Spanish travelers round Europe in the 1840’s: three ways of understanding the travel literature

Abstract

In the history of the Spanish travel literature, the 1840s have a particular place: after the Napoleonic Wars and the first Carlist War came a period of relative calm which encouraged visitors to Spain but also the Spanish to travel outside the Iberian Peninsula. France, Belgium, Netherlands and Germany are among the most attractive options. The variety of available texts gives the possibility to distinguish between at least three variants or perspectives: the travel story as discovery, as verification and as travel guide. This article intends to introduce these diverse perspectives from representative authors whose itineraries are partly similar: Modesto Lafuente, Ramón Mesonero Romanos y Ángel Fernández de los Ríos. There will be a special emphasis on the first author because he contributed in a special way to the history of the travel literature. Once the work of the others has been presented, there will be a brief conclusion to compare the variants presented.