Spain (Classic Reprint)

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Excerpt from Spain The people, or peoples, of Spain have been limited, or helped, by the nature of their land. Before making our survey of their fortunes we must realize, at least in its main features, what is the character of the Iberian Peninsula. The political distinction between Spain and Portugal can be ignored for the present. It dates from the twelfth century of the Christian era, and therefore began at a comparatively recent period. Nor has it been constantly maintained. A Spanish historian, the Count of Toreno, has said that Spain is "the last land in Europe." Physically it is the last because it is a promontory stretching out to the south-west, and for that very reason it has been at all times likely to be the last affected by all great European movements, whether they were the migrations of peoples or the spread of ideas and faiths. It is not everywhere equally difficult of access, but where it is most easily reached it tends to be least European. On the north it is attached to the continent by an isthmus of 260 miles long. But that space is barred by a genuine natural frontier, a real wall of mountains, the Pyrenees. They can be crossed with ease at their eastern and western extremities, and are not impassable in the centre. But between the two ends the gates lie far up, are blocked for months by snow, and open on to rugged hills to the south. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully, any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.