Arab- Spanish cultural ties deeply rooted in history
Relations between the Arabs and Spain were as ancient as history itself: Phoenicians landed on the Spanish coasts long before Christ, the Romans and the Greeks. There they built cities such Kartajenna, Kadish, Ibisia and Tartosa which carried their own marine and trade style. This communication continued in later periods until the entry of Arab Moslems in Spain where they established their advanced civilization which extended up to almost all of the Iberian Peninsula, including Portugal, calling it Andalusia
Literature, poetry and prose, along with religious chants and melodies (Muwashah and Zajal ), greatly flourished in Andalusia. Men of letters and poets were inspired and fascinated by the landscape and scenery of Andalusia.
Caliphates and princes of Andalusia were keen to match and compete their Abbasyid counterparts in everything: cities and poets were called after those in the Orient like Granada, Damascus, Seville and Homs; the poet Abu Ghalib al-Andalusi was called after Abu Tammam, Ibn Zaidoun was called after Buhturi, Ibn Hani was called after Mutanabbi. Among local princes were al-Rashid, al-Mamoun, al-Mutawakil, al-Nasser and others.
The renowned singer Ziryab, whose tutor was Ishaq Muselli, had a very great influence in the art of singing and music. Science institutes were set up across the country: it was said that that the ruler al-Mustanser founded in Cordova alone more than 27 schools. Princes were interested in acquiring books, they sent missions to as far as the Orient to procure prominent, precious ones. The Royal Library in Cordova contained about 400,000 entries. Cordova, Toledo, Seville and Granada were really cities of culture enlightenment at the time, with famous writers and poets such: Ibn Abd Rabbou, Ibn Hani, Ibn Shahid, Ibn Zaidoun, Ibn Hamdis al-Siqilli, Ibn Khafaja and Lisanuddin al-Khatib.
Relations between the Arabs and Spain have continued down until our present time. Ties between Syria and Spain has deepened since the 1960's; the Spanish Culture Center in Damascus has been one of the most active culture centers in the city and the region as a whole since foundation in 1960.
In Madrid 1988 the Arab-Spanish Seminar "Translation and Literary Criticism" was organized with the participation of Rifaat Atfa, a Syrian researcher in the filed of literature and history.
The Syrian Ministry of Culture also organized two culture events: the first in 1991 under the title "Arab-Spanish Culture Throughout History" with the participation of Syrian and Spanish intellectuals and men of letters. The second was "Spanish Culture Days in Damascus" where Spanish writers and intellectuals took part such: Antonio Gala, Bedro Martineth Montabeth, Antonio Borpeta, Carmina Casala and Khsus Rio Salido.
Many other seminars and symposiums on the Syrian-Spanish relations were held in Damascus and Aleppo. Syria also actively took part in the 1992 "Seville Culture and Art Fair." The visit to Spain by President Bashar al-Assad had a great influence on the development of relations between Syria and Spain: the "Omayyad Period in Andalusia' was opened as part of the visit, and Spain issued an important booklet on this occasion. In Syria, many Spanish novels were translated into Arabic including Don Quixote by Cervantes, Calderon de Labarca, the Scarlet Scripture and the Turkish Affection by Antonio Gala, The Way of the Heart by Fernando Sanchette and others.
The interaction between Arab and Spanish cultures was, and still, of great benefit for both sides. It flourished in the form of innovative flowers in the fields of intellectuality, literature and art. Hope is that this would continue over the coming periods.
