Portillo's Andalucia | Episode 1

Added: 2026-05-07

[00:00:02]Every summer, millions of us visit the region of Ander Luthia in southern Spain to enjoy its warm weather, hospitality, >> and some of Europe's most popular beaches on the Costa del.

[00:00:19]>> Being half Spanish, I've always felt a deep connection to this country.

[00:00:23]>> Hello, Michael.

[00:00:25]>> Inant.

[00:00:27]And since living in Ander Luthia, wow, it's startlingly clear to me how much of what we associate with Spain originates in this region. I want to share those intoxicating influences with you.

[00:00:42]>> I'm crossing the frontier from mayhem to carnage.

[00:00:49]>> Across this series, I'll visit Anderuthia's historic cities. Here walked Roman feet. There was a Roman fort. There [music] was an Islamic mosque. There is a Catholic cathedral.

[00:01:02]Where competing cultures have fashioned some of Spain's most vibrant celebrations and traditions.

[00:01:10]>> My goodness, we're doing well here.

[00:01:11]>> And bequeethed some of the world's bestloved buildings.

[00:01:15]>> Oh my word.

[00:01:16]>> Together, we will delight [music] in delicious food.

[00:01:19]>> People come from all over the world for your tortilla.

[00:01:22]>> See? harvested from [music] this region's fertile land.

[00:01:27]This is a cathedral of olive oil and fished from its generous seas. This is the beating heart of old Spain.

[00:01:36]Oh, and does it know it?

[00:01:39]And at the end of it, I'll return home to celebrate with my friends and neighbors with Andeluthian passion.

[00:01:54]My journey across Anderuthia begins in one of Spain's most beautiful cities.

[00:02:03]Oh my word, Granada.

[00:02:08]That is the view that I remember that I'm coming back to.

[00:02:15]The city spread out in front of the mountains. Great towering peaks behind, but all of the [music] city nestling amongst the foothills. A brilliant sight.

[00:02:30]Granada is one of the places that I most love. The magnet that draws me dominates the skyline.

[00:02:39]Visited by over 3 million people every year.

[00:02:44]This is the magnificent Alumbra, one of the world's most famous Islamic palaces.

[00:02:51]I am so happy to be back in the city of Granada.

[00:02:56]It was the last place to be occupied by the Muslims.

[00:03:00]It's really important Granada for understanding Spanish history. As far as my personal history is concerned, my father loved this city. When he was getting very old, I brought him here and we had one of our last conversations.

[00:03:16]So, it has very strong personal associations.

[00:03:22]Just 90 minutes drive from Malaga, Granada huddles beneath the Sierra Nevada mountains.

[00:03:29]At one time Islam's most important [music] territory in Europe, this city has left a deep mark on both Spain and Ander Luthia.

[00:03:39]From the passion that drives its people to sing and dance >> to an ancient craft passed down through a family over 500 years.

[00:03:50]>> Good, Michael. He was born for this.

[00:03:55][laughter] >> And a sweet pudding named after the longest serving pope.

[00:04:01]>> My goodness. This is the most fun cake I've ever been involved in.

[00:04:08]So I'm headed uphill towards the Alamra.

[00:04:12]Probably one of the finest examples of Islamic architecture anywhere in the world.

[00:04:20]So through the walls of the alumbra like some ancient [music] Emmy, the city of Granada was the center of a mighty Islamic empire which ruled most of what is today the Costa del Saul region.

[00:04:39]The imperial headquarters, the massive Alumbra complex was built on a plateau overlooking the city in the 13th and [music] 14th centuries, serving as both palace and fortress.

[00:04:55]The palaces of [music] the Alumbra are set into the foothills of the Sierra Nevada, the snowy mountains, and all the fountains are fed by the melt water tumbling down the slopes. My father used to say, "You're cooled as much by the sound of the water as the water itself."

[00:05:12]If you come here on a [music] winter's day when the air is clear and the mountains are [music] white topped, you'll be aware that you're seeing one of the most beautiful cities [music] on Earth.

[00:05:28]Within the alumbra's walls are numerous courtyards [music] where the opulence of the design stops you in your tracks.

[00:05:37]Intricate motifs carved in its plaster work.

[00:05:42]Column arcades.

[00:05:45][music] Horseshoe arches reflecting pools and fountains. [music] These architectural inspirations have influenced Spain ever since.

[00:06:00]Everywhere in the palace there is symbolism. All human life is here. This fountain is thought to represent birth.

[00:06:10]Starting from a tiny trickle, we go through the whirlpool of childhood. We go through the crosscurrens of our youth [snorts] and out into the big bad world.

[00:06:23]Wherever you look, joyous colors greet the eye. Lines of boisterous ceramic tiles inflame the walls of the Alumbra's courtyards. You find tiles like these all over Ander Luthia and Spain. Their origins are here in Granada, born of this city's Muslim and Christian cultures.

[00:06:47]Once there were nearly [music] 40 traditional 15th century ceramics workshops in Granada.

[00:06:54]Today just one of [music] those original factories remains and I head back down the hill from the Alumbra to visit it.

[00:07:02]The factory is located on top of Granada's second hill in the old Muslim neighborhood of Albine.

[00:07:10]Here, the Morales family has been creating ceramics for 500 years. Chem is the latest in that very long line.

[00:07:19]Timmy, hello.

[00:07:20]>> Hello, Michael.

[00:07:21]>> It's lovely to see you.

[00:07:22]>> Nice to meet you.

[00:07:23]>> Great pleasure for me. And tell me, straight away, this is such a a beautiful courtyard with all these decorated tiles. I've seen a lot of these under Ruth here. Tell tell me a bit how how far back do these sorts of design go? How old are they? is connected with a Muslim tradition that means we can say it's more than 500 years old really >> it's mixed with the Christian tradition in 1492 from that time till today it keep the same idea of ceramics along with the decorative tiles the factory also produces glazed earthn wear and crockery featuring a mix [music] of Muslim and Christian patterns This is traditional Granada ceramic sound.

[00:08:11]>> Yeah. As much as possible with the same techniques, the same idea.

[00:08:15]>> That is beautiful, isn't it? All done by hand, freehand.

[00:08:18]>> Yeah. 100% by hand and one by one completely different.

[00:08:24]>> What color will that one be?

[00:08:25]>> This one will be uh blue when it's finished.

[00:08:30]>> The pottery with its distinctive designs in green and blue is famous the world over.

[00:08:38]Why were ceramics traditionally made here in this part of Granada?

[00:08:42]>> Because they have here the two things.

[00:08:44]The clay very close in the mountains and the water was the principal line of water of the city was just behind these walls.

[00:08:52]>> Little has changed over the centuries during which the family has produced Granada's pretty ceramics.

[00:08:58]>> Here we have the full infrastructure to make ceramics in the medieval style. My goodness, >> everything is here.

[00:09:08]>> We have pictures from the end of the 19th century.

[00:09:12]>> That's amazing.

[00:09:13]>> You can see my grand grandmother here.

[00:09:16]>> And this is incredible. So much is the same. This roof line is the same. This doorway. I mean, this really is a museum of how it used to be done.

[00:09:26]The extraordinary records of Kemy's family reveal that the factory dates to the time when Islamic Granada was reconquered by the Catholic monarchs of Spain.

[00:09:36]>> We have for sure in 15 17 papers speaking about the people who made ceramics in this area of the city.

[00:09:45]Extraordinary. The name of Ernando de Morales is one of them.

[00:09:49]>> And do you think these people were were always Christian or what do you think?

[00:09:53]>> No, no, no. In the beginning for sure it was most of them was Muslims >> but we're in a period here where um many of the Muslim people have been required to convert to Christianity >> and you can recognize this in the style.

[00:10:07]It's mixed between the two traditions.

[00:10:09]>> Yeah. Kemy's uncle who recently died aged 100 taught him all he knows about ceramics. And now it's Kemy's turn to teach me. So, Michael, if you want to feel like a real [music] medieval pottery maker, you can just jump inside and try it >> in this hole.

[00:10:28]>> Yes, it's safe enough, more or less.

[00:10:37]>> Coming up, I find myself in a sizzling kitchen drama. That is marvelous. This is like the fires of hell.

[00:10:46]I get to grips with Andaluthian cuisine.

[00:10:50]>> They are quite tricky to get out. I must say it's hard work. That >> little fellow. There he is. And I channel my Patrick sees at the potter's wheel.

[00:10:59]>> Now we are going to open a nice bowl.

[00:11:03]Good.

[00:11:09]>> I'm journeying across Anderuthia in southern Spain. Best known to the British for the beaches of the Costa del Sol, but a region whose history, culture, and traditions help explain what it is to be Spanish today.

[00:11:25]I've begun my trip 90 minutes [music] north of Malaga in the wonderful city of Granada, home to the world famous Alumbra Palace.

[00:11:34]It's hard to imagine that a vast area covering most of modern Spain, Portugal, [music] and parts of France came under Islamic rule, which in Granada lasted nearly 800 years.

[00:11:48]In 1492, after centuries of reconquest, the Catholic monarchs took back full control of Spain.

[00:11:57]I'm visiting the city's last remaining traditional pottery factory with roots in that time of cultural transformation.

[00:12:05]Now there's a wheel down here. I can push this wheel with my feet. Is that right?

[00:12:09]>> Yes, exactly.

[00:12:12][laughter] >> And now we put this.

[00:12:18]>> Okay.

[00:12:19]>> Good.

[00:12:21]It takes one year to do this in a perfect way.

[00:12:26]I had no idea it would be so much work.

[00:12:28][laughter] >> Do you want we try together?

[00:12:30]>> Yeah. Yeah. Come on in.

[00:12:31]>> Okay. It can be very romantic.

[00:12:38][snorts] Nice. Gentle. All right. And then the idea is to keep it exactly in the center. Right.

[00:12:49]Okay. Mhm.

[00:12:50]>> Now we are going to open a nice bowl.

[00:12:56]Going up with me. Up, up, up, up, [music] up, up. Release your hand. Whoa.

[00:13:03]>> My goodness. We're doing well here.

[00:13:05]Fantastic. Thank you so much.

[00:13:07]>> A little bit more. Let's open it inside your left hand.

[00:13:11]Slowly, slowly, slowly, slowly.

[00:13:15]>> Good. Michael was born for this.

[00:13:20]Oh. [laughter] Nice. It's a earring. [laughter] >> In pottery circles, I assume that they call this falling asleep at the wheel.

[00:13:36]>> Did you think about changing your career as a public man and be a ceramist in the south of Spain?

[00:13:41]>> I certainly didn't and I'm not going to now, but thank you. It was a great experience. [laughter] The blending of Muslim and Christian influences in Ander Luthia's architecture leaps out at you from so many fine buildings.

[00:14:07]And the same cultural mix is evident in what Spaniards put on the table.

[00:14:17]The best person to help me appreciate that is food historian Fiona Dunlop who like me has adopted and Luthia as a second home.

[00:14:28]>> Fiona >> Michael >> lovely to see you.

[00:14:31]>> Good to meet you.

[00:14:33]>> How nice to meet in a Spanish market.

[00:14:35]>> Absolutely.

[00:14:36]>> I've arranged to meet her for lunch and first she wants to show me the market where discerning locals buy their produce. From what I've uh noticed being in Spain a lot, eating in Spain, is their concern for really good basic products, meats and fish and vegetables.

[00:14:54]>> Yeah, absolutely. I mean, look at this fantastic wonderful display of bokeeroness which are pickled anchovies, amazing olives.

[00:15:04]>> How did you get so interested in Andaluthia?

[00:15:06]>> I just love the fusion. This is the only place in the world where you get that incredible fusion. Yes, >> between the Arab world and the western world, >> much of the delicious food in which the Spanish take pride and joy today [music] was introduced during the period of Islamic rule.

[00:15:26]>> We look at the meat counter.

[00:15:27]>> Yes, this is one of the huge passions.

[00:15:30]>> Absolutely.

[00:15:31]>> They are big meat eaters. And there you got something that dates from the Moish times. Lamb chops which are delicious.

[00:15:42]Even the fruit that they regard as homegrown has its origins further a field. In >> the 8th century, that was when you got a huge amount of fruit and vegetable imports into Ander Lucia. Watermelon was one of them. Also citrus fruits which originated some of them in China and then they came via Persia to Baghdad and then from Baghdad to Ander Lucia. I mean, it's an extraordinary journey.

[00:16:12]>> It is. And you know, where I have my house, we're surrounded by orange groves. We have orange street trees. And extraordinary to think that they had to be brought in. They had to be imported.

[00:16:23]>> Yeah. Yeah. And then the street oranges you get here are the the sour oranges which end up in our jars of marmalade on our breakfast tables in England.

[00:16:34]>> Seville orange marmalade. Delicious. Let us continue our conversation over the lunch table.

[00:16:40]>> That sounds good.

[00:16:42][music] >> Our lunch venue is one of Granada's [music] bestloved restaurants, which serves stunning dishes that demonstrate the huge influence of Spain's past on [music] its present.

[00:16:57]>> For our starter, something that apparently couldn't be more [music] Spanish.

[00:17:04]Fiona gaspacho. There couldn't be a better designed dish for Ander here because this is so refreshing in summer, isn't it?

[00:17:11]>> It is gaspacho. It has many variations.

[00:17:15]Actually, this is the classic with tomatoes and cucumber and onion.

[00:17:21]>> But even the roots of this celebrated soup reach into the country's ancient past. If you go back a bit further, pre- new world >> when there were no tomatoes, you have aublano which is [music] made from almonds and garlic and sometimes breadcrumbs.

[00:17:38]>> And this has been beautifully [music] chilled.

[00:17:40]>> Perfect.

[00:17:43]>> And as you [music] take it in, you immediately just feel refreshed, cool, and cascades down the throat. Lovely.

[00:17:49]>> Yeah. And you know what? Actually, they say the original one came from the Roman legionnaires who drank to keep themselves cool as they were marching through Ander Lucia.

[00:18:03]>> Our next course is something you find in restaurants across southern Europe.

[00:18:07]>> Gracias.

[00:18:08]>> Were snails also brought into Spain by invaders?

[00:18:11]>> Yes, they came from Morocco with the Berbers. They are quite tricky to get out, I must say. [clears throat] [laughter] Uh oh. Come on, snail.

[00:18:25][laughter] >> It's hard work.

[00:18:26]>> Little fellow. There he is.

[00:18:31]>> What do you think's gone into that thick brown sauce?

[00:18:34]>> Cloves, some cumin, almonds.

[00:18:38]>> Ah, all of these suggest to me Middle East origins.

[00:18:41]>> Oh, absolutely.

[00:18:46]That looks fresh and delicious and quite a change from the snails, I think.

[00:18:50]>> I've never seen this. So, um, we've mixed together fish and orange here.

[00:18:54]>> Yes. And it's it's a very typical, um, dish of Granada. This is called Remoon, Granadino. You also get it in Malaga.

[00:19:04]And there's a bit of a gastronomic war between Malaga and Granada about who invented it. You've got oranges, onion, and some pomegranate seeds.

[00:19:17]>> Now, a pomegranate is a pom de granard.

[00:19:20]It is an apple from Granada.

[00:19:22]>> And in days of Alandoo, you had fruit juice vendors wandering the streets selling pomegranate juice.

[00:19:29]>> This popular Spanish salad dates from the Islamic era and was traditionally served during the Mediterranean winter.

[00:19:37]>> M. Fabulous.

[00:19:38]>> It is fabulous. I would never have dreamt of mixing an orange with a fish.

[00:19:42]>> Oh, that is nice.

[00:19:48][music] For my pudding, I leave Fiona because I've been tipped off about one of Granada's lesserknown delicacies.

[00:20:00]Within the Catholic Church, some communities of nuns live separated from the hurly burly of the sinful world behind convent walls. One thing that closed order nuns do is to bake sweet treats and to sell them to the public without showing themselves, which makes buying from them an unusually sanitized experience.

[00:20:26]No answer to the bell, if that is a bell. Fortunately, even this strictest of convents has an intercom.

[00:20:46]Cafe.

[00:20:57]A very strange and in a way rather lovely experience. I just saw a hand and a disembodied voice and I have my biscuits.

[00:21:15]After a busy day enjoying some of Granada's highlights, it's time to head to my hotel. For tonight, I've chosen somewhere exquisite.

[00:21:26]And once again, it's an amalgam of Muslim and Christian.

[00:21:31]Since 1928, the Spanish state has owned a chain of hotels in old heritage buildings. This one is the monastery of San Francisco.

[00:21:42]Uh, and it's one of the most sought after partly because it's attached to the Alra, partly because it has tremendous history and wonderful views.

[00:21:57]My hotel preserves some beautiful and original Arabic touches. For example, this inner courtyard and my room looks out wow across the gardens of the Alumbra Palace where I had one of my last conversations with my father. I believe that paradise comes from Persian words meaning garden of heaven and that's my view.

[00:22:32]Coming up, I feel the full flaming fury of Flamco.

[00:22:40]>> Pay homage at the resting place of Europe's greatest Catholic queen. On her death, she said, I must be taken back to Granada >> and participate in producing a papal pastry.

[00:22:56]>> It's really good. No wonder he was made a saint.

[00:23:05]I'm in one of my favorite parts of Spain, Andaluthia, exploring Granada, a city I know and love. And I want enthusiastically to recommend that the hundreds of thousands of us who head for the Spanish sunshine make an unforgettable detour of 50 mi from the Mediterranean coast.

[00:23:28]I've spent the night in a former monastery attached to the Alumbra Palace which is the best example of medieval Muslim architecture in Europe.

[00:23:37]This is maybe the most celebrated courtyard in the palaces of the Alamra and this is the most famous fountain.

[00:23:46]Granada attracts millions of tourists every year. For many people, this is their idea of Spain, but with the irony that this is a beautiful vestage of a dynasty that passed into history, not a Christian dynasty, but a Muslim one. And the fact that the Muslims ruled in Anderutha for many centuries has left a legacy in this part of Spain quite different from the rest. One of the things that makes Anderuthia so distinctive, Granava, in particular, this stunning palace and fortress, was Islam's last stronghold in Spain. Over centuries, their empire had been pushed back to the city. After a series of wars fought here over 10 years, the Muslims surrendered in 1492, and the country again became Christian.

[00:24:42]The two Catholic monarchs, Queen Isabel and her husband, King Fernando, who led that reconquest, were buried here.

[00:24:54]Queen Isabel is an absolutely key figure in Spanish history. She was the queen of Castile and she married the king of Aragon and that meant the unification of Spain. And for the first time, we then talk about the queen and king of Spain.

[00:25:11]What is more, they came down to Granada and drove out the last of the Muslims.

[00:25:18]Then they expelled the Muslims. Then they expelled the Jews. And then they sent Christopher Columbus on his voyage which led to the European discovery of America. Some of those are what we would now regard as contested achievements to put it mildly. But I have an affection for Isabel because she was born in Madrial de Lasaltas Torres where my father spent his childhood. And she died in the castle of Medina del Campo where I used to play in the ruins as a child.

[00:25:51]And then on her death she [music] said, "I must be taken back to Granada." And so in a journey through foul weather in December of 1503 to 4, she was brought here to Granada and she lay here in the convent and she was joined by the body of her husband in 1516 and the two of them remained here until 1521 when they were taken off to the royal separ.

[00:26:21][music] In the 500 years since, many Muslim traditions have been replaced. Mosques with cathedrals, and Spain's love of pork resumed under Catholic rule.

[00:26:35]Hola, Mubo.

[00:26:42]>> In Granada, there's another Catholic tradition in the form of a small cake served in the city's cafes and restaurants and throughout Ander Luthia.

[00:26:54]I'm on my way to Santa Fe, a town 7 milesi west of Granada, to learn about this super sweet pudding from the great grandson of the man who invented it back in 1897.

[00:27:09]>> Hola, Ramo.

[00:27:11]>> Hola.

[00:27:11]>> So, Michael Its fame goes before it, but until now I've never seen it made. So, we start with the eggs separated. We got the yolks and the whites uh being beaten separately.

[00:27:36]We add the flour. We take out the uh yolks. And then we blend in the egg whites. See?

[00:27:46]M.

[00:27:48]Yeah.

[00:27:51]>> Yeah. This this is a demonstration scale. I mean, normally this is done at the factory level.

[00:27:59]The cake called a piono was invented by Romero's great-grandfather as a tribute to Pope Pius the 9th who reigned in the 19th century and is the longest serving pontiff of all time.

[00:28:13]The pionoa is named after pest the 9th and supposed to resemble him.

[00:28:21]>> Pope Pius the 9inth was quite a rotund fellow. So we have a roly poly cake in his honor and the pope very often wears a little white cap. So he has a little white cap.

[00:28:35]Ramiro's greatgrandfather began to make it at home. Today, the huge factory produces 60,000 bon nos every week.

[00:28:48]It's important not to move it any more than is strictly necessary cuz we don't want to lose the air in the egg white.

[00:28:56]This is going to go in the oven shortly.

[00:29:02]>> You haven't lost your skill.

[00:29:13]Just 5 minutes.

[00:29:17]So, here we are. The mixture is out of the oven, well on its way to um the papacy.

[00:29:24]The sponge mixture has been cut and rolled up, but inside the roll is this secret creamy ingredient. And now the pionos are going to be decorated with the same cream. And then some other interesting things are going to happen to it before it acquires the paper cap.

[00:29:47]Look at the speed of that. [music] I was going to offer to help, but I think I think that's a bit fast for me.

[00:29:54]But Romero convinces me to have a go when in Rome.

[00:30:00]Why not in You've got to squeeze that >> at the bottom and the topen.

[00:30:12]>> That's good around.

[00:30:16]>> Don't be frightened of it. Get on with it.

[00:30:20]I'm doing all right. Oh, get down. Get down.

[00:30:32]We don't want to peek on it. We We want it flat on there.

[00:30:38]>> I don't think he wants me to ruin anymore. I think that's my lot. Gracias.

[00:30:44]>> Then to cap it off, the thumb bit.

[00:30:48]>> My goodness.

[00:30:51]>> That is a sight.

[00:30:54]>> The Pope's cap has been converted into burnt sugar.

[00:30:59]>> That is dramatic.

[00:31:01]This is like the fires of hell. But in fact, the pope was canonized.

[00:31:08]We've toasted the pope to the only way to eat them is the whole thing. Here it goes.

[00:31:20]>> Okay.

[00:31:25]>> Excellente.

[00:31:26]>> Excellente.

[00:31:27]>> It's really good. That's absolutely marvelous.

[00:31:31]>> [clears throat] >> No wonder he was made a saint.

[00:31:38]>> Like all cities in this most southern region of Spain, it can be exhaustingly hot in summer.

[00:31:45]But in Granada, relief is at hand. There are over 50 drinking fountains dotted [music] around the city, some over 500 years old. The water's fresh though, most of it having tumbled down from the mountains.

[00:32:02]This uh picturesque neighborhood of Granada is Sacro Monte and it lies just across the steep river valley from the Alamra and gives us great views.

[00:32:16]And here pretty frontages disguise the fact that the houses are actually built into the mountain side.

[00:32:22]>> [music] >> They are caves and in some of those caverns there are flamco performances.

[00:32:31]And that's what's brought me here today to meet one of Granada's renowned flamco artists to hear about this impassioned outpouring of dance and song.

[00:32:43]>> Many of the things that people think of as being Spanish like flamco dancing and bulls, they are strongest in the south of Spain.

[00:32:52]And particularly at the end of the 19th century, a lot of intellectuals were unhappy with this. They thought that these things were giving an image of a backward Spain to the outside world.

[00:33:03]Interestingly, in the early 20th century, an intellectual and poet like Federrico Garcia Lorca uh and another poet, my father, Luis Portillio, they valued what was going on in the south.

[00:33:15]They liked the bulls. They liked the flamnco.

[00:33:19]Federrico Garcia Lorka lived locally and much of his work focused on and luthia and in particular the gypsy traditions of flamnco passed down from generation to generation >> harredia has danced her whole life including for Spain's king emmeritus >> you're part of a dynasty of flamco artist the artistas That's the flamingo.

[00:34:03]When did you learn to dance?

[00:34:12]>> Although now seen as synonymous with Spain, Flamingco's origins lie [music] with gypsies who arrived from India.

[00:34:20]Har's ancestors brought Flamnco to Sakramonte.

[00:34:25]>> Seems to me there's a lot of pain, a lot of pain in Flamco. Now, is this because the Hitanos have suffered a great deal?

[00:34:49]is due on stage again shortly.

[00:34:52]>> Tell me what you're going to be expressing in the dance.

[00:34:58]>> I never know what I'm going to dance.

[00:35:02]Har performs a thumbra which derives from the wedding song of the moriscos forcibly converted Muslims who like the gypsies were on the margins of Spanish society [music] [applause] [music] H. [applause] >> Wow. Holla is amazing. Peppery, fiery, with a passion that burns. Flamnco is not for wimps.

[00:35:58]My Spanish father, Luis, although he wasn't from these parts, loved Granada.

[00:36:03]And during his long exile in Britain after the Spanish Civil War, he would remember this place. And when he was a very old man, I brought him back here and we walked in these gardens and enjoyed one of our very last conversations.

[00:36:20]And that memory in my later life is one of the things that has drawn me to rediscover Andaluthia.

[00:36:48]My father was drawn to Granada partly by his admiration for one of its most famous sons, the poet and playwright Federico Garcia Lorca. At the end of the Spanish Civil War, my father escaped Spain to Britain. Lorca was murdered, probably perceived to be on the political left. His work is considered so important that my friend and Lord's niece has created a foundation in his honor. My goodness, louder. I didn't expect anything like this. I thought you'd be in an historic building. I didn't expect something brand new and so >> Yeah.

[00:37:25]>> I mean, so remarkable. You must be so proud.

[00:37:29]>> A little bit. [laughter] >> Let's go.

[00:37:32]>> The building holds over 5,000 documents.

[00:37:37]This is a letter that I always find very moving to my grandparents.

[00:37:45]This is right after he had his first opening in 1921, his first play, The Butterfly's Evil Spell, and it was a complete flop.

[00:37:55]>> Oh dear.

[00:37:56]>> So my grandfather wrote him a very sort of serious letter saying, "Now it's time to come back to Granada.

[00:38:03]and you've had your experience with the theater theater didn't work out, so come back home." And he writes this beautiful letter where he says he's absolutely certain of his talent.

[00:38:24]>> Oh my goodness. leave my wings where they are and I will respond to that by flying. Well, >> and he stayed and he did.

[00:38:39]>> Flying and soaring to international fame in the 1930s when he and my father met.

[00:38:48]My father Luis Portillio was a bit younger [music] than Lorca. He was also a bit of a poet. He apparently came to Granada and met Gartia Lorca and he records that they took a stroll at night through Granada. My my father being a poet um talks about the nighting girls singing and the moon and this was clearly for my father an extraordinary moment. [music] It's a it's a lovely memory and he had the good fortune that on July the 18th, 1936 he was in Madrid. in Madrid >> by chance.

[00:39:24]>> That was [music] very fortunate of course and that's where Fedico should have been.

[00:39:30]>> Instead, Lord was in Granada.

[00:39:35]He was seized from his house and shot >> had he stayed in Madrid. [music] Yeah.

[00:39:41]>> He wouldn't have been murdered [clears throat] in that way.

[00:39:43]>> A different story.

[00:39:45]>> It was a different story for my father.

[00:39:48]My father crossed the Pyrenees in 39. He being a university man, he was attracted to Oxford. My mother was an undergraduate at Oxford. And after the bombing of Ganika in 1937, 4,000 Basque refugee children had crossed his Southampton. They'd been distributed.

[00:40:07]Some of them were in Oxford. My mother was making conversation with these kids in [music] Oxford. And my father arrived in Oxford, went to meet the bar children, met my mother. My mother proposes to him and they marry in 1940.

[00:40:21]>> And when did you first come to Spain?

[00:40:23]>> I first came in 1955 when I was 2 years old because although my father was not allowed to come here, my mother was because she was British.

[00:40:32]>> And my mother was absolutely determined [music] that we children would know our family.

[00:40:38]>> Yes.

[00:40:39]>> And our country. And so we [music] were traveling Spain when my father could not.

[00:40:43]>> Well, our first time was 1954. Ah, we might have bumped into each other.

[00:40:49]>> Did your father ever see Spain again?

[00:40:50]>> Oh, yes. He came back 1955 was [music] the first time.

[00:40:55]>> My father didn't come back till 59, >> right? Wow.

[00:41:00]>> Especially >> Yeah. It's very affecting, is it?

[00:41:04]>> Y. [music] >> Yeah.

[00:41:19]Many tears have been shed for Federico Garcia Lorca and I feel wisful myself bidding farewell [music] to a city whose mountain setting has no equal in andia.

[00:41:32]Islam created a great culture in Spain.

[00:41:36]You've only to visit the Alumbra for proof of that. But in 1492, [music] all of Spain returned to Christian rule and the Muslims were expelled.

[00:41:49]The 22nd ruler of the Emirate of Granada, Burbil, rode out of the city and turned for one last glimpse and wept.

[00:42:03]I link his [music] fate to my father's exile. And given the memories that I have of him from the gardens here, if this were my [music] last glance, I would cry too. But as it is, I will surely return to Granada.