alternatehistory.com

So basically, what would it take for Spain to have a general attitude to the idea of it being "European" match that of the British, at least, or of the Russians, at most. What I mean by this, is that just as some Brits, and many Russians, don't consider themselves "European" for various reasons( feeling closer to former English Speaking Colonies, as in Britain's case, and a number of reasons for Russia), what would it take for Spain to have the same attitudes as those nations to the same subject. Furthermore, what would it take for Spain to embrace some of it's non-European heritage, at least on a superficial level? Like, what would lead to Spain embracing it's Arab heritage in the form of architecture and the arts? Have this happen by at least 2019 with a POD that is preferably after the loss of it's Latin American colonies.

I myself guess that a number of various events would have to happen for this to happen to Spain.
  1. Spain is able to reach a certain level of power/prosperity, that makes it feel superior to other European nations. Spain would have to be a great power that feels like it could go it mostly alone in the world, without needing help from the rest of Europe in the form of a political union of some sort like the European Union. Spain would need a larger military, population, and economy. It may need to absorb the rest of Iberia in order to feel more powerful and yet, also isolated. Maybe France and Italy being devastated could lead to it gaining lots of immigrants to grow it's population and economy, while also making it more relatively powerful and unique compared to it's neighbors. Maybe it also takes Corsica and Sardinia.
  2. It would have to find itself feeling more comfortable in a group of nations that are outside of Europe, so I guess a certain amount of Hispanophone nations would have to become about as rich and developed as Spain, so that way it mirrors Britain's relations with the Anglophone nations vs that of the rest of Europe. So basically, "As a Spaniard, I feel more at home at other Spanish Speaking countries such as Mexico, Colombia, etc, than I do in the rest of Europe, such as France or Italy. I mean I consume more culture from Mexico alone, than I do from the rest of Europe. etc."
  3. This Spain would probably have to see itself as being "Eurafrican" as Russia may see itself as being "Eurasian". This could probably come as a result of Spain having a very different political system than what is popular in this alt-Europe. Similar to Russia. It even has a semi-similar history in the sense that just as Russia was once ruled by the Mongols, which is often used as an excuse for it's "non-europeaness", Spain was once ruled by the Arabs, which would be it's excuse for being considered "non-European". Russia's unique architecture, which I think may cause others to make it as being "non-European", would be mirrored by Spain producing more of it's unique style at a more extreme level than otl.
Those are my ideas for now, what do you guys think would need to be done in order for this happen? Preferably the process begins after losing it's Latin American colonies.
Top