Tourism is the solution [Archives:2009/1221/Opinion]

By: Abdul Rahman Bajjash
When you read the statistics about tourism in Spain, you will be astonished and rub your eyes two or three times. Then you will ask yourself: are these figures that I see true? Is it possible that such a tremendous number of tourists visit that country which Arabs left so many centuries ago?

Some say that Spain is the most beautiful land in the world, famous for such historical landmarks as the Al-Hamra Palace, the popular Flamenco dance, and Picasso's world renowned paintings such as 'Guernica,' of which it is said the entire Spanish people “kept in their eyes” during the civil war.

Spain is also an extremely modern country where some of the greatest soccer clubs in the world exist, including Real Madrid, Barcelona, and champions of the European Countries Cup. Spain is the country where a man wrestles bulls until death for sport; either the man dies or the bull in a strange dialectic that represents the conflict of life in its most barbaric forms. Spain is where Picasso and Franco were born; Picasso, one of the greatest artists among all those who carried a paintbrush, and Franco, one of the most powerful dictators in history.

Up to 75 million people, Arabs included, visit Andalusia – the old Arabic word for Spain – each year. “Why did the Arabs leave Andalusia?”” I asked Al-Tayyib Salih