

We are students in Granada-the last Muslim kingdom to fall to the Reyes Catolicos in 1492-and don't know where your reporters encountered this "surprising harmony" between Spaniards and Muslims. Your article on Spain and its Muslim population prompts us to relate our experiences. As they say, "By their democratic laws we will invade them, by our religious laws we shall dominate them." We're heading for trouble like France, Germany, the Netherlands-European countries with heavy Muslim populations-trouble that is caused not by the intolerance of host countries but by the unwillingness of many Muslim immigrants to adapt to our societies. Our best friend now seems to be Morocco's king, who sends boatfuls of illegal immigrants to our shores. The next step will be flooding Spain with huge Saudi-financed mosques, in places with near-nonexistent Muslim populations. Forgetting that the Islamic terrorist threat predated the Iraq war, Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero ordered the withdrawal of the military forces that were performing a humanitarian task in Iraq. It has avoided investigating who really financed and ordered the bombing of the trains. Yes, our socialist government has decided not to take into account that the killing of nearly 200 people in Madrid on March 11, 2004, was the work of some Muslim Moroccans. There was an immediate outcry over this decision, and no more has been heard of the statue's removal since. Ostensibly the decision had been taken months before the attack but everyone knew the cathedral authorities were nervous about such a provocative symbol. Matamoros is the patron saint of the reconquista, whose battle steed tramples underfoot the severed heads of black Muslim warriors. For instance: a month after the March 11 terrorist attack, the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela decided to remove the old statue of Santiago Matamoros ("Moor Slayer") from its chapel to a museum. If one does not see overt hostile feelings, it does not mean they aren't there. They never investigated in rural Spain, where things are not quite as rosy. Your March 14 article on Spain ("A Real Sign of Healing") delivered a hopeful message, but your fine reporters took the pulse only of the beau monde of Madrid and Barcelona. but everyone in Spain has not forgotten those terrible events." Chimed another, "If one doesn't see overt hostile feelings, it doesn't mean they're not there." Wrote one, "You show an idyllic image of post-March 11 Madrid. Many readers took issue with our March 14 report on Spanish Muslims.
