Galician Unity ( gl, Unidade Galega; UG) was a

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 ...

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 ...

political coalition formed by the Galician Workers Party,

Galician Socialist Party The Socialists' Party of Galicia ( gl, Partido dos Socialistas de Galicia, PSdeG–PSOE) is a centre-left political party in Galicia, Spain. It is the Galician affiliate of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE). It defines itself as a Gal ...

, and the Galicianist Party in 1979.

History

The coalition aimed at promoting a degree of

autonomy In developmental psychology and moral, political, and bioethical philosophy, autonomy, from , ''autonomos'', from αὐτο- ''auto-'' "self" and νόμος ''nomos'', "law", hence when combined understood to mean "one who gives oneself one's ...

and

self-governance __NOTOC__ Self-governance, self-government, or self-rule is the ability of a person or group to exercise all necessary functions of regulation without intervention from an external authority. It may refer to personal conduct or to any form of ...

of Galicia from Spain equal to that of

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 ...

and the

Basque Country Basque Country may refer to: * Basque Country (autonomous community), as used in Spain ( es, País Vasco, link=no), also called , an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain (shown in pink on the map) * French Basque Country o ...

, other

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

. The coalition also promoted the adoption of a

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 ...

for Galicia (like the 1978 Statute of Autonomy of the Basque Country and the 1979 Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia). This goal was achieved with the Galician Statute of Autonomy of 1981. UG obtained more than 58,000 votes in the

1979 Spanish general election The 1979 Spanish general election was held on Thursday, 1 March 1979, to elect the 1st Cortes Generales of the Kingdom of Spain. All 350 seats in the Congress of Deputies were up for election, as well as all 208 seats in the Senate. This was the ...

, but failed to gain any parliamentary representation in the

Cortes Generales The Cortes Generales (; en, Spanish Parliament, lit=General Courts) are the bicameral legislative chambers of Spain, consisting of the Congress of Deputies (the lower house), and the Senate (the upper house). The Congress of Deputies meets ...

. In the municipal elections of 1979, UG candidate Domingos Merino was elected mayor of

A Coruña A Coruña (; es, La Coruña ; historical English: Corunna or The Groyne) is a city and municipality of Galicia, Spain. A Coruña is the most populated city in Galicia and the second most populated municipality in the autonomous community and s ...

, the second largest city of Galicia. UG candidates were also elected mayors in

Cambados Cambados is a municipality in Galicia, Spain in the province of Pontevedra. It is known for its historical monuments, its seafood and the famous white wine, Albariño. Culture Fishing is a major industry in this coastal area of Galicia ...

, Narón,

Rairiz de Veiga Rairiz de Veiga is a municipality in Ourense in the Galicia region of north-west Spain. It is located in the centre of the province towards the south-west. A same-sex marriage between two men, Pedro Dias and Muño Vandilas, occurred on 16 April 1 ...

, Redondela,

As Pontes de García Rodríguez As Pontes de García Rodríguez is a municipality in the comarca (Spain), Comarca of Eume in northwestern Spain in the province of A Coruña in the autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia. It is situated in the northwest of the province. ...

, Touro, Vilaboa and

Malpica de Bergantiños Malpica de Bergantiños (or simply Malpica) is a municipality of northwestern Spain in the province of A Coruña, in the autonomous community of Galicia. It is located from the provincial capital of A Coruña. The church of Santiago de Mens stan ...

. Galician Unity was partially absorbed into the

Bloque Nacionalista Galego The Galician Nationalist Bloc ( gl, Bloque Nacionalista Galego, BNG ) is a political alliance of left-wing Galician nationalist parties. It is self-defined as a "patriotic front". Formed in 1982, under the guidance of historical leader Xosé Manu ...

in 1982.

Elections

References

*Miguel Anxo Fernández Baz, ''A formación do nacionalismo galego contemporáneo (1963–1984)'', Santiago de Compostela, 2003. {{Galician nationalism, state=collapsed 1979 establishments in Spain 1980 disestablishments in Spain Defunct nationalist parties in Spain Defunct political party alliances in Spain Defunct social democratic parties in Spain Defunct socialist parties in Galicia (Spain) Galician nationalist parties Left-wing nationalist parties Political parties disestablished in 1980 Political parties established in 1979 Secessionist organizations in Europe