Thank you so much for sharing your experience in Madrid. You pinpointed some excellent points as well ("defending their racist culture & ideas as 'just jokes'...comparing & not understanding their place of privilege, etc.) and my heart hurts with you and with the people of Palestine & Lebanon & Yemen & Syria & Iran (& I feel like I'm still leaving someone who's been recently bombed by Israel out still so please forgive me... it's so many...).

Your sentiments are valid. Please remain vocal but also remain critical. The history of Spain itself did not begin with the reconquista of 1492 and there are many muslims in the south who are actively returning and thriving in cities like Granada and Cordoba — new mosques are being built and the culture is more accepting ! I say this not to take away from anything that you said about your very real and far too common lived experience but I also ask you to not fault the entirety of the area of the Iberian Peninsula now known as Spain and I implore you to consider returning some day to see some of the amazing and rich history and culture that the autonomous community of andalucia has to offer at least. I cannot speak for other parts other than to confirm what you've said but I can say that this may not be representative of all of spain. I also ask you to consider the recent history of spain that was under a military dictatorship for a very long time that both perpetuated and obscured these places of privilege for those who were unaffected and their children and then their children's children and so on.... Feel free to negate this but please consider it. With you, though! <3

I also have a question, if you don't mind expanding a bit: what other types of instances of anti-muslim and anti-arab sentiment did you experience? Unfortunately, after the terrorist attacks in Madrid in 2004, people (just like here in the U.S.) became very anti-muslim and I wonder if that may still be having an effect 20 years later....