A Stranger in Spain

“The stranger who wishes to approach Spain with sympathy and appreciation, must do so through its history.” Wrote H V Morton, and he certainly does so in this book, and shares not just that history but the attitudes, mannerism and even religion on the Spanish peoples he meets. A Stranger in Spain was a ‘sponsored’ book, undertaken with the fullest support by the tourist board of Franco’s Spain, although Morton, quite rightly does not mention this, or let his escorts, guides and official chauffeurs intrude on his splendid narrative. Readers will find that same erudite, educated and friendly author’s voice that Morton deploys in all his works. A created personality that differs so much, according to his biographers, to the real H V Morton that this likable traveling companion should be considered as one of his most creative works.
The book is written as though Morton was wandering, alone, through a continuous tour of Spain within a normal trip’s timeline. Sometimes though, the prose does not paper over all the cracks, at one stage Morton “recovers” a car we did not know he had from Madrid – a distance of 134 miles – to continue his journeys. The passage in fact marks a brief return to his home, by then in South Africa, and a return trip at a later date, but the craftsman in Morton keeps us continuously beside him without interruption of our now joint journey.
In his discussion of the locality of the foods of Spain – always excepting those delicious shellfish that seem to be always freshly available wherever one eats in Spain – his descriptions are just mouthwatering … he even attempts to offer the reader a little recipe or two! His very detailed and frank descriptions of the celebrated, cruel and gory bullfights would satisfy the curiosity of any reader who had not seen one and had already been quickly and fully sated. Yet Morton balances this with the obvious Spanish love of animals and he describes the charming – and seemingly happy – little ”burros” he meets. And being Morton he, of course, finds cats everywhere in including one of his own loved breed, a lonely Siamese.
The politics of Franco, which we could understand from his biographers probably sat easily with Morton, are not totally avoided, being integral to history, and the anticipated return of Spain to a Constitutional Monarchy is mentioned whenever he met it. (King Juan Carlos I resumed rule two days after General Franco’s death in 1975).
A masterly tour, a great read and entirely typical of this authors skills, ”Often imitated but never bettered” as fellow travel writer Jan Morris wrote.

Lebanon ( )