More often plunging helplessly downwards in a welter of despair and recrimination

Spanish geographers are very fond of elevation graphs - diagrams which, by cutting an imaginary slice through the Iberian Peninsula, show how its altitudes vary from sea to sea. If you apply this approach to the slab of Spanish history, you will find that though the graph is often bumpy, its general outline is all too sadly simple.From the beginning of history to the sixteenth century, the Spaniards gradually climbed towards the pinnacle of their success - hindered often by wars and invasions, but steadily accumulating wealth, culture, prestige, and unity. From the sixteenth century until our times, on the other hand, they have been constantly slithering downhill, sometimes bravely digging their heels in, more often plunging helplessly downwards in a welter of despair and recrimination. Spanish history does not form a happy pattern, but at least it looks symmetrical.

J. Morris, Spain (1964. revised 1979), 12