“Man, Spanish food sucks, I want a burger!”, loudly proclaimed a teenager sitting on a nearby table. Jules and I raised our heads and looked at him disapprovingly. The food did indeed suck, but we needed to stick up for Spanish culinary. Much like family, we had an exclusive on badmouthing our neighbouring country.
We continue to write under lockdown, from our home in Lisbon, using photos from previous travels. Much like the previous text, this one starts with food and then wanders off aimlessly. Instead of getting lost in new places, it seems these days we get lost in our own heads.
The only other occupied table at the restaurant held a trio of Spaniards. When they heard us speaking Portuguese, they chatted us up in Galician, an official language in A Coruña and the rest of the Galicia region. Galician sits somewhere between Portuguese (from which it originated) and Spanish (from which it borrows a growing number of words).
Besides Galician, Spain and Portugal have much in common and have mostly behaved neighbourly throughout history. The border between the two countries is one of Europe’s oldest, and has remained unchanged since the 13th century.
Well, almost. “So, you still want Olivenza back?”, asked one of the Spaniards, grinning between two mouthfuls.
Olivenza (or Olivença, in Portuguese), was occupied by Spain in the 18th century, when the country sided with Napoleon in the Peninsular War. After the war, Spain removed its troops from other Portuguese cities it had occupied, but not from Olivenza.
The long sequence of treaties, covenants, appeals and other diplomatic innuendos that followed reminds two neighbours politely arguing over a parking space. To this day, both countries continue to formally claim sovereignty over Olivenza, but no one seems to lose much sleep over it.
While Gabriel attempted to cram an entire loaf of bread into his mouth, Jules and I counter-attacked: “Never mind Olivenza. Have you guys learned to sail yet?”. Our search for further causes of attrition had taken us back to the 15th century, when Spain – despite having seas to the North, South, East and West – had little maritime chops.
“You had to hire an Italian to discover the Americas and your circumnavigation voyage was spearheaded by a Portuguese, I hope that by now you know how to tell bow from stern?”, I chipped in.
“Well”, started one of the Spaniards while slowly reclining on his chair, “Columbus presented his plans first to Portugal, and Magellan only came to Spain after being mistreated by the Portuguese king. A shame there was no cure for myopia back then, your kings were in dire need of one…”
Check, but not quite checkmate. The lack of foresight was not exclusive to Portuguese leadership but, before we could counteract with a snarky remark about Spain’s economic shambles, the restaurant owner came over.
A lousy cook but a great host, he joined our tables and poured each one of us a glass of wine. “Here’s to another 900 years of brotherly banter!” he toasted.
After all, the list of conflicts between both countries is surprisingly short for almost a millennium of coexistence. Not only were clashes few and far between, many were solved with diplomacy and compromise, rather than outright war. To another 900 years indeed.
From Lisbon to all our Spanish friends, may we all be together again soon,
Verne*
Jules Verne Times Two 
I enjoyed your photos, as always, and laughed at your banter with others. Fun!
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Thank you Anne! Did you often visit Spain when you lived on this side of the pond?
– Verne
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Unfortunately, we never made it to Spain. We had family and friends in other countries, but there was no pull from Spain. I was amazed that you remembered we lived across the pond — two years in England. It was a most glorious time in our lives.
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I suspected you did, but wasn’t quite sure, had to double-check your ‘About’ page 🙂
– Verne
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Smack the kid who wants burgers! That’ll teach the brat.
Wading in the friendly banter… you guys needed an Italian too! Amerigo Vespucci worked for the Portuguese as well.
You’re welcome fellas 😉
(By the way, love those Galician windows in the first picture. I’d like a highrise building made like that, please).
Fabrizio
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Indeed, Vespucci was a pal! The same can’t be said about Alberto Cantino though, who smuggled one of our beautiful 16th century maps to the Duke of Ferrara 🙂
Those Galician windows are incredible! I wished they had served as inspiration for Lisbon’s latest high-rise, which looks instead like a golden Trump tower…
– Verne
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This makes me imagine what a similar conversation between Indonesians and Malaysians would look like. Neighbors will be neighbors — we like to fight over the smallest things (online, any arguments between the two countries can heat up quickly), but when we see each other it’s all good and cordial.
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Online arguments seem indeed to heat up way faster than physical interactions. I can’t seem to put my finger on the specific ingredients that trigger it, though. For instance, we never had a single issue here at WordPress, but I gave up on reading the comments on the few photography blogs I follow. Truly vitriolic stuff!
– Verne
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You and your neighbours should be role-models to all Balkan nations. I cannot see this kind of banter over there, still. Wonderful photos, a great mix of this and that. Those cannons look scary. The monument is outstanding. Well done.
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Thanks M^3! Hey, maybe we get to be role models for something after all 🙂
– Verne
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I suspect our banter with the Canadians would be mostly polite (more because of them than us), but I’m not sure about the Mexicans. It probably would depend on the individuals. In any case, 700 years of mostly good neighbors ain’t too shabby.
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I always found it fascinating how ones needs to drive through Canada to go from Washington to Alaska. It doesn’t get much more neighbourly than that!
– Verne
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Wonderful photos. I know what I would have done with the hamburger for the teenager. Great post.
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Thank you Geri! Tempting indeed 🙂
– Verne
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