Study : Spaniards not darker than other europeans

[Petalpusher]

Rubbish! That's only skin reflectance! .

This is how you measure colors in many applications not just skin, reflectance at different wavelengths with a spectrometer.

I think we are just accustomed to see reddish tones as lighter for skins but metrically it isn't, although one can argue a lighter skin reflects more of the blood vessels, makes it...darker, it may be valid for some NW populations like Irish but i think elsewhere it's rather because people really have more yellowish tones.

[Septentrion]

The original Spaniards (Iberians) were of pure Aryan stock. It was after they were subjugated by the Moors that they were forced to "mix" with them also. Thus changing their original racial make-up and that is why some are referred to as "swarthy". Or at least my understanding of it. The same is true with Greece and Italians only they were doing the conquering and "mixed" with the people they conquered. There is one N. Italian tribe (Lombards) who retain their ethnic purity as they are described as "blonde and blue-eyed".

There is no such thing as "pure" Aryan. It is all foolishness, preached and embraced by the Nazi regime and those who think alike. Aryans were not even Europeans (Whites) to begin with, they were Indians! Spaniards, Portuguese, Italians, Greeks, Albanians, Bulgarians, etc... are Mediterranean Europeans to begin with, for this reason, there's a higher frequency of swarthy or darker-complexioned Europeans. This is a result of adaptation to a warmer climate than what is usually normal for Europe. Lighter complexions of most Northern and Central Europeans has absolutely nothing to do with racial purity (which is nonsense!), rather adaptation to the colder climates of north gave rise to pale or white skin instead of light brown with blue, green, gray eyes instead of brown eyes as well as brown, blond and finally red hair instead of black hair. The Ancient Lombards were an Eastern Germanic tribe who settled North Italy, this is why North Italy is the blondest region of Italy. They were not an Italian/Italic tribe as you claimed, their origins lays in South Sweden and the Baltic region, this is why they are described as fair ("blonde-haired, blue-eyed and fair-skinned") and has nothing to do with racial purity. It is a known fact that Scandinavia and the Baltic regions to be the blondest region of Europe, thus no surprise. The ancient Lombards were similar to other Germanic peoples such as the Anglo-Saxons, Franks, Suebi, Norse, etc...

[Septentrion]

This is how you measure colors in many applications not just skin, reflectance at different wavelengths with a spectrometer.

I think we are just accustomed to see reddish tones as lighter for skins but metrically it isn't, although one can argue a lighter skin reflects more of the blood vessels, makes it...darker, it may be valid for some NW populations like Irish but i think elsewhere it's rather because people really have more yellowish tones.

As I have already mentioned a skin may appear light when not exposed to sunlight. However to really know how fair a skin really is, it's when they are exposed to sunlight. The fairest skin burns the most and tans the least or doesn't tan at all. More than 75% of the Irish population belong to skin type I/II according to the Irish Ministry of Health, this is higher than any European nation. Skin type I and II are typical in Celtic nations of the British Isles.

[Petalpusher]

As I have already mentioned a skin may appear light when not exposed to sunlight. However to really know how fair a skin really is, it's when they are exposed to sunlight. The fairest skin burns the most and tans the least or doesn't tan at all. More than 75% of the Irish population belong to skin type I/II according to the Irish Ministry of Health, this is higher than any European nation. Skin type I and II are typical in Celtic nations of the British Isles.

There you would be assessing how a skin can tan, that's not the subject, most can tan eventually (or at least get skin cancer for it). You are not gonna compare skin of people exposed to massive irradiation all years who can even go to the beach in february to those who don't see any, that's why they pick the most unexposed part of the skins like under the arms. Where i live many northern European look mega tanned at the end of their summer vacations, with some phases of looking like lobsters but this has no ethnical implications how dark they are in August, obviously the dark skin of Africans or Australians are not the result of a summer tan. Otherwise i agree, Brit/Irish or Dutch have the lightest skins, likely by a landslide, it's really a NW thing.

[Septentrion]

There you would be assessing how a skin can tan, that's not the subject, most can tan eventually (or at least get skin cancer for it). You are not gonna compare skin of people exposed to massive irradiation all years who can even go to the beach in february to those who don't see any, that's why they pick the most unexposed part of the skins like under the arms. Where i live many northern European look mega tanned at the end of their summer vacations, with some phases of looking like lobsters but this has no ethnical implications how dark they are in August, obviously the dark skin of Africans or Australians are not the result of a summer tan. Otherwise i agree, Brit/Irish or Dutch have the lightest skins, likely by a landslide, it's really a NW thing.

In other words, the lightest or palest skins are the ones who don't have ability to tan but burn badly when exposed to ultraviolet rays and thus have the highest risk for skin cancer. These skin types are usually associated with those who are red-headed or pale blondes in most European populations, however in predominantly Celtic populations it is common regardless of hair colour. Among the Welsh of strong Celtic ancestry/lineage, it is at least 73% (skin type I/II). Belgium has a higher frequency of skin type I than the Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, etc..
The inability was probably acquired at a time when it was advantageous to have a lighter skin in North-West Europe order to acquire faster Vitamin D which is vital for health.

[Septentrion]

This is how you measure colors in many applications not just skin, reflectance at different wavelengths with a spectrometer.

I think we are just accustomed to see reddish tones as lighter for skins but metrically it isn't, although one can argue a lighter skin reflects more of the blood vessels, makes it...darker, it may be valid for some NW populations like Irish but i think elsewhere it's rather because people really have more yellowish tones.

The reddish tones in whites are obviously te reflection of blood vessels shows how translucent a skin is.

[Dr. Bambo]

Stupid Spaniards don't want to allow Catalonians to be independent.
Dark like Moors Spaniards are jealous because Catalonians are whiter!

[Septentrion]

In America most people are from north-west Europe(or from northern Europe period like Poland) and I haven't seen many full blooded south Europeans. I have seen them on TV though I saw a documentary on Italy and I was shocked by how dark and foreign they looked(including facial features). Some were totally brown some were totally white some were in between. I read a passage from an ancient Roman who said we Romans are not as white as Germans and not as dark as Egyptians(talking about pigmentation). I have read multiple writings from Romans from different periods describing the paleness in Germans and Celts as foreign. From the few full blooded Greeks or Italians I have seen in my city(grown up in the same climate) they are definitely darker. I am always surprised by how dark the Spainish and Portuguese soccer teams on TV are and I have seen documentaries about something that has to do with Iberians and I have always noticed they are darker skinned. Where do you think the phrase tall, dark, and handsome comes from? It comes from more northern European women who saw the darkness as foreign in southern Europeans which is why it is in that phrase.

I don't think anyone would argue that southern Europeans are a little darker skinned than northern Europeans. There is definitely a hair and eye color difference which also means south Europeans are darker pigmented. I think the difference is s result of differences in hunter gatherer and farmer(or just near eastern) ancestry.

There is some dark skin in north-west Europeans that I have seen. There is some brown(literally) skin in my family that people were just born with and it is not from tanning.

Spain and Italy are located in the southern end of Europe, thus a warmer region than northern parts of Europe. Therefore, the frequency of "darker-skinned" ethnic Europeans would be higher, due to the fact that the need for very pale skin is less required. However this doesn't make Southern Europeans any less European than their other European counterparts. As a whole Northern, Central and Southern Europeans are still light-skinned in comparison to non- ethnic European groups. On individual basis, there are Iberians who are very pale too, especially more numerous in the north-west in the Asturias, Galicia, etc... There is Germanic, Celtic admixture in Iberian and Italian populations not to be disregarded. Yes, differences in hair and eye colour between North-West and Southern European are found.

[Sp_loa]

My family doesn't have any Northern European ancestry(According to DNA, unless you consider Canarid type Berbers as Northern European).
My brother lives In northern Germany and I think he is the lightest person in his city. I'm not kidding, his german friends can't understand how he is so light, you could think that he is albino unless his dark brown hair and his greenish-grayish eyes.

I think this is the proof that some Southern European(and we not even fully Europeans, we are Southern Europeans&Middle easterns &Berbers mix) might be as white as northern European when unexposed to a lot sun. (on the other hand I'm darker than him and I don't think I can be light as Germans so I think it is applied only to some southern Europeans).

[Maintenance]

I know some spaniards, they are emo white.