Everything Everywhere Daily: History, Science, Geography & More - Potpourri Spain: Columbus, Dinner Time, and Joint Custody Island

Episode Date: May 17, 2021

In the process of doing research, I often come across various stories which are interesting but might not be worthy of a full episode. They often are more like facts than stories. Every so often I save up those stories for a special episode because I really hate to let things go to waste. So without further ado, here is the Spanish potpourri episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the process of doing research, I often come across various stories which are interesting, but might not be worthy of a full episode. They're more like snippets than stories. And every so often I save these things up for a special episode because I really hate to let things go to waste. So without further ado, here is the Spanish Popery episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. What if your perceptions about the past were wrong? ThruLine is a podcast that takes you back in time to uncover the parts of the story, that may have gone unnoticed. It effectively turned day into night.

And how it shaped the world now. Time travel with us every week on the Thulein podcast from NPR. This episode is sponsored by the tourist office of Spain. In the past, I've talked about different aspects of what Spain has to offer. Foods, festivals, history, beaches, mountains, museums, restaurants, and live entertainment. There is a good reason why 82 million people a year, visit Spain, making it the second most visited country in the world. If you've been to Spain, you know what I'm talking about. And if you haven't been to Spain, then you owe it to yourself

to make a visit. You can start researching your dream trip to Spain today by visiting Spain.info, where you can get everything you need to know to plan your Spanish adventure. Once again, that's Spain. Our first story on this episode has to do with the borders of Spain. Most countries have set established borders. They've worked out a deal with their neighbors, and there's an agreement as to where one country ends and the next country begins. For Spain, this is mostly the case as well. However, there is one notable exception. The border between France and Spain is set and mostly goes through the Pyrenees Mountains. The far western end of the border, however, is the Beodosa River. For about 10 kilometers, starting at the Atlantic Ocean, the river serves as the border.

In the middle of that river is an island known as Feasant Island. It's a really small island with no real significance outside of its geographic oddness. It's only about 200 meters by 40 meters in size, and there are no buildings on the island, and no one lives there. Normally, when there's an island in the middle of a river that serves as a border, you have two options. One, you put the border somewhere down the middle of the island, or two, the entire island is given to one country or the other. The Spanish and French, however, went for option number three. In 1659, Spain and France signed the Treaty of the Pyrenees, which was the conclusion to the 25-year-long Franco-Spanish War.

The final treaty signing ceremony took place on Fezon Island, with both Louis XIV the 14th of France and Philip the 4th of Spain in attendance. The agreement was to share the island. However, they don't share it at the same time. From February 1st through July 31st, the island is spent. part of Spain, and from August 1st through January 31st, it's part of France. There is nothing on the island other than a marker that recognizes that the treaty was signed there. The local communities from France and Spain each access the island once every six months to clean up litter, and that's

about it. The rest of the year, no one else is allowed on the island. The island is slowly eroding from the river, and at some point in the future, there might not even be an island to share. Story number two has to do with Christopher Columbus. All of you know who Christopher Columbus is and why he's famous. This story isn't about that. Columbus died in 1506 at the age of 54 in the town of Viadolid in Spain. Columbus was buried in a convent in Via Doliad, which was the nearest place he could be buried. However, his son Diego wanted his body buried in Seville, so it was moved sometime around 1509

to the convent at La Cartauga, which was an island in the river near. Seville. Then, around 1513, the body was moved yet again to the cathedral of Seville. Columbus's wish was actually to be buried in the new world, and at the time of his death, there wasn't anywhere in the new world which was dignified enough for his tomb. By 1537, however, Santo Domingo, the oldest city in the Western Hemisphere, had built a cathedral and the remains of Columbus were sent across the Atlantic to reside there. Over time, Santa Domingo lessened importance to the Spanish Empire. In 1795, Spain ceded all of Hispaniola, including Santo Domingo, to the French. The body of Columbus was too important to be left behind, so it was once again moved

this time to Havana, Cuba. Then in 1898, Cuba became independent, and Columbus made his last trip across the Atlantic, once again, back to Spain, and the Seville Cathedral. The problem was, over the centuries, things became confusing. In 1886, workers in the Santa Domingo Cathedral found a heavy lead box with the words, illustrious and distinguished male Don Cristobal Cologne. Inside the box was a partial set of male human remains. Everyone in Santa Domingo just assumed it was Columbus's remains. The remains suffered arthritis-like symptoms, as Columbus did,

so people in Santa Domingo claimed that it was still the remains of Columbus. In 1992, they transferred their remains to a new building called the Columbus Lighthouse, which was intended to be a mausoleum for Columbus. However, Seville also claimed to be the burial site of Columbus. Inside the cathedral of Seville, there is a huge mausoleum for Columbus as well. In 2003, the remains inside the Seville crypt had their DNA tested. The remains were very similar to the DNA found in the tombs of Columbus' brother and son. As of today, the remains in Santo Domingo haven't been tested.

So, the remains of Columbus are probably in Seville? but there's a theory that his remains are actually in both cities. Until the DNA in Santo Domingo can be tested, we'll never really know for sure. My third story has to do with something in Spain, which is a rather unique custom to the country. Dinner time. If you've been to Spain, you'll know that they tend to eat dinner unusually late. It's not at all uncommon for people in Spain to eat dinner around 9, 10, or 11 in the evening. And it isn't just restaurants.

Primetime television doesn't even start until 10,000. 30. So why is everything in Spain so late in the evening? Well, there are two reasons for it. The first is that Spain is really in the wrong time zone. If you look at a map, Spain is in the same time zone as Germany and Poland. Yet, they're south of Ireland and Britain and attached to Portugal, all of which are in a time zone one hour earlier. Why is Spain in the time zone that it's in? Back in World War II, Franco adjusted the time zone of Spain so that it was on the same time as the rest of Europe. After the war, they just never bothered to change the time zone back. The result was, at the time of sunset, it would be much later on the clock than it would be in the

rest of Europe. The second reason has to do with the Spanish tradition of the siesta. Most people in Spain take a two-hour break between about two to four in the afternoon, where they go home and take a long lunch. Traditionally, they would also take a nap. However, most people don't actually nap anymore. The result is that the workday in Spain often starts at around 9 a.m. but doesn't end until 8 p.m., mainly because of the two hours in the middle of the day, doesn't count as part of the workday. There is a movement to both change the time zone and to get rid of the siesta. The time zone change might be easier to accomplish because it's just a matter of changing the time by law. Getting rid of the siesta, however, might be a far greater

challenge, as it's a cultural change. Many restaurants in Spain, especially those which are in tourist areas do open early to cater to non-Spaniers who want to eat around 7 or 8 p.m. However, be prepared to eat a little later if you're in an area without tourists. Also, don't be surprised if stores are closed between 2 and 4. Just come back later in the evening, and they'll probably be open. The associate producer of Everything Everywhere Daily is Thor Thompson. Today's 5-star review comes from listener Simon P. over at Podcast Republic. They write, What an excellent podcast. I tune in from Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, and really enjoy that your podcast has a very well researched and international focus. Thank you for the educational listening.

Well, thank you, Simon. I'm glad you enjoy it. The world is a really big place, and you can't really understand the world without looking beyond your own borders. Remember, if you leave a five-star review, you too can have your review read on the show.