Eliciting comparisons to Orwell's Homage to Catalonia, Pritchett's meditative work on Spain is comprised of a string of sketches, woven around the author's musings on the Spanish character. Having lived in Spain for four years during the 1920s, Pritchett is well placed to deliver such a report, and his resulting narrative is both well informed and delightfully written.

By Rod Younger

As an Anglo-Spaniard with a long history of living and working in Spain on and off over the last 40 years, I was keen to read this recently re-published book of Pritchett’s views and opinions about Spain and its people based on the 4 years he spent in Spain in the 1920s and subsequent visits in the 1940s and 50s.

Pritchett follows in the footsteps of other foreign travellers, such as Borrow, Ford, Maugham, Sanford Marden and his contemporaries Norman Lewis and Gerald Brenan, who have also reflected on the nature of the Spanish character arising from their own experiences of travelling and living in Spain. 

The difference is that Pritchett’s primary focus is on the Spanish character and what factors have shaped and formed it, whereas for the aforementioned writers their observations on the Spanish character were mainly secondary to describing their personal experiences in Spain.  The exception being Gerald Brenan, whose “The Spanish Labyrinth” Pritchett himself acknowledges as being a seminal work on the social and political background to the Spanish Civil War and which covers in some detail the agrarian and landowning situation in Spain, which in turn is crucial to understanding the underlying causes of the war.

The description provided with The Spanish Temper is essentially as follows: Pritchett's meditative work on Spain is comprised of a string of sketches, woven around the author's musings on the Spanish character. Pritchett is well placed to deliver such a report, and his resulting narrative is both well informed and delightfully written.

Well, what I can say is that the description does not come close to doing this book justice.  In The Spanish Temper Pritchitt takes the reader on a tour through most of Spain, from the Basque country through Castile, Andalusia, the Levante and Catalonia.  He discusses the characteristics of each region in terms of political, economic and cultural history, as well as its  geography, and how this has impacted on the character of the people living in these regions.

Not only is it well written but, for someone who only spent 4 years living in Spain 80 years ago, his insightful and astute observations demonstrate a deep knowledge and understanding of Spanish social, political and cultural history from art and literature to Franco to flamenco and bullfighting and, more importantly, a tremendous insight into the Spanish character and what underpins it.  He also shows his knowledge of leading Spanish intellectuals and writers, such as Ramiro de Maeztu, Ganivet, Benavente, Unamuno, Perez Galdos, Maranon, etc.

In short, Pritchett’s analysis (and understanding) of the Spanish character, both the good and the bad, mirrors observations made by many other foreigners living and travelling in Spain but is far more in-depth and is probably the most intellectually rigorous and robust examination I have come across.  If I had to find fault with the book it would be Pritchett’s tendency to “go off track” occasionally and to pontificate.  For example, in my opinion he spends too long discussing the motivations behind, and impact of, the two key Spanish “international” books, Don Quixote and Don Juan but the sections dealing with flamenco and bullfighting are very instructive.

Based on my own knowledge and experience of Spain and its people, some of his analysis into, and observations of, Spanish life and the people’s character remain as valid today as they were then.  For example, the Spaniards love of noise, music, dance and fiestas; “their capacity for producing the perfect blueprint which is never put into operation”; that, on the whole, Spaniards are not an “imaginative or innovative people” are all relevant even today, albeit not so prevalent. 

He also observes that corrupt town clerks were making fortunes from corruption, which certainly rings true today, as does “Spain is full of anxious, idle lawyers..” - at least in certain parts of the country!  Of course, their kindness, generosity and hard working ethos are also mentioned, but to be honest, only in passing. 

On the other hand, he cites the Spaniard’s hatred of progress and Europeanisation at all levels of society (except in Catalonia) and “so much of Spanish life is locked up or emotionally fixed in the Middle Ages”.  Today, nothing could be further from the truth and these comments reflect the fact that this book was written in the 1950s and was based on hundreds of years of no, or very minimal, economic, social and political progress.  So at the time of its writing, and perhaps for a number of years afterwards, Spanish Temper represented, in my opinion, an accurate and incisive analysis of the Spanish character. 

However, Spain’s emergence from dictatorship into democracy and joining the EU resulted in changes to some of the underlying factors which had helped form the Spanish character over the past 300+ years.  For example, the ending of its isolation from much of Europe, improved communications (internal and external), higher standards of living, better education, universal suffrage, etc. have clearly led to changes in the way the Spanish “think” and act.

This is turn, appears to have resulted in a change from what some academics term a “shareholders” society, where there is a small group of haves who are in control (management) and a large group of have nots with little real say in how the “company” is run (the shareholders), to a “stakeholders” society which is more democratic, meritocratic, progressive and inclusive.

However, the permanence of this change is being questioned given what has been occurring in Spain over the last few years, e.g. an unsustainable economic boom, driven by largely external factors such as the euro and low interest rates; over reliance on construction/property sector for the generation of wealth; large scale political corruption; subsequent bust with over 20% unemployment, uncompetitive/productive industry; poor education system; poorly managed banking sector, etc., and raises the question of whether Spain, its people and its society will revert to many of the characteristics and traits so accurately described by Pritchett (and those before him).

This is therefore a must read book for anyone with more than a passing interest in the Spanish character and what has helped form and shape it but who also has an eye on how the present crisis, in Spain and Europe, may impact on it in the future.

Rod Younger January 2012

By Rod Younger

As an Anglo-Spaniard with a long history of living and working in Spain on and off over the last 40 years, I was keen to read this recently re-published book of Pritchett’s views and opinions about Spain and its people based on the 4 years he spent in Spain in the 1920s and subsequent visits in the 1940s and 50s.

Pritchett follows in the footsteps of other foreign travellers, such as Borrow, Ford, Maugham, Sanford Marden and his contemporaries Norman Lewis and Gerald Brenan, who have also reflected on the nature of the Spanish character arising from their own experiences of travelling and living in Spain. 

The difference is that Pritchett’s primary focus is on the Spanish character and what factors have shaped and formed it, whereas for the aforementioned writers their observations on the Spanish character were mainly secondary to describing their personal experiences in Spain.  The exception being Gerald Brenan, whose “The Spanish Labyrinth” Pritchett himself acknowledges as being a seminal work on the social and political background to the Spanish Civil War and which covers in some detail the agrarian and landowning situation in Spain, which in turn is crucial to understanding the underlying causes of the war.

The description provided with The Spanish Temper is essentially as follows: Pritchett's meditative work on Spain is comprised of a string of sketches, woven around the author's musings on the Spanish character. Pritchett is well placed to deliver such a report, and his resulting narrative is both well informed and delightfully written.

Well, what I can say is that the description does not come close to doing this book justice.  In The Spanish Temper Pritchitt takes the reader on a tour through most of Spain, from the Basque country through Castile, Andalusia, the Levante and Catalonia.  He discusses the characteristics of each region in terms of political, economic and cultural history, as well as its  geography, and how this has impacted on the character of the people living in these regions.

Not only is it well written but, for someone who only spent 4 years living in Spain 80 years ago, his insightful and astute observations demonstrate a deep knowledge and understanding of Spanish social, political and cultural history from art and literature to Franco to flamenco and bullfighting and, more importantly, a tremendous insight into the Spanish character and what underpins it.  He also shows his knowledge of leading Spanish intellectuals and writers, such as Ramiro de Maeztu, Ganivet, Benavente, Unamuno, Perez Galdos, Maranon, etc.

In short, Pritchett’s analysis (and understanding) of the Spanish character, both the good and the bad, mirrors observations made by many other foreigners living and travelling in Spain but is far more in-depth and is probably the most intellectually rigorous and robust examination I have come across.  If I had to find fault with the book it would be Pritchett’s tendency to “go off track” occasionally and to pontificate.  For example, in my opinion he spends too long discussing the motivations behind, and impact of, the two key Spanish “international” books, Don Quixote and Don Juan but the sections dealing with flamenco and bullfighting are very instructive.

Based on my own knowledge and experience of Spain and its people, some of his analysis into, and observations of, Spanish life and the people’s character remain as valid today as they were then.  For example, the Spaniards love of noise, music, dance and fiestas; “their capacity for producing the perfect blueprint which is never put into operation”; that, on the whole, Spaniards are not an “imaginative or innovative people” are all relevant even today, albeit not so prevalent. 

He also observes that corrupt town clerks were making fortunes from corruption, which certainly rings true today, as does “Spain is full of anxious, idle lawyers..” - at least in certain parts of the country!  Of course, their kindness, generosity and hard working ethos are also mentioned, but to be honest, only in passing. 

On the other hand, he cites the Spaniard’s hatred of progress and Europeanisation at all levels of society (except in Catalonia) and “so much of Spanish life is locked up or emotionally fixed in the Middle Ages”.  Today, nothing could be further from the truth and these comments reflect the fact that this book was written in the 1950s and was based on hundreds of years of no, or very minimal, economic, social and political progress.  So at the time of its writing, and perhaps for a number of years afterwards, Spanish Temper represented, in my opinion, an accurate and incisive analysis of the Spanish character. 

However, Spain’s emergence from dictatorship into democracy and joining the EU resulted in changes to some of the underlying factors which had helped form the Spanish character over the past 300+ years.  For example, the ending of its isolation from much of Europe, improved communications (internal and external), higher standards of living, better education, universal suffrage, etc. have clearly led to changes in the way the Spanish “think” and act.

This is turn, appears to have resulted in a change from what some academics term a “shareholders” society, where there is a small group of haves who are in control (management) and a large group of have nots with little real say in how the “company” is run (the shareholders), to a “stakeholders” society which is more democratic, meritocratic, progressive and inclusive.

However, the permanence of this change is being questioned given what has been occurring in Spain over the last few years, e.g. an unsustainable economic boom, driven by largely external factors such as the euro and low interest rates; over reliance on construction/property sector for the generation of wealth; large scale political corruption; subsequent bust with over 20% unemployment, uncompetitive/productive industry; poor education system; poorly managed banking sector, etc., and raises the question of whether Spain, its people and its society will revert to many of the characteristics and traits so accurately described by Pritchett (and those before him).

This is therefore a must read book for anyone with more than a passing interest in the Spanish character and what has helped form and shape it but who also has an eye on how the present crisis, in Spain and Europe, may impact on it in the future.

Rod Younger January 2012