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Comment on autonomous community system
editSpain’s reconstruction as a decentralized nation of regions and nationalities has been at best a partial success. Its basic structure is compromised by the geographical mismatch between ethnicity and autonomy; the autonomous communities were built out of preexisting provinces, several of which are themselves divided by language and identity.[1]
Social surveys
editEurobarometer surveys throughout Europe asked people to "rate their attachment to their region" and to their country, EU, and local area. From this data a "regionalism index" was constructed.[2] By this index Spain is the country with the highest variation between regions in the degree of regionalism, reflecting "internal tensions within the Spanish state". Madrid, Castilla-Leon, Castilla-La Mancha, Cantabria and Murcia are among the lowest 10 regions in Europe on this index. Basque Country, Catalonia and Canary Islands are among the top 10 (table).[3]
Another survey, carried out in 2002 in Spain only, asked respondents about their comparative degree of identification with their own region compared to that with Spain. In Basque, Catalonia and Canaries 15% or more "did not consider themselves Spanish at all". In all regions except Madrid, a majority identified at least as strongly with their region as with Spain, indicating "well-established" regional consciousness throughout the country.[4]
Politics
editAndalusia, Asturias, Castilla-Leon and Murcia have no significant nationalist or regionalist parties able to impact the dominance of national parties within a multi-party system.[5]
Navarre
editOnly one Spanish province did not officially become “autonomous,” whether in its own right or as part of a larger region: Navarre. Instead, Navarre reemerged as a “chartered community,” updating and expanding on the historical autonomy that it had long maintained. In practice, however, it functions as if it were an autonomous community. Navarre’s official name is Comunidad Foral de Navarra (or, in Basque, Nafarroako Foru Erkidegoa). “Foral” is usually translated into English as “chartered”: it stems from “fuero,” the traditional rights (or privileges, depending on one’s perspective) that were historically granted to certain regions of the Spanish kingdom, especially those in the Basque-speaking north-center (see the map showing “Foral Spain”). In the case of Navarre, such rights were bestowed when the formerly independent kingdom of Navarre was divided between Spain and France in the 1550s; to ensure the loyalty of its new subjects, the Spanish monarchy allowed them to retain their traditional customs and laws. Navarre’s fueros were subsequently whittled back and contested, but the basic idea has persisted.[1]
References
edit- ^ a b Lewis, Martin W. (1 September 2010). "The Nation, Nationalities, and Autonomous Regions in Spain". GeoCurrents.
- ^ Rune Dahl Fitjar (2009). The Rise of Regionalism: Causes of Regional Mobilization in Western Europe. Routledge. p. 36–39. ISBN 978-1-135-20330-6.
- ^ Rune Dahl Fitjar (2009). The Rise of Regionalism: Causes of Regional Mobilization in Western Europe. Routledge. p. 46. ISBN 978-1-135-20330-6.
This reveals the internal tensions within the Spanish state, where the dominant Castilian-speaking group seems to have become increasingly loyal to the state in response to pressures from non-Castilian areas for devolution or secession.
- ^ Frans Schrijver (2006). Regionalism After Regionalisation: Spain, France and the United Kingdom. Amsterdam University Press. p. 98. ISBN 978-90-5629-428-1.
- ^ Geoffrey Pridham (January 2016). Securing Democracy: Political Parties and Democratic Consolidation in Southern Europe. Routledge. p. 165. ISBN 978-1-317-35171-9.