Political mobilisation and place‐specificity: Radical nationalist street campaigning in the Spanish Basque country

Abstract

The political context of Spanish Basque nationalism has changed dramatically during the last decades. As a consequence, moderate and radical nationalist groups have turned bitterly against one another. The internal power struggle is fought most visibly in the street, which is traditionally the central place of Basque political mobilisation. Particularly the radical nationalists use graffiti and mass demonstrations to question the legitimacy of the existing power structures. This paper examines the radical nationalist methods of mobilisation in the changing overall context of Basque politics. It is argued that the campaigns ought to be discussed as both instruments and expressions of local discontent, relevant at several geographical scales. The aim is to demonstrate the significance of local political activity for politics at regional, national and continental levels. Exactly this connection makes local public resistance an important subject of geographical study.