Introduction

Spain has always been a country of translators. Its long history is one full of encounters and clashes with other nations and cultures. It is a land which was initially a settlement for Iberians, Celts, Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Greeks and, later, it formed part of the Roman Empire until its fall when it became a Visigoth Kingdom from 500 to 700 ad. The first Muslim conquest occurred in 711, and Islam ruled in parts of the country for almost eight centuries in an area known as Al-Andalus. The so-called Reconquest (comprising the period from Don Pelayo’s first rebellion in Asturias in 722 until the conquest of Granada in 1492) allowed the Christian kingdoms to recover all the territory under Muslim domination. This was completed in 1492 by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, the Catholic Monarchs who not only financed Columbus’ voyages to America but also unified Spain and expelled the Jews. This brief description of Spain’s early history allows us to conclude that contact with the Other is not something new. The Iberian Peninsula has always been a space for encounters and clashes and has long required the help of the so-called alfaqueques, or interpreters, who acted as multilingual mediators during the long period when Jews, Muslims and Christians shared the same geographical areas. Thus, this Handbook aims to provide a comprehensive panorama of the crucial role of translators and translation in the history of Spain, as well as of the emergence and evolution of Translation Studies.