Spanish Notebook. A Subjective View

«If you think about it, there is surprisingly much in common between Spain and Russia. Both are the ends of Europe, one – the western, the other – the eastern. Both nations were under the yoke of foreign conquerors for... many centuries: the Spaniards – the Moors, the Russians – the Mongols. In the history of each, two tyrants played a formative role (almost at the same time), whose activities halted the movement towards Renaissance and democracy for a long time: in Spain – Philip II, in Russia – Ivan IV. Both countries were torn apart by civil wars, leading to the rise of butchers and executioners: in Spain – Francisco Franco, in Russia – Joseph Stalin. And to this day, people in both countries continue to divide each other into conditional "reds" and "whites"»