ABSTRACT

For many years now, academics in the field of Colonial Studies had put the debate over the so-called ‘Black Legend’ to rest. This legend claimed that ‘unenlightened’ Spain was the cruellest of the European nations to conquer the Americas, and argued the Spanish never produced nor participated in the sciences. However, while general consensus existed over the issue, and although the legend is understood in large part as propaganda from other European nations towards Spain, it was widely regarded that, in fact, the indigenous populations of the American continent had suffered greatly under the rule of the Spanish Crown. In light of this, the collected volume, La sombra de la leyenda negra [The Shadow of the Black Legend] (2016), opens up the debate once again. This chapter seeks to analyse the book and to situate it within the rise of conservative nationalisms in Europe.