IN SUNNY SPAIN

Decision to go to Spain

• After finishing the fourth year of his medical course, Rizal decided to go to study in Spain.

• His elder brother readily approved his going to Spain and so did his two sisters Saturnina (Neneng) and Lucia.

• Rizal, however, did not seek his parents’ permission and blessings to go abroad, because he knew that they, especially his mother, would disapprove it.

Secret Mission

• To observe keenly the life and culture, languages and customs, industries and commerce, and governments and laws of the European nations.

Departure for Spain

• Rizal’s departure was kept secret to avoid detection by the Spanish authorities and the friars

• The kind Jesuit priests gave him letters of recommendations to members of their Society in Barcelona.

• Rizal departed on May 3, 1882 with the following route: Manila – Singapore – Colombo – through the Suez Canal – Naples and Marseiles – Barcelona.

Barcelona

• Rizal reached his destination – Barcelona on June 16, 1882.

• Rizal found Barcelona to be a great city. With an atmoshpere of freedom and liberalism, and its people were open-hearted, hospitable and courageous.

• The Filipinos in Barcelona, some of whom were his schoolmates in Ateneo, welcomed Rizal. They threw a party for Rizal at their favorite café in Plaza de Cataluna.

Amor Patrio

• In Barcelona, Rizal wrote a nationalistic essay entitled “Amor Patrio” (Love of Country).

• He wrote this essay on the request of his friend, Basilio Teodoro Moran, publisher of the first bilingual newspaper in Manila, the Diariong Tagalog.

• He wrote this essay using the pen name Laong Laan.

• The essay caused quite a stir among the readers in the Philippines.

Amor Patrio

“Child we love play; Adolescent we forget it; youth, we seek our ideal; disillusioned, we weep and go in quest of something more positive and more useful; parent, the children die and time gradually erases our pain just as the air of the sea slowly effaces the shores as the boat departs from them. But, love of country can never be effaced, once it has entered the heart, because it carries in itself the divine stamp that makes it eternal and imperishable.”

Amor Patrio

“It has always been said that love is the most potent force behind the most sublime deeds; very well, of all loves, the love of country is what produced the greates, the most heroic…Read history…”

Madrid

• Upon Paciano’s advise, Rizal left Barcelona in the fall of 1882 and established himself in Madrid, the capital of Spain.

• At Madrid he enrolled at the Universidad Central de Madrid (Central University of Madrid).

• There he took two courses: Medicine and Philosophy and Letters.

• Aside from his studies, Rizal also took painting and sculpture at the Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando

Madrid

• Rizal also took private lessons in French, German, and English;

• Rizal led a Spartan life in Madrid. He lived frugally, spending his money only on food, clothing, lodging, and books.

• His only “vice” was taking part in the Madrid Lottery.

• He spends his leisure time reading and writing at his boarding house, attending reunions with fellow Filipino students and practicing fencing and shooting.

Madrid

• Amongst Rizal’s collection of books are:

Bible

Hebrew Grammar

Lives of the Presidents of the U.S.

Complete Works of Voltaire

Complete Works of Horace

Complete Works of C. Bernard

History of the French Revolution

The Wandering Jew

Ancient Poetry

Works of Thucydides

The Byzantine Empire

The Characters by La Bruyere

The Renaissance

Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet

Beecher Stowe

Works of Alexander Dumas

Louis XIV and His Court

Madrid

Consuelo Ortiga y Perez

• During Rizal’s stay in Madrid, he would frequently visit the home of Don Pablo Ortiga y Rey who lived with his son Rafael and daugther Consuelo.

• Don Pablo was a former city mayor of Manila during the administration of the liberal governor general Carlos Ma. De la Torre.

• Rizal was attracted by Consuelo’s beauty and vivacity. As he made a poem entitled A La Senorita C.O. y P. to express his admiration for her.

Consuelo Ortiga y Perez

• Rizal, however, backed out from his romance with Consuelo because

(1) he was still engaged with Leonor Rivera and

(2) his friend and co-worker in the Propaganda Movement, Eduardo de Lete was madly in love with Consuelo.

Circulo Hispano-Filipino

• Shortly after arriving in Madrid in 1882, Rizal joined the Circulo Hispano-Filipino, a society of liberal Spaniards and Filipinos.

• As a member of this society Rizal wrote a poem entitled “Me Piden Versos” (They ask me for Verses)

Masonry

• Freemasonry or the Masons, were a secret society composed of liberal and republican Spaniards in Spain. Amongst them were prominent and intellectual Spaniards.

• The Spanish Masons openly and freely criticized the government policies and particularly lambasted the friars.

• In March 1883, Rizal joined the Masonic lodge called Acacia in Madrid.

• Later he transferred to Lodge Solidaridad where he became a Master Mason.

Masonry

• Rizal joined Freemasonry to secure their aid in the fight against the Friars in the Philippines.

• Amongst the prominent members of the Masons, included, Miguel Morayta, statesman and professor; Francisco Pi y Margal, journalist and former President of the short-lived First Spanish Republic; Manuel Becerra, Minister of Ultramar; Emilio Junoy, journalist and member of the Spanish Cortes; and Juan Zorilla, parliamentarian and head of the Republican Progressive Party.

Financial Worries

• Because of drought and locust the harvest of rice and sugarcane failed in Calamba.

• The manager of the Dominican-owned hacienda increased the rentals of the lands cultivated by the Rizal family

• Due to this the monthly allowances of Rizal in Madrid were late in arrival and there were times when they never arrived.

Financial Worries

• On June 24, 1884 because Rizal was broke, he was unable to eat his meals for the day.

• He attended his class in the university with an empty stomach.

• Rizal even participated in a Greek language contest and won the gold medal.

• Fortunately, in the evening, Rizal was the guest speaker at banquet held in honor of Juan Luna and Felix Resurreccion Hidalgo, where Rizal was able to eat dinner.

Salute to Luna and Hidalgo

• The Filipino community in Spain sponsored a banquet to celebrate the double victory of the Filipino artist in the National Exposition of Fine Arts in Madrid.

• Juan Luna, with his Spoliarium won the first prize.

• Felix Resurreccion Hidalgo won the second prize with his Christian Virgins Exposed to the Populace

Salute to Luna and Hidalgo

• Rizal in his speech, saluted Luna and Hidalgo as two glories for Spain and the Philippines, whose artistic achievements transcended geographical frontiers and racial origins.

• In Rizal’s speech, he said genius is universal.

“Genius knows no country, genius sprouts everwhere, genius is like light, air, the patrimony of everybody, cosmopolitan like space, like life, like God.”

Student Demonstrations

• Nov. 20-22, 1884 the city of Madrid exploded in bloody riots by the students of Unibersidad Central de Madrid.

• Dr. Miguel Morayta, professor of history, at the opening ceremonies of the academic year proclaimed the “freedom of science and the teacher.”

• Such liberal view was condemned by the Catholic bishops of Spain, and promptly excommunicated Dr. Morayta.

Student Demonstrations

• Angered by the bigotry of the Catholic bishops, the university students rose in violent demonstrations.

• Practically all students in various colleges joined the massive demonstrations including Rizal, Valentin Ventura and other Filipinos.

• Many university professors openly supported the student rioters.

Student Demonstrations

• Bloody fights raged in the university buildings and in the city streets. The students armed with clubs, stones, and fists, fought the government forces.

• Fortunately, Rizal and other Filipinos did not received even a cane blow, nor taken prisoner, nor arrested.

Completion of Studies

• The academic year 1884-1885 Rizal passed all subjects leading to the degree of Doctor of Medicine.

• Rizal, however, did not present his thesis required for graduation nor paid the corresponding fees, so Rizal was not awarded a Doctor’s diploma.

• Rizal also finished his studies in Philosophy and Letters and was awarded the degree on June 19, 1885, his 24th birthday.

Completion of Studies

• By obtaining a degree in Philosophy and Letters, Rizal became qualified to be a professor of humanities in any Spanish university.

• He did not bother to secure the post-graduate degree of Doctor of Medicine because it was also good only for teaching.

• Rizal knew, however, that with his brown color and Asian racial ancestry no friar-owned university or college in the Philippines would accept him in its faculty staff.