Spanish views from a small town

In 1755, catastrophe struck. On November 1st, All S aints' Day, a n earth quake of around magnitude 9 struck of f Cape San Vicente, southwest of the southern tip of Portugal. The quake, w hich lasted up to six minutes acco rding to some accounts, devast ated the city of Lis bon. The quake also created a tidal wave that reached all the way to the Caribbean and even licked at Finland , and help fini sh destroying Lisbon with five meter waves. Further south along the peninsula, the southern coast of Portugal and western coast of Andalucia rec eived k iller waves of up to fifteen meters.  In Spain, towns like A yamonte and Conil were almost swept away. Over a thousand people died in Ayamonte. Other towns, like San l úcar de Barrameda and Puerto de S anta María were gravely affected. Cádiz, right in the line of the mon ster waves, w as lucky. It was surrounded by large walls that also fronted on the sea , and had gates in the harbor that could be closed, as a defensive measure. The...