TRANS I E N T Thomas King
TRANS I E N T Thomas King
For those lost but not forgotten.
Tr a n s i e n t
- lasting only for a short time; impermanent.
- a person who is staying or working in a place for a short t i m e o n l y.
- One that is transient, especially a hotel guest or boarder who stays for only a brief time.
For a long time the coast line of Spain that looks out over that of Northern Africa has been held in the grasp of changing hands. Once a land of Islamic conquest (AD 711) through to the days of the crusades (AD 1095) when it was used as a launching point for the fight and conquest for the holy land under the orders of the Pope. Even today there is an ongoing war. Not for the control of the land in a sense which has been seen before, but for control of the boarders. It is in our time that we see a different, on-going battle creating a big stir within the realms of politics and land control.
of the Straits of Gibraltar and over look the joining of two seas. The land rises from the coast immediately and turns into rising mountains and rolling hills enveloped in brush land and doted with the empowering presence of wind turbines. It is disturbing to think that these turbines bring power to the area but are a metaphor for the death of many migrants trying to make it across the Straits. The geography of the land creates such strong wind currents which blow the small craft which the migrants use to cross the Straits into the rocks and to a certain death.
When the Islamic conquest came to the Iberian Peninsular in AD 711 it created a land of culture and learning. Even after the reconquest of the peninsular there were pockets of Islam present throughout the southern most tip of this land. This area that spans from modern day Gibraltar further west towards the area surrounding Tarifa, a strategic vantage point which in todays world sees this crossing of the migrants from North Africa to Spain.
The tall cliffs along the coast can be seen as a barrier and a formidable boarder with scars of history upon the tops of them. The old and modern outposts overlooking the Straits keep an open eye for anyone trying to break through this unseen boarder and cast a solid reminder of what opposes these people with their ordeal ahead.
Being the most southernly point in Europe it is possible to see the large mountains of Morocco which jut out
Remains of life scatter the shore line from discarded clothing, half eaten food parcels and even the depressing sight of human remnants. The small vessels used to travel across the Straits lay torn and destroyed along the coast a stark
reminder that this is no easy task.