The Spanish peninsula, known to the Romans as Hispania, is
sharply separated from the rest of Europe by the Pyrenees Mountains. At the
same time the nearness of the peninsula to Africa has always brought it into
intimate relations with that continent. Just as Russia has formed a link
between Asia and Europe, so Spain has served as a natural highway from Africa
to Europe.
THE SPANISH PEOPLE
The first settlers in Spain, of whom we know anything,
were the Iberians. They may have emigrated from northern Africa. After them
came the Celts, who overran a large part of the peninsula and appear to have
mingled with the Iberians, thus forming the mixed people known as Celtiberians.
In historic times Spain was conquered by the Carthaginians, who left few traces
of their occupation, by the Romans, who thoroughly Romanized the country, by
the Visigoths, who founded a Germanic kingdom, and lastly by the Moors, who
introduced Arabian culture and the faith of Islam. [27] These invaders were not
numerous enough greatly to affect the population, in which the Celtiberian
strain is still predominant.
[27] The Arabs and Berbers
who settled in Spain are generally called Moors.
