Spanish Thoughts in Andalucía
by Luciano D'Orazio

As I was preparing to leave for Spain, this was the question I feared the most. From what I gleaned in the mainstream press, there was a maelstrom of anger in Europe against American foreign policy. Even in countries that have sided with the United States, such as the United Kingdom and Spain, people are apparently sharply divided on the Iraq question, with protests sweeping across the Continent. As I stepped off the plane in Malaga, heading toward my rental car with the stench of Air France still on me, visions appeared of Red Front student activists and Socialist malcontents protesting my every move. Packs of college students would be following our car everywhere. Even buying a souvenir matador hat at a gift shop would rattle the left opposition to stop the Yankee imperialist.

But the very next night, at a club in Granada, a local Spaniard asked me the question. She didn't have a placard; she wasn't even wearing a button. It wasn't even that I was advertising that I was an American, only as someone "out of town." I told her I couldn't care less (a lie). We continued onto sports, Real Madrid, Barcelona, that sort of thing.

And I never heard the question again. Ever.

The deafening silence among Spaniards in response to war, at least on the personal level, says much more about the character of the Spanish people than does opinion polls or rallies in the streets. It speaks of a nation that would probably prefer not to be involved, but that will not push the issue at the expense of everyday living. It is a uniquely Spanish characteristic, and it says much about our third ally in the possible war against Iraq.

By opinion polls, Spain seems an unlikely ally. Until recently, Spanish opinion has solidly stood behind the Spanish Socialist Workers Party, a center-left outfit dedicated to social democracy, a dovish defense policy and a distrust of superpowers. In a poll conducted this month by the newspaper El Mundo fully 84 percent of Spaniards oppose war with Iraq, even with UN backing. What's more striking is that among the members of the Popular Party, the conservative party which is now in power and pursuing alliance with the United States, the figure is 72 percent.

Jose Maria Aznar, the former tax inspector swept into power as prime minister on promises to stamp out terrorism by Basque separatists, has seen his approval rating dip to 39 percent, according to a recent poll by the Madrid paper El País. The Popular Party is noticeably and fearfully silent on the war issue, uncharacteristic of a party in power. It is feared that in the upcoming regional and local elections in May, the government will suffer crushing defeats. The socialists are already slated to take back their strongholds in the south, particularly Andalucía, due largely to the government's Iraq policy. In February, protests resembling those in the rest of Europe took place in Madrid, Barcelona and other Spanish cities.

This was the portrait I had when I traveled across southern Spain, stopping at town after town and observing the locals sitting, lounging, sipping wine, basically going about their business. Anti-war feelings were certainly expressed, But not out loud. Each town had its own anti-war graffiti, from the generic "No a la Guerra" ("No to the War") to the sophomoric "Bush no, Paz si" to the nonsensical "No Sadam [sic] No Bush No War." And there were signs of more concerted efforts. In Cadiz, in Andalucía, the local socialist branch exploited the upcoming Carnaval by handing out anti-war leaflets and bumper stickers to the late-night revelers.

But do they speak for all Spaniards? Hardly. In bars and fairs, in clubs and restaurants, the last thing people wanted to talk about was the war. They had more important things on their mind. The local soccer team was lousy. Prices are creeping up. A large oil spill off Galicia in the northwest might prove an ecological disaster. One shopkeeper preferred to discuss the influx of illegal aliens into the country. Another person told me Aznar's low approval rating has nothing to do with the war, but rather with his lackluster job in countering Basque terrorism. In contrast, there was a flurry of discussion on the JFK-Paris leg of my Air France flight. The talk was fast, heightened and at times emotional. The most commonly overheard words were "guerre," "americain," and "merde."

Even among the folks in Cadiz bombarded with socialist propaganda, the mood was more jovial than confrontational. Kids were running around wearing anti-war bumper stickers as accessories. The adults did likewise, seeming almost annoyed that these politicos are cramping the atmosphere. Even the large banner the activists unfurled at the square was to no avail. Attention was firmly diverted towards the other end of the square, where a free rock concert was taking place.

This lackadaisical attitude doesn't mean the polls are wrong; a vast majority could be against the war, or for the war, for that matter. But it won't come from their lips. If politics is to be discussed, it'll be of the domestic economy, local security kind. Spain, unlike France, has been out of global politics for a long time. It could be that a bloody civil war, followed by a long-standing fascist dictatorship, would drive Spaniards away from difficult issues that in any case seem remote. It could be that with the crumbling of world power in the past two centuries, Spaniards prefer to focus on their own house.

It's all of these things. But inasmuch as one can generalize about a population, it's also because Spain's — like those of Italy, Greece and other parts of Mediterranean Europe — is a friendly, fun-loving and warm culture that knows how to keep its priorities in order. This may be a characteristic of many people around the globe, but Latinate peoples seem to have developed a peculiar knack for it. The war, as bad as it may seem, is not keeping the bread off the table. If FC Sevilla, by a miracle of God, beats Real Madrid in the local stadium, that will cause a greater demonstration than any anti-war protest. Indeed, it may even be that because of the loss of empire and the legacy of a brutal civil war that Spain has evolved a more livable world view. Which isn't to say that Spanish culture is somehow averse to world events — only that it isn't going to let them spoil a good day.

In time, maybe the Spaniards will become as political and argumentative as the French, but I doubt it. And it's not for lack of capacity — It's just not in their nature. A nation with those sorts of priorities will always be happy — though it's an open question whether the same can be said of its allies.

E-mail Luciano D'Orazio at loudogs1@aol.com.