In Sanlúcar de Barrameda in Andalusia, high above the Atlantic coast, a pale stone castle shines in almost perpetual sunlight. En route from one cool, dark sherry bodega to another, my imagination was caught by a sign declaring it the place where Queen Isabella of Castile (1451–1504) first saw the sea.
It’s plausible. Her kingdom was landlocked, as was her husband Ferdinand’s Aragon. Isabella was good at sending others across the sea she understood so little: Columbus, funded by their Majesties; the Jews, expelled by royal decree, along with the last of the Moors, who had ruled Spain for 700 years. A great deal of sherry surely left Andalusian shores with all these travellers: the Jews required wine for their religious rituals and, judging by their poetry, many Moorish Muslims chose not to heed the prohibition of alcohol. As for Columbus, only a foolhardy captain would trap himself on a ship with a horde of thirsty sailors.
Content from our partners
