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Being Spanish is one of the most controversial concepts in History. It depends, of course, on your subjective vision, your experience and your knowledge. However, you have to live in Spain to at least have a real notion of what does it mean to be Spanish.
Many people think Spain might be a mix of cultures from Africa and Europe. Arabs were in the Iberian Peninsula for 700 years. Nonetheless, reality does not speak in favour of this thesis. Spain is currently a mix between the Hispanic America and the European continent. The Spanish people are in the middle of the way between a classic European country and the most authentic Hispanic American country.
Sometimes I think the core of our culture is not in Spain now, but in Hispanic America. This is extremely interesting, as it shows that all Hispanic countries are part of the same culture. I have more similarities with a Mexican or a Colombian than with someone from France, a country just next to Spain.
Nevertheless, Spanish people shares many habits with European countries, from dressing habits to the European Union and what it implies for our common ties. In contrast, we share the core of our souls with Hispanic America. By "the core of our souls" I mean that we behave the same way, we live the same way... we have the same way of being, which translated to Spanish would mean "la misma forma de ser".
Despite this, Spain is a mixed country. I think that is the reason why Spanish people are so open. Climate another inextricably fact that made us the way we are. People from Africa, America, Europe and even Asia came to the Iberian Peninsula at some point in History.
Economically, Spain is much more similar to Europe than it is to Hispanic America. Spain has always been the first economy between Hispanic countries until it has recently been outpaced by Mexico (this is not an absolute affirmation, Mexico and Spain dispute themselves the first place every year, sometimes is Mexico and sometimes Spain). In any case, as the current President of the Republic of Colombia said, our countries have unbrokeable ties that unite them unconditionally. This applies not only to Colombia and Spain, but the rest of Hispanic countries.
I tell you all this here because not many people talk about the existing ties between Spain and the Hispanic countries. Sometimes people watch tem as two titally different things, and that is anything but true. You cannot understand spain without taking into account Hispanic countries, and I thought this vision could really add something oof value to the community.
Thanks for reading me, I enjoyed a lot writing this for you!