The Galician Socialist Party (''Partido Socialista Galego'', in Galician language) was a socialist and

Galician nationalist Galician nationalism is a form of nationalism found mostly in Galicia, which asserts that Galicians are a nation and that promotes the cultural unity of Galicians. The political movement referred to as modern Galician nationalism was born at t ...

political party active in Galicia.

History

Foundation

Founded on 23 August 1963 with the intention of forming a

nationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: The ...

and

social democratic Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote soci ...

party in

Galiza Galicia (; gl, Galicia or ; es, Galicia}; pt, Galiza) is an autonomous community of Spain and historic nationality under Spanish law. Located in the northwest Iberian Peninsula, it includes the provinces of A Coruña, Lugo, Ourense, and ...

, subsequently radicalized its positions, approaching the communist

Galician People's Union The Galician People's Union ( gl, Unión do Povo Galego) is a Galician nationalist and communist political party, and is one of the registered political parties of Spain. The party publishes the magazine ''Terra e Tempo'', and the secretary genera ...

(UPG). Among its founders stand out Mario Orxajes Pita, Salvador Rei, Salvador García Bodaño, Xosé Luís Rodríguez Pardo, Cesáreo Saco, Manuel Caamaño and

Ramón Piñeiro Ramón Piñeiro (born 29 October 1991 in Barcelona) is a Spanish racing driver. Career Formula BMW Piñeiro began his formula racing career in 2008 in Formula BMW Europe with Fortec Motorsport. He finished twentieth in standings, taking five po ...

, that created the party in a clandestine meeting. The new party attracted former members of the Partido Galeguista as

Francisco Fernández del Riego Francisco is the Spanish and Portuguese form of the masculine given name '' Franciscus''. Nicknames In Spanish, people with the name Francisco are sometimes nicknamed " Paco". San Francisco de Asís was known as ''Pater Comunitatis'' (father o ...

, who was elected party president, Luis Viñas Cortegoso, Amado Losada, Domingo Pombo and young influenced by

Xosé Manuel Beiras Xosé Manuel Hixinio Beiras Torrado (born 7 April 1936) is a Galician politician, economist, writer and intellectual. He is professor of Structural Economy at the Faculty of Economic Sciences of the University of Santiago de Compostela. He is ...

or Ramón Lugrís.

Francoism

In 1966 the party started publishing ''Adiante'' (Forward, in Galician language) magazine in

Perpignan Perpignan (, , ; ca, Perpinyà ; es, Perpiñán ; it, Perpignano ) is the prefecture of the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France, in the heart of the plain of Roussillon, at the foot of the Pyrenees a few kilometres from the ...

, that since 1969 was published in

named ''Galicia Socialista''. In 1972 the PSG selected Xosé Manuel Beiras as the party general secretary. This led the PSG to an ideological radicalization and to an increase of its membership. The PSG accepts the theory of

internal colonialism Internal colonialism is the uneven effects of economic development on a regional basis, otherwise known as "uneven development" as a result of the exploitation of minority groups within a wider society which leads to political and economic inequalit ...

and

marxism Marxism is a Left-wing politics, left-wing to Far-left politics, far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a Materialism, materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand S ...

. In 1974 the PSG participates in the Iberian Socialist Conference (CSI), with the

PSOE The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party ( es, Partido Socialista Obrero Español ; PSOE ) is a social-democraticThe PSOE is described as a social-democratic party by numerous sources: * * * * political party in Spain. The PSOE has been in gov ...

, the

Socialist Movement of Catalonia Socialist Movement of Catalonia (in Catalan: ''Moviment Socialista de Catalunya'', MSC) was a political party in Catalonia, Spain. The MSC was founded in exile the 14 of January 1945 by ex-members of the POUM, PSUC and Republican Left of Catalonia. ...

(MSC), the

Socialist Party of the Valencian Country The Socialist Party of the Valencian Country ( ca-valencia, Partit Socialista del País Valencià; es, Partido Socialista del País Valenciano, PSPV–PSOE) is a social-democratic political party in the Valencian Community, and is a regional branc ...

(PSPV) and the

Unión Sindical Obrera The Unión Sindical Obrera (USO) is a Spanish trade union. Founded as a clandestine organization in 1961—during the dictatorship of Francisco Franco—the union was an outgrowth of Roman Catholic organizations dedicated to Catholic soci ...

(USO). In 1976 the PSG, MSC, PSPV and the USO broke with the

and formed the Federation of Socialist Parties (FPS). In 1975 the Galician Socialist Movement joined the PSG.

Transition

The poor results of the general elections of 1977 and the

pressures caused the rupture of the FPS, and the PSG entered in a severe crisis.

left the party leadership and some supporters wanted to approach to the

. This group organized the Socialist Collective-PSG led by Xosé Luis Rodríguez Pardo, Ceferino Díaz and

Fernando González Laxe Fernando Ignacio González Laxe (born 6 September 1952) is a Spanish politician who was President of the Regional Government of Galicia The president of the Regional Government of Galicia ( gl, Presidente da Xunta de Galicia, es, Presidente ...

, that had around 100 militants. The direction opted to expel this group from the PSG. After the expulsion they joined the

. The PSG participated in the Galician Unity (UG) coalition to take part in the

general A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...

and local elections in 1979, but unlike the other member parties of UG, refused to join the Committee of the 16, which had to prepare the draft for the

Statute of Autonomy Nominally, a Statute of Autonomy ( es, Estatuto de Autonomía, ca, Estatut d'Autonomia, gl, Estatuto de Autonomía, ast, Estatutu d'Autonomía, eu, Autonomia Estatutua) is a law hierarchically located under the constitution of a country and, u ...

. At the Second Congress in June 1980 the possibility to merge with the Galician Workers Party was discarded, but the creation of the ''Mesa de Forzas Políticas Galegas'' with the Galician National-Popular Bloc was approved. This decision to approach the BNPG caused a strong discontent within the PSG and many militants left the party after this congress. For the elections of 1981, the PSG made an electoral coalition with the BNPG. Of the three members elected, Claudio González Garrido was a member of the PSG. When the BNG was formed, the PSG joined the new front, but in 1983 decided to leave. This decision led to the disintegration of the party: one part entered the BNG as the Socialist Collective and the rest, led by Domingos Merino, merged with the Galician Left in 1984 to form the PSG-EG.

Membership

The PSG was a party of cadres. Until 1975 it did not exceed 100 members, and reached 650 in 1980.Fernández Baz, M. A. (2003). ''A formación do nacionalismo galego contemporáneo (1963-1984)''. Santiago de Compostela: Laiovento.

Electoral results

Gallery

File:PSG-1977.jpg, Poster of the 1977 congress of the PSG. The PSG never advocated for the independence of

but defended a federation of the peoples of Spain.

Notes

References

{{Galician nationalism, state=collapsed 1963 establishments in Spain 1984 disestablishments in Spain Anti-Francoism Defunct nationalist parties in Spain Defunct socialist parties in Galicia (Spain) Democratic socialist parties in Europe Federalist parties in Spain Former member parties of the Galician Nationalist Bloc Galician nationalist parties Left-wing nationalist parties Marxist parties in Spain Political parties disestablished in 1984 Political parties established in 1963 Secessionist organizations in Europe