Tuesday, March 11th, 2025

From Franco to Democracy –Madrid’s Role in Modern Spain

We met up in the hotel lobby at 9:45 where as a group we would head over to the Spaces Las Cortes to attend one of our two lectures about the history of both Spain and Madrid from the time of the Reconquista up to the Modern Day Spain. Here we learned about how Madrid became the new capital of Spain during the Reign of Phillip II and how after other lands around Madrid would be “absorbed” into Madrid creating the large area we know today and how this led to Madrid being one of the largest cities in Europe. After we learned about the land of Spain during the Spanish Civil War and which areas were Republican and which were Nationalist and how Francisco Franco came to power holding it until his death in 1975. We also learned how after the death of Franco Madrid would have Political and Social reforms to benefit the future of Spain such as the Constitution of 1978 and the “Movida Madrileña” cultural movement.

Intermission

After the lecture we split off into our own groups across Madrid experiencing the culture of the city while also knocking off items needed for our scavenger hunt assignment. Here during the intermission period, I would start off with taking the railway to a different part of town where with the group that I was with would walk around the City checking out different places such as a cafe or a sweet shop. The group would make our way to Mercado de la Paz which is a well known market in Madrid where I got to experience my first market in Madrid and thought it was cool of how each section was its own unique store, we would later on make our way to the Parque de El Retiro where would walk past the Puerta de Alcalá which is the former Northern Entrance to Madrid and I also saw the Monument to Alfonso XII which I thought was pretty cool, we would end our intermission period going to an Udon noodle shop.

Civil War Walking Tour around Madrid Prof. Zabalbeascoa and Prof. Fran

We Reconvened at 5 PM at the Hotel where we would start are walking tour of Madrid talking about the history of both Spain and Madrid while also talking about talking about key areas of Madrid during the Civil War and how Madrid was sieged by the Nationalists for 2 years. We started our walking tour off the city center learning about the iconic Tio Pepe sign and heading over to the exact middle of Madrid as seen in the first picture. We would continue our tour learning about the Siege of Madrid we learned the story of Manuela Malasańa Oñoro who was a young seamstress who was murdered by Napoleon’s soldiers which outraged the people of Spain and Oñoro would be remembered by the community with her own neighborhood in Madrid. Our tour also saw us learn the story of Don Quixote which is one of the most iconic works of literature of all time, and shortly after we would see one of the few monuments to the Spanish Civil War. We would finish our walking by seeing the Egyptian Temple the Temple of Debod which was an ancient Egyptian temple gifted to the country of Spain.

Reflection

During the time in Madrid so far the people of Spain and API have made my time during Madrid a blast due to the welcoming of the Spanish people and our group leaders Fran and Angeles, this has allowed us to experience the culture of Spain while also learning about it’s history and how it developed its culture. I also enjoyed having walked around Madrid a couple of times and seeing different areas have its influence somewhere in Madrid such as statues to Greek Gods such as Poseidon or Helios and others such as Heracles, I also saw a bit of influence from Rome from the she-wolf with Romulus and Remus, to the iconic SPQR of the Roman Empire. Also learning about how Madrid wasn’t always the Capital of Spain becoming it in 1561 but instead Toledo used to hold that honor, and during our tour of Toledo seeing a place with such a rich history all the way from Medieval times and how you can see glimpses of it today, I was also amazed by the churches and cathedrals of Toledo as stepping into something that was built a long time ago still be in good condition is amazing. During are walking tour it was kinda crazy how one place can hold so much history from a long period of time such as Madrid after it became the capital in 1561 to modern day and how it has gone through many experiences such as being invaded by Napoleon to the Siege of Madrid. Overall all the experiences I have had in Madrid has led to this trip being a fun experience while learning about another country’s culture and history and thanks to API for setting this the activities that we have done allowing this trip to be possible.