Ghosts of Spain: Travels Through a Country's Hidden Past

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Madrid-based journalist and 20-year resident Tremlett embarked on a journey around the country and through its history to discover why its people have kept silent so long, and here unveils the tinderbox of disagreements that mark the country today. Tremlett hits his stride, though, in his retelling of the events surrounding the Madrid train bombings in March 2004. Anyway, if you want to learn more about Spain this is a good place to start, but it definitely could have been better. As someone who recently got to Spain to teach English, I greatly benefitted from going through Tremlett's book.

Ghosts of Spain: Travels Through Spain and Its Silent Past

This is an interesting and detailed look at the recent history of Spain, and how a country that was under a dictatorship as recently as 1975 attempts to come to terms with that past, and its place in modern Europe. It is written in relatively long chapters with no breaks or different sections, which means it is hard to keep track of what his overall point is, as the narrative seems to jump aimlessly around in long chapters with no real direction. The vast majority were bodies of Republicans killed or executed by Franco’s forces; many had disappeared with little or no information about the circumstances of their death, and had been buried in unmarked, communal graves. It is one of the reasons why the independence movement in the Basque Country and Catalunya are so prominent.El Cid, Unamuno, Don Quixote, Garcia Lorca-- there are pages here on almost every exemplary, cautionary, and symbolic aspect of Old Spain and New except, perhaps, the Manolete Mausoleum in Cordoba; Tremlett doesn' t much care for bullfighting.

Ghosts of Spain by Giles Tremlett | Open Library Ghosts of Spain by Giles Tremlett | Open Library

Perhaps the most interesting chapters were on the Basque, Catalan and Galician regions and their various quests for separate identities.But when you don't, it's interesting and diverting, opening up all sorts of avenues for further exploration or reflection, and providing some background to help you when reading Spanish newspapers. The book is filled with fascinating golden nuggets of info such as Spain's disturbing record of having more portraits of Hitler in private homes than anywhere else in the world and the fact that it's peculiar brand of Fascism still remains influential in Europe, including within major organizations such as the International Olympic Committee. However, maybe this also reflects the diversity of Spain's regions, languages, and people that couldn't adequately be summed up in any other way. Its 'ghosts' are one of the keys to understanding Spain and, after a lengthy period of denying their existence, it seems the Spanish are waking up to this fact.

Ghosts of Spain: Travels Through a Country’s Hidden Past

This is far from a history book although there are interesting snippets on various subjects throughout. It is particularly weak on the nationalities question, which poses an existential challenge to the Spanish state.Many Spaniards may feel uncomfortable with Tremlett's tales of abuse of power or sexual hypocrisy, but won't deny their truth. t tej s`gj tdgj, ej nffjrs trjhae`ht ncsjrv`tdnhs nh gnrj quntdkd`h `spjats nf Qp`hdse bdf j tnk`y< tej rj`snhs, fnr jx`gpbj, Qp`hd`rks kdsbdmj `utenrdty fdourjs, cut `rj anwjk cy ` knatnr—s wedtj an`t, `hk enw wngjh e`vj jgcr`ajk fjgdhdsg wdtenut gjh hntdadho. Tremlett' s taut recounting of the 2004 train bombings in Madrid makes especially timely reading, with the suspects now on trial. He has the journalistic habit of letting others do his thinking for him, merely reporting their opinions. It is a good example of being rewarded for the effort of reading: you trudge through 1-2-3 chapters, wavering to give up and then “BANG”: half a page of valuable and absolutely fascinating information few of your friends ever heard of.

Ghosts of Spain By Giles Tremlett | Used | 9780571279395 Ghosts of Spain By Giles Tremlett | Used | 9780571279395

Unfortunate, it was, that the author failed to convince me, because a lot of the time, he does have very insightful things to say about Spain and its people. Late one night in Madrid, as my friend and I finished eating our dinner on Spanish time—which means we get home around midnight—we were walking back to our apartment when it suddenly began to rain.This helps to make sense of the country as there are many things that can confuse you while you’re living there.