In Sunny Spain

In Sunny Spain1882-1885Reporters: Hannah B. RegachoAngelyn MacascasRizal left the Philippines for the first time on May 3, 1882 and headed towards Spain using a passport under the name Jose Mercado, obtained for him by his uncle Antonio Rivera, father of Leonor Rivera. He travelled across Europe, including France and Germany, until 1886.

10 Little-known facts about Rizals life in Spain includes:Rizal had a limited allowance of P50 a month when he was studying in Madrid. This was further reduced to P35 a month when their family farm in Laguna had bad harvests.Rizal first lived at the Amor de Rios house close to the Universidad Central de Madrid.Rizal liked to take light meals with wine at the Viva Madrid restaurant, also a favorite of journalist and revolutionary Graciano Lopez Jaena. 4. While studying medicine at the Universidad Central de Madrid, he also went to the nearby Escuela de Bellas Artes de San Fernando to study painting.5. Rizals favorite park in Spain is the Parque del Buen Retiro which inspired him to name his place of exile in Dapitan, Zamboanga as Mi Retiro.6. Rizal attended theatrical presentations, music and poetry recitals and book launchings at the Ateneo de Madrid, which is not an educational institution but an exclusive mens club.

7. There were times when Rizal was in dire financial difficulties in Spain. Once, he had to pawn his sister Saturninas ring to pay for his exams. At another time, he did not at all for one whole day. However, in his letters to his family, he only mentioned his high grades and victories in contests. 8. Rizal and the other Filipino propagandists lobbied at the Congreso de los Diputados (the Spanish congress) for the recognition of the Filipinos right to autonomy and for equal rights with Spanish citizens. 9. A marker stands along the corridor of the Colegio de Medicina in Madrid indicating Rizal studied medicine there from October 2, 1882 until June 1884.10. In an undated letter to his family, Rizal indicated that his last place of residence in Spain was the Casa Cedaceros. He told his family that he planned to study ophthalmology in Germany because the eyesight of his mother Teodora Alonso had gotten worse and he wanted to treat her when he returned to the Philippines.After finishing the 4th year of medical course In the University of Sto. Tomas, Jose Rizal being disgusted with the antiquated method of instruction in this Dominican-owned university and the racial prejudice of Dominican professors against Filipino students, decided to complete his studies to Spain was a constitutional monarchy under a written constitution which granted human rights to the people, particularly freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and freedom assembly. Aside from this ostensible reason, he had another reason, which was more important than merely completing his studies in Spain this was his secret mission.Rizals Secret missionThis mission whom Rizal conceived with approval of his order brother Paciano was toobservekeenlythelifeandculture,Languagesandcustoms,industriesand commerce, and government and laws of the European nations in order to prepare himself in the mighty task of liberating his oppressed people from Spanish tyranny.This was evidenced in his farewell letter which was delivered to his parents shortly after his departure for Spain.Secret Departure for SpainRizalsdepartureforSpainwas keptsecrettoavoiddetectionbytheSpanish authorities and the friars. Even his own parents did not know. Before his secret he wrote a farewell letter for his beloved parents and another one for his sweet heart Leonor Rivera-both delivered shortly after he sailed away. On May 3, 1882, Rizal departed on board the Spanish steamer Salvadora bound for Singapore. With tears in his eyes and gloom in his heart, he gazed at the receding skyline of ManilaSingaporeDuring the voyage to Singapore he carefully observed the people and things onboardthesteamer.Thereweresixteenpassengers,includinghimself.Theship captainDonatoLechafromAsturiasSpainbefriendedhim. On May 8, 1882, while the steamer was approaching Singapore Rizal saw a beautiful island. Fascinated by its scenic beauty, he remembered Talim Island with susong dalaga. The following day the Salvadora docked at Singapore. Rizal landed registered at Hotel Dela Paz, and spent two days on sight seeing soiree of the city which was colony of England. He saw the famous botanical garden the beautiful Buddhist temple the busy shopping district and the statue if sir Tomas Stanford Raffles (founder of singapore).From Singapore to ColomboOnMay17the Djemnah reach point Galle a seacoast town in southern Ceylon (Sri Lanka). Rizal wasunimpressedbythistown.Onhistravelleddiaryhewrote:Thegeneral appearance of point Galle is picturesque but lonely and quite and at the same time sad. The following day the Djemnah weighed anchor and resumed the voyage towards Colombo, the capital of Ceylon. After a few hours of sailing he reached this cityonthesameday.Hedelightfulscribbledonhisdiary:Colomboismore beautiful smart and elegant than Singapore PointGalle and Manila. In Singapore Rizal transferred to another ship Djemnah a French steamer which left Singapore for Europe on May 11. It was a larger and cleaner vessel which carried more passengers. Rizal attempted to converse with his fellow passengers in French but to his surprise and embarrassment he found out that his book French couldnotbeunderstoodsothathehadtospeakinmixedSpanish-Latin supplementedbymuchgesticulationsand sketchingonpaper.First Trip to Suez CanalFrom Colombo the Djemnah continued the voyage crossing the Indian Ocean to the caf of Guardafui, Africa. For the first time, Rizal sighted the barren coast ofAfrica, which he called an inhospitable land but famous. The next stop over-in Aden-Rizal went ashore to see the sights. He found the city hotter than Manila. What impressed most was the beautiful moonlight which reminded im of calamba and his family. It took the Djemnah five days to traverse the Suez Canal. At Port Said the Mediterranean terminal of Suez Canal Rizal landed in order to see the interesting sight.He was fascinated to hear the multi racial inhabitants speaking babel of tongues.Naples and MarseillesFrom Port Said the Djemnah proceeded on its way to Europe. He visited the famous chateau dif, where Dantes hero of the count of Monte Cristo,was imprisoned. Barcelona on the afternoon of June 15, Rizal left Marseille by the train for the last lap of his trip to Spain. After the passport inspection atPortbouRizal Continuedhis trip by rail finally reaching his destination- Barcelona on June 16,1882. Rizals first impression of Barcelona the greatest city of Catalua and Spains second largest city was unfavorable. He thought that its ugly with dirty little inn sand inhospitable residents because he happen to stay upon his arrival at dingy inn situated ion on unimpressive narrow street in the towns most ugly side and the staff and guest in this inn were indifferent to him. Later he changes his bad impression and came to like the city.Amor PatrioInprogressiveBarcelonaRizalwroteanationalisticessayentitled Amor Patrio (Love of Country), his first article written on Spanish soil. He sent this article to his friend in manila Basilio Teodoro Moran, publisher of Diariong Tagalog the first Manila bilingual news paper (Spanish and Tagalog), and his pen name was Laong Laan, and the Spanish text was the one originally written by Rizal in Barcelona. The tag along text was a translation made by M.H. Delpilar.Manila moves to MadridWhile sojourning in Barcelona, Rizal received sadnews about the cholera that was ravaging Manila and the provinces.Many people had died and morewere dying daily. Sad news from the Philippines was the chatty letter of chengoy recounting the unhappiness of Leonor Rivera, who was getting thinner because of the absence oflove one.Life in Madrid November 3, 1882, Rizal enrolled in university Central de Madrid in two courses Medicine and Philosophy and letters. Aside from his heavy studies from the university he studied painting and sculpture in the academy of fine arts of San Fernando. Rizal led a Spartan life in Madrid. He new that he came to Spain to study and prepared himself for service to his fatherland. According, he rigidly budgeted his money and time. Romance with Consuelo Ortiga Y PerezBefore his romance with Consuelo could blossom into a serious affair he suddenly back out for two reasons: 1.He wasstill engaged toLeonor Rivera and2.His friend andco-worker inthe propagandaMovementEduardoDeLete,was madly inlovewith Consuelo and he had no wish to break there friendship because of a pretty girl.

Rizal was not a handsome man. In physique he was neither dashing nor imposing, for he was a shy small man. But he possessedanauraofcharismaduetohismany-splendoredtalentsand noble character which made him attractive to young women. No wonder the prettier ofDon Pablos Daughter fell in love with him. Rizal being a lonely man in foreign country far from his natal land was attracted to Consuelos beauty and vivacity. He even composed a lovely poem on august 22, 1883, dedicated to her. In this poem titledA LaSenioritaC. O.yP. He expressed his admiration for her. Rizal as a MasonIn March 1883, hejoined the Masonic longed called Acacia in the Madrid his reason for becoming a masonwastosecureFreemasonrysaidinhisfightagainthefriarsinthe Philippines.Sincethefriarsusedthecatholicreligionasshieldtoentrench themselvesinpowerandwealthandtopersecuteFilipinopatriots.Laterhe transferred to lodged Solidaridad(Madrid), were he became a Master Mason on November 15, 1890. Still later on February 15, 1892 hewas awarded the diploma as a Master Mason by Le Grand Orient de France in Paris.

Studies Completed in SpainRizal completed his medical course in Spain. He was conferred the degree oflicentiate in Medicine by the Universidad Central de Madrid on June 21, 1884. The next academic year (1884-85) he studied and passed all subjects leading to the degree of Doctor of Medicine. At long last Rizal completed his studies in Spain. By obtaining the degree of Licentiate in philosophy and letters, he became qualified to be a professor of Humanities in any Spanish university.Studies Completed in SpainAnd by receiving his degree of licentiate in Medicine, he became a full-fledge physician, qualified to practice Medicine because it was together with the licentiate and the philosophy and letters good only for teaching purpose. Being the man of high intelligence and foresight he knew that with his brown color and Asian racial ancestry no friar owned university or colleges in the Philippines would accept hi inits faculty staff.