"Si no hubiese existido la Reconquista, España sería hoy Marruecos o Afganistán"

“If the Reconquista hadn’t happened, Spain would be Morocco or Afghanistan today.” With this statement, Isabel San Sebastián, one of the most insightful voices in contemporary historical fiction, opens a window to the past that illuminates our present. In her recent work, the seventh novel in a saga dedicated to the Reconquista, San Sebastián recounts the victory at Las Navas de Tolosa and reminds us that, without that feat, we would not be free today, nor citizens of a democratic Europe. Throughout the conversation, San Sebastián takes us from 11th-century Córdoba to current events, where, as she warns, the roots of a nation are broken when shared memory is lost. Her perspective, anchored in history, turns critical of fragmented education and a left wing that, in her opinion, has embraced a simplistic and unnuanced version of the Black Legend. But she doesn’t stop at reproach: with the same passion with which she evokes courageous women like Urraca and Berenguela, she invites us not to deny our identity, but to reflect upon it. In a time of polarization, Isabel reminds us that history is not a burden, but the compass that allows us to understand who we are, what future we want, and that no civilization is guaranteed to last forever. Societies survive as long as they are able to remember who they are, where they come from, and what sacrifices made their existence possible. To forget this is to believe that history is over. And history never ends.