This is a warm-up to the upcoming European map according to Spain (update: you can find it here). A lot of people have been asking me to make something about Spain and I have always tried to be very clear that my maps aren’t regular jokes that you can draw on a dinner napkin. I have to get really inspired to produce one. The amount of time it takes me to actually piece it together is irrelevant but the ideas come at their own pace.
Moving to Spain has also taken its toll because every time I started thinking about a map and got a spark to begin something, I chose to wait a little bit more, just in case I have an opportunity to learn something more about a region or the country in general. Of course, a spark of inspiration cannot be delayed. It goes away as fast as it comes – you snooze, you loose.
Today I had another spark moment. But instead of killing it, I decided to embrace it and see what it can produce. And boy, did it deliver! :)
Viewed objectively, Spain is not a country but a boiling mess of different regions, some of which are pretty temperamental, if you know what I mean. It’s one huge oxymoron. It is decentralized, yet it isn’t a federation. It is a nation but it contains “nationalities”. A common mistake is to assume there is some hidden order to it all. There isn’t and there probably never will be.

