1811, and at length find ourselves in the famous city of Cádiz, the
heir of the Gadir of the Phœnicians, called Gadira by the Greeks, and
Gades by the Romans. Cádiz was the leading city of Iberia when that
country first became known. Like other cities, it has known periods of
decay, but its great geographical advantages have always enabled it to
recover quickly. It is the natural outlet of an extensive and fertile
region, and its position near the extremity of the continent enables
it successfully to compete with Lisbon for the trade of the New World.
Palos may boast of having sent forth the _caravelas_ which discovered
the West Indies, but it was Cádiz which reaped all the advantages
of this discovery, more especially since the Tribunal of the Indies
was transferred to it from Seville (1720). In 1792 Cádiz exported
merchandise valued at £2,500,000 sterling to America, {411} {412} and
received precious metals and other articles of a value of £7,000,000 in
return. Soon afterwards Spain paid for a commercial monopoly maintained
during three centuries by the sudden loss of her colonies, and Cádiz
found itself dependent upon its fisheries and salt-pans. But recently
fortune has again smiled upon the city, and its harbours are crowded
with merchantmen.[145] Cádiz, with the towns surrounding its bay, has
a population of 200,000 souls. The site of the city proper is limited
by nature, and its houses have been built to a height of five and six
stories. The inhabitants are fond of pleasure, vivacious, and quick at
repartee. They have at all times shown themselves to be good patriots,
and it was on the island of Leon that the Cortes met to protest against
the occupation of the country by the French.
Almería, on the Mediterranean coast of Andalusia, rivalled Cádiz in
importance as long as it remained in the possession of the Moors,
but prosperity fled the place immediately the Spaniards occupied it.
Subsequently the town suffered greatly from the pirates of Barbary,
as is proved by the fortress-like cathedral built in the sixteenth
century. The aspect of the place, with its narrow streets and old
_kasba_, is quite oriental.
The towns to the west of Almería have a tropical climate and tropical
productions. Dailas, said to be the first permanent settlement of the
Arabs, is famous for its raisins; to it succeed Adra, at the mouth
of the Rio Grande of Alpujarra, Motril, Vélez Málaga, and Málaga,
embosomed in gardens watered by the Guadalmedina.
Málaga, like most of the ports on that coast, is of Phœnician origin,
and the most populous town of Andalusia. Less rich than Granada,
Córdova, and Seville in Moorish monuments, or than Cádiz in historical
traditions, it is indebted to its port and to the fertile country
surrounding it for its commercial pre-eminence. Its exports, consisting
of raisins (_pasas_), almonds, figs, lemons, oranges, wine, olive oil,
&c., are the product of the immediate vicinity. There are foundries,
sugar refineries, and factories. Seen from the sea, the cathedral
appears to be almost as large as the rest of the town, but in the
latter must be included not only the houses standing at the foot of
the citadel of Gibralfaro, but also the numerous villas dotting the
surrounding hills. Nay, even the picturesque towns and watering-places
in the neighbouring mountains, such as Alora, Alhaurin, Carratraca, and
Alhama, may be looked upon as dependencies of the city, for scarcely
any but _Malagueños_ resort to them.
[Illustration: Fig. 157.—GIBRALTAR.
Scale 1 : 150,000.]
Antequera and Ronda, in the interior of the country, belong to the
basin of the Mediterranean, for the one stands on the Guadalhorce,
which enters the sea near Málaga, whilst the other occupies a position
in the upper basin of the Guadiaro, which washes the foot of the hills
of San Roque, to the north of Gibraltar. Antequera is one of the most
ancient towns of Spain, and acts as an intermediary between Málaga and
the valley of the Guadalquivir. On a hill near it stands a curious
dolmen, twenty feet in height, known as _Cueva del Mengal_. {413} The
picturesque Moorish town of Ronda is surrounded on three sides by a
gorge 600 feet in depth, 120 to 300 feet wide, and spanned by three
bridges, one Roman, one Arab, and the last (built 1740–88) Spanish.
Ronda still possesses some strategical importance, for it defends the
road leading from the valley of the Genil to that of the Guadiaro. The
_Rondeños_ are noted for the skill with which they train horses for
mountain travel. They are notorious smugglers, as are also many {414}
of the inhabitants of the small seaport towns of Marbella, Estepona,
and Algeciras, near Gibraltar.[146]
The rock of Gibraltar, of which the English obtained possession in
1704, has not only been converted into a first-rate fortress, but is
likewise a busy place of commerce. Gibraltar produces nothing except a
little fruit, and most of its provisions, including meat and corn, are
imported from Tangiers, in Morocco. The inhabitants of the town are
dependent for their support upon passing vessels, the English garrison,
and a brisk contraband trade with Spain. Gibraltar affords very
indifferent shelter, and only one-fourth of the vessels passing through
the strait call there, and even these generally confine themselves
to replenishing their stock of coal. Nor is a residence on this
picturesque rock very pleasurable, for fevers prevail, and the military
character of the place entails numerous restrictions. During the heat
of summer many of the English residents—facetiously called “lizards of
the rock”—seek refuge at San Roque, a village to the north of the bay,
the neighbourhood of which affords excellent sport.[147]
IV.—THE MEDITERRANEAN SLOPE OF THE GREAT PLATEAU. MURCIA AND
VALENCIA.[148]
In a few hours we are able to travel from the inhospitable plateaux to
the hot valleys and plains of Murcia and Valencia debouching upon the
Mediterranean.
[Illustration: GIBRALTAR, AS SEEN FROM THE “LINES.”]
The spurs from the Sierra Nevada, which approach the coast to the
north of the Cabo de Gata, are separated by _ramblas_, or torrent
beds, and gradually decrease in height as we proceed north. The
torrent of Almanzora separates the Sierra de los Filabros from its
northern continuation, the Sierra de Almenara, which for a considerable
distance runs parallel with the coast. It sends out a spur in the
direction of Cartagena, which terminates in Cabo de Palos. The inland
ranges run almost parallel with this coast range, and are separated
by longitudinal valleys opening out into the great transverse one of
the Segura. These ranges are the Sierra de María, “el Gigante” (4,918
feet), with the Sierra de Espuña (5,190 feet), the Sierra de Taibilla,
the Calar del Mundo (5,440 feet), and the Sierra de Alcaraz {415}
(5,910 feet). The ranges to the north and east of the Segura must be
looked upon as continuations of those mentioned. They attain their
greatest altitude in the Moncabrer (4,543 feet), and their spurs form
several notable promontories, amongst which are the volcanic Peñon
de Ifach and the Cabos de la Nao and San António. Near the latter
rises the Mongo (2,337 feet), which has become known as a crucial
trigonometrical station.
The mountains which dominate the valley of the Júcar present the
feature of a denuded plateau, above which rise a few isolated summits.
The aspect of the basin of the Guadalaviar is far more mountainous. On
the west it is bounded by the sierras having their nucleus in the Muela
de San Juan (5,280 feet), and to the east rise the imposing mountain
masses of the Javalambre (6,569 feet) and Peña Golosa (5,942 feet). The
summits of the range which extends from the latter to the great bend
of the Lower Ebro, such as the Muela de Ares (4,332 feet), the Tosal
de Encanades (4,565 feet), and Bosch de la Espina (3,868 feet), bear
Catalan names. A range of inferior heights runs parallel with it along
the coast, the interval between the two forming a strath, or vale. This
coast range terminates abruptly in the Sierra de Montsia (2,500 feet),
close to the delta of the Ebro, and before the pent-up waters of the
river had excavated themselves a path to the sea it extended right to
the Pyrenees.
All these mountains are for the most part naked, and shrubs appear like
black patches upon their whitish slopes. They stand out clearly against
the blue and limpid sky, whose transparency has won Murcia the title of
the “most serene kingdom.” The climate in the valley of the Segura is
even more African in its character than that of Andalusia. There are
only two seasons, summer and winter, the latter lasting from October to
January, but the temperature throughout the year is equable, owing to
the mistral which blows from the cool plateau and the sea breezes.
The flora, especially along the coast of Murcia, is a mixture of
tropical and temperate plants. There are trees which shed their leaves
in winter, others which retain their foliage throughout the year, and
by the side of wheat, rice, maize, olives, oranges, and grapes are
grown cotton, sugar-cane, sweet potatoes, nopals, agaves, and dates.
Tropical diseases have found a congenial soil in this country. Yellow
fever has been imported occasionally from America. The putrefying
substances left upon the fields after floods poison the air, and the
brackish waters of the lagoons, or _albuferas_, are the breeding-places
of fever. The salt lakes to the south of the Segura, however, exercise
no deleterious influence upon the climate.
Nowhere else in Spain is the rainfall so inconsiderable. Between
Almería and Cartagena only eight inches fall during the year; in the
environs of Alicante and Elche the rains are, perhaps, a trifle more
copious; and at Murcia and Valencia, which lie at the foot of mountains
that intercept the moisture-laden winds, they are more abundant still,
though even there they do not exceed eighteen inches. Moreover, most of
the rain is immediately absorbed by the thirsty air, and only a very
small quantity finds its way through _ramblas_ to the sea. The quantity
is altogether insufficient for agricultural purposes, and if it were
not for the rivers the {416} country would be a desert. Cultivation
is carried on only along the rivers and in a few other favoured spots.
Veritable steppes extend on both banks of the Segura. The _campos_
between Almería and Villajoyosa, for a distance of 300 miles, are
sterile and bare. The brine and magnesia springs, which rise at the
foot of the saliferous triassic rocks, fill small lakes, which dry up
in summer, and in August the lagoons near Orihuela become covered with
a thick crust of salt.
[Illustration: Fig. 158.—STEPPES OF MURCIA.
Scale 1 : 992,000.]
{417}
The beneficent rivers, whose waters are drunk by the _huertas_, or
gardens, near their banks, are the Segura, Vinalapo, Júcar, Guadalaviar
(known as Turia in its lower course), Mijaros, and several others.
They all resemble each other as regards the ruggedness of their upper
valleys and the savageness of the gorges through which they pass.
The Segura forces itself a passage through several mountain defiles
before it reaches the plain of Murcia. The Júcar and Guadalaviar
(Wad-el-Abiad, or “white river”) have fewer obstacles to overcome,
but some of the gorges through which they pass are nevertheless of
surpassing beauty.
The volume of these rivers is comparatively small, and the husbandmen
dwelling along their banks economize the water as far as possible.
Reservoirs, or _pantanos_, have been constructed at the outlet of
each valley, whence the water is distributed over the fields by means
of innumerable canals of irrigation. The irrigated huertas contrast
most favourably with the cultivated campos in their neighbourhood.
Irrigation has probably been practised at Valencia since the time of
the Romans, but the Moors appear to have been the first to construct a
regular system of canals. Eight of these, ramifying into innumerable
_acequias_, have converted the environs of Valencia into an Eden.
Carefully manured as they are, these fields are never allowed to lie
fallow. Stalks of maize fifteen and even twenty-five feet in height
may be seen in the gardens, the mulberry-tree yields three or four
harvests annually, four or five crops are obtained from the same field,
whilst the grass is mown as many as nine or ten times. This luxuriant
vegetation, however, is said to be watery, and hence the proverb,
“In Valencia meat is grass, grass is water, men are women, and women
nought.”
The huertas of the Júcar, though less famous than those of Valencia,
are even more productive. Orange-trees predominate, and around Alcira
and Carcagente alone 20,000,000 oranges are picked annually, and
exported to Marseilles.
The oases in the great steppe which extends from Alcoy to Almería are
less fertile than those on the Júcar and Guadalaviar. That of Alicante
is fertilised by the Castalla, the waters of which are collected
in the reservoir of Tibi. The huerta of Elche, on the Vinalapo, is
chiefly occupied by a forest of palm-trees, the principal wealth of the
inhabitants, who export the dates to France, and the leaves to Italy
and the interior of Spain.
The huerta around Orihuela, on the Lower Segura, cannot boast of a palm
forest like that of Elche, but is more productive. The inhabitants
of Murcia, higher up on the same river, though they enjoy similar
advantages, have failed to profit by them to the same extent. Their
huerta, which contains a third of the total population of the province,
is fertile, but cannot compare with that of their neighbours. Nor do
the fields of Lorca equal them. They have not yet recovered from the
bursting of a reservoir, the freed waters of which carried destruction
as far as Murcia and Orihuela.
* * * * *
The moral and physical character of the inhabitants of a country
exhibiting such great contrasts could hardly fail to present
corresponding differences, and, indeed, we find that the inhabitants
of the fertile gardens and those of the barren steppes and mountains
differ essentially, in spite of their common origin. {418}
[Illustration: Fig. 159.—THE PALM GROVE OF ELCHE.]
[Illustration: PEASANTS OF LA HUERTA, AND CIGARRERA OF VALENCIA.]
The people of Murcia cannot be said to have issued victoriously from
the struggle against barren rocks, desiccating winds, and a dry
atmosphere. They abandon themselves to a fatalism quite oriental, and
make hardly any effort at improvement. Lazily inclined, they take their
siesta in and out of time, and even when awake preserve an aspect of
impassiveness as if they pursued a reverie. They are not much given
to gaiety, and, though neighbours of Andalusia and La Mancha, do not
dance. They are full of rancour and savage hatred when offended, and
have exercised but small influence upon the destinies of Spain. They
cannot compare in industry with Catalans, Navarrese, and Galicians,
nor in intelligence with natives of any other part of Spain. The
Valencians, on the other hand, are an industrious race. They not only
cultivate their plains, but scale the barren slopes of the rocks with
their terraced gardens. They are a gay people, famous for their dances.
Ferocious instincts are asserted to underlie this outward gaiety, and a
proverb says that “the paradise of La Huerta is inhabited by demons.”
Human life is held very {419} cheaply in Valencia. Formerly that
town supplied the courtiers of Madrid with hired assassins, and the
numerous crosses in and around it are evidence of so many murders
committed in the heat of passion. In Valencia, however, the use of the
knife is a tradition of chivalry, as are duels in some other parts of
Europe. The conscience of the murderer is perfectly at ease; he wipes
the blood-stained knife upon his girdle, and immediately afterwards
cuts his bread with it. The dress of the Valencians consists of loose
drawers confined round the waist by a red or violet scarf, velvet
waistcoats with pieces of silver, white linen gaiters leaving the
knees and ankles bare, a bright kerchief wrapped round the shaved
head, and a low hat with brim turned up and ornamented with ribbons. A
many-coloured cloak with a broad fringe completes this costume, and,
draped in it, even the meanest beggar possesses an air of distinction.
In their customs and modes of thought the Valencians differ equally
from their neighbours. They speak a Provençal dialect, mixed with
many Arabic words, but more closely related to the language of the
troubadours than the dialect of the Catalans.
[Illustration: Fig. 160.—THE PALM GROVE OF ELCHE AND THE HUERTAS OF
ORIHUELA.
Scale 1 : 400,000.]
Agriculture is the leading pursuit of Valencia and Murcia, and a few
branches of industry are carried on. Many hands are occupied in making
the white wines of Alicante and the red ones of Vinaroz and Benicarló;
the grapes of the vineyards of Denia, Javea, and Gandia, to the north
of Cabo de la Nao, are converted {420} by a complicated process into
raisins; and the _esparto grass_ growing abundantly on the sunny slopes
of Albacete and Murcia is employed in the manufacture of mats, baskets,
sandals, and a variety of other objects.[149] There are hundreds of
metalliferous lodes, but only the lead mines in the hills of Herrerías,
to the east of Cartagena, are being worked on a large scale, and that
by foreigners. Zinc has been worked since 1861, and mines of copper,
lead, silver, mercury, and rock-salt abound at some distance from the
coast; but, from want of means of communication, their exploitation
would not pay.
[Illustration: Fig. 161.—RUINS OF THE DYKE OF THE RESERVOIR ABOVE
LORCA.]
Valencia is the more industrial province of the two. Albacete
manufactures the dreaded _navajas_, or long knives; Murcia has
silk-mills; Cartagena rope-walks and other establishments connected
with shipping; Játiva has a few paper-mills; but Valencia and Alcoy are
now the great centres of industry. The former {421} manufactures the
plaids worn by the peasantry, silks and linens, earthenware and glazed
tiles. Alcoy supplies most of the paper for making Spanish cigarettes.
[Illustration: Fig. 162.—PEASANTS OF MURCIA.]
{422}
The towns of Albacete and Almansa are important, as lying on the
great high-road which connects the plateau of La Mancha with the
Mediterranean seaboard. But they cannot vie in wealth and population
with the towns situated on the coast, or within twenty-five miles of
it. Lorca, the southernmost of these towns, lies picturesquely on the
slopes and at the foot of a hill crowned by a Moorish citadel. The old
town, with narrow tortuous streets and the remains of Arab palaces, has
been given up to Gitanos, and a new town with wide and straight streets
built in the fertile plain irrigated by the Guadalentin. A fine road
joins Lorca to the small harbour of Aguilas, twenty miles to the south.
In descending the valley of the Guadalentin we pass Totana, the
head-quarters of the Gitanos of the country, and Alhama, well known
on account of its hot springs, and finally enter the mulberry and
orange groves which surround the capital of the province. Murcia,
though an extensive city, hardly looks like it, for its streets are
deserted, its houses without beauty, and the only objects of interest
are the cathedral, the shady walks along the banks of the Segura, and
the canals irrigating the terrace gardens. Far more interesting is
the neighbouring Cartagena, which was destined by its Punic founders
to become a second Carthage in truth, and its magnificent harbour
certainly affords great advantages for commercial and military
purposes. The discovery of the rich lead and silver mines near the town
contributed much towards its prosperity. Successive Spanish Governments
have attempted to restore to Cartagena its ancient strategical
importance. They have constructed docks and arsenals, and erected
impregnable fortifications, but, in spite of this, the population
of the town is hardly a third of what it was in the middle of the
eighteenth century. The character of its commerce is almost local,
notwithstanding its excellent port, and esparto grass, mats, fruits,
and ore constitute the leading articles of export.
Alicante, though far less favoured by nature, is a much busier place,
thanks to the fertility of the huertas of Elche, Orihuela, and Alcoy,
and the railway which connects it with Madrid. Only small vessels
can approach the quays and piers of the town, nestling at the foot
of a steep rock crowned by a dismantled citadel. Larger vessels
are compelled to anchor in an open roadstead. Other coast towns
of Valencia, such as Denia and Cullera, offer still less shelter,
but are nevertheless much frequented by coasting vessels. Formerly
vessels which entered the Bay of Valencia during winter were bound
to exercise the greatest caution, owing to violent easterly and
north-north-easterly winds and fogs, for there existed not a single
port of refuge. This want has now been supplied by the construction of
a port at the mouth of the Guadalaviar, known as El Grao (strand) de
Valencia.
Valencia, the fourth city of Spain in population, is the natural centre
of the most fertile huertas. The “City of the Cid” still preserves
its crenellated walls, turrets, gates, narrow and tortuous streets,
balconied houses, the windows of which are shaded by blinds, and
awnings spread over the streets to protect passers-by from the rays
of the sun. Amongst its numerous buildings there is but one which
is really curious: this is the _Lonja de Seda_, or silk exchange, a
graceful structure of the fifteenth century. Gardens constitute the
real delight of Valencia, and {423} the Alameda, which extends along
the banks of the Guadalaviar, is, perhaps, the finest city promenade in
Europe. The commerce of Valencia rivals that of Cádiz.[150]
[Illustration: Fig. 163.—THE HARBOUR OF CARTAGENA.
Scale 1 : 54,000.]
To the north of Valencia the cultivable country along the coast is
narrow, and incapable of supporting large towns. Castellon de la Plana,
at the mouth of the Mijaros, has attained a certain importance, but
farther north we only meet with small places inhabited by fishermen
and vine-growers. Formerly the coast road was defended by castles,
chief among which was Saguntum, famous for its glorious defence against
Hannibal. Its site is occupied by the modern town of Murviedro, _i.e._
“old walls,” and its ruins are not very imposing.[151]
V.—THE BALEARIC ISLANDS.
The Balearic Islands are attached to the mainland of Spain by a
submarine {424} plateau, and are geographically as well as historically
a dependency of Valencia and Catalonia. The ranges of hills traversing
these islands have the same direction as those of Murcia and Valencia.
On the other hand, the peninsula of La Baña, at the mouth of the Ebro,
extends beneath the sea in the direction of Ibiza, and from this
submarine tongue of land rises a group of volcanic rocks. These are the
Columbretes, from the Latin _colubraria_, signifying “serpents’ islets.”
[Illustration: Fig. 164.—EL GRAO DE VALENCIA.
Scale 1 : 18,000.]
The Baleares are small in area, but favoured by climate,
productiveness, and natural beauty. They are the “Happy Islands” of
the ancients, and, compared with many of the coast lands, are indeed a
favoured region. War and pestilence have been no strangers to them, but
continual troubles have not interfered with their development.
The islands consist of two groups, the Pityuses and the Baleares
proper. The name of the latter is said to refer to the expertness of
the natives as slingers; and, when Q. Metellus prepared to land upon
them, he took care to shelter his men beneath an awning of hides. The
climate is moister and more equable than that of neighbouring Spain.
Violent storms occur frequently.
[Illustration: WOMEN OF IBIZA, BALEARIC ISLES.]
The structures called _talayots_ (watch-towers) prove that the islands
were inhabited before the historic epoch. These were built probably
by the same race to whom the nuraghi of Sardinia owe their existence;
but the present population is a very mixed one, for every nation of
antiquity has successively invaded the island. {425} The language
spoken is a Catalan dialect resembling that of Limousin. The Majorcans
are generally small of stature, but well proportioned, and the women
of some of the districts are famed for their beauty and expressive
features. The peasantry are suspicious and thrifty, but honest and
hospitable; and their dress, consisting of loose breeches, a belt, a
bright-coloured vest, and a goatskin cloak, is picturesque. Dancing to
the music of a guitar or flute is their favourite amusement.