Casa Árabe

An essential element of all life, as well as a cleansing and ritual substance since time immemorial, in Islam water acquires its richest and most profound presence in the everyday, theological, artistic and philosophical realms. The fact that Islam is one of the great water civilizations is due to the intimate contact that many of its peoples had, and still have, with the desert and the oases, which made them value and sanctify it with particular fervour; also to the fact that they were the heirs to the ancient middle-Eastern civilizations linked to important rivers, dams and mountains; and due, too, to the manifold routes they covered by land and sea in their journeys of pilgrimage, trade and exploration. An indispensable element in the personal and collective rituals of Muslims, and a fundamental Koranic concept bound up with images of the garden, Eden and Paradise, from theology to philosophy inspired by the Graeco-Romans, passing through physics, town planning, medicine and mysticism, as well as literature, poetry, architecture and the visual arts, the influence of water is even now visible in the most varied literary, poetic, philosophical and artistic records.

This book looks at the theological, philosophical, literary and artistic concepts relating to water in classical Arabic-Islamic culture, and particularly in the time of al-Andalus. As well as a detailed analysis of classical Arabic texts, it interprets a wide range of visual and architectural images concerned with the paradigms of water, gardens and the ideal place of Paradise. The book includes a great number of illustrations with comments, which, like the text, bring us up to contemporary Arabic times, and show how some present-day Arabic artists and poets come to terms with their symbolic and cultural past, renewing it or breaking away from it.

This study published by Casa Árabe and CIDOB is a tool for reflection and forward-looking analysis for Europe, and was presented in the framework of Spain's presidency of the European Union.

The contributions of Arab authors hereby included contain as the core themes the balance of current relations between Europe and Arab countries and a critical analysis of the gap between what is expected from these relationships and what they really are today and, therefore, a projection of what they should be in the future short and medium term.

Here we present an assessment of the current state of relations between the EU and the Arab world, the perceptions and stereotypes prevalent in the Arab world about Europe through the media, and an analysis of opinion polls, conducted and published by different centres, which directly address the issue of perceptions and relations of Europe in the Arab world.

One of the most deeply-rooted presumptions in the West is the immutable character of the patriarchal paradigm in social structure within the Arab countries, as well as their supposed demographic explosion and woman vulnerability or submissiveness  in the bosom of the family. All of which is interpreted under the premises of a supposed religious determinism which prevents them from evolving.

This collective work, co-edited by Casa Árabe and Edicions Bellaterra and coordinated by Sophie Bessis and Gema Martín Muñoz, two of the most reputed sociologists and researchers on the female condition within the Arab world of both shores of the Mediterranean, highlights the end of the validity of this subject in the various Arab states, where deep transformations that are modifying the traditional and patriarchal paradigms are being carried out, at quite different paces.

Urban development, female education, demographic deceleration, successful family planning and women inclusion in the public and labour sphere are imposing deep changes on the delay of marriage age, on the modernization of the family structure and the relationships between both sexes. All of which entails a broader female autonomy outside as well as inside the house, and a very significant step towards their emancipation. With the support of sciences such as demography, statistics and polls, this work depicts a revolutionary transformation phenomenon in the Arab social and family sphere which, not having achieved yet its peak level, implies nowadays an irreversible dynamic.

The work includes texts by Sophie Bessis, Gema Martín Muñoz, Mohamed Al Dbiyat, Soraya Altorki, Houria Alami Mchichi, Penny Johnson, Thérèse Locoh, Dorra Mahfoudh Draoui, Zahia Ouadah-Bedidi, Nouredine Saadi and Alberto Veira Ramos.

Iberoamerica has received migratory waves from many parts of the world, producing a rainbow society that Simón Bolívar called humankind in miniature and José Vasconcelos the cosmic race. Since the end of the 19th century, migrations from the Arab world (Syria, Lebanon and Palestine) have increased as a consequence of successive crises in their countries of origin, and because of the success of those who reached American shores. More than a century after the arrival of those pioneers, their contribution to building national Iberioamerican entities is undeniable. But studies of the phenomenon remain scarce.


This book arose from a seminar organised by Casa Árabe and the General Iberoamerican Secretariat (SEGIB) in November 2008 in Rio de Janeiro to analyse the situation. Various authors from different disciplines and viewpoints examine the contributions Arab-Americans have made to their respective nations from their arrival to the present day. The research endeavour was crowned by an epilogue by two writers of Arab origin, the Colombian Luis Fayad and the Brazilian Milton Hatoum.

Authors: Lorenzo Agar, Horacio Cagni, Darío Euraque, Luis Fayad, Milton Hatoum, Farid Kahhat, María del Mar Logroño, Carlos Martínez Assad, Rosa-Isabel Martínez Lillo, Rigoberto Menéndez, Hamurabi Noufouri, Camila Pastor, Paulo Hilu Pinto, Oswaldo Truzzi, María del Pilar Vargas and Zidane Zeraoui

This book, jointly published by Casa Árabe and Siglo XXI, includes nine works by different authors edited by the Moroccan historian Abdeluahed Akmir.

Arab migration to the New World developed mainly from the last two decades of the 19th century to the 1940s and involved tens of thousands of people who established numerous Latin American communities that were highly socially dynamic. These communities produced well-known personalities in the field of politics, business, literature, music and art.

Despite the importance of the Arab presence in Latin America, few studies are devoted to the phenomenon. The book Arabs in Latin America, originally published in 2006, seeks to help fill this gap and contains additional new material.

An exhaustive study by Víctor Luis Gutiérrez Castillo of the delimitation of maritime areas on the Mediterranean and Atlantic coastlines of Maghreb countries, which have often produced disputes among the affected states. This book offers a proposal to clarify the maritime limits of the various state jurisdictions. It aims to favour cooperation between states, and help reduce incidents. It also proposes a coordinated management of issues like illegal migration and smuggling.

To mark the fourth centenary of the start of the expulsion of the Moriscos, Luis F. Bernabé Pons offers in this book a documented account of this minority in the light of latest research. The author takes a multidisciplinary approach that transcends mere chronological history. He outlines the Morisco experience in the broadest possible terms, and goes far beyond the moment of their expulsion. 

Book-catalogue of an exhibition in which the residents of Madrid’s Lavapiés quarter gave personal photographs to compile a neighbourhood album. The exhibition was held in Casa Árabe from 1 April to 3 May 2009.

Muslims in Spain. A reference guide. This guide shows the diversity and plurality of Muslim communities resident in our country. It also draws attention to stereotypes that affect this collective.

Conflicts like those in Palestine, Iraq, Lebanon, Sudan and the Western Sahara impose an enormous burden on the societies affected. They generate serious humanitarian crises, upset the demographic balance and produce far-reaching ecological and environmental changes. They also act as a brake on economic development and on social and political progress.  Analysis of their consequences is therefore a key element in understanding the political, economic and social future of this part of the world.