Leonesism (; es, Leonesismo) is a social and political regionalist movement in the geographical

Region of León The Region of León, Leonese region or Leonese Country ( Leonese: ''País Llionés'', es, región de León and ast, rexón de Llión) is a historic territory defined by the 1833 Spanish administrative organisation. The Leonese region encompa ...

, composed by the

provinces A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

of León, Zamora and

Salamanca Salamanca () is a city in western Spain and is the capital of the Province of Salamanca in the autonomous community of Castile and León. The city lies on several rolling hills by the Tormes River. Its Old City was declared a UNESCO World Herit ...

, with the aim of giving greater relevance to the Region of León within

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

and to protect the historic identity of the region. One of the main objectives of Leonesism is to establish an

autonomous community eu, autonomia erkidegoa ca, comunitat autònoma gl, comunidade autónoma oc, comunautat autonòma an, comunidat autonoma ast, comunidá autónoma , alt_name = , map = , category = Autonomous administra ...

of its own for the Region of León and to separate it from the region of

Old Castile Old Castile ( es, Castilla la Vieja ) is a historic region of Spain, which had different definitions along the centuries. Its extension was formally defined in the 1833 territorial division of Spain as the sum of the following provinces: Sant ...

() with which it forms the already existing autonomous community of Castile and León. Leonesism enjoys strong support from the inhabitants of the Region of León. According to a 2020 poll, 81.0% of the inhabitants of the Province of León, 59.0% of those of the Province of Zamora and 55.7% of those of the Province of Salamanca would support the initiative. In the rest of Castile and León, the movement is largely unpopular; only 17.7% of people there would support the separation of the Region of León. The aforementioned poll was also conducted at a national level, and it turned out that 54.9% of Spaniards supported establishing a new autonomous community for the Region of León while 45.1% rejected this. Furthermore, as of 2021, up to 50 municipalities of Castile and León have approved a motion advocating for the splitting of the autonomous community. Although this motion was proposed by the

Leonese People's Union The Leonese People's Union ( es, Unión del Pueblo Leonés, links=, Leonese: ''Unión del Pueblu Llionés'', UPL) is a regional political party in Castilla y León, Spain. UPL strives to establish a separate autonomous community ( Comunidad Autó ...

, members of various parties in Spain, such as the People's Party, the

Spanish Socialist Workers' Party 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 gove ...

, Podemos, Citizens and Vox, have also expressed their support for this.

References

External links

* * {{Wiktionary-inline, leonesismo Region of León Politics of Castile and León Regionalism (politics) Nationalism in Spain

See also

References

External links