I’m currently on .a train from Granada to Madrid. I wasn’t supposed to be on a train. I was supposed to be on a plane, and if I were, I’d have arrived by now. But I’m on a train. (I’ll explain why later.)
This at least gave me the opportunity to organize my photos from Granada and now to at least start writing this post, as we hurtle at northward at 245 km/h (better than 150 mph). Even at these high speeds, I’ll probably arrive in Madrid about four hours later than anticipated. But I’m feeling lucky to be getting there at all.
Muslims and Christians in the Iberian peninsula
I have to start with a history lesson, because it explains so much about what I’ve experienced on this three-month journey through Iberia and Morocco.
The Moors were Muslim people from northern Africa. They had left the Middle East in the 7th century and settled in Morocco and elsewhere, partly because of political instability and partly to spread Islam.
Meanwhile, the Visigoths had established a kingdom in the Iberian peninsula after the fall of the Roman Empire in the 5th century. The instability of that kingdom and expansionist ambitions of the Umayyad Caliphate brought about a Moorish invasion across the Strait of Gibraltar in 711. The Umayyads quickly established the kingdom of al-Andalus, a name whose meaning is unknown. From this name comes the present-day “Andalusia,” the automomous community that spreads across southern Spain from west of Seville to east of Granada.
Reconquista
Christians attempted to regain control of Iberia soon after the Moorish conquest. Their first victory was in 722; this date marks the beginning of the Reconquista (reconquest). If you’re interested in more details, you can read the Wikipedia article. But here are the significant milestones:
- 722: Establishment of the Kingdom of Asturias in the north following the victory over the Caliphate at the Battle of Covadonga.
- 924: Asturian forces capture the city of Léon.
- 950: Establishment of the Duchy of Castile.
- 1085: King Alfonso VI of Léon and Castile captures Toledo.
- 1212: Major Christian victory at the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa.
- 1236: Castile’s army captures Córdoba.
- 1238: Castile takes Valencia.
- 1248: Fall of Seville to Castile.
- 1469: The marriage of Ferdinand and Isabella unites the kingdoms of Castile and Aragon.
- 1492: On January 2, King Boabdil of Granada surrenders to Ferdinand and Isabella, marking the successful end of the Reconquista.
Catholic Spain
Ferdinand and Isabella’s success led to the establishment of a Catholic nation. And 1492 also marked the beginning of the Inquisition, where non-Catholics were forced to convert, be exiled, or be killed. This seems to have been a popular policy in the late 15th and early 16th centuries. And while the Spanish people by and large would oppose that sort of policy today, the Catholic Monarchs, from what I have observed, seem to be generally admired today. They created a unified Spain, and they launched the age of exploration that brought about the Spanish golden age.
This is ironic, though. The influx of riches from the New World led to lavish spending, especially under Charles V of the Holy Roman Empire (Charles I of Spain, grandson of Ferdinand and Isabella) that ultimately led to Spain’s downfall. He borrowed huge sums from other European powers, but when silver shipments from the Americas were delayed or lost, he defaulted.
This is an oversimplification, and there are definitely other factors, but by the mid 1600s, Spain’s four largest cities before 1492 (Seville, Granada, Toledo, and Córdoba) had all shrunk below 100,000 in population. The industries that fueled their economies dried up, overtaken by cheaper production in the New World colonies. And the Inquisition drove out business-minded Jews and Muslims, who took their acumen elsewhere.
Being cut off physically (by the Pyrenees) and economically from the rest of Europe, Spain retreated into three centuries of isolation that only ended with the death of Franco in 1975.
Spain Today
The current Spanish Constitution, adopted in 1978, guarantees religious freedom and eliminated any offical state religion. It also acknowledges the importance of the Roman Catholic church in Spanish history and culture. Today, while well over half of the population identifies as Catholic, two-thirds of them are non-practicing. And 40% of the people identify as atheist, agnostic, or non-religious.
Spain’s isolation led to the development of distinctive customs, such as flamenco, bullfighting, tapas, paella, raucous and lavish festivals and street parades, and a national obsession with jamón and olive oil. Many of the festivals are Christian-based (such as the Santa Cruz festival that was going on while I was in Granada), but the mode of celebration is often more about costumes than about Christ. I think during these occasions, everyone in Spain becomes Catholic.
These traditions make Spain a popular tourist destination. And the downfall of Seville, Granada, Toledo, and Córdoba has partially frozen them in a time that makes them appealing to visitors. Today Spain gets about twice as many annual visitors as its population. In 2024 it was second to France with the most foreign visitors of all countries in the world. And based on my anecdotal observation, there are tons of tourists from other parts of Spain who come to those cities.
Why this matters
I started this trip, back in February, in Córdoba. From there I headed to Seville. Then I went to Morocco before continuing my travels in Spain. The last two places I visited were Toledo and Granada. (By the way, I’m in Madrid now, but this is a separate post for another day.) I didn’t visit them in the order in which they fell, but I experienced these four major centers of Moorish culture, and Granada was last.
Being in Morocco in between allowed me to see Moorish culture as it still exists today.
There has been a progression through history on this trip. Toledo, the earliest city to become Christianized, has little evidence of its Muslim past. The other cities have a bit more.
Córdoba’s cathedral sits inside of a mosque that remains standing.
Seville’s cathedral is on the footprint of a mosque that, while gone, survives via its minaret and its courtyard. Seville also has its magnificent Alcazar, a palace started by Muslims and finished by Christians.
And Granada’s cathedral also stands on the footprint of a mosque, but that mosque was completely destroyed and the only testimony to its existence is found in the dimensions of the cathedral. But Moorish architecture is fully preserved in the grand and spectacular Nasrid Palaces at the Alhambra.
A test
Take a look at these three photos:
If I tell you that one of these is from Morocco and the other two are from Spain, could you tell me which is which? What if I tell you that the two Spanish examples are from the 14th century and the Moroccan one is from the 19th? (Of course they have all been restored, so you can’t go by aged-ness.) And of the two Spanish ones, one is from Christian Seville (but built by Muslim craftsmen in Mudéjar style) and the other is from Muslim Granada. Any idea which is which?
Answers at the bottom of the page.
Three days in Granada
There’s not really much to write about Granada after all that. I toured the Alhambra. I walked around the old historical areas of the city. The Cathedral was impressive. The Royal Chapel was magnificent. Wandering and getting lost among the narrow lanes of the Albaycin, the old Muslim quarter, was fun. Even though its a recreation, the Alcaicería felt just like the souks of Marrakesh. I visited a the Museo Cuevas del Sacromonte, where I learned about the Roma people who lived there until the late 20th century. And I had some great meals (and some not so great).
I could post photos here, but you can see all my pics easily enough:
- Granada (everything except the Alhambra)
- The Alhambra
Getting to Madrid
I was supposed to fly from Granada to Madrid (about an hour flight) on Sunday morning. On Saturday night at 11:00 I got an email from Iberia Airlines informing me that the flight was canceled due to “operational reasons.” I was about to go to sleep, because I had a 6:30 pickup for my trip to the airport, but fortunately I was still awake; otherwise I wouldn’t have found out until morning.
So I had to scramble to figure out how to get to Madrid. There were no other flights, so I checked the train schedule. I should have mentioned that this weekend was Granada’s big festival, Santa Cruz. (Remember I mentioned how there are a lot of big festivals in Spain?) As a result, crowds were significantly bigger than usual, so there weren’t a lot of available trains on Sunday, as that’s the day a lot of tourists were leaving. But I did find one. And I did make it to Madrid, so all is well.
How’d you do on the test?
The first photo is the Bahia Palace in Marrakesh, Morocco, built in the late 19th century.
The second photo is from the Royal Alcazar in Seville.
And the last photo is the Madrasa of Granada.
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