• In 1752, the rancher who would become known as the first "Cattle Queen" of Texas was born. After Rosa María Hinojosa de Ballí married, her husband and father applied jointly for a large land grant near what is now La Feria, Texas. Both men had died by the time the grant was approved in 1790, and her husband's will specified that she was to inherit his share of the twelve leagues (55,000 acres). When she took over the estate it was heavily encumbered with debts, but she she skillfully managed her property, made extensive improvements to it, and acquired large herds of cattle, sheep, goats and horses. Taking full advantage of opportunities that widows enjoyed in Spanish society, she continued to apply for additional land grants and to purchase property in order to increase her ranch's size. When she died, she owned more than one million acres of land in what is now the Rio Grande Valley and her holdings extended into the territories of present-day Hidalgo, Cameron, Willacy, Starr, and Kenedy counties.

• In 1759, building commenced on what today is the oldest synagogue in the US: Touro Synagogue in Newport, Rhode Island. The congregation was founded in 1658 by the descendants of Jewish families who had fled persecution in Spain and Portugal, and who themselves later left the Caribbean seeking the greater religious tolerance of Rhode Island. Services in the current building began in 1763.

• In 1762, in order to pay a war debt, France transferred possession of Louisiana to Spain through the Treaty of Fontainebleau. After this, significant Spanish immigration into the territory began. Among many traditions Spain brought to Louisiana, one had to do with commemorating the arrival of the Three Kings in Jerusalem. To this day, Louisianians and Spaniards alike enjoy a festive-looking pastry on the Epiphany: a circular cake with a small gift inside. What Americans call a King Cake is known as a Roscón de Reyes in Spain. (Roscón means 'ring shaped cake' and Reyes means 'kings.')

• Although early European residents of New Orleans were mostly from France, the architecture of the French Quarter is actually Spanish. During Spain's rule of Louisiana (1762-1801), fires and hurricanes destroyed most of the city's original structures and, therefore, much of the trademark charm of the area can be credited to the Spanish rebuilding effort. The flat-tiled roofs, tropical colors, and ornate ironwork of the French Quarter are all Hispanic. To prevent fires, the new government mandated that stucco replace wood as the major construction material. It also required buildings to be placed closer together and nearer the street. Under French rule there were yards and open spaces around buildings, but the Spanish made the Quarter more intimate, with continuous facades, arched passageways, and patios hidden from passersby.

• In 1763, Filipino Americans established their first recorded North American settlement in St. Malo, Louisiana after jumping ship to escape the forced labor and enslavement of the Spanish galleon trade. Other settlements appeared throughout the Louisiana bayous, with St Malo on Lake Borgne and Manila Village on Barataria Bay being the largest. In 1870, the Spanish-speaking residents of St. Malo founded the first Filipino social club, called Sociedad de Beneficencia de los Hispano Filipinos. Saint Malo was destroyed by the 1915 New Orleans hurricane, while Manila Village was leveled by Hurricane Betsy in 1965. The Town Hall of Jean Lafitte, Louisiana is located on Manila Plaza, which has historical markers acknowledging the area's Filipino-American history. Part of this community's legacy is the production of dried shrimp. In Louisiana today, dried shrimp are often added to gumbo, to add an intense salty flavor. They can also be eaten as a snack by themselves, and are commonly found in snack-size portions in South Louisiana's stores.

• In 1768, Eulalia Perez de Guillen was born a Spanish citizen in Loreto, Baja California. A Californio (Hispanics native to California), the Los Angles Times has described her as “an extraordinary woman with stubborn faith who survived a major earthquake and carved out a niche as the mother of California’s soft drink industry.” When her soldier-husband was transferred north in the early 1790s, they moved to Mission San Juan Capistrano where they survived a massive earthquake on Dec. 8, 1812 that killed 40 people. They eventually moved north again, and she ended up working at Mission San Gabriel, initially as a cook and eventually as the manager of the mission, supervising the nursing, soap & candle making, kitchen, winery, and olive oil presses. While there, Eulalia concocted a tasty beverage from the lemons growing in the area. Demand was so great that she began bottling it for the friars to sell. Soon they were shipping it to Spain. It became one of Los Angeles’ first exports, and an enterprise that helped fill the mission’s coffers. The padres deeded her 15,400 acres of what is now Pasadena, California, but the widow's second husband petitioned the governor for the land and was granted it. Objecting to that, Eulalia left him and moved into a small adobe house. She died in 1878 at the age of 110. She is one of only two non-clergy buried with the priests in the San Gabriel Mission courtyard cemetery. In Catholic tradition, burials closest to the most sacred areas of the church are reserved for individuals of stature, usually clergy. A woman being honored in this way was a highly unusual thing at that time. A marble bench inscribed with her name marks the spot. Her numerous descendants married into many other founding families of California.

• In 1772, Manuel de Lisa was born a Spanish citizen in New Orleans. He later became a US citizen, land owner, merchant, fur trader, Indian Agent, and explorer, who was among the founders of the Missouri Fur Company, an early fur trading company. Lisa gained respect through his trading among Native American tribes of the upper Missouri River region. He established Fort Lisa, in what is now Omaha, becoming the first known United States settler of Nebraska. The outpost became one of the most important in the region, and the basis for the development of the major city of Nebraska. Although already married to a European-American in St. Louis, where he kept a residence, he later married Mitane, a daughter of Big Elk, the chief of the Omaha people. (Bigamy was not outlawed in the US until 1862.) They had two children together, whom Lisa provided for equally in his will with his children by his other marriage.
  
  
  
  

• In 1775, an expedition led by Juan Francisco de la Bodega y Quadra, a Spanish navigator and naval officer born in Peru, reached Alaska. Going as far as 59° latitude north, near what today is the town of Sitka, he made sure to go ashore to claim the coast for Spain. This journey resulted in the first reasonably accurate map of the North American West Coast.

• In 1775, the Continental Congress elected to denominate the money of the United States in Spanish dollars, rather than English pounds. The Spanish dollar, also known as the Piece of Eight (in Spanish Pieza de Ocho or Peso), was a silver coin first minted in the 15^th century. Widely used by many countries as the first international currency, it was prevalent throughout the Thirteen Colonies at the time of the decision. The symbol for the US dollar is thought to have come from an emblem consisting of two columns draped with an s-shaped banner which appeared on the coin. A similar symbol is used on the modern flag of Spain.

• In 1775, some of the first settlers of California embarked on a colonization expedition from what is today the Mexican state of Sonora. One of the colonists was Maria Feliciana Arballo. Of “pure” Spanish ancestry, her parents disapproved of her marriage
  

  

  to a mestizo soldier. The couple decided to join the expedition, but her husband died before it began. Rather than remain behind, Arballo convinced Captain Juan Bautista de Anza to make an exception to his policy that all women must be accompanied by a male family member. With one of her young daughters riding in front and the other in back, the three traveled on horseback to California. The expedition's priest, Father Pedro Font, was said to have been repeatedly annoyed with her and with Anza, who had ignored his adamant opposition to her participation. After successfully crossing the treacherous Colorado River, Font wrote of her in his diary, “At night, with the joy at the arrival of all the people, they held a fandango here. It was somewhat discordant, and a very bold widow who came with the expedition sang some verses which were not at all nice, applauded and cheered by all the crowd.” She left the group in San Gabriel, California, married another mestizo soldier, and had seven more children. Several of her descendants became important figures in California history, including two governors: Pío Pico, the last governor of California before it became part of the US in 1850, and Romualdo Pacheco, the state of California's 12^th governor.

• In 1776, Juan Bautista de Anza founded the Presidio de San Francisco fort. Later that same year, the Mission San Francisco de Asís was founded by Francisco Palóu. The Mission is the oldest surviving structure in the city of San Francisco. Though most of the complex was either altered or demolished outright, the facade of the chapel has remained largely unchanged since its construction in 1782–1791.

• In 1776, Spain joined France in funding Roderigue Hortalez and Company, a trading company which provided critical military supplies to the American Revolution's Continental Army. Around this time, Spanish Prime Minister, José Moñino y Redondo wrote, “the fate of the colonies interests us very much, and we shall do for them everything that circumstances permit.”

• 1776 was also the year that a Spaniard named Jordi 'George' Farragut Mesquida arrived in Charleston, South Carolina, where he joined the American Revolution in service as a sailor. Captured by the British in 1780, Farragut's left arm was permanently injured by a cannonball. Released as part of a prisoner exchange, he joined a US rifle militia and, despite his disability, fought on until the end of the war. Afterwards, he continued to serve the nation he helped create, first as sailing master of a gun boat in New Orleans, and later fighting the British again in the War of 1812. Rejected from further service in the navy after that war, he enlisted as a volunteer companion to Gen. Andrew Jackson’s troops, defending the coast around New Orleans from any possible British incursion. Farragut also started a family in his adopted homeland. He had 5 children, including a son who fought on the side of the Union in the US Civil War: Admiral David Farragut, of 'Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead' fame.

• Bernardo de Gálvez was another Spaniard who helped the newly-formed United States of America. As Governor of Louisiana from 1777-1783, he allowed shipments 
  

  of weapons, medicine and other vital goods to the Continental Army via the Mississippi. When Spain declared war on England in 1779, Gálvez was given an additional title: Field Marshal of the Spanish colonial army in North America. He put together an army of Creoles, Acadians (Cajuns), Isleños, free Blacks, German immigrants, Native Americans, Puerto Ricans, Cubans, Mexicans and at least one Irish immigrant (Oliver Pollock) to march with his Spanish regulars. In March 1780, this interracial force besieged Mobile and seized it after a four-day battle. Following their next big victory, at the Siege of Pensacola in 1781, the English left Florida, never to return. This not only removed a threat to the US from the south, it deprived Britain of troops that could have been deployed to the war’s final battle at Yorktown later that same year. Instead, Spain was able to permit France to use its waters in the Atlantic to send naval forces to battle the British at Chesapeake and Yorktown. Gálvez, who had been wounded during his service, had his governorship expanded to include Spanish Florida, which at the time reached from the Atlantic to the Mississippi River. He was among those who drafted the Peace of Paris of 1783, which formally ended the Revolutionary War and gave Florida to Spain. His contributions to the American victory have been recognized in the United States: Galveston, Texas, and St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana were both named in his honor, and in 2014 President Barack Obama granted Gálvez honorary US Citizenship—only the eighth person in history to have been given the honor. 
  
  

  

   

• In 1779, the first long-range Texas cattle drive occurred when Juan María Vicencio de Ripperdá, provincial governor of Texas, had a group of vaqueros herd 2,000 Texas longhorns to Louisiana in order to supply Bernardo de Gálvez’ troops.

• Between November 1778 and July 1779, around 1600 Canary Islander colonists sailed into New Orleans. By 1780, four different Isleño communities had been founded in different parts of Southwestern Louisiana. Many of these immigrants participated in the three major military campaigns of Baton Rouge, Mobile, and Pensacola, which expelled the British from the Gulf Coast. In 1783, another 300 Canary Islanders arrived to settle in Louisiana.

• In August 1781, the fleet of French Admiral François Joseph Paul de Grasse arrived in Chesapeake Bay carrying 500,000 Spanish dollars (or silver pesos) collected from the citizens of Havana, Cuba, to fund supplies for the Siege of Yorktown and to pay the Continental Army. The culmination of the Yorktown campaign, the siege proved to be the last major battle of the American Revolutionary War.

• In September 1781, a group of forty-eight people founded a colony on the coast of California. The settlement was originally named El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Ángeles, or 'The Town of Our Lady the Queen of the Angels.' Two-thirds of these original settlers of Los Angeles were mixed-race individuals, of African, European and Native ancestry. Today, the site is the El Pueblo de Los Ángeles Historical Monument, a 44-acre park.

• On March 17, 1783, Spain formally recognized the United States of America. Diego de Gardoqui was appointed as Spain's first ambassador to the new country in 1784. He became well acquainted with George Washington, and marched in the newly elected President's inaugural parade.

• In 1785, King Carlos III of Spain sent a donkey named Royal Gift to President Washington, at his request. The President crossed the donkey with mares to raise mules which became very popular in the new nation.

• In 1791, Spanish naval officer Francisco de Eliza named a group of islands in the Pacific Northwest Isla y Archipiélago de San Juan. Today the San Juan Islands are part of the state of Washington. In 1841, British explorer Charles Wilkes renamed San Juan Island as Rodgers Island, but the Anglo name never took.

• On October 12, 1792, the 300th anniversary of Christopher Columbus landing in the Americas, Pedro Pablo Casanave laid the cornerstone to the White House. Having emigrated from Spain in 1785, Casanave arrived in the Port of Georgetown, Maryland barely able to speak English and with only 200 pounds to his name. He later managed to open a store, followed by several other successful businesses. (It probably helped that he was the nephew of Juan de Miralles, a Spanish trader, supporter of the American Revolution, Spanish agent to the Continental Congress, and personal friend of George Washington.) Casanave rose to become the fifth mayor of Georgetown, which today is a neighborhood in Washington, D.C.

• In 1795, Pinckney's Treaty, also known as the Treaty of San Lorenzo or the Treaty of 
  

  

  Madrid, was signed in San Lorenzo de El Escorial, Spain. It established intentions of friendship between the United States and Spain. It also defined boundaries between the US and Spain's territories, while guaranteeing the new nation navigation rights on the Mississippi River.

• Today, 25 of the 50 states that make up the United States of America were at one time completely or partially Spanish territory, i.e., Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, California, Iowa, Kansas, Florida, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. The same is true of three of the four US Territories, i.e., the US Virgin Islands, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico—which, by the way, also has an official Spanish name: Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, meaning Freely Associated State of Puerto Rico.

And that's only a portion of US Spanish/Hispanic/Latino heritage.

MY SOURCES INCLUDE:

America’s Spanish Savior: Bernardo de Gálvez, History.net, Barbara A. Mitchell

Assateague's Wild Horses, National Park Service

Isabel la Católica a través de los tesoros de la Biblioteca Capitular Colombina, ABC de Sevilla, Andrés González-Barba, Dec. 23, 2013 Fort Mose Historical Society

The Handbook of Texas, Texas State Historical Association

Filipino American Immigration History, Stanford School of Medicine, Ethnogeriatrics

Journal of the American Revolution

KonwGalvez.com

Latinas in the United States: A Historical Encyclopedia, edited by Vicki L. Ruiz, Virginia Sánchez Korrol, 2006

LindaCovella.com

A Long, Rich Life and a Tasty Claim to Fame, Los Angeles Times, Cecilia Rasmussen, Sept. 6, 1998

The Power of a Dream: Maria Feliciana Arballo: Latina Pioneer, Linda Covella, 2019

La relación de Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca, 1542

The Mexican Contribution to American Independence, Raoul Lowery Contreras and Frank D. Gomez, Times of San Diego, July 3, 2018

The Migration of Canary Islanders to the Americas: An Unbroken Current Since Columbus by James J. Parsons, 1983

MountVernon.org

Netstate.com

NewOrleans.com

The Red Indian: A Study in the Perpetuation of Error by Douglas Leachman, 1941

Smithsonian Magazine

Touro Synagogue, National Park Service

United Empire Loyalist's Association of Canada

Wikipedia

Women On The Move: Overland Journeys to California, Library of Congress American Women Series, Patricia Molen van Ee, 2001

Vikings in Spain / Spanish Language Media Spreading Russian Disinformation About the Amero / Holiday Greetings

All things Spanish from Newsvine:

Vikings may have siesta'd in Spain, claims researcher in Scotland

Dr Irene Garcia Losquino is now aiming to secure funding for a comprehensive archaeological examination of possible Norse communities in Iberia. A number of stone Viking anchors were washed ashore in the Galicia region following a storm in March. Dr Losquino, of the universit …

Here comes the Amero again – and this time it's going to unite North and South America

Non-English language news services are promoting 'financial expert' predictions of North American monetary union. Several Spanish language news sites are reporting analysts saying that the U.S. dollar has "a very specific expiration date." But a little research leads back to an  …

Merry Christmas from Madrid, Spain (photos) / Feliz Navidad desde Madrid, España (fotos)

                                             Taken with my  ...

Graves, Breast Implants, Sex, Tattoos and Juana la Loca

My Newsvine Articles and Posts with Spain related content, June-September 2014

First mass grave of 14th-century plague victims found in Spain

Photo: An overview of the pit excavated in the Basilica of Sant Just i Pastor. / Irene Gibrat

The Basilica of Sant Just i Pastor, in the heart of Barcelona’s historic Gothic Quarter, has been a place of Christian worship since the fourth century. In recent years it has provided archeologists with rich bounty:

Woman carrying 1.7 kilos of cocaine in breast implants arrested at Madrid airport

Spanish police have arrested a woman with 1.7 kilos of cocaine concealed inside her breast implants. The Venezuelan citizen was taken to a hospital immediately, due to the health risks associated with the toxicity of the drugs. The 43 year-old had come to Madrid on a flight …

Spanish police ticket 3 couples having sex in van – for not wearing seat belts

The sex ended up costing them 100 euros a person which, believe it or not, was actually a bargain. Police on the Spanish island of Ibiza who stopped a van last week during a routine DUI checkpoint were surprised to discover, while talking to the driver, that there were three cou …

Juana La Loca Syndrome in Venezuela

Juana La Loca Syndrome: that's how one Venezuelan writer describes the rush of his fellow citizens to get tattooed with images of and tributes to Hugo Chavez. Writing in Spain's Estrella Digital, former Radio Caracas Television Internacional reporter Noe Pernia compares the …

Feliz Día del Español - Happy Spanish Language Day

Today the Cervantes Institute's 73 centers, located in 42 countries on five continents, are celebrating El Día del Español - Spanish Language Day. And there's a lot to celebrate, as an article in today's El País notes: according to a report published by the Institute, Spanish is the mother tongue of 450 million people, making it second only to Chinese in terms of numbers of native speakers; and after English, it is the second most popular language for international communication.

Understandably, therefore, Spanish is very popular to study as a second language, and this has a significant economic impact on many countries, not the least of which in the mother country, España. Spanish is studied by around 20 million non-native Speakers around the world. The number of "language tourists" coming to Spain grew by 138% between 2000 and 2007. Some 237,000 students traveled to Spain to learn Spanish in 2007, while Cervantes Institute schools around the world have experienced an annual growth of 21% in student registrations. In addition, Spain is the EU country which receives the most students from the European Union's Erasmus exchange program -- 17% of those who participate in this program choose to attend a Spanish university.

There are additional factors that contribute to the economic weight of the language in Spain. For example, the country's large publishing industry has 162 subsidiaries in 28 countries around the world -- more than the 80% of them in Latin America. As for the presence of Spanish on the Internet, according to the report that is growing, too. Spanish is the third most widely used language on the Net, and this use grew 651% between 2000 and 2009. The penetration of Internet use in Spain is the highest among Spanish-speaking countries, but Chile and Argentina have levels of penetration that approach the European Union average. Spain, Mexico and Argentina are among the 20 countries with the largest number of Internet users.

For more information on El Día del Español, the official website is www.eldiae.es. To see if there is a Cervantes Institute near you, go to Instituto Cervantes: sedes en el mundo. And for those interested in studying Spanish in Spain, visit the site of the Spanish Federation of Associations of Spanish Schools for Foreigners (FEDELE).

Mexican food in Barcelona? Pues, claro ¡a Casa Mexicana!

As I've written before, Barcelona's cosmopolitan nature is reflected in the menus on offer in the city's many and diverse restaurants. In addition to dining establishments serving the richly varied cuisine of Spain (Andalusian, Basque, Catalan, Galician, Valencian, etc.), there are many places offering food from other parts of the world; this includes more than a few Mexican restaurants. My favorite of these by far is Casa Mexicana.

Located in the Porto Olimpico, Casa Mexicana is right next door to the Chinese restaurant I wrote about in July 2007. Like that place, there is a comfortable interior dining room filled with lots of natural light, as well as open air terrace where diners can enjoy a harbor view while eating.

The reasonably priced menu includes a wide range of items such as nachos, tacos, quesadillas, flautas, tamales, chilaquiles, burritos, enchiladas, fajitas, chimichangas, chicken mole, BBQ chicken, grilled steak and even Tex-Mex lasagna. Vegetarian varieties of many dishes are also available. For dessert choose from buñelos with whipped-cream and/or chocolate sauce, a slice of the cake of the day, or fresh fruit.

Interestingly, Casa Mexicana is the only Mexican restaurant in Barcelona that serves breakfast. Every weekday morning diners can enjoy either huevos rancheros with bacon, huevos a la Mexicana, huevos con papas, huevos con chorizo or a Mexican omelet. And serving sizes are very generous, whether its a breakfast, lunch or dinner dish.

From Monday through Friday Casa Mexicana offers excellent lunch specials for only 8.95 euros, plus tax. As an example of these mid-day specials, let me tell you about what I frequently order -- creature of habit that I am. Usually I begin with a tasty starter of nachos with cheese and guacamole. For the main plate I typically choose one of their huge beef burritos, which bulge with meat, veggies, cheese and sour cream. This comes with a fresh green salad, half of a baked potato and pico de gallo. For a follow up to this hearty and scrumptious meal I almost always go with a helping of their delicious buñelos, which I prefer with whipped-cream, but sans chocolate sauce. Of course, like most "menus del día" in Spain, the price of the lunch includes a choice of wine, beer, water or soft drink. It all amounts to a delectable deal, indeed.

The owners of Casa Mexicana are a friendly couple named Michael and Carina. If you ever visit the restaurant, ask for one of them and mention to him or her that you learned about their restaurant from Carloz's blog and you may just get a free tequila!

Buen provecho amig@s,

Carloz

Casa Mexicana

C/ Marina 16-18

08005 Barcelona

Hours:

Breakfast Weekday Mornings 8h - 12h

Lunch Weekdays and Weekends 12h - 17h

Dinner Weekdays and Weekends 19h - 24h

Reservations accepted:
Email: casa.mexicana.bcn@gmail.com
Phone (+34) 932 215 645
Web: http://www.casa-mexicana-bcn.eu/
Menu in English and Spanish.

Hispanic Film: the blog

I started a new blog today! It is about movies that have a connection to the Hispanic world. For the most part it will focus on films in Spanish, but occasionally will also have have information about English language films made by Spanish-speaking directors, starring Hispanic actors, filmed in Spain and/or Latin America, etc. It will include reviews of pictures currently on release in cinemas and DVD, history of Hispanic cinema, news about upcoming productions, reports on film festivals, sample movie trailers and other relevant items from the world of Hispanic cinema. Today I wrote two posts: an introduction to the blog, and a brief film review of El Nido Vacio (The Empty Nest), which includes a short video clip. Check it out at HISPANIC FILM: The Cinema of Spain, Latin America and more.

Happy movie watching, amig@s,

Carloz

P.S. I will, of course, continue my ramblings on this blog, as well as my rather infrequent additions to the somewhat tongue-in-cheek Spanish Phrasal Verbs.

That well known Spanish singer -- Nat King Cole?!?

Until I moved to Spain and stumbled across some of Nat King Cole's Spanish language recordings, I had not known that he recorded songs other languages. In fact, he recorded three albums in Spanish: “Cole Español” (1958), “A Mis Amigos” (1959) and “More Cole Español” (1962) and at leas one additional song (“Tu Eres Tan Amable”- “You're So Nice”), which was posthumously released in 1983 on an album called album "Unreleased."

Although Spanish was the only other language he recorded entire albums in, he also recorded songs in Portuguese, Italian, French and at least one non-Romance language -- Japanese! And he did all of this without speaking anything but English! Instead he did what Tejana singer Selena did before she learned to speak Spanish – he memorized the songs phonetically.

His daughter Carole Cole said in an on-line chat with fans of her father that, “my father didn't actually speak Spanish. But...he recorded three albums in Spanish which he learned phonetically. He certainly had a deep admiration for Latin culture. And a number of friends from Mexico, Brazil and Cuba. In fact his manager, Caroles Gastel, was Cuban.”

She also agreed with a fan who claimed that Cole was one of the first English speaking singers to record in Spanish by adding, “this was another area in which I believe my father was a pioneer. You might be interested to know that in his travels throughout Latin America he was received with opened arms and an enormous amount of affection. For instance, when he first toured Brazil it seemed the population of Rio de Janeiro turned out en masse throwing roses at his feet to walk on, and he and my mother were asked to stay with the then-president of Brazil in the Brazilian palace. It's also interesting that he attempted to record in a number of other languages which needless to say, further endeared him to other cultures. He recorded Autumn Leaves in Japanese, which you can see in the documentary. I believe he recorded a tune here or there in Italian, French. And I imagine he would have done more in this area if he'd had the time.”

To me the history behind these recordings is a testament to Nat King Cole's ability to break down barriers. He obviously had to fight racism all of his life, and perhaps part of the reason he wanted to record in other languages was to extend that fight on some level. Two years before his first Spanish language recording he went to Cuba to perform at the Tropicana. He had wanted to stay at Havana's best hotel, the Hotel Nacional de Cuba , but was told it was fully booked. Although he discovered that he had been lied to and that in fact the Nacional had a White's only policy, he did not leave the island, but decided to honor his contract.

His engagement at the Tropicana ended up being so successful that he agreed to return the next year. In the mean time he applied himself to adding Spanish songs to his repertoire, with the help of Armando Romeu, a Cuban musician and arranger. After another successful appearance at the Tropicana in 1957, he again traveled to Havana in 1958 to record “Cole Español,” which was the first step towards a string of Spanish language hits – Acercate Más, Ansiedad, Aquellos Ojos Verdes, Perfidia, Quizás, Quizás, Quizás, etc.

The result was that long before the likes of Julio or Enrique Iglesias, Nat King Cole became the first truly "international" singing star. Today he is known in Spanish speaking countries as a singer of English and Spanish songs – and the Hotel Nacional de Cuba has a special “Nat King Cole Corner,” with a bust of the singer and a jukebox full of his songs. (See photo above.)

I've met many Spaniards who are familiar with these Spanish recordings, either because the songs were popular when they were young or because they discovered them through their parents or grandparents. One of my students remembers hearing the songs as a child and does a perfect imitation of Nat King Cole, including his pronounced gringo accent. Even I sometimes have to smile when I hear how strong his North American accent is – and I have a pretty strong one myself.

Despite the non-native accent, the songs are lovely, with lush arrangements and, of course, that beautiful, buttery baritone. As the title one of his songs goes, Fantástico!

Saludos amig@s,

Carloz

P.S. Enjoy the 3 songs from YouTube! / ¡Disfruta las 3 canciones desde YouTube!

R.A.E. -- The Royal Academy of English?

No, there is no such thing. But there is a Real Academia Española, or as it is more commonly referred to, the R.A.E. Aside from publishing dictionaries and engaging in academic work, the R.A.E. functions as the official regulator of the Spanish language worldwide. It does much of this work in collaboration with the other 20 national academies that belong to the Association of Spanish Language Academies.
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It may come as a surprise to many native English speakers that such an organization exists and some may not see the need for it. On the other hand, judging from my students reactions when I tell them there is no similar organization regulating the English language, many Spanish speakers find the lack of a regulatory body for the English language hard to believe.
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Indeed, some students have told me that they had assumed that Cambridge is the regulator of the English Language. (Sorry Oxford.) This is obviously because Cambridge ESOL, a non-profit department of the University of Cambridge, produces what are probably the most popular English level examinations in Europe, if not the world: First Certificate, Advanced Certificate, BULATS, etc. (Sorry, TOEFL and TOEIC.)
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After learning that English has no final arbiter, some of my students say that this lack of regulation must explain many of the inconsistencies of the language. Maybe, maybe not... I usually counter with my view that one of the reasons English is so dynamic a language is that it is not regulated by an Academy. I also suggest to them that perhaps the absence of an official regulating body has actually contributed to the development of English into the lingua franca of our time.
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Regardless of all that, the fact is that most other major languages have an official organization that sets the rules, arbitrates disputes, etc. Indeed, the R.A.E. was modelled after two older entities: the Italian Accademia della Crusca, created in 1582, and the French Académie française, which dates from 1635. (For what seems like a pretty extensive list of official bodies that regulate languages around the world, click here.)
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I've heard that part of the mission of the R.A.E. is to assure that Spanish speakers will always be able to read Cervantes. I don't know if that's true, and if it is, whether or not the R.A.E. has been successful at that, but a visit to the R.A.E. web-site's "Brief History" page sheds some light on the organization's origins and aims. Here is my translation of what I found there:
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"The Royal Spanish Academy was founded in 1713 by Juan Manuel Fernández Pacheco, marquis of Villena. King Phillip V approved its constitution on October 3, 1714 and placed it under his 'shelter and royal protection.'
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"Its purpose was 'to establish the sounds and vocabulary of the Spanish language with propriety, elegance, and purity.' This aim is symbolized by its emblem, which consists of a fiery crucible and the motto 'Cleanse, establish and give splendor,' which is faithful to the stated purpose of fighting against anything that changes the language's elegance and purity, and maintaining it in the state of fullness reached in the XVI century.
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"The institution has been adapting its functions to the times. According to the first article of its current statutes, the Academy presently 'has oversight as its main mission, so that the changes the Spanish language experiences in its constant adaptation to the needs of its speakers do not break with the essential unity maintained in the Hispanic world.' "
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As for the Association of Spanish Language Academies, below is my translation of information from its web-site:
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"In 1951 the 1st Congress of Academies of the Spanish Language was convened in Mexico by the then president of Mexico, Miguel Aleman, and a constitution of the Association of Academies agreed to. Its fundamental aim is to work assiduously for the defense, unity and integrity of the common language, and to provide oversight so that its natural development conforms to the tradition and intrinsic nature of Spanish.
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"The Association of Spanish Language Academies is composed of the twenty-two [national] Academies of Spanish that exist in the world: the Royal Spanish Academy (1713), the Colombian Language Academy (1871), the Ecuadorian Language Academy (1874), the Mexican Language Academy (1875), the Salvadorian Language Academy (1876), the Venezuelan Language Academy (1883), the Chilean Language Academy (1885), the Peruvian Language Academy (1887), the Guatemalan Language Academy (1887), the Costa Rican Language Academy (1923), the Philippine Spanish Language Academy (1924), the Panamanian Language Academy (1926), the Cuban Language Academy (1926), the Paraguayan Language Academy (1927), the Bolivian Language Academy (1927), the Dominican Language Academy (1927), the Nicaraguan Language Academy (1928), The Argentine Academy of Letters (1931), the Uruguayan National Academy of Letters (1943), the Honduran Language Academy (1948), the Puerto Rican Academy of Spanish (1955) and the North American Academy of Spanish (1973)."
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Language -- regulated or not, what a complicated business it all is, ain't it? ;-)
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Chao amig@s,
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Carloz

Annus horribilis for the Spanish Royal Family

I don't believe the Spanish Royal Family has been in the news this much since 2004, the year Prince Felipe and Princess Letizia got married . Unfortunately, this year it's been mostly bad news. The latest - Princess Elena has separated from her husband, Duke Jaime de Marichalar. This is the first official separation of a royal couple in Spanish history.
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The bad news began early in the year with Prince Felipe's sister-in-law committing suicide in February. In July, Felipe and Letiza's became the brunt of jokes when the satirical magazine El Jueves put a cartoon of the royal couple having sex on its front cover. In October a few Catalan nationalists who want independence from Spain burned the King's photograph at a public rally in the town of Girona during a royal visit. Then in early November, Morocco temporarily recalled its ambassador from Madrid to protest the King and Queen's trip to Ceuta and Melilla, two Spanish possessions (usually referred to as "enclaves") on the North African coast.
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Of course, the biggest headlines were caused by King Juan Carlos' telling President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela, "Why don't you shut up?!" at the recent Ibero-American Summit -- and the resulting tension between Spain and Venezuela continues to make news over a week later. I think the Economist described the incident well in an article entitled, "The king was not amused":
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"It is a routine. Every time that Latin American leaders get together at a regional summit, the headlines are stolen by Venezuela's outspoken leftist leader, Hugo Chávez. But at the Ibero-American summit in Chile's capital, Santiago, Mr Chávez got some help from an unusual quarter, Spain's King Juan Carlos."
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The YouTube video of the incident became immensely popular in Spain. Within a day or so there were novelty songs playing on the radio, t-shirts emblazoned with the quote and mobile phones ringing out with loops of the king shouting, "¿Por qué no te callas?"..."¿Por qué no te callas?"..."¿Por qué no te callas?" Apparently there is even a paso doble version!

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Over a week later the incident is still making news and a ripple effect is being felt. To paraphrase the Los Angeles Times, the king's words seem to have started a battle royal.
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The funny thing is that this violation of protocol by the usually calm and controlled king may have actually increased his popularity at home. Initially the Spanish press generally supported him. With the diplomatic tension continuing and Chavez threatening to review Spanish businesses operating in Venezuela, more editorials are reflecting on the possible costs of the king's words. Still, from what I can tell many Spaniards seem to believe that, as impolitic as it may have been, the king was simply standing up to a boorish demagogue and probably expressing what many of the summit's attendees wanted to say.
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There is still a month and a half to go until 2008, so who knows what else may befall the Spanish royal family before the end of the year. Whatever else happens, I think the king's annual Christmas speech may be a little more interesting than usual. I'll definitely tune in for it.
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Chao amig@s,
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Carloz

No Comment / Sin Comentarios

STATISTICS TAKEN FROM ARTICLES IN TODAY'S EL PERIÓDICO NEWSPAPER:

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According to a study by the Catalan Center for Opinion Studies, 81% of Catalans do not know who the president of the Catalonian parliament is. (It's Ernest Benach i Pascual.)

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According to a study by the Restaurant Guild of Barcelona, 98% of Catalan hotels, bars, restaurants, etc. employ foreigners.

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Foreigners make up at least half of the staff of 58% of these establishments.

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48% of these individuals are from Latin America, 24% from Asia, 11% from Africa, 10% from Europe and 7% from Oceania.

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29% work as waiters, 24% as cooks, 24% as dishwashers, 12% in customer service, 12% in miscellaneous positions and 0% (none) in management positions.

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ESTADISTICAS DESDE ARTICULOS EN EL PERIÓDICO DE HOY:

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Según un estudio del Centro de Estudios de Opinión de Cataluña, 81% de los catalanes no sabe quién es el presidente del parlamento de Cataluña. (Es Ernest Benach i Pascual).

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Según un estudio por el Gremio del Restauración de Barcelona, 98% de los hoteles, las barras y los restaurantes en Cataluña emplean extranjeros.

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Los extranjeros constituyen por lo menos una mitad del personal de 58% de estos establecimientos.

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48% de estos individuos son de América Latina, 24% de Asia, 11% de África, 10% de Europa y 7% de Oceanía.

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29% trabajan como camareros, 24% como cocineros, 24% como lavaplatos, 12% en el servicio de atención al cliente, 12% en varios puestos y 0% (ninguno) en altos cargos.

Globalization: The BBC pays Spanish speakers to speak Spanish in America

The British Broadcasting Corporations' BBC Mundo (the Spanish version of BBC World) has sent two bi-lingual Spanish-English speakers traveling across the USA speaking only Spanish. Reporter Jose Baig and video producer Carlos Ceresole are going from Florida to California over the next week days in a rented truck on a project called "¿Hablas español?" Their goal is, "to cross the country without uttering a word of English."
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Baig claims that, "there are a lot more Spanish speakers in the US than one tends to think. It's just a matter of asking: 'Do you speak Spanish?' "
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There are certainly a lot of Spanish speakers in the US, but it's still a relatively small minority of the entire population. Therefore, I think these guys will be severely tempted to fall back on their English at times, despite their having chosen a route along the frontier with Latin America, where the heaviest concentration of Spanish speaking immigrants and their descendants live.
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I wonder if they know they're following a route similar to Cabeza de Vaca's; although, he only made it from Florida to Arizona - and it took him eight years, instead of eight days! Regardless, Baig's and Ceresole's latter day version should be interesting, if rather rushed.
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Readers of Spanish can follow their progress via Baig's blog. If you are a Spanish speaker living in one of the places on their itinerary, they would like to hear from you and, who knows, maybe even do an interview. And they are interested in hearing from anyone who speaks Spanish, not just native-speakers. The cities and towns are:
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St. Augustine, FL (sorry, they were there yesterday);
Tallahassee, Fl;
Mobile, AL;
New Orleans, LA;
Houston, TX;
San Antonio, TX;
Pecos, TX;
El Paso, TX;
Nogales, AZ;
Yuma, AZ;
Los Angeles, CA.
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(There are four stops in Texas, yet they are totally ignoring New Mexico and completely bypassed Miami!)
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If you live in one of these locations (or know someone who does) and are interested in talking with the pair, go to this link, look for your location and click on the appropriate spot to send a message. The link also lists the date they will be in each place and a little about why they chose it.
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I've but my two cents in, here as well as by submitting a comment to their blog. Why don't you do something similar, here, there or on both?
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Chao amig@s,
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Carloz,
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P.S.
It's interesting that they use the familiar "tu" form in the project title. I wonder if they'll find that US Spanish speakers are more likely to use the formal "usted" form with strangers.
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P.P.S.
I wrote them that I wanted to do a similar trip across Spain, only speaking English. Do you think the BBC would take me up on a "Do you speak English" tour of España? If not, do any of you have any contacts at PBS or NPR? ;-)