Constitutional Obsession

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It’s our last full day here in beautiful Cadiz, so after days of aimless wandering it’s time to get bit more focussed.

First stop this morning is the city’s central market, Mercado Central Cádiz, where Friday trading’s in full swing. The seafood doesn’t look like it could get much fresher; I think some of it’s still moving - fish of every conceivable variety, bright red prawns, lobster, octopus, shellfish, you name it they’ve got it. They’ve also got a couple of sharks up on one of the counters with their mouths propped open with pieces of polystyrene … well they look like sharks, except they don’t seem to have any teeth. We read about a reportedly toothless shark prowling the waters off Malaga when we were there a few weeks ago. The report said it was eight metres long, and we assumed they said it was toothless to avoid scaring off the tourists. Maybe it really was toothless after all. Market shopping here looks like a real day out. There’s no shortage of wine and beer being consumed, and fancy looking restaurants are doing a roaring trade only a few metres from the entrance.

Next stop is the Tavira Tower. It’s the highest of the city’s many watchtowers, and is apparently only surpassed in height by the towers of the Cathedral. We’re told that at one time there were some 160 watchtowers in Cadiz, more than 130 of which are still standing. Most of them were built at the height of the city’s economic power in the eighteenth century, when it was the centre of Spanish trade with South and Central America. As the name suggests the towers were built so that local merchants could keep an eye out for ships. The Tavira’s rooftop terrace provides excellent views over the whole city. Its main attraction is however not the view but rather its Camera Oscura, or Dark Camera. We’re taken down a couple of levels into a completely darkened room for a demonstration. A mirror and lens inside a large tube above the roof focus live views of the city onto a parabolic screen. Our young guide then takes us on a virtual city tour as she moves the mirror around and homes in on various points of interest. It’s a pretty good camera; she’s able to provide pin sharp focus on cars, and even people walking the streets. The tour moves through to Plaza San Antonio where our apartment is. Woah! What’s that? I did warn Issy not to sunbake topless on our roof terrace.

Next up is the Iglesia del Oratorio de San Felipe Neri, which it seems has played a critical role in Spain’s history. We’re told that Napoleon occupied much of the country between 1808 and 1814. He forced the abdication of King Ferdinand VII, and the reconstituted government in exile then moved from Madrid to Cadiz where it managed to barricade itself away and stay clear of French clutches. The so-called Cortes of Cadiz debated, drafted and eventually signed the Spanish Constitution of 1812. And they did it in this very building, which was chosen in part because of its excellent acoustics. And excellent they are. I get a sneezing fit, and the noise is now reverberating around the whole place with enough force to wake the dead. That was a bit embarrassing. Not much chance of sleeping through a sermon here I wouldn’t have thought.

In order for the church to be used as a meeting place rather than a place of worship, it first had to be temporarily deconsecrated. Apparently under church law this usually requires all the sacred relics to be removed under the supervision of the head priest. In this case however they somehow got away with just hanging massive curtains over the altar and all the side chapels - some of the hooks they hung them from are still visible. I guess it would have been a bit messy to take all the relics out and bring them all back again a few weeks later … a lot of them look like they’re fairly firmly attached to the walls. A picture of the exiled King was hung at the front of the “church” during the debates as a mark of solidarity and recognition. The Constitution included establishment of a parliamentary system and a constitutional monarchy, and apart from specifying Roman Catholicism as the country’s sole legal religion, it was apparently regarded as remarkably liberal for its time. It seems however that the returning King wasn’t overly keen on such liberalism, or for that matter the perceived dilution of his power; he got rid of the Constitution, dissolved the Cortes, and reestablished himself as the absolute monarch. So much for solidarity. He then ruled ”with an iron fist” until 1820, when the Constitution was reinstated. I’d wondered a bit yesterday why the city seemed to be so obsessed with this Constitution, and now I know. I’m glad I didn’t spend another day just aimlessly wandering.

We head out for our final Cadiz meal. Seafood’s supposedly a specialty here, so I order the squid cooked in its own ink. And very good it is too. I think it’s even worth the pain of Issy constantly giggling at my blackened mouth.

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Comments

[D MJ Binkley]

I may be in love with Cadiz
Looks yummy.

[RENanDREW]

History
I'm not overly fond of delving deep into the history of places, but it's so great when nuggets of history like the Cortes of Cadiz in that church make you look at contemporary life in a new light :)