The orientalist spirit and islamic archeology of Granada in The charm of the Alhambra by Francisco Villaespesa

In this research, I adopt a descriptive-analytical method as the study documents in an erudite way the collection of poems entitled “The charm of the Alhambra” by Francisco Villaespesa, published in 1932. The study does not only analyse this work in depth, but it also performs a geoliterary assessment of the work, its author, and the environment in which these brilliant oriental sonnets were written. The choice of these sonnets is in line with the writer as a successful orientalist poet. On one hand, these sonnets are a vehicle for the analysis of his orientalist creations, but, on the other, they are a narrative that accurately informs us and documents details about other authors with an orientalist tendency. The poet not only describes the Alhambra and its surroundings, but also reflects a great lyricism, the beauty of the palace and its idealized allusions to the fantastic and the oriental sides of it. He also tells us about its historical figures from the Andalusian past to make us live authentic dramas in every poem and feel deep joy in every rhyme. Francisco Villaespesa, as an orientalist, takes us on a historical journey, immersing us in an environment full of oriental aromas from the happy past and, he through his verses, shows us that he is captivated by the Islamic East.