Articles of Dr.

Jose
Rizal in Barcelona
The Filipinos in Barcelona, some of were his
schoolmates in the Ateneo, welcomed Rizal. They
give him a party at their favorite cafe in Plaza de
Catulana. After the customary exchange of toast,
they told their guest of the attraction of Barcelona
and the custom of the Spanish people; in turned
he gave them the latest news and gossips in the
Philippines.
In progressive Barcelona Rizal wrote
nationalistic essay entitled "AMOR PATRIO"
(LOVE OF COUNTRY), his first article written on
Spanish soil. He sent his article to his friend in
Manila Basilio Teodoro Moran, publisher of
Diariong Tagalog the first Manila bilingual news
paper (Spanish & Tagalog).
Rizal's "Amor Patrio," under his pen name
Laong Laan, appeared in print Diariong Tagalog
on August 20 1882. It was published in two
texts-Spanish and Tagalog. The Spanish text
was the one originally written by Rizal in
Barcelona. The Tagalog text was a Tagalog
translation made by M.H Del Pilar.
The article caused quite a sensation among the
readers in the Philippines because of its
nationalistic flavor. As in his prize-winning
"Juventud Filipina." Rizal in his Amor Patrio
urged him compatriots to love their fatherland,
the Philippines. Among the other things, he
wrote:
Amor Patrio
After the fashion of the ancient Herbews who
offered in the temple the first fruit of their love,
we in a foreign land, dedicate our first accounts
to our country, enshrouded along the clouds and
mists of morn, always beautiful and poetic, but
ever more idiolized in proportion as we are
absent and away from it. . .
Under whatever aspect, whatever its name, we
love her (patria) always just as the child loves its
mother in the midst of hunger and misery.
And how strange! The poorer and more
miserable she is, the more we suffer for her, and
the more she is idolized and adored; yes, there
is real joy in suffering for her. . .
 Child, we love play; adolescent, we forget it; youth, we
seek our ideal; disillusioned, we weep and go in quest of
something more positive and more useful; parent, the
children die and time gradually erases our pain just as
the air of the sea slowly effaces the shores as the boat
departs from them. But, love of country can nevet be
effaced, once it has entered the heart, because it
carriers in itself the divine stamp that makes it eternal
and imperishable.
 It has always been said that love is the most
potent force behind the most sublime deeds;
very well, of all loves, the love of country is what
produced the greatest, the most heroic, the most
disinterested. Read history. . .
Publisher Basilio Teodoro Moran, deeply impressed by
"Amor Patrio," congratulated Rizal, and requested for
more articles. In response to his request, Rizal wrote the
second article for Diariong Tagalog entitled "Los Viajes"
(Travels). His third article, entitled "Revista de Madrid"
(Review of Madrid), which he wrote in Madrid on
November 29, 1892 was returned him because the
Diariong Tagalog has ceased publication for lack of
funds.