Greater Middle East

• There is also a Spanish nationalism of Castilian origin.
• This nationalism has been deeply rooted in Spanish politics from the time of the Restoration in the second half of the 19th century.
• In fact, allusions to peripheral nationalisms and their claims are constant, while there is hardly any reference to Spanish nationalism.

When did the idea of Spain as a single nation arise?

• It was in the nineteenth century when a school of thought that promoted the unity and identity of Spain as a single and indivisible nation really emerged.
• It was put forward by figures such as Spanish politicians Antonio Cánovas del Castillo and Juan Donoso, among others.
• These began to claim the national identity and territorial unity of Spain more vehemently, doing so in opposition to the peripheral nationalist movements.

Is nationalist sentiment always right wing?

• But it is important to point out that Spanish nationalism is not an exclusive phenomenon of the political right.
• There are nationalist lines of thought on the left that also defend the identity and unity of Spain.
• But the application of article 152 culminated in a policy of transfer of power that practically equated the competences of all communities.

The feeling of identity of recent years

• It is within this context of “response to the Catalan independence movement” that we must note the significant growth of a feeling of Spanish identity in recent years.
• They intend to reinforce the principles of centralisation, national identity, and territorial unity – principles so typical of Spain’s sense of identity.

• The local and regional elections that took place the 28th May have shaken up the political chessboard in Spain.
• The right-wing Partido Popular took the largest proportion of votes and now has the largest number of seats in local and regional governments.
• In one fell swoop the socialist party has lost around 70% of the local and regional power it had.

National identity

• Ideas about identity and nationalism came to play an important part in what were supposed to be elections about local matters.
• During the last week of the campaign in particular, national issues dominated the discourse.
• The Partido Popular has constructed a rhetoric of being the only party defending the constitution and the union of the country.
• The party, presided over by Alberto Núñez Feijóo, has absorbed the main voters from Ciudadanos, the Catalan political start-up that was at first phenomenally successful when it came to national prominence in 2015 but has already almost disappeared.

Political leadership

• He has managed to boost his international image with good performances in Europe and occasional visits to Washington and Beijing.
• But there is little time for Sumar to establish a strategy that can turn a social movement into a political entity with representation in the provinces.
• Meanwhile, Alberto Núñez Feijoo, of the Spanish People’s Party, proposes a quiet style of leadership.

Plebiscite

• He lost three MPs in the 2019 rerun election and now he has lost ground in many regions.
• In Catalonia, his acceptance is growing, but the seats it brings to the general elections are not enough.
• In this situation, Sánchez’s only chance is to get as near to his current 120 parliamentary seats as he can.
• Whereas local elections weren’t supposed to be a plebiscite on national government, next 23rd of July seems to be the rerun of a general election whose first round took place last weekend.

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