Hi Toma! Could you give me an insight in Philippines-Spanish relations nowadays? Do you get along or is there some some love-hate relationship between the two countries? Thanks in advance!
Hey there!
So Philippine-Spanish relations in the modern day are actually fairly positive! As surprising as it may sound due to the colonial past, a lot of Filipinos nowadays don’t really think of Spain much beyond the context of history and cultural ties. Sure, Spain has left a mark upon the country, but considering it, as a former colonial power, isn’t quite so involved with our policies nowadays (unlike a certain other former colonial power that came after Spain), our relations are mostly chill.
Now, that doesn’t mean there aren’t any relations between the Philippines and Spain nowadays. Both countries have made a number of agreements to boost relations in terms of sports, education, and culture. In addition, Queen Sofia had visited the Philippines a total of four times in the past, the last one being during 2012.
We even have a Philippine-Spanish Friendship day, the first celebration of it being in 2003!
As for how Filipinos feel about Spain, most of us feel neutral to positive feelings nowadays. While we acknowledge the colonial history and definitely wouldn’t want to go back to it, but otherwise a number of people do view Spain today as a lovely country with a nice language and wonderful architecture. Older Filipinos as well as families with more Hispanic backgrounds tend to regard and pay homage to their Spanish heritage more, but most nowadays don’t really spare much of a thought.