Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Spain´s Eurocentricism
I´ve been thinking about Spain´s position in the world. Once one of the major conquerors and ultimately exporters of culture. And here and now the Spanish people barely acknowledge the culture and creations of Latin America. They´re more likely to consider themselves European, identifying with other Europeans in terms of style, sensibility and perspective. Meanwhile the music they listen to is more likely to be (North) American. The cultures they spawned in the Americas are viewed as low and uninteresting... Quite different from the close cultural sharing (e.g. TV, radio and music) that occurs between Great Brittain, the U.S., Canada and Australia. Interesting.
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My view is quite the contrary. For one, there are 5 million South Americans here, around 10% of the population. Direct flights can be found to all S.A. capitals. Soap operas from Mexico, Colombia, Venezuela and American Spanish TV are very popular here, drawing much more interest than local issues, as well as many S.A. authors and movies from both areas are watched by all. South American music is very popular here. Spanish travelers in South America are virtually treated like royalty. Not so for American and British travelers. Telefonica, Repsol, Santander, BBVA all have major holdings in S.A. Many other companies in S.A. and Spain do a large percentage of their import and export businesses between them. Driver's licenses from South America are accepted for Spanish licenses without problem, but U.S. drivers need to take the full tests. There are many such reciprosity agreements between Spain and S.A. and almost none with the U.S. Many travelers from both regions visit the other each year. If there is any issue falling broadly under this topic that should be discussed, its Argentina's self-centralism.
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