In the top of Olivenηa, a photo from Badajoz, Extremadura

Photographer's Note

Here it is another oldie, from 1984.

It was shot on the top of the tower of the castle of Olivenηa (Olivenza to the Spanish).

It has a special meaning to me, as it is part of one of the rare color films I shot in that time (I did only B&W) and it was nice to rediscover it after so many years almost forgotten.

Although the photo doesn't pretend to show any "history" or "story", for those who maybe interested, Olivenηa is a nice little town South of Badajoz, which is under Spanish rule since the early 1800's that the Portuguese claim that it should still be Portuguese, as it was from the early 1200's to the early 1800's.

A kind of Gibraltar "up side down". As Gibraltar, it was occupied during the turbulent years of the Napoleonic Peninsular Wars and it was never surrendered back. Now the interesting thing is that Gibraltar was kept by the winners of the war and Olivenηa stayed with the loosers.

I think that the vast majority of Portuguese and Spanish people don't care much about these facts now and diplomatic pressures ended several decades ago, although the Spanish rule was never oficially recognised by Portugal and there are a couple of international treaties of the 19th century that state that it is a Portuguese land. Recently there were some discussions that made their way to the headlines of TV, radio and newspapers because of the construction of a bridge across the river Guadiana, which is the "de facto" border. Some claimed that it was an illegal construction as it couldn't be an international bridge because Portugal oficially claims the sovereignty on both sides of the river.

I doubt that you find any "Oliventino" (someone who was born in Olivenηa) that wants to be Portuguese, but it's interesting to see how they cherish their Portuguese ancestry and Portuguese people. And how it still it's perceivable a kind of "Alentejo" mood (Alentejo is the Portuguese region across the border) not only in architecture but also in the accent of the voices of the eldests, which sounds like Castellano/Spanish with Alentejano accent.

For what I remember, the main old monuments date from the 13th century (namely the castle on the photo) and 15th and 16th century, having one or two nice examples of "Manuelino", a portuguese form of late Gothic inspired by the nautic motifs of the Discoveries.

robertosalguero, superpau, cuneyt-sb, Benedict, tifah, xuaxo, mcenteesalas, paura έχουν(ει) επιλέξει αυτή τη σημείωση ως χρήσιμη

Critiques | Translate

robertosalguero (288) 2006-10-05 2:29

Considering that this picture is over 20 years old I would say the quality is still good. The subject in red jacket is well positioned beside the turret. There is an interesting contrast of colors. The little window attracts my attention. It becomes a second window. The first window being the composition itself. I'm sure the wire on the right could be cloned and some dust spots removed but, hey, the wire was there, and was perhaps part of the building, so why remove it. Nice work :-)

Roberto

UnTrained (0) 2006-10-05 7:05

Hi Jose,
must be a scan (from 1984). I would not have recognized this as a scan. How have you done that?
The photo itself is interesting because of the small red in the big blue. So I share Roberto's impression, not only for this part of color.
And thanks for the note. Even knowing about war times between Portugal and Spain this is new to me.
Regards Ulf

Benedict (7076) 2006-10-15 8:28 [Comment]

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tifah (836) 2006-10-17 13:08

the note you wrote was very informative and interesting to read,borders and history are so complex and national identity can be the result of many fights and arguments. i find this photo very intimate for some reason as the viewer feels like they are alone at this place with the young man in taking the photo. you feel like he will turn around any second.

xuaxo (6854) 2007-07-06 1:22

Olα Josι,
Como nγo tinhas nenhuma foto nova fui de propσsito ao teu mapa procurar locais polιmicos :-)
Olivenηa tem potencial, mas ninguιm pegou e a tua nota (boa) nγo estα de modo a levantar a ira de nenhum Pablo. Ao contrαrio das minhas. Uma (Olivenηa na provνncia de Badajoz) acho que nγo havia razγo para tal. A outra (Olivenza no distrito de Ιvora ;-) foi uma pequena brincadeira, que uns entenderam e outros nγo.
Quanto ΰ questγo de Olivenηa, concordo com o que escreves e foi mais ou menos o que eu tambιm escrevi na nota e discussυes das minhas fotos oliventinas.
Eu tambιm fiz essa comparaηγo de Gibraltar ao contrαrio, mas os espanhσis nγo gostam dessa comparaηγo (tal como nγo gostam de comparar Ceuta (e Melilla) com Gibraltar). Mas acho que os casos se podem comparar de um modo na actualidade: ι quanto ΰ vontade das pessoas que vivem nessas cidades. Nem oliventinos, nem ceutνes nem Gibraltarians querem alterar o status quo.
Os oliventinos podem achar muito giro terem uns trisavτs portugueses, dα colorido ΰ αrvore genealσgica, mas serem parte de Espanha tem muito mais pinta do que do triste Portugal (isto quando sequer ι posta a questγo, o que ι quase nunca).
Em Ceuta (e Melilla), a maioria sσ quereria ser marroquina se Marrocos invadisse aquilo e instalasse lα tantos marroquinos que estes passassem a ser maioritαrios. E mesmo assim nγo sei. Mesmo uma maioria populacional marroquina, ou αrabe, em Ceuta possivelmente votaria pela cidade integrada no Estado Espanhol (que ι o mesmo que dizer Uniγo Europeia).
Quanto aos gibraltinos, basta dizer que no referendo mais recente, sobre a proposta de soberania partilhada (Espanha + Reino Unido) 17900 votaram nγo e apenas 187 votaram sim. Se fosse simplesmente soberania espanhola se calhar nem aqueles 187 votariam sim.
Bom, quanto ΰ foto, estα uma boa recuperaηγo de 1984. Acho que o camarada de vermelho destaca-se demasiado.
Um abraηo,
F

paura (25796) 2008-05-12 10:26

Josι,
Uma boa composiηγo, com boas formas e definiηγo. A presenηa do cidadγo foi adequada para dar a proporηγo da torre.

Abraηo

Paulo

Photo Information

Copyright: Jose Pires (stego) (24132)
Genre: Τοποθεσίες
Medium: Έγχρωμο
Date Taken: 1984-07-00
Categories: Κάστρα, Αποφασιστική στιγμή
Camera: Minolta XGM, 50 mm 1.8, 35mm positive, Skylight
Map: view
Έκδοση φωτογραφίας: Πρωτότυπη έκδοση
Θέμα(τα): !My film scans, !People [view contributor(s)]
Date Submitted: 2006-10-05 1:28

Viewed: 3096

Points: 8

Discussions

To robertosalguero: Thank you (2)
by stego, last updated 2006-10-05 07:53
To UnTrained: I am glad you like it (1)
by stego, last updated 2006-10-05 07:48
To Benedict: Thank you Benedict (1)
by stego, last updated 2006-10-15 07:10
To tifah: Thank you, Tifah (1)
by stego, last updated 2006-10-22 07:30

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In the top of Olivenηa by stego (24132)

Photographer's Note

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