In my opinion, religious tolerance means respecting one other's opinions. This is very important in our world, in which there are different visions of (how to live) life. But we’ll never forget that each person in society has his or her own vision and all of us must respect the choices of the others. For me, its means respect.

The plurality of cultures is enormous in Andalusia and finds its origin in the region’s geographical position on the Iberian Peninsula and the Mediterranean. Since prehistoric times, Andalusia has been a transit point for many people who have left their mark. Because of this, a lot of cultures live together. But this was not always easy. However, there was a time in which the idea of coexistence, peace and tolerance ruled; it was called Al-Andalus. It is true that during most of the Middle Ages, the Muslim, Christian and Jewish faiths lived on the Iberian Peninsula together.The result of all these cultures (coexisting) is a lot of monuments in the same city, or even multiple cultures reflected in the same monument - for example in La Giralda (the cathedral of Seville), or La Catedral de Cordoba (the cathedral of Cordoba).

If Andalucia is unique in some way, I’m sure that it is about the character of the people. Here, most of us are very friendly, and open minded.  In fact, in Andalucia there has been a melting pot of cultures and religions that has greatly enriched our history, lives and even vocabulary. (For example, the word for “pillow" in Andalusian Spanish, almohada, historically comes from the Arabic word mihaddah, meaning resting place).. All of that is thanks to the effort of the "natives" who lived during each era. There are many festivals and holidays that recognize all of this history. We encourage people to come visit this land.

Irene is currently in school studying industrial engineering.