Nationalism, identity and landscape in contemporary Galicia

Abstract

In escaping the territorial trap of the nation-state, political geography has devoted mounting attention to sub-state geographies of nationalism. This paper traces the history, geographies, and politics of Spanish Galicia, in light of the contradictory processes of contemporary European integration and secessionism. After a review of sub-state nationalism, it contextualizes Galician nationalism within Spanish regionalism. It offers an historical overview that highlights the uniqueness of Galician culture and explicates the roots of the current nationalist movement. Finally, it delves into contemporary Galician politics, including its electoral dimensions, cyberpolitics, and banal nationalism, in which territory plays a decisive role.

Keywords:

• Galicia
• sub-state nationalism
• identity

Acknowledgements

The authors thank several reviewers for their insightful comments

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.