SPPO 1400 Regional and National Diversity and the Spanish Political System Dr Pablo San Martin [e-mail]

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SPPO 1400Regional and National Diversity and
the Spanish Political SystemDr Pablo San
Martin p.sanmartin_at_leeds.ac.uk
Department of Spanish, Portuguese and Latin
American Studies
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Nation-building and peripheral nationalism 19th
Century-Civil War (i)

• Weak Spanish nationalism contested by several
  nationalist alternative projects within Spain
  (Catalan, Basque, Galicianbut also Valencian,
  Andalusian, Asturian, Canarian, etc.).
• Historical formation of Spain Alliance and
  progressive union of several Christian kingdoms
  and territories.
• Kingdom of Spain Crown of Castile (Kingdom of
  Asturias and León, Kingdom of Galicia, Señorío of
  Biscay, County of Castile, Kingdom of Navarra,
  etc.) Crown of Aragon (Catalan Counties,
  Valencia, Aragon, etc.).
• No serious attempt to create a centralized
  administration until 18th century. Traditional
  institutions of self-government of various
  territories Fueros (Castile) and Cortes
  (Aragon).
• Strong regional and local elites.
• Early 1800s Napoleonic invasion and
  Independence War. Emergence of Spanish
  identity?
• 19th century Failed process of nation-building.
• Conservative liberals linked to local and
  regional oligarchies and networks of power ? Not
  interested in developing a more inclusive concept
  of citizenship.
• Traditionalism (Carlism) Fuerismo, particularism
  and support of alternative king. National
  regionalism idealization of the medieval
  regional traditions, attack of the central
  (liberal) state.
• Republicanism Centralist and Federalist. Spain
  as a nation composed of a collection of
  nationalities (territories with their own
  culture, traditions, languages, laws, etc.).
  Defence of autonomy Federal state.

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Nation-building and peripheral nationalism 19th
Century-Civil War (ii)

• Second half of 19th century Romantic movement
  Folkloric studies. Concept of ethnic nation
  (opposed to the civic nation) Nation as a
  transhistorial, perennial community defined by
  language, culture, race, spirit.
• End of 19th / beginning of 20th century
  Emergence of peripheral nationalism (and
  regionalism).
• The later half of the nineteenth century sees
  the resurgence of cultural activities in
  languages other than Castilian in various parts
  of the peninsula (). Whilst Castilian had by
  now come to dominate all walks of public life in
  Spain, (), the other languages were still spoken
  () by their communities, () although in many
  areas they were in a classic diglossic situation
  vis-à-vis Castilian.
• These cultural and linguistic renaissances ()
  were stimulated by the European-wide Romantic
  movement, ()which espoused a particular form
  of cultural nationalism. () The essence of (this
  Romantic) nationalism () is the notion of a
  national spirit (Volksgeist), and of language as
  the soul of the nation.
• Mar-Molinero, C., The Iberian Peninsula
  Conflicting Linguistic Nationalisms, in Barbour,
  S. and Carmichael, C. (eds.), Language and
  Nationalism in Europe (Oxford Oxford University
  Press, 2000), p.88.
• Catalan Lliga, ERC. History, culture and,
  especially, language, as the main markers of
  identity.
• Basque PNV. Race as central identity marker.
• Galician Race and culture (language) as identity
  markers.
• Others Asturian, Aragonese, Andalusian,
  Valencian, etc.

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Francoism and the Transition to Democracy

• Francoism Totalitarism, fascism, authoritarian
  regime? ? It was Francoism a pragmatic blend
  of different ideological traditions
  National-syndicalism (Falange), Military
  nationalist patriotism, Carlist traditionalism,
  National-Catholicism, Economic liberalism
• Several internal families within Francoism the
  Army, the Church, the Traditionalists (Carlist),
  the Monarchist, the technocrat Catholics (Opus
  Dei)and the Francoists
• Main features Spanish Nationalism (at
  ideological/cultural level) and Centralism (at
  political / administrative level).
• The Crisis of Francosim Overlapping of several
  partial crisis during the late 1960s and early
  1970s ? Students mobilizations, working-class
  movements, new internal opposition,, terrorism,
  partial liberalization of the press, and
  peripheral nationalism/regionalism ? failure of
  the Francoist nationalism project..
• Nationalist/Regionalist tradition was too strong
  and rooted in Spanish history.
• Spanish Kingdom aggregation of different
  territories with different cultures, languages,
  political traditions, elites, etc.
• Ninetieth century failed process of
  state-building. Weak state, always contested.
• Emergence of nationalist/ regionalist movements
  in the second half of ninetieth century.
  Consolidation of nationalist peripheral parties
  in first decades twentieth century. ? II
  Republic Decentralized State, with possibility
  of Regional Autonomy.
• 1960s-70s - Opposition discourses
• Francoism Centralism ? therefore,
  Democratization Decentralization.
• Transition to Democracy Democratization and
  Decentralization as inseparably linked in their
  mutual legitimization and that of the overall
  political process.
• Objective to articulate the principles of unity
  and diversity (to satisfy the demands of
  peripheral nationalists, mainly Basque and
  Catalan).

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The new Spanish 1978 Constitution and the new
political system

• First democratic elections in 1977. ?
  Representatives of the mail political forces
  formed a working group to elaborate a new
  Constitution (passed in 1978)
• New Constitution based upon the principle of
  consensus, trying to integrate all the different
  political sensibilities in the text.
• Objective to integrate into the system all the
  political forces, not to exclude them.
  Problematic issues treated with calculated
  ambiguity in the text to allow for future
  interpretations and debates. Open text.
• How to integrate the principles of territorial
  unity and diversity? State of Autonomies Unity
  of Spanish nation and autonomy of nationalities
  and regions. Nationalist resistance Café para
  todos
• Spanish political system structured in two main
  levels
• 1. Spanish / National level.
• 2. Autonomous Communities.
• 3. Municipalities.
• National level
• Bicameral system Congreso and Senado.
• Congreso as representative of national
  sovereignty. Electoral constituencies follow the
  autonomic map.
• Senado as representative of the territories.
• Primacy of the Congreso over the Senado.
  Formation of Government and election of
  President. Spanish system is not Presidential.
• Party system Imperfect Bipartidism ? Two
  parties dominate the voting and
  representationbut, there are other smaller
  parties that although not in a position to form
  governments can influence the formation of
  government by the two major parties.
• Two main State-wide parties. PSOE and PP.
• Third State-wide party IU.
• Non State-wide parties CIU, PNV, BNG, PAR, CC,
  PA, etc. (in a position to form governments at
  autonomic levels)

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The Estado de las Autonomías

• Autonomic State one of the most original aspects
  of the Spanish Constitution and political system.
  
• One of the highest levels of decentralization in
  the Western Democracies.
• 17 Autonomous Communities ( 2 Autonomous
  Cities), with their own parliaments, elections,
  governments,and party systems.
• At the time of the Transition, it was thought
  that NSWP would be limited to Catalonia and
  Basque Country, as expressions of nationalist
  ideas. However, it is a state-wide phenomenon.
• Electoral system Proportional representation
  (DHont system). Proportional system favours the
  smaller parties, while the Majority system
  favours the main parties.

ONLINE DEBATE about the State of the
Autonomies Is it a solution to the
regionalist/nationalist demands? OrIs it
encouraging the development of regionalist/nationa
list demands (and political parties, etc.)?
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Non State-wide Parties (NSWP) in Spain

• Why NSWP instead of regionalist or nationalist
  parties?
• Non a homogeneous phenomenon
• Ideology Left (ERC, HB, BNG, etc.), right (PNV,
  CIU, CC, PAR).
• Territorial scope one or more autonomous
  communities, province, localities/areas within
  autonomous communities, etc.
• Level of nationalism radical nationalists
  (independentists), moderate nationalists
  (consensus with State), regionalists
• Level of acceptance and legitimation of political
  system anti-systemic (HB), systemic (PNV, CIU,
  etc,).
• Strength central parties with possibility to
  form government (PNV, CIU, CC), significant
  parties with possibilities to participate in
  coalition governments (PAR BNG, PSM/UM, PRC),
  small parties (PA, UV, CE, UPL, PAS, etc.).
• Nations or Regions? Open to Debate.
• Autonomic Arenas
• Example 1 Basque Country
• See www.ehu.es/euskobarometro

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Dual Identity in Spain
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Spain a multilingual state (i)

• Several languages spoken approximately 40 of
  the total Spanish population live in a territory
  where more than one language is spoken.
• Spanish (also called Castilian) is spoken all
  over the current territory of Spain and is the
  only official language in the whole Spanish
  territory.
• There are other languages also recognised as
  official (or at least protected in some way) in 8
  regions. Only in these regions, not in the rest
  of Spain
• This means that Spain can not be strictly
  considered an institutionally plurilingual
  state, since only Spanish has the status of
  state-wide language.
• The strength of these regional languages
  (Asturian, Galician, Catalan, Aragonese, etc.)
  varies significantly within their respective
  historical linguistic areas.

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Spain a multilingual state (ii)
Tabla 1 Competencia lingüística en la Lengua de la Comunidad en las Comunidades Bilingües (a) Tabla 1 Competencia lingüística en la Lengua de la Comunidad en las Comunidades Bilingües (a) Tabla 1 Competencia lingüística en la Lengua de la Comunidad en las Comunidades Bilingües (a) Tabla 1 Competencia lingüística en la Lengua de la Comunidad en las Comunidades Bilingües (a) Tabla 1 Competencia lingüística en la Lengua de la Comunidad en las Comunidades Bilingües (a) Tabla 1 Competencia lingüística en la Lengua de la Comunidad en las Comunidades Bilingües (a) Tabla 1 Competencia lingüística en la Lengua de la Comunidad en las Comunidades Bilingües (a) Tabla 1 Competencia lingüística en la Lengua de la Comunidad en las Comunidades Bilingües (a) Tabla 1 Competencia lingüística en la Lengua de la Comunidad en las Comunidades Bilingües (a)
Cataluña C. Valenciana Baleares Galicia País Vasco Navarra Asturias Alto Aragón
Entiende, habla, lee y escribe 49 19 31 53 16 7 7.6 4.6
Entiende, habla y lee 23 19 25 15 4 4 14.6 3.7
Entiende y habla 8 17 16 21 8 5 26.8 10.3
Entiende 18 34 21 10 15 7 33.4 26.8
No entiende 3 11 7 1 57 77 17.6 54.6
NS/NC 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
(N) 1.004 771 473 680 609 449 1300 1000
Tabla 2 Competencia lingüística en la Lengua de la Comunidad en las Comunidades Bilingües (b) Tabla 2 Competencia lingüística en la Lengua de la Comunidad en las Comunidades Bilingües (b) Tabla 2 Competencia lingüística en la Lengua de la Comunidad en las Comunidades Bilingües (b) Tabla 2 Competencia lingüística en la Lengua de la Comunidad en las Comunidades Bilingües (b) Tabla 2 Competencia lingüística en la Lengua de la Comunidad en las Comunidades Bilingües (b) Tabla 2 Competencia lingüística en la Lengua de la Comunidad en las Comunidades Bilingües (b) Tabla 2 Competencia lingüística en la Lengua de la Comunidad en las Comunidades Bilingües (b) Tabla 2 Competencia lingüística en la Lengua de la Comunidad en las Comunidades Bilingües (b) Tabla 2 Competencia lingüística en la Lengua de la Comunidad en las Comunidades Bilingües (b)
Habla 79 55 72 89 28 16 49 18.6
Entiende 18 34 21 10 15 7 33.4 26.8
No entiende 3 11 7 1 57 77 17.6 54.6
NS/NC 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
(N) 1.004 771 473 680 609 449 1300 1000
Fuentes Siguan, M., Conocimiento y Uso de las
Lenguas (Madrid CIS, 1999). Llera, FJ. y San
Martín, P., II Estudio Sociolingüístico de
Asturias. 2002 (Uviéu Academia de la Llingua
Asturiana, 2003). Llera, FJ. y San Martín, P.,
Estudio Sociolingüístico de las Hablas del Alto
Aragón (Zaragoza Consejería de Cultura del
Gobierno de Aragón, 2001, unpublished report).
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Spain a multilingual state (iii)
Tabla 3 Competencia lingüística en Castellano en las Comunidades Bilingües Tabla 3 Competencia lingüística en Castellano en las Comunidades Bilingües Tabla 3 Competencia lingüística en Castellano en las Comunidades Bilingües Tabla 3 Competencia lingüística en Castellano en las Comunidades Bilingües Tabla 3 Competencia lingüística en Castellano en las Comunidades Bilingües Tabla 3 Competencia lingüística en Castellano en las Comunidades Bilingües Tabla 3 Competencia lingüística en Castellano en las Comunidades Bilingües Tabla 3 Competencia lingüística en Castellano en las Comunidades Bilingües Tabla 3 Competencia lingüística en Castellano en las Comunidades Bilingües
Cataluña C. Valenciana Baleares Galicia País Vasco Navarra Asturias Alto Aragón
Entiende, habla, lee y escribe 97 96 95 93 98 99 98.7 97.5
Entiende, habla y lee 1 1 1 2 1 0 0.6 1.3
Entiende y habla 2 2 3 3 1 1 0.5 0.9
Entiende 0 1 1 2 0 0 0.2 0.1
No entiende 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.2
NS/NC 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
(N) 1.004 771 473 680 609 449 1300 1000
Fuentes Siguan, M., Conocimiento y Uso de las
Lenguas (Madrid CIS, 1999). Llera, FJ. y San
Martín, P., II Estudio Sociolingüístico de
Asturias. 2002 (Uviéu Academia de la Llingua
Asturiana, 2003). Llera, FJ. y San Martín, P.,
Estudio Sociolingüístico de las Hablas del Alto
Aragón (Zaragoza Consejería de Cultura del
Gobierno de Aragón, 2001, unpublished report).
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Spain a multilingual state (iv)

• Lenguas minoritarias son aquellas que en ninguna
  parte ocupan una posición dominante en la
  sociedad donde se encuentran. En este grupo
  existen lenguas que poseen un estatus de lengua
  oficial (irlandés, vasco o catalán) o nacional
  (el romanche en el cantón italiano de Suiza) y no
  están, sin embargo, en situación dominante.
• Etxebarria, M., La Diversidad de las Lenguas en
  España (Espasa Calpe Madrid, 2002), p. 21.

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Any Questions?