A TRIBUTE TO SPAIN

THAT FIERY HOT AND SENSUOUS LAND OF MY ANCESTORS

Now I am an outsider looking in, a foreigner in the land of my ancestors. But rest assured that Spain is in my blood and in my mind. A lot of what I am and what I do is a product of so much influence from the mother country.

I wave with pride my Spanish heritage, banners flapping in the wind and unashamed of being a Spaniard born overseas. I hold my Cuban heritage with pride as well as I can’t and will not divorce myself from the land where I was born and spent only 14 years of my life living there but they were my formative years, my childhood and there is no more powerful force than that of one’s upbringing and the culture around.

When I was a child, my greatest and most cherished dream was to go and visit that wonderful place my great grandparents talked about and where they were born. On my mother’s side we knew they were from the Canary Islands and from Castile; while on my father’s side they were from Granada and Jews long exiled in Morocco but of Spanish origin. My father’s oldest sister still had the house key hung on the door frame in her house…the key that her ancestors took with them when they went into exile to Morocco and which would open the door to their ancestral home if they were ever allowed to return.

Spanish hustlers were so much fun and sure were hot

My wishes came true just as I turned 19 years old and I was able to get a brief job traveling with the Minneapolis Symphony to Spain and Portugal in the capacity of interpreter. That first visit was incredible for me and there were dozens of trips after that.

My latest trip to Spain I did with my mother who had not been there either and one of the wishes she had was to go to El Escorial and visit the tombs of all the Spanish kings buried there. We did and the stairs that lead to the burial chambers are negotiable when descending but going back up took a toll on my elderly mother; for the rest of the stay in Spain she had to stay in the hotel because of the severe pains in her legs.

But I was able to make a lot of observations: My first visit to Spain was an eye opener. Franco was still in power and you could feel the tension and the repression. It was commonplace to see military men on the streets of Madrid with rifles and even more powerful weapons.

On that visit, I kind of felt sorry for my people…you would find beggars in the streets and garbage piled up as it did not get picked up with frequency. The buildings were shabby and in need of paint; the people who are usually very friendly were uptight and ill-humored.

It took me 20 years to return to Spain but the difference was so overwhelming. Everywhere I saw construction cranes, everywhere I saw new expressways and overall beautification. The buildings now looked crisp and new, Madrid took the appearance of a very prosperous city, an elegant society lady, well dressed and perfumed. And so it went for the rest of Spain.

Man I fell in love with and yet does not know it, if you see him tell him, he lives in Barcelona and his name is Adrián

The Spaniards, now more liberal than ever, were happy, party people. The streets would be packed with men and women eating, drinking and just having a good time well past the wee hours of the morning. It was incredible how much night life there was. Spaniards are big eaters and big drinkers, they smoke and they have sex…it is one of the traits I inherited from them.

Who would have thought that the country that brought us the INQUISITION would be one of the first ones to legalize same sex marriage? I would never have even speculated that on my first visit, because as we all know Spain is a predominantly Catholic country. But they are not fanatical Catholics, they wink and go about their daily business and once in a while will show up in church for a christening or a wedding.

As I said, Spain now has had same sex marriage for a while and the Spanish sky is as blue in the summer as ever or overcast and brooding in the winter just like it was before same sex marriage was passed into law…and no, it hasn’t fallen.

This is not your father’s army.

The same country that gave us the Inquisition now has legalized marriage between people of the same sex. But best of all is their army. It is by far the hottest army in the world. Thanks to their uniform, and thanks also to the general good looks and great bodies of the Spanish men. I think that it must have been a fag designer who did this to them. But I am glad he did, they look terrific, don’t they?
I can’t make up my mind which one I would accept if a marriage proposal was given. All of them, I think.

PHOTO SOURCE: http://images2.travbuddy.com/130_12058346451241_bigthumb.jpg

http://blog.willamette.edu/people/klutz/journal/archives/spain_map.jpg

http://www.transitionsabroad.com/publications/magazine/0505/seville_spain.jpg

http://thundafunda.com/33/World-tour/download/Escorial%20Monastery,%20Madrid,%20Spain%20pictures.jpg

http://www.targisol.csic.es/nupecc2010/Pictures/madrid1.jpg