SPAIN OF TO-DAY.* THERN is an old saying which declares
that Africa begins with the Pyrenees, but the traveller must wander across the Peninsula, and traverse the secluded valleys of the Sierra Morena, or visit the quaint old towns of picturesque Andalusia, to trace the full effect of the Moorish occupation of Spain. The fastnesses of the Pyrenees have scarcely yet been invaded by the ordinary tourist, and hotel coupons are fortunately still unknown amid that wild and romantic scenery, where solitude and beauty still hold almost undisputed sway. Show places like Biarritz and Pau are, Mr. Lawson says with truth, mere pin- points in that world of loveliness,—spots where fashion has capriciously established her court, leaving the goodly heri- tage of the vast mountain-chain, with its magnificent prospects over land and sea, untouched by the presence of the spoiler.
Spain of To-Day is a little book of less than two hundred pages, which makes no claim to learning or research ; but it is nevertheless worth reading, for it gives an extremely vivid, and on the whole a pleasing picture of contemporary life and society in a country which is still full of leisure and romance. Mr. Lawson possesses a lively fancy and genial wit, and he evidently carried to Spain a considerable stock of good temper and the determination to enjoy himself in a rational manner, whilst rambling with open eyes in the highways and byways of the land. When he set out on his travels, he was assured by one or two intimate friends—whose zeal was certainly not according to knowledge—that there was nothing to be found in the Peninsula but beggars and bad cooking. Spain unquestionably is not the place to which a penurious man, and one, moreover, who is fond of the pleasures of the table, would naturally turn his steps. On the other hand, it is surely well—beggars and bad cooking notwithstanding, and both of these discomforts have been greatly exaggerated —that there is one country left in Europe in which the graces of dignity and deliberation are still cultivated. There is nothing in its way more soothing to an overworked man who has contrived for a week or two to slip the collar of profes- sional responsibility or commercial worry, than to loiter about Spain, drinking in the peace of his dreamy and unwonted surroundings. Such a tourist cannot at all events complain of any absence of historical interest, for everywhere the memories and traditions of the past, and the stately memorials of its piety and learning, assert themselves. No Englishman, for instance, can stand in the sleepy streets of Vitoria, Torres Vedras, and Badajoz without thinking proudly of Wellington and his deeds of valour, whilst the visitor to the Escurial is irresistibly reminded of the scenes enacted there at the time of the Spanish Armada.
The bull-fights of Seville, Mr. Lawson points out, are a direct survival of the Roman games, whilst the Cathedral of Cordova, the greatest of Moorish mosques, remains still in many parts just as its builders left it :—" Less known, but more memorable than all else together, is the little monastery at the Rabida in Huelva Bay, from which Columbus sailed, with three small vessels, to discover the New World. Every American from Hudson's Bay to Cape Horn should have his eyes turned towards it as a place of pilgrimage, and even for blase Europeans it should have at least as much interest as Geneva or the Castle of Chalon. The Rabida, however, is no show place, and the old monastery on the hill, which changed the destiny of the world, is strangely neglected both by poet, painter, and traveller." Yet Huelva is by no means a difficult place to reach, and is not further from London than Pesth, and the voyage can be made direct in a Rio Tinto steamer, or by mail steamer to Lisbon, and thence by rail overland. Moreover, the best hotel in all Spain, Madrid not excepted, is to be found at Huelva.
Spain is a richly endowed country, and when once all sections of the community realise that the days of knight-errantry are over, there is no reason whatever to doubt the speedy dawn of a new era of industrial prosperity. There are, for example, no copper-mines in the world like those of Rio Tinto. The quick- silver-mines of Almaden are scarcely less unique, whilst in no other part of Europe is there anything which compares either in magnitude or value with the hematite iron deposits of Bilboa. All the requisite elements of profitable industry exist in the country ; the chief drawback is that they have not yet
• Spain of To-Day : a Descriptive. Industrial, and Financial Survey of the Peninsula. By W. R. Lawson. Edinburgh and London : William Blackwood and Sons.
learnt to co-operate effectively. Officialism is the curse of Spain, and the nation sorely lacks a statesman possessed of the confidence of all classes of the people, and, at the same time, of courage and administrative ability. Such a man would have little difficulty in retrieving the national credit, and in bringing the country into touch with the progressive ideas of the age. Meanwhile, a strong sentiment of national unity has been evoked by the character of the widowed mother of the young King, for whom all parties profess to feel a chivalrous respect. Indeed, the "pure womanly instincts of Queen Christina, and her self-sacrificing devotion to her adopted country, have drawn a charmed circle round the throne, turning into strength what seemed to be a fatal weakness." Railway progress in Spain seems to have arrived at the same stage as that which prevails in India. The main roads have for the most part been laid down, and gradually a network of branch lines is being formed round them. In brief compass, a great deal of practical information about the actual condition of Spanish affairs, especially so far as mining development is concerned, is given in these pages, and the book also contains picturesque but never forced allusions to the dreamy, graceful, social life of the people, and to phases of life which, for better or worse, are rapidly passing away.
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