Transforming Legacies: The Denial and Rediscovery of Spain’s Islamic Past

Abstract

For the past 150 years at least, scholars have contested the nature of the legacy of Spain’s Islamic past. Some have dismissed al-Andalus’s relevance to modern Spain, asserting it made a negligible impact on modern Spain. Spain’s history is, by this view, Visigothic and Christian, forged in the struggle against Islam but owing little to it. Others argue that modern Spain owes much to the Islamic civilization of the Iberian Peninsula, that it is an integral part of Spain’s past and culture. Under Francoist historiography, the irrelevance and alterity of Islamic Spain was entrenched. However, after the transition to democracy (1976–82) Spain moved towards a new vision of itself, and the heritage of al-Andalus was rediscovered and transformed to strengthen Spain’s new identity. This article traces how Spain’s Islamic heritage has been reshaped and politicized since the end of the Franco regime in 1975 and to what end.