From Colonial Pride and Hispanic Prejudice

1898 is a crucial moment in Spain’s cultural history: Losing its last Colonies Cuba and the Philippines to the USA caused an unprecedented crisis in Spanish self-understanding that set a complex process of spiritual reconstruction rolling. To rebuild Spanish cultural identity as isolated state nation without losing touch with those parts of the Colonial past that were felt as belonging to its broader cultural environment required sophisticated reflection. Cultural issues had to take over the function to bridge between national borders. Music got is own part in this recycling of the Colonial into the Hispanic.