RIYADH, 16 March 2005 — If the people of Spain have a better understanding of the Middle East than do many people of other countries, Spanish journalist Angeles Espinosa of the Madrid daily newspaper El Pais has contributed to that understanding. A veteran correspondent with more than 20 years of experience in the Middle East, she visited Saudi Arabia recently to cover the municipal elections. She let us turn the tables on her and agreed to an interview.

“I started to build up interest in the Middle East through the Lebanese war,” she said. “There was a TV program in Spain called the ‘Reporters’, and I remember their coverage of that conflict got my attention as a student of journalism. I eventually discovered that there was a cultural link between the two sides of the Mediterranean. So ever since my first assignment as a correspondent in Beirut, I have hoped that my work would help the Spanish public to better understand this part of the world.”

Espinosa has often found herself in harm’s way, and it began during her first posting in Beirut in the 1980s.

“I can smile now when I remember one day in 1989 when I went to have lunch with the Spanish charge d’affaires in Beirut and was forced to spend two days at his residence because of the intensity of the bombing against the forces of Gen. Aoun,” she said.

“Many years later, in Jenin, I was surprised to see all the protective gear worn by the TV crew in contrast to the fact that I was being guided through the alleys of the refugee camp by a seven-year-old who ‘protectively’ held my hand.”

Throughout her coverage of conflicts from Lebanon to the current occupation of Iraq, she says she has met many courageous individuals — but not the ones you might think of first.

“In the most difficult situations, under bombings, or in refugee camps, I have found most women to be braver than the men — altogether more generous,” Espinosa said. “They would save rations for their children and go to whatever lengths for the children in order to protect and save them. They would not be rewarded with social recognition for the pain and suffering they underwent in situations mostly created by the men themselves. However, I have also met brave and caring men who have supported their daughters, wives and sisters, like the man in Kandahar who risked his life under the Taleban regime, to drive his wife to her job of working with the poor in remote rural areas of Afghanistan.”

She also noted how many people go out of their ways to help journalists get the story.

“Even in the most difficult of situations, I have always found a friendly smile and a helping hand,” she said. “Last July, in Fallujah, when its inhabitants were hostages in the fight between the insurgents and the US forces, a cleric who had risked his life to meet me, wished me a safe journey back to Baghdad while he stayed back in the besieged city.”

The Spanish woman has a keen interest in Saudi Arabia.

“In the case of Saudi Arabia, one of the most intriguing aspect of the society for me as a foreigner has always been the women and their roles and activities in society as increasingly contributing members,” she said. “This interest is also geared by the interest and comments of my readers in Spain who write in their queries.”

A Fulbright Scholar with master’s degrees in journalism and international public policy, she strives not to let cultural differences skew her opinions, preferring to get the facts.

“The biggest aspect of interest for me, personally, is that most Saudi women like the veil and do not take it as a male-dictated imposition,” she said.

“I do not fully understand the point of fully covering one’s face but have come to respect it as a choice.”

She views the municipal elections as an extremely positive step.

“A couple of years ago, I could not have imagined that I would see a Saudi going to the polls — even a male Saudi,” she said. “However, I do hope there will be an opportunity for me to see also a Saudi woman voting, which, even if symbolic, will be a change. This is what my job is all about, reporting changes for bad or good, which is more enjoyable for me. We rarely cover a country or an issue when there are no changes. What would we write about?”

Through her coverage of the Gulf Wars, the two intifadas, and the more recent invasion of Iraq, she has met many people who despite their many differences have many similarities.

“Human beings are very much the same, be they in Spain, Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq or Saudi Arabia. The many people I have been lucky enough to meet, appear to be longing for a better life for themselves and their families, not only in terms of wealth but also of freedom and the honor of being at liberty.”