Visit to the Prado Museum

EL Museo Nacional Del Prado is an art museum located in Madrid, Spain. The museum is the only institution that contains the most largest and most important collection of Spanish artworks in the world. The estimated paintings held inside the museum are beyond 4,800 paintings from the era of the Romanesque to the 19^th century. There are many internationally renowned Spanish art collections, such as more importantly, Zurbaran, Alonso Cano, and Velazquez. Art collections best represented inside the Prado museum are Velazquez and Goya, with around 50 pieces.

One of the two pieces that I observed from the Velazquez was the collection “The adoration of the Magi” which was from his Sevillian phase. Diego Velazquez was born in Seville on June 6, 1599 and an individualistic artist from the Baroque Movement. Many of his pieces, were portraits of the Spanish royal family court, such as “Las Meninas”, which is in English “The Maids of Honours”. Diego Velazquez was the leading artist in the court of King Phillip IV. The “Las Meninas” was a large portrait measuring at 318 cm by 276 cm with oil on canvas, painted between 1656 and 1657. The “Las Meninas” portrait is of the infant Margarita, daughter, of Felipe IV, surrounded my members of her family, and her servants in the hall of Madrid’s Alcazar Palace. The neatest part of the portrait was that he was able to paint his image within the painting and portrait of the family of Philip IV of Spain, “Las Meninas”, and the reflection of the King and his Queen, Felipe IV and Maria de Austria in the mirror in the back of the room.

Francisco de Zurbaran was a Spanish painter and known for his religious depiction paintings. He was born in 1598. One of the paintings that drew my attention was the painting, “Saint Luke as a painter, before Christ on the Cross”.  The portrait at measures 105 cm by 84 cm. The portrait is fascinating because its Zurbaran as Saint Luke, the painter and doctor, standing for Christ on the cross.

 Alonso Cano was born on March 19, 1601 in Granada, Spain. He was a painter, architect, and sculptor. Many of his works consisted of religious movements. The “Virgin and Child”, which measures at 162 by 107 cm, was the most appealing in opinion.  

Other fascinating facts about all three painters are that they were all painters during the Baroque movement and painted for the Spanish Royal family.

Spain after Franco and the Role of the Monarch

  Francisco Franco, also known as Francisco Paulino Hermenegildo Teódulo Franco Bahamonde was born on December 4, 1892, in El Ferrol, Spain, to a naval family. His interests to become a sailor, short-lived when the Naval Academy reduced its admission size and forced him seek an opportunity in the Army at the age of 14. In 1910, while he was completing his duties at the Infantry Academy, he decided to go abroad and flight in Spanish Morocco in 1912. In 1915, Franco was deemed the youngest captain in the entire Spanish army. In 1928, he became director of a new general military academy. In 1934, after being appointed to Major General by a new rightist government, he ferociously crushed a rebellion of miners, where thousands died. In 1935 he became Chief of the Central General Staff of the Spanish Army, and began to reform.

As divisions between the left and the right in Spain grew, and as the country’s unity unraveled after a left wing alliance won power in elections, Franco appealed for a state of emergency to be declared because he feared a communist takeover.

He moved to Morocco, took control of the garrison army, and then landed it in Spain. Later, Franco was chosen as head of state by the nationalist forces, due in part to his reputation, distance from political groups, because the original figurehead had died, and partly because of his inspiration to lead.

Franco’s goal was to do more than win and he wanted to ‘cleanse’ Spain of communism. He drafted laws making any support for the republic a crime.

The first real ‘peacetime’ test for Franco was the start of World War 2, in which Spain initially lent towards the German-Italian Axis. 


However, Franco kept Spain out of the war, which also lead Hitler to reject due to Franco’s high demands, and a recognition that the Spanish military was in no position to fight. The US and Britain allies, both contributed Spain in keeping them neutral. Therefore, his regime survived the collapse and total defeat of his old civil-wartime supporters.

During the war and the early years of his dictatorship, Franco’s government executed tens of thousands of “rebels”, imprisoned a quarter of a million, and crushed local traditions, leaving little opposition, yet his repression loosened slightly over time as his government continued into the 1960s and the country transformed culturally into a modern nation.

In 1947, Franco’s petition passed, which immediately made Spain a monarchy that would entitle him to rule the country for life. Then, in 1969 he announced Prince Juan Carlos, eldest son of the leading claimant to the Spanish throne, as his official successor.  

He was the head of the government of Spain until 1973 and head of state until his death in 1975 from suffering with Parkinson’s for many years. Three years later, Juan Carlos reestablished democracy, which lead Spain into a modern constitutional monarchy. Juan Carlos was King of Spain and would ascend the throne vacated 44 years ago by his grandfather, Alfonso XIII.

The Spain and Europe era ended abruptly after the death. During the postwar years, Franco confounded his numerous critics by taming a naturally rebellious nation that had spawned anarchy and by bringing Spanish society into the modern industrial age, yet, like most dictators, he was persistent and never giving up.

Franco concluded that with the 1947 Law of Succession, which declared Spain a monarchy, yet later he decreed that within eight days of his death his power would devolve upon Prince Juan Carlos de Borbón y Borbón, III.

Journalism Advocacy

Journalism Advocacy is a genre of journalism, which adopts and is not restricted to biased opinions. Journalism is where the writer or the publication expresses a subjective view or promotes a certain cause. 

In Western Europe, some newspapers project openly with political situations, but journalists didn’t necessarily involve advocacy. In Italy, the Il Manifesto perceives themselves as communists philosophically, but they don’t belong or follow any party; Il Manifesto functions as a worker’s cooperative. For Third World countries that became independent after WWI, journalism was an opportunity for free movements, in relation to support liberation from colonialism.

Up until the 19^th century, the press in the United States was only partisan. The press established fairness, which is now defined as the practices of corporate-commercial news media. Between the 1960s and 1970s, advocacy journalism emerged with counterculture and revolutionary political activity during its fervor.

Campaigns Presentation

SJMC Study Abroad group 2011

Pictured from left to right: Oliver McDonald, Maria Rodriguez, Gretel Perez, Professor David Park, Diana Narcisse, Clarissa Reyes, Andrea Benedetti, Laura Flores, and Caressa Gonzalez.

On Wednesday, June 8, 2011, twenty-five students from Florida International University's School of Journalism and Mass Communications presented their group assignments at La Casa de La Provincia in Seville, Spain. There where four groups that presented that day and present were the coordinators and facilitators of the program Enterevent. There were 7 members from Campaigns group, Oliver McDonald, Maria Rodriguez, Gretel Perez, Diana Narcisse, Andrea Benedetti, Laura Flores, and Caressa Gonzalez. The group called themselves Global Beat Advertising and created an ad campaign for Seville Tourism Board. They focused on targeting young Hispanic working male and female, between the ages of 24 to 35 years old and living in New York City. 

Last Night in Sevilla

Our last night in Seville, my roommates and I went souvenir shopping and walked pass the bullfighting ring, Plaza de Toros de la Maestranza. Unfortunately, the ring was closed and we weren't able to view inside. Plaza de Toros de la Maestranza 

As we were walking back to our hotel, we decided to stop and have dinner. Then we went took the trolley, and walked the rest of the way back to Hotel Abril B&B. Since, our hotel was a short distance for the Metropol, we decided to tour the attraction for the first time, prior to our departure. We walked the entire Metropol. It was a little scary for myself because the Metropol would move, when there was movement on it. Once we toured it, we went back to our hotel to pack up all of our belongs for our departure for Madrid in the early morning.

                                                       A View of Seville from Metropol

Inside the elevator of Metropol Parasol

Madrid, Spain

Early this morning, SJMC study abroad group arrived by the AVE train to Madrid around 11 a.m. We took an arranged bus to take our luggage and were dropped off to our 1st presentation of the morning with Vivocom. Presentation was amazing and the whole concept of Me into We being extremely important of mass consumers. The Koowall was another amazing concept. After the presentation, we wrote on messages on the wall, took pictures, and as a gift from Vivocom, we were all given a KooWall tee shirt.

The next day, we went to visit EL Pais. The School of Journalism and Mass Communications study abroad group, were given a tour of the facility and an oral presentation of Spain's # 1 Newspaper company. Afterward, the group divided up and went for lunch and shopping. That evening, a group of us went for our last dinner in the city of Madrid after our visit to the museum, to the Wok restaurant. The food was amazing. For my order, I had lemon chicken with white rice. After dinner, we took the subway back to the our hotel and pack up our luggage for our departure the next morning.

History of Andalusia & Flamenco

Andalusia is a city that is located in the southern part of Spain and consists of eight distinct provinces: Almeria, Candiz, Cordoba, Granada, Huelva, Jaen, Malaga, and Seville. It is one of the 17 regions in Spain. In 2006, the population of Andalusia was 7,975,672 and is the largest population of any of the discovered Spanish states. However, the region is the second largest population in Spain.  It is estimated that early civilization occurred during the Pre-Roman times. The Phoenician empire, which was founded by the Tartessos, had built its empire to assist in the trade in early twelfth century B.C.E.  During 700 B.C., Phoenicians founded Malaga, which was controlled by the ancient Romans and then later by Muslims from North Africa, including Arabs and Berbers, which are also known as the Moors. Andalusia was also known as the southern heartland for Muslim Spain. During the Middle Ages of the Muslim ruling, Andalusia became a tremendously wealthy and influential political factor, which help create scholarship and advances in many of the eight -district provincial areas. Cordoba, which is one of Andalusia eight districts areas, became the largest and richest city in all of Western Europe and one of the largest in the world, and the capital of Umayyad. During the half millennium of the Muslim ruling, the Moors established universities in Andalusia, and cultivated scholarships, including Western astronomy, medicine and medicines.  After five hundred years of Muslim ruling, it still remains influential on Andalusia’s culture identity.

The Moors left their region character through its architecture, language, and customs, and its tradition bullfights and gypsy Flamenco music. Because of the Muslim collapsing in 1031, it led to religious conflicts within the Muslims and then resulted in the renewal of Christian strength and culture in the north. During the declining period for Spain in the sixteenth century, Andalusia fell to consequences as well.  Flamenco originated from the region of Andalusia and influenced by the native Andalusian, Islamic, Sephardic, and Gypsy cultures that existed in Andalusia prior to and after the Reconquista, as well as Latin American and Cuban. The Golden Age of Flamenco dancing music developed between 1869-1910 in music cafes and followed by flamenco guitars.  

Assignment 1: Senses of the City of Sevilla

Dong!Dong!Dong!The riddling sound of the bell drifts through downtown Seville at every quarter past the hour. As I stand adjacent from La Cathedral de Sevilla and beside the La Casa de La Provincia, people from all walks of life steadily stroll up and down the streets. Birds chirping as they seek a stand still place, horses hooves clamping through the cobble stones, and maintenance attendants conducting street improvements creates sounds of  activity. The gloomy sky shifts the temperature from hot to cool. As I approach the Patio de Banderas, I encounter French speaking tourists capturing vivid monumental images of the city. Tourists pace through the deserted geometric square field  that is encircled with orange trees awaiting  to be picked and nourished. Steps away from La Casa de La Provincia, horse carriages are unoccupied with visitors and horses awaits for  signal for embarkment. The medieval architecture of La Cathedral de Sevilla sits at an angle awaiting for visitors to discover history behind its doors.

Seville, Spain

Seville, also known as Sevilla, is the artistic, cultural, and financial city located South of Spain.  The city is 200 years old and one of the oldest cities in Spain. According to Legends, Hercules discovered the city of Seville. However, historians argue that the area of Seville had existed during the Tharsis reign. About six centuries ago, the Romans were the first to govern entire Spain, where they colonized Italica. Italica is about 10 km of Seville and has historical architecture, such as the three houses, De Exedra, Los Pájaros or Hylas.

Both Roman emperors Trajan and Hadrian were born in the town of Italica. In 49 B.C., Julius Cesar renamed the town of Italica, Hispalis as it was also the first colony of the Roman Empire. Due to Italica’s expansion, it reached the city of Sevilla. The Moslem civilization had a huge impact on the city of Seville, until their reign lasted nearly 800 years ago. The Catholic monarchs defeated the kingdom of Granada. Seville is the provincial capital, seat government and parliament of the Communidad of Autónoma de Andalucía. Later Madrid became the capital of Spain, and Seville remained Spain’s major hub until the 17th century. By the 18th century, Spain had fallen into an economic decline. Between the 19th and early 20th centuries poverty led to political conflict and ultimately to civil war in Spain.

The city is populated with more than 700,000 people, which is equivalent to 41 million in Spain. The city of Seville surrounds both north and south of the plain of the Guadalquivir River and it is connected to the outlet of Sanlúcar de Barrameda that sits on the Atlantic Ocean. In 1492, the conquest of the Americas transformed the Seville into one of the most affluent cities in all of Europe. Some of the city's most historical buildings are the Torre del Oro, Torre de Plata , Giralda , Patio de los Naranjos , the area of Triana , the Macarena Walls and the Alcazar . The Mudejar churches that are still in existence from 800 years are the Iglesia de San Marcos, the Iglesia de Santa Catalina and the Church of San Pedro.

In addition, many of the more recent historic buildings exist from 1929, Ibero-American Exposion of 1929, such as the Plaza de España and the Parque Maria Luisa. In 1992, the event was repeated when the Exposion took place again in Sevilla, attracting thousands of visitors from around the world. Spain’s predominantly practiced religion is Roman Catholic and its first language is Castilian Spanish. The countries world time zone is 1 hour ahead of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). The country uses Euro currency. The countries dialing code is +34 and telephone area code is 95. Spain’s electricity capability is 220 volts, 50 Hz - round two-pin plugs.