1936 On the Continent

behind their fans, but it is quite obvious that they are thrilled to the marrow.
    The
matador
, in gold and brocade, steps forward, all alone. His
muleta
, the red cloth, conceals his sword. The maddened bull charges. Sometimes you think, and so does the crowd, that the
matador’s
last moment has arrived. At such times the spectators stand up, moan, neigh and exhibit every sign of intolerable excitement. But the
matador
always manages to fling the
muleta
over the bull’s head and to step aside. Very brave and all that sort of thing, but if you know anything about showmanship you will immediately realise that the pig-tailed gentleman—all
matadores
wear a pig-tail—deliberately arranges matters so that he should appear to be in danger of instant death.
    In the end the
matador
kills the bull with his sword.
    Of course, one bull is nothing. The usual number to be killed in one afternoon is four or five. Also, there are all sorts of trumpet calls and other ceremonial signals. Similarly, there is abuse of the president, or of the
picadores
or
banderilleros
if they make a mistake of any sort. And when the last bull has been killed the more courageous members of the audience rush into the ring and kick the dead bull.
    Needless to say, the
matador
is hero-worshipped by all, something like a cross between a matinee idol and a boxing champion in European countries.
El Escorial
    When you are in Madrid you must do what is done so far as to visit El Escorial. If you do not, people willshake their heads in disapproval, though if you do some others may shake their heads in pity. El Escorial was built by or for a Spanish king and took twenty years to raise. It is really, at all events mainly, a burial-place, and it contains scores of tombs, both full and empty. It has 120 miles of corridors, eighty-six staircases, eighty-eight fountains and hundreds and hundreds of doors, also a number of tapestries which you may or may not admire. Still, one never knows, you may enjoy a visit to El Escorial.
Toledo
    But Toledo is a very different matter. You can reach it via Aranjuez by train in less than two hours, and I am sure you will not regret whatever time you spend there. I have no hesitation in saying that Toledo is the most interesting town, not only in Spain, but also in the whole of Europe.
    Toledo’s history is the history of Spain, and you see traces of every phase wherever you look. Toledo is all the more beautiful and impressive because it is in barren country. It stands aloft on a rugged precipitous hill, with the gorge of the Tagus surrounding it on three sides.
    For some reason that no one seems to know you are more likely to meet Spanish gipsies in this region than anywhere else in Spain—at least that is the experience of many people I know.
    It is hardly necessary to tell you what to see in Toledo. On the one hand, you may prefer just to
be
in Toledo; and on the other, you cannot help seeing majesty, beauty and loveliness wherever you go. As you probably know, Toledo figured very importantly during the Moorish occupation of Spain, when it had 200,000 inhabitants and was the centre of the only important Hebrew civilisation of modern times. Long before that it was a Roman town, the capital of the Visigothic Empire. From the Moors it was captured by the Cid—Spain’s national hero—and was thereafter for 500 years the capital of Christian Spain. To-day, with only 23,000 inhabitants, Toledo reflects all this; and more, in every building, every stone.
    Picking out a few of the sights at random, you will be interested to see the two synagogues, S. Maria la Blanca,founded in the twelfth century, and Del Transito, built by Samuel Levi, treasurer to Pedro El Cruel, around 1366. Both are interesting examples of the Moorish style. The two synagogues were seized by S. Vicente Ferrar in 1405. This saint roused the people of Toledo to fury until they massacred all or most of the Jewish inhabitants. The small but lovely mosque is still in existence, and now an “ancient monument” in the hands of the Spanish Government.
Toledo Steel
    Toledo has a magnificent cathedral, and if you happen to time your visit for Holy Week, you can witness religious ceremonials of great pomp and splendour.
    Most of Toledo, including some of the churches, bear traces of Moorish influence, and nearly all the houses are Moorish. There is a long entrance passage with an immense door studded with nails. Beyond this passage you come to the
patio
, or court,