But they’ve also picked up many of the cultural traits, the love for football, for example. That’s why football is so popular in Latin America. Spain also is interesting for its politics, internally as well as historically.
Islamic peak: In Islamic history, the conquest of Spain, what used to be the Iberian Peninsula, was described as Andalus or Andalusia. That is considered to be the golden period, the very acme of Islamic power and history.Beginning with the early 8th century, the Umayyad Caliphate established itself in Spain or the Iberian Peninsula, ruling almost all of modern Spain. They were finally defeated in 1492 AD. For almost 800 years, they ruled Spain.That was the territory of Granada, conquered by Catholic Spanish rulers. It was under their watch, from 1478 onwards, that the brutal Spanish Inquisition was carried out. It began in November 1478, and continued for almost 350 years, in fact exactly 356 years in bits and parts as the country and society almost completely Catholicised itself.It was formally abolished in 1834, on July 15. That’s when followers of all religions were forced to convert to Catholicism. There were inquisitions in terms of figuring out who was secretly practising some other religion, and people were burnt at the stake. Estimates vary, but thousands, or even tens of thousands of people, were burnt at the stake. In the process, Islamic power was completely wiped out of Spain.Spain’s Mikel Merino scores their first goal past Portugal’s Diogo Costa | Kai Pfaffenbach | Reuters
