Through interactions with the “residents” of Virtual Spain, I have begun to develop and understanding of their individual roles in the community and the nature of the island itself.

Even from the first time that I visited the Island, I got the sense that this was a place built for the visitors: dominating the landscape are a large sculpture (for lack of a better description), numerous intriguing landmarks and, perhaps most importantly, a large, flat plaza in the middle of the Island. Without so much as a single exchanged word, it was easy to see that the purpose of this plaza was much like the purpose of its real-world counterpart: a place for meeting people and general relaxation.

As a throng of avatars danced to the music that seemed to envelop the scene, I witnessed many interactions between others. Some were talking, other dancing together, but overall a sense of community and mutual respect dominated the atmosphere. Why had this happened?

After conducting an interview, I discovered that many of the people there (or so I have been told) are young, as in 20s. This explained several phenomena that I had encountered:

• A general look of modernity as opposed to a virtual Reconstruction of “Old Spain.”
• The seemingly rampant insouciance on the part of the “residents” there.
• The starkly noticeable contrasts between people; that is to say, there were many, uh, unique individuals.

Overall, this island has a much different aura than our original place of study. In general, this seems to be a place for people of many different persuasions to congregate, get to know one another and just have a good time. Though one is likely to encounter people of virtually all flavours, one thing seems to unite them: they are Spanish, and proud of it.