Life In Spain Research Articles

A Life in the Sun: Accounts of New Lives Abroad as Intercultural Narratives

Through an analysis of three settler narratives about new lives in Spain, Stewart (1999), Kerr (2000) and Lambert (2000), the paper explores three elements of these intercultural narratives that contribute to the formation of the settler's new sociocultural identity: the physical environment, explorations of the other through signs of the settler's adaptation and the redefinitions of the self this intercultural encounter often implies.

Vistas de Espana: American views of art and life in Spain, 1860-1914

Vistas de Espana: American views of art and life in Spain, 1860-1914

‘We're Better Off Outside Our Country’

Increasing sociopolitical and economic instability – stemming, in part, from the adoption of neoliberal policies – has compelled at least two million (2 percent of total population) Ecuadorians to migrate to the United States and member states of the European Union in search of jobs and a means to survive. It is estimated that more than half a million Ecuadorians live in Spain, and constitute one of the largest immigrant national groups in this country, alongside Moroccans. Women, who have often migrated without their families, make up half of this diaspora.This transdisciplinary study is based on interviews with Ecuadorian women in Spain and Ecuador, and informed by feminist methodologies. It situates the epistemological standpoints of women from (lower) middle and professional classes within recent Ecuadorian migrations, while analyzing the impact of Ecuadorian women's migration to Spain on the sociocultural life of Ecuador, as well as on key aspects of Ecuadorian women's lives in Spain. Despite the discrimination, racism, and xenophobia that Ecuadorian women experience abroad, most agree that they are ‘better off living outside of Ecuador’.

Marked from the outset: season of birth and health during early life in Spain during the demographic transition

In this article implications of season of birth for child health in Spain during the demographic transition are explored. Making use of the Aranjuez data base, the authors look at the seasonality of births and its heterogeneities, finding a nearly universal prevalence of late spring and early summer conceptions that is most evident with last-born children. Levels and causes of childhood mortality are strongly related to the season of birth, with those born between April and October showing lower likelihood of survival. These findings can be explained by the way infant feeding, age and season intersect. These results have implications for the relative efficiency of different demographic regimes.

Democracy’s Voices: Social Ties and the Quality of Public Life in Spain. By Robert M. Fishman. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 2004. Pp. xi+194. $29.95.

Previous articleNext article No AccessBook ReviewDemocracy’s Voices: Social Ties and the Quality of Public Life in Spain. By Robert M. Fishman. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 2004. Pp. xi+194. $29.95.Stephen HartStephen HartState University of New York—Buffalo Search for more articles by this author State University of New York—BuffaloPDFPDF PLUSFull Text Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by American Journal of Sociology Volume 111, Number 2September 2005 Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/499007 Views: 5Total views on this site Permission to reprint a book review printed in this section may be obtained only from the author.PDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article.

Democracy's voices: social ties and the quality of public life in Spain

Building on one of sociology's core ideas-that social ties can shape collective outcomes-Democracy's Voices shows that connections across class boundaries can remake public rhetoric and thus the quality of democratic life. Robert M. Fishman takes up a question of enduring significance to people concerned with the quality of democratic public life, focusing on why political rhetoric proves engaging and broadly relevant, or disengaging and narrow. The answer to that question, he argues, is to be found not only in the deeds of prominent politicians and the nature of official institutions but also in the existence and the character of social connections among ordinary citizens. Fishman's book, based on long-term fieldwork and systematic survey research in Spain, identifies the special contribution to democratic quality made by conversations between intellectuals and workers. Fishman focuses on what he calls the discursive horizons of local leaders and communities: the actual location of the problems and proposed remedies articulated in political rhetorics. Democracy's Voices shows how the subcultural context of social ties may accentuate or diminish their power to reshape rhetorics. Fishman argues that conversations are able to remake public rhetorics whereas ties that take the form of brokerage lack that ability. The book also offers a general critique of social capital theory and argues that the full ability of social ties to shape collective outcomes can only be observed when one distinguishes in useful ways among types of ties.

Democracy's Voices: Social Ties and the Quality of Public Life in Spain

Democracy's Voices: Social Ties and the Quality of Public Life in Spain

Severe health and social care issues among British migrants who retire to Spain

In recent years, there has been a growth in academic interest in international retirement migration in Europe, particularly north-south retirement migration to destinations like Spain. In this paper we focus on those members of the British community who have lived in Spain for a considerable time and for whom familial, social and institutional ties with Britain are weak or disrupted. Age Concern España was established by members of the British community to provide information and services on healthcare, benefits and local services in Spain. Four indicative case studies of those requesting assistance and classified as being of ‘serious need’ are presented. They illustrate the ways in which happy and fulfilling lives in Spain were abruptly changed as the person's resources (bodily, economic, social and skills) for independent living diminished, and in which institutions and friendship networks played a key role in supporting life. The paper is the product of collaboration between researchers and practitioners in Spain and the UK, and brings together previous research with new qualitative case studies. Whilst policy-makers, practitioners and gerontologists have an increasing awareness of the needs of older migrants and the challenges they pose for public policy, particularly for health and social care systems in Spain, there have been little sustained analysis and cross-country debate.

The Silver King: The Remarkable Life of the Count of Regla in Colonial Mexico

The Silver King: The Remarkable Life of the Count of Regla in Colonial Mexico

International Retirement Migration: Retired Europeans Living on the Costa Del Sol, Spain

This paper aims to establish the singularity of the European retired who have moved to live on the Costa del Sol, Spain. To study this topic it was necessary, first, to discuss the constrains that arise when this 'migration' is under close scrutiny; secondly, to depict the geographical model of retired Europeans who move to Spain; and, thirdly, to carry out an ad hoc survey to ascertain the reasons for this residential movement, the advantages and disadvantages of living in Spain after retirement, and the influence on several aspects of the economic and social activity on the receiving area. The survey fieldwork was conducted in April-May 1996. Nonlinear canonical correlation analysis is applied to identify the relationships among demographic and perceptual variables. The results show that nationality and, to a lesser extent, age and academic level are the most important variables for grouping retired Europeans on the Costa del Sol according to their statements. The pleasant Mediterranean climate, the lower cost of living and the informal Spanish lifestyle were the main pull factors of living in Spain, the language acting as the greatest disadvantage. As the retired relate these conditions to life in Spain, a strong relationship with tourist areas is highlighted when the geographical distribution is described.

Ensayo político sobre la Isla de Cuba: Alejandro de Humboldt

This is a spectacular edition of the well-known description of Cuba by the enlightened sage, Alexander von Humboldt, produced on the bicentennial of the German’s meeting with Charles IV at Aranjuez, where he secured the authorization to undertake his voyage to America. One of the outstanding scientists of the eighteenth century and a model of the universal man that graced the era, Humboldt left behind a poignant account of life in Spain’s dynamic island colony. Attracting widespread interest over the years, the ensayo político has undergone several editions but none more elaborate than this effort.Humboldt’s travels spanned five years and included two visits to Cuba, the first for three months bridging 1800 – 1, the second for one and one half months during his return to Europe in 1804. Humboldt’s perceptive description of Cuba’s geography, its dynamic economy, and its repressive society has stood the test of time. His status, both socially and intellectually, opened many doors for him, especially within the materially progressive sugarocracy. Little did this elite anticipate the blistering indictment of slavery that would issue from his pen and that would occasion the banishment of the 1827 translation of his essay from the island.In preparing this document for publication, Puig-Samper, Naranjo Orovio, and García González crafted an 80-page introduction on Humboldt and his times, his experiences at court to secure permissions, and his visit to Cuba. Also addressing the Enlightenment reforms, and the economic and social developments in late- eighteenth-century Cuba, this excellent, informative contribution could well stand on its own. Significantly, the present edition preserves the ancillary information appended in the 1959 version assembled by Fernando Ortiz, including his notes as well as elaborations contributed by Francisco Arango y Parreno and John Thrasher during the nineteenth century. Also included in the text is Humboldt’s account of his visit to Güines, Batabano, and Trinidad. His analysis of his map of the Cuba appears in the index.This volume has been luxuriously produced, abounding with colored plates featuring Humboldt and other luminaries, contemporary maps, plant illustrations, and lithographs depicting scenes from Cuba. The quality of the paper and its binding are first rate. The editors and publishers are to be congratulated on this magnificent work. No library on the eighteenth-century empire will be complete without it.

Understanding Camilo José Cela

In Understanding Camilo Jose Cela, Lucile C. Charlebois examines the 1989 Nobel laureate's ten most important novels. She shows that in addition to being unequivocally Spanish in their concerns, characters and imagery the novels speak to the larger world with their compendium of insights into the most basic human needs, desires and fears. Drawing upon Cela's childhood, participation in the Spanish Civil War and life in Spain during and after Franco's dictatorship, Charlebois shows that in spite of the repression that beset his homeland during so much of his career, Cela successfully developed his penchant for technical experimentation and creative renewal. In addition to identifying his favoured stylistic devices and thematic concerns, she provides close readings of the novelist's textured discourses, which bristle with fragmentation and ambiguity, hilarity and profanity, iconoclasm and alienation.

Valle‐Inclán, Spanish precursor of the absurdist mode

After an introductory section on his life in Spain and abroad, theatre background (acting, directing), and literary works (plays, stories, novels, poetry, aesthetics), pertinent plays by the Spanish writer Ramón del Valle‐Inclán (1866–1936) are presented as evidence of the dramatist's precursory role in the evolution of the Theatre of the Absurd, a position now being recognized by critics and directors throughout Europe, the United States and Latin America.

Regeneracionismo y Salud Pública: el bienio de Ángel Pulido al frente de la Dirección General de Sanidad (1901-1902)

The organization of public health services in Spain did not ignore the regenerationist movement, which became especially important after the loss of the colonies in 1898. The need to bring the country in line with the rest of Europe accentuated the conviction that health care in Spain was not up to the standards to be expected in a modern country. Against this background, Angel Pulido occupied his post in the General Directorate of Health from 1901 to 1902. His labors were characterized by three major features: the diagnosis of the precarious status of health in the country, which required urgent "regenerationist" measures comparable to those applied to other aspects of life in Spain; the importance of health education at all levels of society; and the need to combat the evils of the peculiar political game of his time, a key obstacle to the effective organization of public health services.

La organización científica del trabajo y las estrategias médicas de seguridad laboral en España (1922-1936)

The present study attempts to explore the discourse with respect to occupational safety initially developed by the physicians and psychologists of the Madrid Institute for the Retraining of Invalids. We will try to show that this discourse comprised different elements that conferred upon it a wider scope than that of simple guidelines to prevent accidents in the workplace. With the incorporation of concepts such as professional education, orientation and selection, the discourse developed within a larger framework: that of the "rationalization" of economic and social life in Spain with the help of methods taken from the Scientific Organization of Work. To conclude, we describe some consequences of the application of some of the measures proposed for preventing accidents at the workplace.

The Cadiz Letters of William Johnson, vere Purnell S. J. (1597–1642)

William Johnson, S. J., the writer of the two letters printed below, has hitherto escaped notice by English historians, including Foley, because he was a member of the Andalusian province of the Society of Jesus and spent all his religious life in Spain. He is not to be confused with an earlier William Johnson, also a Jesuit, who died at Malaga in 1614. Some details of the life of William Johnson II can be gleaned from the catalogues of the Andalusian province, from his official obituary, and from other archive sources. The historian of the Andalusian province, Juan de Santibañez, included Johnson in his series of brief biographies of its most distinguished sons, Varones ilustres de la Provincia de Andalucía de la Compañía de Jesús written not long after Johnson’s death in 1642. The work was never published but survives in manuscript.

Aunt Lila

A short story by an Argentinian writer who now lives in Spain

New Light on the Jews of Mozarabic Toledo

Medieval Spain represents a unique phenomenon in the history of Jewish civilization. Not only did the Jews live longer in Spain than in any other land in their history (indeed, almost as long as they occupied their homeland in the land of Israel from Abraham to the Roman destruction of Jerusalem in 70 C.E.), but the Jewish population of medieval Spain was greater than that of all other lands combined, and the rich achievements of Jewish culture there were unequaled elsewhere. Of all the cities in Spain which served as major centers of Jewish life and culture, Toledo perhaps stands out as the most important. Studies dealing with Jewish life in Spain have recognized this, and the long-awaited appearance of a recent two-volume work in Spanish devoted to the Jews of Toledo has helped focus attention once again on the vast archival material available.

The Religious Life in the Spain of Philip II and Philip III

From the vividly autobiographic Life of St Teresa famous images of conventual life in sixteenth-century Spain have been derived; both the dark impression of unreformed monastic existence and the heroic profile of reformed regulars. Before and after that era the social, not to say political prominence of certain figures, friars and nuns, in Spanish life is notorious, from the reigns of the Catholic Monarchs to that of Philip IV and beyond. Modern historical research has indeed highlighted the contribution to political and ecclesiastical development, to early Catholic reform above all, of key members of the regular clergy under the Catholic Monarchs. For monastics, as opposed to mendicants, in post-medieval Spain, the extensive and meticulous researches of Linage Conde have put all Iberian scholars in his debt. The fascinating origins of the essentially Iberian phenomenon of the Jeronymites have recently received new attention from J.R.L. Highfield, but further insights into the true condition of the religious life in the Iberian peninsula of the supposedly Golden Age are perhaps still possible, when unpublished material is consulted in the Roman archives and in those of Spain, such as Madrid, Simancas, Barcelona and Valencia. Considerations of space necessarily limit what can be suggested here, but the development of monastic life in Counter-Reformation Spain is arguably best considered in its extended not just in its stricter sense: for parallels and contrasts, as well as direct influences, were not confined by the normal distinctions between the eremitic and the monastic, the monastic and the mendicant, the old and the new orders, or even the male and female communities. Furthermore the intervention of Spanish royal authority in Portuguese affairs between 1580 and 1640, not least in ecclesiastical and regular life, provides a useful comparative basis for consideration of truly Iberian conditions.

Popular Sport and Sociocultural Change in the Spain of the 80's

The structure and organization of the social life in Spain has experienced very remarkable changes all through the decade of the 70's. At the beginning of the 80's it is possible to observe the emergence of some sociocultural trends, above all among the younger strata of the population, which are making to appear a new conscience, built up on more freedom, reinforcement of the indi vidual ego, come back to the Nature, more hedonistic approach to life, etc. In this context of sociocultural changes I try to analyse new traits of popu lar sports which made its first appearence in Spain in the second half of the 70's. Practically without official support in all the biggest cities have been organized important sport events within the new outlook, with the participation of several thousand athletes of both sexes and different ages and levels of physical condition. Nowadays, it is possible to see in many public places of the Spanish cities bigger scores of people pacticing their favourite sport. For the very first time, jogging and other popular sports are becoming the main use of leisure time for many Spanish people. The relevance of popular sport in our society must be considered in the above-mentioned context of sociocultural change. In order to get a closer look on these phenomena a survey has been conducted among a representative sample of Spanish population, aged 15 years onwards. I will submit to the Congress the most salient results of the survey research upon which my hypothesis is based.