International diplomacy following the proclamation of the Second Republic in 1931
On April 14, 1931, 93 years ago today, the Second Spanish Republic was proclaimed. The new regime was immediately recognized...
Read more17th century Madrid’s Holy Week in the eyes of a Muslim Ambassador
In 1690, the Moroccan Sultan Muley Ismail sent to Madrid his personal secretary, Abd al-Wahhab al Gassani, from Fez and...
Read more50th anniversary of Dublin’s Spanish Cultural Institute: language as diplomatic tool
Today, the current Instituto Cervantes in Dublin celebrates 50 years since its foundation as the Spanish Cultural Institute on 11...
Read moreThe Three Wise Men’s gifts, a Hispanic tradition with 500 years of history
The identification of the Three Wise Men as “gift givers” par excellence at Christmas in Spain and in most of...
Read morePortugal and France: How our neighbors celebrate the Three Wise Men
The image of the Three Wise Men as the "gift-givers" par excellence of Christmas has been part of the cultural...
Read moreHow Moroccan ambassador used Christmas to save an “unhappy” Spanish soldier’s life
In December 1779, the writer, historian, traveler and plenipotentiary ambassador of Morocco to Spain, Mohamed Ben Otoman Al Meknasi, decided
Read more‘Twelve grapes’ history: between aristocratic snobbery and popular satire
“It is customary in Madrid to eat twelve grapes by giving twelve hours on the clock that separates the year...
Read moreHoly Innocent’s Day: Portuguese Prime Minister Marcelo Caetano’s fake trip to Tenerife
In the early seventies, the Portuguese Embassy in Madrid and the Portuguese Consulate in Tenerife woke up with the unsuspected...
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