The long road to Europe

“It is obvious that the Spanish territory, as currently defined, belongs and has always belonged to the European continent. The title, ‘The long road to Europe’ refers, therefore, not to the geographical location of the country, but to the process of assimilation of a certain conception of the collective existence that the Spanish have generally related to the patterns in force in Western European countries throughout the modern era. The most genuine identifying elements of this pattern reside in the rule of law, a political regime of parliamentary democracy and a market economy system.”

Jordi Maluquer de Motas