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 the beginning of the twentieth century from the idea of
Galicianism.
Ideology
Historians, geographers and ethnologists recognize the existence of a
Galician ethnic group, forming a singular unit in a specific territory.[1][failed verification] However, this is a wide conceptualization that in political terms allows many possible variants. Inside Galician nationalism two main ideological currents can be found:
Autonomist: claims for an extended autonomy of Galicia, further
devolution and (in occasions) the transformation of
Spain into a
federal state where Galicia would eventually achieve
self-determination.
Both autonomists and "independentists" have points in common, such as the defence and promotion of
Galician culture and
language, with some defending
reintegrationism with
Northern Portugal and
language. Both also argue for the official and unequivocal recognition of Galicia as a nation and the defense of Galician speakers outside administrative Galician territory, in Galician-speaking areas of the Spanish regions of
Asturias and
Castile and León (Galicia irredenta).
It is often considered that the ideological framework of contemporary Galician nationalism was set in
Alfonso Daniel Rodríguez Castelao's key work Sempre em Galiza (lit. "Always in Galicia"), published in 1944.
Political nationalism in society
Galician nationalist candidates received 19% of the vote in the elections of 2005 and 16% in 2009.
From 2005 to 2009 Galicia was ruled by a coalition government between the
Socialists' Party of Galicia (PSdeG-PSOE) and the
Galician Nationalist Bloc (BNG). Unlike in other Spanish
autonomous communities the conservative and pro-Spanish
People's Party of Galicia (PPdeG) includes
Galicianism as one of its ideological principles.[2] Even the
Spanish Socialist Party has a quite strong regional flavour in Galicia.[3][4] This issue somehow explains electoral behaviour in Galicia and why nationalist parties have a reduced representation when compared to
Catalonia and the
Basque Country, as voters in Galicia may choose to go for Spanish parties promoting Galicianism depending on the circumstances. Spanish parties in Catalonia and the Basque Country do not have such a strong regional identity, but the Socialist Party in Catalonia has recently incorporated nationalist elements in its political discourse.
A possible explanation for this political behaviour in pro-Spanish parties is that Galician identity is so embedded in Galicians that any political party willing to participate in elections must at least show some degree of interest in the promotion of Galicianism, but how it is done may vary greatly.
The Galician Nationalist Bloc is itself a coalition of parties, which endorse independence, but not all individual members and parallel organizations within it support that idea.[5] At present, BNG claims for sovereignty and independence, both political and economic. Other nationalist parties stand for outright independence, and until recently they only had representatives in local councils and not in the
Galician Parliament. In the
2012 election the newly formed
Galician Left Alternative, which includes pro-independence groups, overtook the BNG in Parliament, winning 9 seats.
Galician Left Alternative (AGE) - (Coalition of leftist parties created for the 2012 election, including ANOVA, Esquerda Unida-Izquierda Unida and EQUO, the former pro-independence and the latter federalist).
Fernández Baz, M.A., (2003): A formación do nacionalismo galego contemporáneo (1963-1984), Laiovento.
Núñez Seixas, X.M.(1993): Historiographical approaches to nationalism in Spain, Saarbrücken, Breitenbach.
Núñez Seixas, X.M.(1999): "Autonomist regionalism within the spanish state of the Autonomous Communities: an interpretation", in Nationalism & ethnic politics, vol. 5, no. 3-4, p. 121-141. Frank Cass, Ilford.
Rios Bergantinhos, N. (2002): A esquerda independentista galega (1977-1995), Abrente Editora, Compostela.
Rodríguez Polo, X.R. (2009): O triunfo do galeguismo. Opinión pública, partidos políticos e comportamento electoral na transición autonómica, Xerais, Vigo.
Note: Forms of nationalism based primarily on
ethnic groups are listed above. This does not imply that all nationalists with a given ethnicity subscribe to that form of
ethnic nationalism.