The creation of the tradition of the political community of Spaniards as common destiny over other communities has been argued to trace back to the
Cortes of Cádiz
The Cortes of Cádiz was a revival of the traditional ''Cortes Generales, cortes'' (Spanish parliament), which as an institution had not functioned for many years, but it met as a single body, rather than divided into estates as with previous o ...
. Revisiting the history of Spain, after 1812 Spanish liberalism tended to take for granted the national conscience and the Spanish nation.
During the first half of 20th century (notably during the
dictatorship of Primo de Rivera
General Miguel Primo de Rivera's dictatorship over Spain began with a coup on 13 September 1923 and ended with his resignation on 28 January 1930. It took place during the wider reign of King Alfonso XIII. In establishing his dictatorship, ...
), a new brand of Spanish nationalism with marked military flavour vouching for authoritarian stances (as well as promoting policies favouring the Spanish language against the other languages in the country) as means of country modernization was brought forward from the conservative camp, fusing
regenerationist principles with traditional Spanish nationalism. The authoritarian national ideal resumed during the Francoist dictatorship, in the form of
National-Catholicism, which was in turn complemented by the myth of the
Hispanidad
''Hispanidad'' (, en, Hispanicity,) is a Spanish term alluding to the group of people, countries, and communities that share the Spanish language and Hispanic culture. The term can have various, different implications and meanings depending on ...
.
Identified with Francoism, positive affirmation of Spanish nationalism was delegitimised after the death of the dictator in 1975.
A distinct manifestation of Spanish nationalism in modern Spanish politics is the interchange of attacks with the different regional nationalisms. Initially present after the end of Francoism in a rather diffuse and reactive form, the Spanish nationalist discourse has been often self-branded as "
constitutional patriotism
Constitutional patriotism (german: Verfassungspatriotismus) is the idea that people should form a political attachment to the norms and values of a pluralistic liberal democratic constitution rather than to a national culture or cosmopolitan s ...
" since the 1980s. Often ignored as in the case of other State nationalisms, its alleged "non-existence" has been a commonplace espoused by prominent figures in the public sphere as well as the mass-media in the country.
History
Historically, Spanish nationalism specifically emerged with
liberalism
Liberalism is a political and moral philosophy based on the rights of the individual, liberty, consent of the governed, political equality and equality before the law."political rationalism, hostility to autocracy, cultural distaste for c ...
, during the
Spanish War of Independence
The Peninsular War (1807–1814) was the military conflict fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Spain, Portugal, and the United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French Empire during the Napoleonic Wars. In Spain, ...
against
Napoleon I
Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...
of France.
Since 1808 we speak of nationalism in Spain: ethnic patriotism became fully national, at least among the elite. This was unmistakably the work of liberals. The modernized elites used the occasion to try to impose a program of social and political changes. Their method was to launch the revolutionary idea of the nation as the holder of sovereignty. This idea of sovereignty is believed to have mobilized the Spanish victoriously against a foreign army and against ''collaborators of'' José Bonaparte
José Fernando Bonaparte (14 June 1928 – 18 February 2020) was an Argentine paleontologist who discovered a plethora of South American dinosaurs and mentored a new generation of Argentine paleontologists
. One of the best-known Argentine paleo ...
, regarded as non-Spanish (''afrancesado
''Afrancesado'' (, ; " Francophile" or "turned-French", lit. "Frenchified" or "French-alike") refers to the Spanish and Portuguese partisan of Enlightenment ideas, Liberalism or the French Revolution.
In principle, ''afrancesados'' were upper- ...
s''). The Spanish liberals turned their victory on the battlefield to an feverish identity of patriotism and the defense of liberty: as the Asturian deputy Agustín Argüelles
Agustín Argüelles (18 August 1776 in Ribadesella, Asturias – 26 March 1844 in Madrid) was a Spanish liberal politician. He served as the 81st and 94th president of the Congress of Deputies.
Biography
He studied Law at the University of Ovie ...
when he presented the Constitution of 1812
The Political Constitution of the Spanish Monarchy ( es, link=no, Constitución Política de la Monarquía Española), also known as the Constitution of Cádiz ( es, link=no, Constitución de Cádiz) and as ''La Pepa'', was the first Constituti ...
, "Spaniards, you now have a homeland."
José Álvarez Junco
José Álvarez Junco (born 1942) is a Spanish historian, emeritus professor of the History of Thought and Political and Social Movements at the Complutense University of Madrid (UCM). He is an expert in the study of the nation-building of Spain, ...
The
Carlism
Carlism ( eu, Karlismo; ca, Carlisme; ; ) is a Traditionalist and Legitimist political movement in Spain aimed at establishing an alternative branch of the Bourbon dynasty – one descended from Don Carlos, Count of Molina (1788–1855) – ...
, which was a defensive movement of the
Old Regime
Old or OLD may refer to:
Places
*Old, Baranya, Hungary
*Old, Northamptonshire, England
* Old Street station, a railway and tube station in London (station code OLD)
*OLD, IATA code for Old Town Municipal Airport and Seaplane Base, Old Town, Ma ...
, did not regard the adjective "national" with any esteem (
national sovereignty
Westphalian sovereignty, or state sovereignty, is a principle in international law that each state has exclusive sovereignty over its territory. The principle underlies the modern international system of sovereign states and is enshrined in the Un ...
, national militia, or national properties) and considered it a term used only by liberals (who were becoming more and more ''
progresistas
Progresistas ( es, Progressives) was a center-left political coalition in Argentina, led by Margarita Stolbizer. It was composed of Generation for a National Encounter, the Freemen of the South Movement, the Socialist Party and the Authentic Socia ...
''). Up until the 1860s, the Carlism movement tended to label its followers as "Catholics" rather than as "Spaniards".
It was after the
1859–1860 Hispano-Moroccan War (which was embraced by an until then unseen patriotic fervour across the political spectrum), when the until then rather uninterested Catholic conservative forces were sold into the possibilities offered by Spanish nationalism; thus, in the last half of the century, a number of Conservative historians (most notably
Menéndez Pelayo Menéndez or Menendez is a Spanish name. In English the name is often spelled without the diacritic. A shorter form sharing the same root is Mendez. It may refer to:
Persons
* Andrés Ignacio Menéndez (1879–1962), President of El Salvador twi ...
, whose figure eventually became a lodestar of national catholicism) propelled a new canon of the
history of Spain
The history of Spain dates to contact the pre-Roman peoples of the Mediterranean coast of the Iberian Peninsula made with the Greeks and Phoenicians and the first writing systems known as Paleohispanic scripts were developed. During Classical A ...
underpinned by their idea of "Catholic unity" as tenet for the Spanish nationality and the
monarchy
A monarchy is a form of government in which a person, the monarch, is head of state for life or until abdication. The political legitimacy and authority of the monarch may vary from restricted and largely symbolic (constitutional monarchy) ...
. The ''menéndezpelayista'' nationalist construct was well defined in its Catholic matrix (Catholicism would end up becoming the keystone of the reactionary right wing in the 20th century) yet more nuanced in other regards accounting for both a staunch rejection of alternative nationalisms and separatisms and a recognition of the internal plurality of Spain.
With the loss of Cuba interpreted as the first crack on the unity of the nation (the
Cuban War had been seen by many in the country as a civil war rather than a foreign conflict), Spanish nationalism of the time had to come to terms with the loss of the island at a time when the possession of colonies was seen as a sign of the vitality of the nation.
The so-called "spirit of the 98", created after
disaster of 1898, entailed a response coming from the elite intellectual milieus striving for the development of a new Spanish nationalism. While this reaction was not initially identified ''per se'' with the right, (several of the representatives of the literary nationalism of the 98 were actually close to socialist or anarchist stances early in their life) many of the most prominent ''noventayochistas'' espoused ideas compatible with the conservative thought and several of them eventually evolved towards non-liberal forms of Conservatism, and a group of them would have a substantial intellectual influence in the moulding of the later Fascist ultranationalism. While not yet Fascist nor proto-Fascist, the socalled :
Azorín,
Pío Baroja
Pío Baroja y Nessi (28 December 1872 – 30 October 1956) was a Spanish writer, one of the key novelists of the Generation of '98. He was a member of an illustrious family. His brother Ricardo was a painter, writer and engraver, and his nephew ...
and
Ramiro de Maeztu
Ramiro de Maeztu y Whitney (May 4, 1875 – October 29, 1936) was a prolific Spanish essayist, journalist and publicist. His early literary work adscribes him to the Generation of '98. Adept to Nietzschean and Social Darwinist ideas in his youth, ...
, laid the seeds for a potential doctrinal articulation susceptible of being seized by a Fascist movement.
In the view of
Ismael Saz
Ismael Saz Campos (born 1952) is a Spanish historian, specialised in the study of Falangism, Francoist Spain and the Spanish-Italian relations during the Spanish Civil War. He is a professor at the University of Valencia.
Biography
Born in 195 ...
, within
regenerationism
Regenerationism ( es, Regeneracionismo) was an intellectual and political movement in late 19th century and early 20th century Spain. It sought to make objective and scientific study of the causes of Spain's decline as a nation and to propose reme ...
, a diverse brand of nationalism, the two main antiliberal nationalist political cultures in the 20th century in Spain would come to be forged: the reactionary nationalist one (
national catholicism
National Catholicism ( Spanish: ''nacionalcatolicismo'') was part of the ideological identity of Francoism, the political system through which the Spanish dictator Francisco Franco governed the Spanish State between 1939 and 1975. Its most vi ...
) and the fascist one, both enjoying hegemony during the
Francoist dictatorship
Francoist Spain ( es, España franquista), or the Francoist dictatorship (), was the period of Spanish history between 1939 and 1975, when Francisco Franco ruled Spain after the Spanish Civil War with the title . After his death in 1975, Sp ...
.
Spanish liberal philosopher and essayist
José Ortega y Gasset
José Ortega y Gasset (; 9 May 1883 – 18 October 1955) was a Spanish philosopher and essayist. He worked during the first half of the 20th century, while Spain oscillated between monarchy, republicanism, and dictatorship. His philosoph ...
defined Spain as an "enthusing project for a life in common'' (proyecto sugestivo de vida en común). Meanwhile, the Fascist leader José Antonio Primo de Rivera preferred the definition of a "unity of destiny in the universal" and defended a return to the traditional and spiritual values of
Imperial Spain
The Spanish Empire ( es, link=no, Imperio español), also known as the Hispanic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Hispánica) or the Catholic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Católica) was a colonial empire governed by Spain and its prede ...
. The idea of
empire
An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...
makes it universalist rather than localist, this is what makes it singular among other forms of nationalisms, but closer to others (
Italian fascism).
Post-1978 politics
The
political transition which occurred in Spain, together with social and economic changes rooted in a detailed sense of modernization, began at the end of Franco's time in power and lasted until the creation of current institutions (
Spanish Constitution of 1978
The Spanish Constitution (Spanish, Asturleonese, and gl, Constitución Española; eu, Espainiako Konstituzioa; ca, Constitució Espanyola; oc, Constitucion espanhòla) is the democratic law that is supreme in the Kingdom of Spain. It was e ...
and
Statutes of Autonomy). This also produced a strong reversal of the social uses for Spanish symbols of national identification.
Peripheral nationalisms have acquired a significant presence and territorial power, especially in
Catalonia
Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy.
Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the north ...
(
Convergence and Union
Convergence and Union ( ca, Convergència i Unió, CiU; ) was a Catalan nationalist electoral alliance in Catalonia, Spain. It was a federation of two constituent parties, the larger Democratic Convergence of Catalonia (CDC) and its smaller coun ...
Republican Left of Catalonia
The Republican Left of Catalonia ( ca, Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya, ERC; ; generically branded as ) is a Catalan independence movement, pro-Catalan independence, social democracy, social-democratic List of political parties in Catalonia, p ...
) and the
Basque Country (
Basque Nationalist Party
The Basque Nationalist Party (, EAJ ; es, Partido Nacionalista Vasco, PNV; french: Parti Nationaliste Basque, PNB; EAJ-PNV), officially Basque National Party in English,) was rejected by party members in November 2011. Nonetheless, the party did ...
, as well as among
EA and so-called ''
abertzale
''Abertzale'' (; English: "patriot", literally "fond of the fatherland") is a Basque term usually referring to people or political groups who are associated with Basque nationalism.
Although the term is synonym of "patriot", its common use in Ba ...
left''). The numbers are substantially lower in comparison to Catalonia and Basque country, but these nationalisms are still present in
Navarre
Navarre (; es, Navarra ; eu, Nafarroa ), officially the Chartered Community of Navarre ( es, Comunidad Foral de Navarra, links=no ; eu, Nafarroako Foru Komunitatea, links=no ), is a foral autonomous community and province in northern Spain, ...
(Nabai) and
Galicia (Galician National Bloc) too. The
Canary Islands
The Canary Islands (; es, Canarias, ), also known informally as the Canaries, are a Spanish autonomous community and archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, in Macaronesia. At their closest point to the African mainland, they are west of Morocc ...
(
Coalición Canaria),
Andalusia
Andalusia (, ; es, Andalucía ) is the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomous community in the country. It is officially recognised as a ...
(
Partido Andalucista) and other autonomous communities also have less obvious nationalism and are often grouped as
regionalisms, based on linguistic or historical differential facts no less distinct than the previous ones.
In comparison to other nationalisms, "Spanish nationalism" is often referred to as ''españolismo'', an equivalent to
centralism
Centralisation or centralization (see spelling differences) is the process by which the activities of an organisation, particularly those regarding planning and decision-making, framing strategy and policies become concentrated within a particu ...
. Usually with a controversial political purpose, it may be identified with
conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...
nostalgia for Franco's regime or with alleged state oppression in those territories, which in extreme cases (particularly
ETA
Eta (uppercase , lowercase ; grc, ἦτα ''ē̂ta'' or ell, ήτα ''ita'' ) is the seventh letter of the Greek alphabet, representing the close front unrounded vowel . Originally denoting the voiceless glottal fricative in most dialects, ...
in the
Basque Country and
Navarre
Navarre (; es, Navarra ; eu, Nafarroa ), officially the Chartered Community of Navarre ( es, Comunidad Foral de Navarra, links=no ; eu, Nafarroako Foru Komunitatea, links=no ), is a foral autonomous community and province in northern Spain, ...
) is used as justification for
terrorism
Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...
that sees itself as ''
armed struggle
War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...
'' for ''
national liberation
Wars of national liberation or national liberation revolutions are conflicts fought by nations to gain independence. The term is used in conjunction with wars against foreign powers (or at least those perceived as foreign) to establish separat ...
''. By contrast, none of the major political parties affected by such designation of ''españolistas'' or "Spanish nationalists", self-identify as such. Instead, they use the phrase ''non-nationalist'' to separate themselves from the ''nationalist'', which is how they usually designate the so-called "periphery" or outliers.
It seeks to respect the different visions of Spain and fit it into a pluralistic framework, ''inclusive'' and ''non-exclusive.'' Concepts which often coincide the majority's political parties,
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 gov ...
and
People's Party, the minority's,
United Left,
Union, Progress and Democracy
Union, Progress and Democracy ( es, link=no, Unión, Progreso y Democracia , UPyD ) was a Spanish political party founded in September 2007 and dissolved in December 2020. It was a social-liberal party that rejected any form of nationalism, espe ...
, and other regional or nationalist parties sometimes called ''moderate'', despite maintaining deep political differences.
After the
2017 thwarted referendum on Catalan independence, hitherto stigmatized public displays of Spanish nationalism (such as flags hanging from buildings) increased.
File:Flag of Spain (Civil) alternate colours.svg, Civil flag of Spain, the Spanish bi-color has been a symbol of Spain during its monarchical periods from 1785 to 1873, 1874–1931, and 1975–present, and was used by the First Spanish Republic
The Spanish Republic ( es, República Española), historiographically referred to as the First Spanish Republic, was the political regime that existed in Spain from 11 February 1873 to 29 December 1874.
The Republic's founding ensued after th ...
and Francoist Spain
Francoist Spain ( es, España franquista), or the Francoist dictatorship (), was the period of Spanish history between 1939 and 1975, when Francisco Franco ruled Spain after the Spanish Civil War with the title . After his death in 1975, Spai ...
. It has been a common symbol of Spanish nationalism.
File:Flag of the Second Spanish Republic (plain).svg, Civil flag of the Second Spanish Republic
The Spanish Republic (), commonly known as the Second Spanish Republic (), was the form of government in Spain from 1931 to 1939. The Republic was proclaimed on 14 April 1931, after the deposition of Alfonso XIII, King Alfonso XIII, and was di ...
(1931–1939, in exile 1939–1977). This flag has been used by Spanish republican
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
nationalists since 1931.[Helen Graham. ''The Spanish Republic at War, 1936–1939''. Cambridge, England, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2002. Pp. 31.] Note that this republican nationalism should not be confused with the Nationalist faction of the Spanish Civil War that opposed the Second Spanish Republic.
See also
*
Nationalisms and regionalisms of Spain
Both the perceived nationhood of Spain, and the perceived distinctions between different parts of its territory derive from historical, geographical, linguistic, economic, political, ethnic and social factors.
Present-day Spain was formed in the ...
*
Spanish unionism
Spanish unionism is a term used by the Basque nationalism and Catalan independence movements to refer to the political attitude which opposes independence and favours the continuity of the Kingdom of Spain as a single united nation-state.
Obse ...
*
Spanish republicanism
*
Spanish irredentism
*
Iberian federalism (Iberism)
*
The two Spains
''The two Spains'' ( es, las dos Españas) is a phrase from a short poem by Spanish poet Antonio Machado. The phrase, referring to the left-right political divisions that later led to the Spanish Civil War, originated in a short, untitled poem ...
*
Hispanophobia
Hispanophobia (from Latin ''Hispanus'', "Spanish" and Greek φοβία ('' phobia''), "fear") or anti-Spanish sentiment is a fear, distrust, hatred of; aversion to, or discrimination against the Spanish language, Hispanic, Latino and/or S ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Spanish Nationalism
Nationalism in Spain