Returning from Cuba 1898

 

Tornant de Cuba by Ricard Opisso a Catalan artist. Painted in 1898 this image depicts two veterans of the Spanish American war, tens of thousands of conscripts were discharged and returned to Spain at the Barcelona Quays which is seen in the background. Many of these men were wounded, and malaria sickness was common, the Spanish authorities essentially abandoned these men after Cuba and Philippines and Puerto Rico were lost to the United States. 

The treatment of these men contributed to the growing atmosphere of hostility to the Spanish military in Barcelona and the wider Catalan region. I've been told that this defeat sat heavily on Spanish consciousness and that a saying "Más se perdió en la guerra de Cuba" (more was lost in the Cuban war) which means could have been worse.

The conflict between the USA and Spain occurred during the infancy of film and Edison was keen to film recreations of the fighting, if you've seen a documentary on this conflict you've likely seen some of this footage, I certainly have.

Cuban revolutionaries occupy a house and fire on Spanish troops.