I first visited Spain in 1968; we were on a camping holiday in an old Morris Minor, with two children in the back and a trailer that contained the tents and all the other paraphernalia that four people need for a two week summer holiday. The only reason we ended up in Spain was because of the rain. Our original destination was the south of France. Each day we moved further and further south until we arrived in Andalusia and the rain stopped. Our next Spanish holiday was to Marbella in 1980 and now I have been living in Spain for almost twenty years.
Why am I telling you all this? Because the changes that have occurred in Spain since that first sun-seeking visit in 1968 and today are enormous but, on the other hand, many things have stayed the same. In Andalusia, in particular, the culture and customs of the people have remained unchanged for thousands of years; it has one of the oldest civilisations in Europe, predating not only the Moors, but also the Romans, Phoenicians, Greeks and Visigoths, all who colonised it at one time or other. The original inhabitants were believed to have come from the east, thousands of years before Christ and that is why, once you cross the Sierra Morena and pass through the narrow pass of the Desfiladero de Despeñaperros, you seem to be entering a different country, more oriental than European.
Why am I telling you all this? Because the changes that have occurred in Spain since that first sun-seeking visit in 1968 and today are enormous but, on the other hand, many things have stayed the same. In Andalusia, in particular, the culture and customs of the people have remained unchanged for thousands of years; it has one of the oldest civilisations in Europe, predating not only the Moors, but also the Romans, Phoenicians, Greeks and Visigoths, all who colonised it at one time or other. The original inhabitants were believed to have come from the east, thousands of years before Christ and that is why, once you cross the Sierra Morena and pass through the narrow pass of the Desfiladero de Despeñaperros, you seem to be entering a different country, more oriental than European.
This web site is dedicated to Spain and in particular Andalusia, to things that have changed and to things that have remained the same. Having lived here for twenty years I no longer feel British but neither do I feel Spanish; I suppose, like many people these days, I feel more European, someone who belongs nowhere but is happy anywhere. Still, at the end of the day, I am a British ex-pat and as such I hope to share many of the things that I love about this country and some of the frustrations that people experience, living in a foreign country.
