The name is absent

Personalities of Modern Spain 49
aga, Andalusians like Gongora or Machado, Asturians like
Ayala ; you find in them all the Castilian spirit—a universal
sense of their country. But in this country which looks so
unified on the map, there are in reality divisions into various
kingdoms all so unlike one another in blood as well as in
language. A consequence of this is that the Spaniard does
not call himself a Spaniard, but Basque or Galician or Cat-
alan or Andalusian. The country is divided into these
separate kingdoms by a series of transverse mountain
ranges. In the north we have the Basque ; he is supposed to
be the primitive inhabitant of the peninsula, and you find a
strong primitive instinct in him : he is incurably obstinate in
character and preserves carefully his language and his tra-
ditions. When we go further west we find the Galician,
who is the opposite in character. I remember during my
wanderings among the peasants in that region they called
us Irish “Brother Celts.” Even in their music their dances
resemble the jigs and Celtic laments which they play on the
bagpipe. Then when we go to the other side we discover in
the Catalans an entirely different mentality. They are the
most progressive people in the country and it has been
said that the Catalans “can even make bread out of stones.”
They are intensely thrifty and their natural intelligence has
been awakened by modern life. Part of Catalonia around
the city of Valencia has been called the “garden of Spain”
and some of its fragrance may be found in certain of the
early novels of Ibanez. In the middle of Spain we find the
dry plateau land of Castile, that has united the destinies of
Spain. Lastly, in the south we meet the Andalusians, de-
scendants in great part of the Moors who made the country
the fairest jewel “in the crown of the Prophet.”

Thus, in Spain in spite of the apparent unity there is great
diversity, and yet it has been Castile’s spirit that has unified

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