Antonio Fernandez Carriedo

**Antonio Fernandez Carriedo** is a character from the anime/manga *Hetalia* and the *Tea Leaves* series. He is the personification of the country Spain.

## Appearance and Personality

### Appearance

He has somewhat curly brown hair, green eyes, lightly tanned skin, and wears a khaki-colored uniform (like the one used by the "Regulares", a Spanish elite unit operating in North Africa until the 60s, and now in Ceuta and Melilla) with 3/4-length sleeves. He is often depicted with his favorite food, tomatoes. In the profile image at the right, he is wearing a bullfighter uniform (from the Children's Day sketch series). Himaruya says that although his somewhat messy hair is quite attractive, Antonio probably doesn't spend much time on his appearance. Antonio's skintone has alternated between fair and olive.

### Personality

A cheerful country bumpkin, Antonio was once a super powerful nation and traveler until he was tormented by Arthur and Nash, beaten by a younger Alfred, and thrown into war and poverty. Despite all his hardships, he remained optimistic and passionate. The source of his constant happiness is the sunshine that cast over his land.

Although he means well, he happens to come off as insensitive and clueless at times because of his inability to "read the atmosphere" (it is said that he does not even try to assess the situation). Antonio speaks in the Osaka-ben variant of the Kansai dialect in the Japanese version.

He is also very fond of children, especially the Italy brothers and had once taken care of Lovino. It is shown that his ultimate dream is for both of them to live with him.

Antonio is often shown spending time with either Lovino, Gilbert, or Francis.

## Back Story

Antonio's cameos in Episode 01 at the world meeting, asking Ivan if he is going to say something to stop the quarreling that is going on. He then makes his official appearance as a young Antonio appearing in the Chibitalia segments offering Feliciano churros in Episode 02, but later in the episode is shown to be one of the other children that bullies the Italy brothers.

Episodes 60-62, Episode 68, and Episode 75-77 adapt Boss Spain's Control of Southern Italy. This shows the time from when Antonio firsts aquires Lovino to where he begins fighting Francis and Sadik for Lovino.

## Storyline History

### Tea Leaves and Silver Rings

Antonio was having a party when Gilbert called him saying that the Woman in Red had returned. Panicked, the Spanish man sent his guests home and talked to the Prussian man more about the situation. Once Feliciano confirmed what he said, the other two men began to worn the other countries of the doom that was heading for them.

### Tea Leaves and Opal Necklaces

Gilbert calls up Antonio and has him go get Yao so they can talk to Heracles for "that measure".

### Tea Leaves and Diamond Bracelets

It is revealed that Antonio has been trying to keep Lovino in the dark about what's going on, but the Italian man knows that something's not right. He also warned Elizabeta about the ghosts following them.

### Tea Leaves and Purple Robes

Lovino calls Antonio for help after he sees Feliciano leave in the house in the middle of the night with Sabine Mayfair.

## Relationships

### Roderich Edelstein

*Main Article: Roderich Edelstein*

He conquered Roderich before the Italian Wars. The two were married with the union of their countries in the House of Hapsburg. The two remained in close contact as allies until the War of the Austrian Succession, in which Antonio allied himself with Francis and Gilbert.

### Laura

Their true relationship is as of yet unknown, but Laura did spend some time in Antonio's house, and appears to be fond of a younger Lovino.

### Francis Bonnefoy

*Main Article: Francis Bonnefoy*

The two get along rather well, having grown up and fought in wars together, though Antonio remains oblivious to Francis's more perverted tendencies and cannot see why Lovino hates him. It is said in production notes by Himaruya that their relationship is actually undesirable, yet the two remain inseparable. Francis has shown that he has wanted Lovino to be a French territory, and had fought Antonio over four times for him (losing each time). Recently, it seems Antonio is aware that Francis is a bad influence on him, calling him "despicable" before defeating him in The Battle of Garigliano with the help of his pet bull. Francis's first bird named Pierre is used for communication with him.

### Nash

Nash was a member of Antonio's household for some time. Their relationship became very difficult up till the point where Antonio believed Nash hated him. Eventually he left and later beat Antonio up to be recognized as an independent country.

### Lovino Vargas

*Main Article: Lovino Vargas*

Antonio is rather affectionate to Lovino, having raised him from the time he was a child and under his rule. As a result, Lovino takes after him in his culture and customs.

In the years of having raised him, Antonio often had difficulty trying to get Lovino to do chores, and had wished that he could have acquired Italy instead, due to the younger brother's obedience and "cuteness." He also found Lovino's frequent bed-wetting and harsh attitude to be annoying, though he eventually wound up having to bail him out when he was kidnapped by Turkey, though their kingdom wound up thrown into debt due to the Ottoman ruler taking over for some time.

After Antonio's attempt to trade him for his younger brother, Lovino became more bitter and jealous around him. Antonio then tried to spoil him in an attempt to show Lovino that he still liked him, even in comparison with his brother. Antonio’s opinion is that Romano should acknowledge him as his “boss," which Lovino refuses to call him. Antonio also had the habit of pulling on and twirling Lovino's curl, causing Lovino to headbutt him and call him a pervert.

'Spamano' is the country names "Spain" and "Romano" merged, to represent the fanon pairing of Spain and South Italy (Romano).

## Trivia

* According to a note by Hidekaz Himaruya, Spain was only originally going to speak in the Kansai dialect whenever he was excited or around people that were close to him. In addition, Himaruya also revealed that Antonio might as well have "two faces" like Ivan. He also stated in another note that while Antonio treated Lovino kindly, he was stern to his other colonies. Himaruya himself wondered why Spain was "historically stuck on Italy" that much, as it was stuck spending so much money to protect it and struggled to try to get it back after losing it in the War of the Spanish Succession.
* Himaruya stated that Spain was also based off a friend of his, which inspired him to give him the Kansai dialect. In addition, it is said that all of the Spanish-language nations will speak in some variant of Kansai. Though Belgium is not one of them, she speaks in the Shiga-ben variant, presumably since she used to be one of Spain's territories.
* A separate character for Castile (Castilla) was originally planned as Spain's older sister, but it is speculated that Himaruya may have forgotten about this idea, as he later drew a child version of Spain that seemed to hint at the Reconquista. Fans speculate that the younger Spain may have represented Castile, or alternatively Aragón (in the case of Castile being a separate character). It originally seemed more likely that he represented Castile due to the above sketch, as well as the Castilian culture being the dominant culture of Spain. In the original webcomic, his boss was also shown to be Joanna of Castile in the Boss Spain strips, whom Himaruya called the Mad Queen. However, in volume 3, Spain was used to represent the Crown of Aragon, throwing doubt on to this theory. In most fanfiction, he is used to represent the entirety of Hispania, especially during its days as a Roman province.
* Antonio's birthday (February 12) was the date the 1st Spanish Republic was oficially formed, after the queen Isabel II was exiled due to the 1868 revolution "Gloriosa" (Glorious).

## Source

* Basic Information: http://hetalia.kitawiki.net/index.php?title=Spain