Open Access Article Intercultural Communication

Selling Spain: Tourism, Tensions, and Islam in Iberia

Jessica R. Boll (1)
1. MacAllister Hall 313, Carroll University, 100 N. East Ave., Waukesba, WI 53186, USA
https://doi.org/10.36923/jicc.v20i2.304

Article Sidebar

Issue
Vol. 20 No. 2 (2020)
Submitted
2019 February 5
Published
2025 May 28
Keywords:
    Spanish tourism, halal tourism, al-Andalus, Islamophobia, Islamophilia
Ask AI (Dimensions)
Download PDF

Abstract

Spain’s relationship with Islam is both phobic and -philic, attitudes revealed in policy and practice throughout the country. This paper examines the ways in which Spain’s unique multicultural, multi-religious past affects the nation’s present, specifically with regard to tourism. The aim is to situate Spanish concerns amongst the broader context of cultural tourism by exposing how Spain’s history is concurrently sold to Muslims and non-Muslims and providing insight into how the representation of this history reflects (or rejects) the nation’s current circumstances. Although Spain's tourist industry often capitalizes on Iberia’s Islamic past, marketing the peninsula as a leading destination for both “halal tourism” and for those seeking glimpses of medieval al-Andalus, Christian-Muslim tensions continue to plague the nation as controversies, prejudice, and violence abound.

Full text article

Generated from XML file

References

Afinoguénova, E. & J. Martí-Olivella (2008). Introduction: A nation under tourists’ eyes: Tourism and identity discourses in Spain. In E. Afinoguénova & J. Martí-Olivella (eds.), Spain Is (Still) Different: Tourism and Discourse in Spanish Identity (xi-xxxviii). Lanham, MD, USA: Lexington Books. Google Scholar | WorldCat

Afshar, H. (2013). The politics of fear: What does it mean to those who are otherized and feared? Ethnic and Racial Studies, 36(1): 9-27. Google Scholar | WorldCat

Agence France-Presse (2018). Spain set to replace US as second most popular tourism destination. The Guardian, January 16, 2018. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jan/16/spain-set-to-replace-us-as-second-most-popular-tourism-destination (accessed July 30, 2020). Google Scholar | WorldCat

Aguilera-Carnerero, C. (2018). Islamophobia in Spain: National Report 2017. In E. Bayrakli & F. Hafez (eds.), European Islamophobia Report 2017 (597-616). Istanbul: SETA. http://www.islamophobiaeurope.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Spain.pdf (accessed July 30, 2020). Google Scholar | WorldCat

Albert, M.J. (2017). El obispo cree qua la Mezquita es arte bizantino y que "los moros" solo paragon por las obras. Cordópolis. http://cordopolis.es/2017/01/15/el-obispo-cree-que-la-mezquita-es-arte-bizantino-y-que-los-moros-solo-pagaron-las-obras (accessed July 30, 2020). Google Scholar | WorldCat

Altares, G. (2015). La oportunidad perdida de Coórdoba. El País. http://cultura.elpais.com/cultura/2015/01/23/actualidad/1422042671_875492.html (accessed July 30, 2020). Google Scholar | WorldCat

Anderson, K. (1995). Vancouver’s Chinatown: Racial Discourse in Canada, 1875-1980. Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press. Google Scholar | WorldCat

Asenjo Dominguez, A. (2018). Spain international tourism breaks records for fifth straight year. Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-spain-economy-tourism/spain-international-tourism-breaks-records-for-fifth-straight-year-idUSKBN1F01EI?il=0 (accessed July 30, 2020). Google Scholar | WorldCat

Attanapola, C. & R. Lund (2013). Contested identities of indigenous people: Indigenization or integration of the Veddas in Sri Lanka. Singapore Journal of Tropical Geography, 34(2): 172-187. Google Scholar | WorldCat

Barke, M. & J. Towner (1996). Exploring the history of leisure and tourism in Spain. In M. Barke, J. Towner & M.T. Newton (eds.), Tourism in Spain: Critical Issues (3-34). Wallingford, UK: C.A.B. International. Google Scholar | WorldCat

Beck, L. (2012). Moros en la costa: Islam in Spanish visual and media culture. Historia Actual Online, 29: 93-106. Google Scholar | WorldCat

Boll, J. (2017). Irony made manifest: Cultural contention and Córdoba’s Mosque-Cathedral. Journal of Cultural Geography, 34(3): 275-302. Google Scholar | WorldCat

Boll, J. (2018). Uncommon denominators? Christian-Muslim relations and the legacy of al-Andalus in contemporary Spain. In G. Truda & J. Spurk (eds.), On Migrants Routes in the Mediterranean. Political and Juridical Strategies (97-112). Fisciano, Italy: ICSR Mediterannean Knowledge. Google Scholar | WorldCat

Boorstin, D. (1961). The Image: A Guide to Pseudo-Events in America. New York: Vintage. Google Scholar | WorldCat

Bott, Esther. (2018). Among the piranhas: The troubling lifespan of ethnic tropes in “tribal” tourism to Vietnam. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 26(8): 1291-1307. Google Scholar | WorldCat

Boukhris, L. (2017). The Black Paris project: The production and reception of a counter-hegemonic tourism narrative in postcolonial Paris. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 25(5): 684-702. Google Scholar | WorldCat

de Blas, E.G. (2017). La islamofobia se desata en las redes y llega a la calle tras los atentados. El País. https://politica.elpais.com/politica/2017/08/22/actualidad/1503428186_516127.html (accessed July 30, 2020). Google Scholar | WorldCat

de Bunes Ibarra, M.A. (1989). La imagen de los musulmanes y del Norte de Africa en la España de los siglos XVI y XVII: Los carácteres de una hostilidad. Madrid: CSIC. Google Scholar | WorldCat

Calderwood, E. (2014). The invention of al-Andalus: Discovering the past and creating the present in Granada’s Islamic tourism sites. The Journal of North African Studies, 19(1): 27-55. Google Scholar | WorldCat

CrescentRating (2018). Global Muslim Travel Index (GMTI) 2018. Singapore: CrescentRating. https://www.crescentrating.com/halal-muslim-travel-market-reports.html (accessed July 30, 2020). Google Scholar | WorldCat

Corsale, A. (2017) Jewish heritage tourism in Bucharest: Reality and visions. The Geographical Journal, 183(3): 261-271. Google Scholar | WorldCat

Craven, C. (2016). Refusing to be toured: Work, tourism, and the productivity of “life” in the Colombian Amazon. Antipode, 48(3): 544-562. Google Scholar | WorldCat

Crouch, D., R. Jackson & F. Thompson (2005). Introduction: The media and the tourist imagination. In D. Crouch, R. Jackson & F. Thompson (eds.), The Media and the Tourist Imagination: Converging Cultures (1-13). London: Routledge. Google Scholar | WorldCat

Dean, M. (2004). Local collaboration in the Holocaust in Eastern Europe. In D. Stone (ed.), The Historiography of the Holocaust (120-140). London: Palgrave Macmillan. Google Scholar | WorldCat

ElDiario.es (2017). El secretario de Estado de Defensa: "Las Fuerzas Armadas están para que a mi hija no le ponga un burka nadie". elDiario.es. http://www.eldiario.es/politica/secretario-Defensa-Fuerzas-Armadas-burka_0_627838461.html (accessed July 30, 2020). Google Scholar | WorldCat

Fernández-Morera, D. (2016). The Myth of the Andalusian Paradise: Muslims, Christians, and Jews Under Islamic Rule in Medieval Spain. Wilmington, DE, USA: ISI Books. Google Scholar | WorldCat

Flesler, D. & A. Pérez Melgosa (2008). Marketing convivencia: Contemporary tourist appropriations of Spain’s Jewish past. In E. Afinoguénova & J. Martí-Olivella (eds.), Spain Is (Still) Different: Tourism and Discourse in Spanish Identity (63-84). Lanham, MD, USA: Lexington Books. Google Scholar | WorldCat

Frayer, L. (2015). In Spain, proposed “kebab law” angers Muslim business owners. LA Times. http://www.latimes.com/world/europe/la-fg-spain-muslims-20150505-story.html (accessed July 30, 2020). Google Scholar | WorldCat

Fundación Tres Culturas del Mediterráneo (2010). La imagen del mundo árabe y musulmán en la prensa española. Seville: Fundación Tres Culturas del Mediterráneo. http://tresculturas.org/tresculturas/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/Informe-CICAM-1.pdf (accessed July 30, 2020). Google Scholar | WorldCat

González, P. & P. Moral (1996). Analysis of tourism trends in Spain. Annals of Tourism Research, 23(4): 739-754. Google Scholar | WorldCat

Hall, C.M. & S.J. Page (2009). Progress in tourism management: From the geography of tourism to geographies of tourism – a review. Tourism Management, 30(1): 3-16. Google Scholar | WorldCat

Harkin, M. (2003). Staged encounters: Postmodern tourism and aboriginal people. Ethnohistory, 50(3): 575-585. Google Scholar | WorldCat

Hedgecoe, G. (2017). Spanish row over Islamic past remarks. The Irish Times. https://www.pressreader.com/ireland/the-irish-times/20170104/281844348309685 (accessed July 30, 2020). Google Scholar | WorldCat

Helfrich, U. (2018). I need Spain: New ways of representing the tourist experience. In G. Huld (ed.), Strategies of Adaptation in Tourist Communication: Linguistic Insights (73-94). Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill. Google Scholar | WorldCat

Kelly-Holmes, H. & S. Pietikäinen (2014). Commodifying Sámi culture in an indigenous tourism site. Journal of Sociolinguistics, 18(4): 518-538. Google Scholar | WorldCat

Koot, S.P. (2016). Contradictions of capitalism in the South African Kalahari: Indigenous Bushmen, their brand and baasskap in tourism. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 24(8/9): 1211-1226. Google Scholar | WorldCat

Maiztegui-Oñate, C. & M.T. Areitio Bertolín (1996). Cultural Tourism in Spain. In G. Richards (ed.), Cultural Tourism in Europe (267-281). Wallingford, UK: CAB International. Google Scholar | WorldCat

Månsson, M. (2011). Mediatized tourism. Annals of Tourism Research, 38(4): 1634-1652. Google Scholar | WorldCat

Marranci, G. (2004). Multiculturalism, Islam and the clash of civilisations theory: Rethinking Islamophobia. Culture and Religion: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 5(1): 105-117. Google Scholar | WorldCat

de la Maza, F. (2018). Tourism in Chile’s indigenous territories: the impact of public policies and tourism value of indigenous culture. Latin American and Caribbean Ethnic Studies, 13(1): 94-111. Google Scholar | WorldCat

Medina-Bravo, P., M. Rodrigo-Alsina & F. Guerrero-Solé (2018). Audience contradictions in the negotiation of controversial media content: The case of Muslim women journalists in niqab. Journal of Intercultural Communication, 47. http://immi.se/intercultural/nr47/medina.html Google Scholar | WorldCat

Mitchell, L. & P. Murphy (1991). Geography and tourism. Annals of Tourism Research, 18(1): 57-70. Google Scholar | WorldCat

Noohu, M. (2017). 9 best Muslim-friendly city breaks in Europe for 2018. Halal Travel Blog, December 20, 2017. https://www.halaltrip.com/other/blog/best-muslim-friendly-city-breaks-in-europe-for-2018 (accessed July 30, 2020). Google Scholar | WorldCat

Oakes, T. (1992). Cultural geography and Chinese ethnic tourism. Journal of Cultural Geography, 12(2): 2-17. Google Scholar | WorldCat

Observatorio de la islamophobia en los medios (2017). El 66% de las noticias sobre islam de 6 diarios españoles son islamófobas. http://www.observatorioislamofobia.org/2017/09/22/66-las-noticias-islam-6-diarios-espanoles-islamofobas (accessed July 30, 2020). Google Scholar | WorldCat

Peña-Ramos, J. & I. Medina (2011). Interpreting Muslim religious interest groups in Spain: Frames, organization, and influence. Journal of US-China Public Administration, 8(4): 387-400. Google Scholar | WorldCat

Plataforma Ciudadana Contra la Islamofobia (2018). Informe Anual Islamofobia en España 2017. http://pccislamofobia.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Informe-Islamofobia-en-España.-PCCI-Informe-Anual-2018.pdf (accessed July 30, 2020). Google Scholar | WorldCat

Perceval, J.M. (1997). Todos son uno. Arquetipos, xenofobia y racism: La imagen del morisco en la historiografía española durante los siglos XVI y XVII. Almería, Spain: Instituto de Estudios Almerienses. Google Scholar | WorldCat

Planet Contreras, A.I. (2018). Observing Islam in Spain: Contemporary Politics and Social Dynamics. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill. Google Scholar | WorldCat

Rogozen-Soltar, M. (2017). Spain Unmoored: Migration, Conversion, and the Politics of Islam. Bloomington, IN, USA: Indiana University Press. Google Scholar | WorldCat

Rosón, F.J. (2016). Daily life and conflict in the Albayzín neighbourhood of Granada. In N.M. Dessing, N. Jeldtoft, J.S. Nielsen & L. Woodhead (eds.), Everyday lived Islam in Europe (135-146). London: Routledge. Google Scholar | WorldCat

Ruggles, D.F. (2011). La estratigrafía del olvido: la gran Mezquita de Córdoba y su legado refutado. Antípoda: Revista de Antropología y Arqueología, 12: 19-37. https://doi.org/10.7440/antipoda12.2011.03 Google Scholar | Crossref | WorldCat

Schmalbruch, S. (2017). The top 10 cities to travel to in 2018, according to Lonely Planet. Insider. https://www.thisisinsider.com/lonely-planet-best-cities-to-travel-to-in-2018-2017-10 (accessed July 30, 2020). Google Scholar | WorldCat

Schnell, S.M. (2003). The ambiguities of authenticity in Little Sweden, U.S.A. Journal of Cultural Geography, 20(2): 43-68. Google Scholar | WorldCat

Shaw, S., S. Bagwell & J. Karmowska (2004). Ethnoscapes as spectacle: Reimaging multicultural districts as new destinations for leisure and tourism consumption. Urban Studies, 41(10): 1983-2000. Google Scholar | WorldCat

Shaw, S. & N. Macleod (2000). Creativity and conflict: Cultural tourism in London’s city fringe. Tourism, Culture and Communication, 2(3): 165-175. Google Scholar | WorldCat

Smith, V. (2001). Power and ethnicity in “Paradise”: Boracay, Philippines. In V. Smith & M. Brent (eds.), Hosts and Guests Revisited: Tourism Issues of the 21st Century (141-152). New York: Cognizant Communication. Google Scholar | WorldCat

Stepchenkovas, S. & J.S. Eales (2011). Destination image as quantified media messages: The effect of news on tourism demand. Journal of Travel Research, 50(2): 198-212. Google Scholar | WorldCat

Theodossopoulos, D. (2012). Indigenous attire, exoticization, and social change: Dressing and undressing among the Emberá of Panama. Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, 18(3): 591-612. Google Scholar | WorldCat

Tremlett, G. (2008). Foreword: “Welcome to Moorishland.” In S. Doubleday & D. Coleman (eds.), In the Light of Medieval Spain: Islam, the West, and the Relevance of the Past (xi-xx). New York: Palgrave Macmillan. Google Scholar | WorldCat

Unión de Comunidades Islámicas de España (2018). Estudio demográfico de la publación musulmana. Madrid: UCIDE. http://observatorio.hispanomuslim.es/estademograf.pdf (accessed July 30, 2020). Google Scholar | WorldCat

Vargas, A. (2018). The tourism and local development in world heritage context: The case of the Mayan site of Palenque, Mexico. International Journal of Heritage Studies, 24(9): 984-997. Google Scholar | WorldCat

Vernet, J. (2006). Lo que Europa debe al Islam de España. Barcelona: Acantilado. Google Scholar | WorldCat

Vive Andalucía (2016). Andalucía your roots, your destination: Sephard Tourism. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZrNdh3RnbY (accessed July 30, 2020). Google Scholar | WorldCat

Vive Andalucía (2018). Andalusia your roots, your destination: Halal Tourism. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MbibGQGUuo8 (accessed July 30, 2020). Google Scholar | WorldCat

Wall, G. & P.F. Xie (2005). Authenticating ethnic tourism: Lidancers’ perspectives. Asia Pacific Journal of Tourism Research, 10(1): 1-21. Google Scholar | WorldCat

Wiesel E., T. Friling, R. Ioanid & M.E. Ionescu (eds.) (2004). International Commission on the Holocaust in Romania: Final Report. Iaşi, Romania: Polirom. https://www.academia.edu/42253077/FINAL_REPORT._INTERNATIONAL_COMMISSION_ON_THE_HOLOCAUST_IN_ROMANIA._Editors_Tuvia_Friling_Radu_Ioanid_Mihail_E._Ionescu._Polirom_2005_415_pp (accessed July 30, 2020). Google Scholar | WorldCat

Wierucka, A. (2018). Living with strangers: Huaorani and tourism industry in the 21st Century. Anthropological Notebooks, 24(1): 97-110. Google Scholar | WorldCat

Wright, R. (2017). Found: Spain travel posters. EndlessMile, July 5, 2017. http://endlessmile.com/found-spain-travel-posters (accessed July 30, 2020). Google Scholar | WorldCat

Yang, L. (2011). Minorities, tourism and ethnic theme parks: Employees' perspectives from Yunnan, China. Journal of Cultural Geography, 28(2): 311-338. Google Scholar | WorldCat

Zapata-Barrero, R. & N. De Witte (2010). Muslims in Spain: Blurring past and present Moors. In A. Triandafyllidou (ed.), Muslims in 21st Century Europe: Structural and Cultural Perspectives (181-198). London: Routledge. Google Scholar | WorldCat

Authors

Jessica R. Boll
jboll@carrollu.edu (Primary Contact)
Author Biography

Jessica R. Boll

Jessica R. Boll, PhD, is associate professor of Spanish at Carroll University in Waukesha, Wisconsin, USA. Her research centers upon early modern Spanish-Ottoman relations, contemporary Christian-Muslim relations in Spain, shared spaces, and contested perceptions of place. Her investigations combine geography, history, cultural studies, literary studies, Mediterranean studies, and Ottoman studies. She has recently published articles related to the legacy of al-Andalus in contemporary Spain, Spanish tourism, the controversies surrounding the Mosque-Cathedral (Mezquita) of Córdoba, Cervantine captivity, and the depiction of Istanbul in early modern Spanish literature.

Boll, J. R. (2025). Selling Spain: Tourism, Tensions, and Islam in Iberia. Journal of Intercultural Communication, 20(2), 42-55. https://doi.org/10.36923/jicc.v20i2.304
Download Citation
Endnote/Zotero/Mendeley (RIS) BibTeX

Copyright (c) 2020 Jessica R. Boll

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

This journal provides immediate and free open access to all its content and is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0). This means readers are permitted to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of articles, or use them for any other lawful purpose, without asking prior permission from the publisher or the author, as long as proper attribution is given. This policy is consistent with the Budapest Open Access Initiative (BOAI) definition of open access. 

 

Article Details

How to Cite

Boll, J. R. (2025). Selling Spain: Tourism, Tensions, and Islam in Iberia. Journal of Intercultural Communication, 20(2), 42-55. https://doi.org/10.36923/jicc.v20i2.304