“Life took me to the farthest corners of the world before I reached the starting point I should have found, in Spain.” These words by Pablo Neruda (1904-1973) set the tone for a journey to the heart of Quevedo in 1943. They capture the Chilean writer’s relationship and deep feeling for this country. He first stepped foot in 1934 and never truly left, even though he was miles away.
Throughout his long career, Neruda’s poetry and prose moved through a Spain where he forged strong friendships, sharing experiences with poets such as Garcia Lorca, Vicente Aleixandre, and Miguel Hernández. He also faced hostilities that he could not overcome, including tensions with Juan Ramon Jimenez. From his homeland of Chile, he learned about barbarism reflected in history and discovered a new way of writing that reinforced his beliefs.
All those literary lines about Spain were gathered in the volume written about the country. Neruda’s work in this book is presented by Jose Carlos Rovira, Emeritus Professor and Professor at the University of Alicante, with Abel Villaverde, also from the same university. The volume includes a foreword by the Chilean poet Raúl Zurita. It is a passionate homage to Neruda’s relationship with this land. In the preface, Zurita reassures readers: Neruda explores Spain and through this exploration uncovers the deep origins of his poetry there.
Created by the UA and Talca University in Chile, the volume extends to roughly five hundred pages. Rovira notes that almost all of Neruda’s texts about Spain are included in the collection, highlighting how the poet’s frequent references to Spain were shaped by the era’s dictatorship and his inability to return to Madrid due to oppression.
The Chilean first arrived in Spain in 1934 after a diplomatic trip to Asia, serving as consul in Barcelona and later in Madrid, where he assumed the post. He stayed there until 1936, when the Civil War began and he was dismissed. He wrote, “I love Madrid, and I can’t fly there.” He returned in 1937 to participate in the Antifascist Writers Congress in Valencia and Madrid, and he would return by boat in 1971 on his way home via Barcelona and Tenerife.
when i set foot in spain
“When I set foot in Spain, stepping on the dusty stones of scattered towns, feeling the blood of their wounds on my brow and in my soul, I found a piece of my own being—an unshakable foundation. The cradle of blood still trembles,” Neruda wrote, in writings that evoke this country and his love for Spain at heart.
This volume also notes the canticles of soldiers who fought on the front lines and how their lives and poetry were forever altered. The work presents a sense of a second homeland, a mother and a stepmother, and a future birth for what Spain meant to Neruda.
The book begins with poetry and earthly residence, celebrating Lorca and others. It speaks of Miguel Hernández, and includes dedications to Don Jorge Manrique and Ramón Gómez de la Serna. In prose, it studies Azorín in a small town, touches on Antonio Machado’s death, and stays with Alberti in Tamuco, while also sharing Neruda’s enduring love for poetry.
The collection also includes many texts about the political and social life in Spain, including the hardships of ordinary people, the arrival of the International Brigades in Madrid, and the years of Franco’s dictatorship.
best job
As a final note, Rovira explains that Neruda arranged a ship in August 1939 to take over two thousand refugees from southern France to Valparaíso, Chile. This act is described as giving them a second homeland and a renewed chance at life.
The presentation about Spain, scheduled for May 10 at the UA City Center in Alicante, will feature Raúl Zurita joining remotely from Chile; Beatriz Aracil, director of the UA Mario Benedetti Center for Ibero-American Studies; and Marcela Albornoz Carmen Alemany, who heads culture and editorial at Talca University in Chile, discussing collaboration with the authors.
Neruda’s legacy is marked by questions about his life and death. An expert report has suggested that a deliberate act may have ended his life, a claim discussed with caution by researchers. The discussion continues as scholars examine the full arc of Neruda’s impact on literature and his enduring connection with Spain.