What are the motifs in Iberia: Spanish Travels and Reflections by James A. Michener?

Communication and censorship are recurring ideas. Spain never moved along as well as other nations did for several reasons, but none as great as their nobles. The people of Spain have been censored since the times of the Inquisition. This is because of the paranoia that they developed from saying the wrong thing to the wrong person and being accused of heresy, which was punishable by death. The Spanish Inquisition lasted a lot longer than most other inquisitions, going well into the 19th century as an established law, though nobody was killed then. Since it lasted so long, the fear continued in the hearts of people and therefore they never talked about religion, because it was assumed that everyone was Catholic, and if they weren't they would never admit to it let alone talk about it to other people.