Rizal’s First Travel to Spain

INTRO:
DISCLAIMER: The following storytelling of historical events are heavily based on the historical
information of Rizal’s travel to Spain, mixed with fiction for the beauty of telling a story effectively. Any
included part that may be offensive or arguable was done without the intention of being so, but was
considered as a way to portray Rizal’s story in his perspective. Viewer discretion, is advised.
In a land of foreign soil how can a revolutionary hero awaken the Filipino spirit inside? Being far away
from your land of birth can induce a feeling of homesickness, but for Rizal it was a feeling of passion and
patriotism that he felt so strongly. Being exposed to the injustices of the Spanish rule, it’s a question of
how he must’ve felt when he reached the country of his fellowmen’s oppressors. What was his true
purpose of going to Spain and what did he discover? Was his heart of ember ignited with the epiphany of
the gravity of the injustices in his country, or was it something different?
This is, Rizal en España.
(insert traditional Spanish music instrumental)+(fade in and fade out)
SCENE I:
(BLAST THE SOUND OF A STEAMSHIP ABOUT TO SET SAIL)
I leave my country with a heavy heart.
It has always been hard to depart from those you love, but this one proved all the more difficult, as I leave
with only my brother Paciano, my sister Saturnina, and my Uncle Antonio’s knowledge.
I was awoken at the break of dawn by my brother, given 360 pesos and was rushed to board the
Salvadora.
I am on a mission. To know how the Europeans, think, act, dress, and live in their day-to-day lives. I need
to gather information to help my own country bloom to the best flora it could be.
I am leaving for my country, I am leaving as a Filipino who loves the Philippines.
So with a heavy heart, with I wipe the tears staining my cheeks for the last time. I look at Manila’s
skyline in the distance. I find a pencil and paper and sketch whatever figure was left of it.
As an act of separation and a cry to remember, my pencil glides through the surface of the paper, creating
a picture that by time grows to be more realistic, a familiar place that’ll always be in my heart, my
Philippines.
(BLAST THE SOUND OF A STEAMSHIP ALREADY SAILING)+(Fade out)
SCENE II:
After what seemed to be an eternity of travelling the vast waters, we arrive in a place called Singapore.
Thankfully, within the course of my journey I have made friends.
(INSERT SOUND OF FOOTSTEPS GETTING LOUDER, CUT BY A VOICE SPEAKING)
CONVERSATION BETWEEN CAPTAIN LECHA AND RIZAL:
Captain: Hola mi amigo, Como esta?
Rizal: Buenos Dias Señor. Pardon me for being too blue that you have noticed it with all the things that
you are occupied with. To bother you was not my intention.
Captain: No, no, I understand mi amigo. To be far away from home is a tale I have been through
repeatedly, I of all people knows what it feels like. Your sadness is welcome here. As you wallow from
the painful reality may you mourn for me too as I am departed from the land of my people, but I have no
time to cry so I assign that task to you.
Rizal: Muchisimas Gracias Señor.
Captain: Bienvenido.
(INSERT WAVES SOUNDS)
Aside from Captain Donato Lecha, a man of Spanish descent, more refined and civilized than the others
like him I have met, I socialized with the other people boarding the Salvadora.
I played chess with them.
INSERT SMALL SECTION OF CHESS CONVO AFTER RIZAL WINS AGAIN:
(a shout of joy erupts from the group)
Rizal: Checkmate.
Passenger: But you have won for 3 consecutive times! How is this possible?
(snickers and laughter)
Finally, Salvadora docked in Singapore. I decided to get a room in hotel de la Paz and wander around the
city for two days.
The British Colony has made Singapore a sight to behold as the city blends in cultures of different kinds
and infrastructures of wonder, I could only hope for the same magical feeling for my country.
(INSERT FRENCH CHATTER)
SCENE III:
After two days of enjoying Singapore, I boarded the Djemmah. It was filled with people from France, a
larger and cleaner vessel set to bring me to Marseilles, France.
Good thing my time in Ateneo was not put to waste as I conversed with the people in a language they
know.
The Djemmah took us to different famous places that I have only heard of during my time in school.
To Point Galle, Ceylon a town that left me feeling bland, Colombo, Ceylon’s capital, a place of scenic
views and elegant infrastructures, tearing through the Indian Ocean we arrived at the Cape coast o Africa,
an inhospitable but famous place, next to Aden, a city hotter than Manila boasting its wondrous double-
humped Camels, and finally to the city of Suez, the Red Sea terminal of the Suez Canal.
 I went sightseeing, enjoying the best of my travels. And as the bite of the night came, the moonlight
bathed my face like a newborn baby being kissed by its mother. It was magical, the most beautiful
moonlight that reminded me so much about my home in Calamba.
After five days of travelling through the Suez Canal, the ship docked at Port Said. Different people from
different backgrounds and races were speaking their native tongue making the city seem much more
colorful and vibrant than it was before.
After arriving next to Naples, Italy a city famous for its melodic poetry, I finally arrive at my destination,
Marseilles.
(insert traditional Spanish music instrumental)+(fade in and fade out)
SCENE IV:
Marseilles was a joyous place. The business activity was impeccable, the people lively, and the beauty of
its natural scenery was to die for.
What captured me the most was Mount Vesuvius and the Castle of St. Telmo which showcased the
beauty and culture of the place.
After my adventure in Marseilles I continued my trip by train and travelled to Barcelona, Spain with my
newfound friends Pardo and Buil who was with me aboard the Djemnah.
I can still taste the distaste in my mouth when thinking about my experience in Port Bou. I did not prepare
for an imprisonment in Chateau d’lf Dantes, and to experience discrimination afterwards.
CONVO OF RIZAL GETTIG HIS PASSPORT CHECKED:
Conductor: Are you sure this is you?
Rizal: Why yes sir, I’m quite sure that the person in my passport is me.
Conductor: Yes yes, it seems to be you. What I’m not sure about is if I could trust you enough to let you
board this train. I know your kind, your people are opportunistic money-hungry thieves, that can’t go by a
day without acting like uncivilized monkeys!
But, nevermind that. I am in a new country. I am still filled with sorrow over my separation from my
people but I am excited to find new things. Things that could help me see what I could do to make the
Philippines a better place.
(INSERT TRAIN CHOO-CHOO)
SCENE VI:
As I arrive in Barcelona, I can’t help but be displeased. It seemed like a place of dirt and unattractiveness,
equal to the hospitality of its people.
But I had to continue and endure, not only or me but also for the completion of my mission.
Still filled with sadness over the rush of my departure and not being able to bid my goodbyes to my
parents, I swallowed the foreign nature of Barcelona.
 I wrote poetry. As a man in agony does. Poor with little to no money left, crammed in an unlivable area
called Calle de San Pablo at Fonda de España, laced with the rudeness of the Spaniards especially
towards Filipinos, Barcelona was far from pleasant to me.
In a letter to my parents I told them that the Jesuits offered me a better living space, something that they
claimed to be more “Christian” in nature. I laugh now as I see that it could be best described as Spartan
than Christian.
With priests lodging in the said place, Catalan could be heard left and right. It sounded rude, but I
somehow found a better nature in their inner selves.
INSERT RIZAL HEARING CATALAN CONVO BETWEEN PRIESTS:
Priest1: Neteja el Teu embolic! (Clean your mess!)
Priest2: Per que no ho neteges tu mateix si estas actuant tan net! (why don’t you clean it up yourself if
you’re acting so clean?!)
Priest1: Es aquesta l’actitud de l’instrument de fe de deu? (is this the attitude of God’s instrument of
Faith?!)
Priest2: No t’atreveixes a portar Deu a aixo! (Don’t you dare bring God into this!)
Priest1: Be! Fes el que et ve de gust. (Fine! Do whatever pleases you.)
(INSERT SLAMMING DOOR SOUND)
SCENE VII:
The more I stayed in Barcelona, the more I was able to appreciate the beauty of it. It is after all a great
city, with the atmosphere of freedom and liberalism.
I managed to find my countrymen and decided to transfer to the pension house they were living in where
Tomas Cabangis from Tondo, Manila and other students of Medicine stayed.
It was still summer, school was not open for a while so I decided to fulfill my promise to Basilio Teodoro
Moran, the administrator of the Diarionng Tagalog, sending him articles and essay, under the pen name
Laong Laan, one of which was entitled “El Amor Patrio or Amor Patrio” which portrayed my feelings of
longing and love towards the Philippines.
On a fine day in May, I received a letter from my brother Paciano informing me of the great sadness my
parents have felt upon the knowledge of my departure. He claimed to have been burdened with the task of
consoling them, which was not easily done.
On the 24th of July in another letter from my brother Paciano I was informed that Cholera had Struck
Manila, and three deaths have already occurred in Calamba, along with his monthly allowance of PHP35
under Tio Antonio’s charge.
I decided to finally move to Madrid on the 3rd of November, 1882 where I enrolled in the Universidad
Central de Madrid and was able to finish Medicine and Philosophy and Letters.
I also took lessons in languages and the arts, read a lot of books, wrote a lot; finally mustering up the
courage and determination to start my first novel the Noli Me Tangere, visited different historical places,
engaged in social activities such as; joining students’ demonstrations, joining different associations, and
 being active in Filipino gatherings giving honor to Juan Luna for the Spolarium and Felix Ressurection
Hildalgo’s Christian Virgins Exposed to Populace.
With my thirst for knowledge, I informed my family that in was studying Italian and I made a bet that I
shall be able to speak it in two months.
(insert traditional Spanish music instrumental)+(fade in and fade out)
SCENE VIII:
Overall, my life in Madrid was happy. I danced for I loved to dance, I met with new people, and I enjoyed
my time as a resident of Madrid.
Here, I wrote the first half of my novel Noli Me Tangere, where I was exposed to liberal ideas through the
masons that I met. The masons’ view of knowledge and reasoning and how they value brotherhood
interested me greatly, which influenced me in my views about these hotspots of conversation.
I ultimately joined the masonry and became a Master Mason at the Lodge Solidaridad.
One frustrating event that occurred for me, was my feelings for Don Pablo Ortiga y Rey’s daughter,
Consuelo. She was interestingly enchanting, but I had someone dear in my heart already, my Leonor, the
love I left in the Philippines. I could not bring it to myself to dishonor our commitment. I did not want to
hurt her.
Now that I have finished my academic journey in Madrid, I am yet to find another trail to follow. I am yet
to discover and decide which path I will take. I am yet to fulfill the promise I have made to my beloved
Philippines.
I am unsure about a lot of things, but I do know that I will never stop fighting for my country, I will do
what I can to raise awareness of an injustice so normalized, my fellowmen do not even see it as a
violation of their dignity.
By writing this novel, I will put a bounty on my head, a stake to my heart, but I am most willing and
happy to die for the Philippines.
This is just the beginning, I started it with wonder. And I will end it birthing a revolution.
(insert traditional Spanish music instrumental)+(fade in and fade out)