Certain walking tours in Madrid offer a deeper look into Spain’s lesser-known Black history.
A new focus within the capital city of Spain provides visitors with new insight into its own Black community. Typically, these histories sit under the radar in favor of more positive perceptions of European achievement.
However, these walking tours bypass the popular architecture and art to talk about this darker history, such as Spain’s role in colonialism. Spain was one of the many European countries heavily involved in the Transatlantic slave trade, with these tour guides ensuring that the legacy of those impacted remains alive.
This has become especially important as this history in rarely taught in Spanish classrooms. This erasure left many Black Spaniards feeling unrepresented in their country’s legacy. However, one guide is doing his part to promote Black history across Europe.
Kwame Ondo, originally from Equatorial Guinea–a former colonial entity of Spain–later settled with his family to the Spanish region of Andalusia, Reuters reports. Describing the nation’s past as a “silenced history,” Ondo now operates a tour line, Afroiberica Tours, to unearth this diverse underbelly of Spain.
While all are welcome to learn more about Spain’s true diversity, he especially wants Black Americans visiting the country to learn about this sector of the Diaspora. He aims for Black people to discover this connection within Spain that mainstream teachings often disregard.
Source: Madrid Unearths Hidden Black History Through Launched Walking Tours
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