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ABSTRACT
This paper focuses on the survival of a form of historical memory in modern Spain that dates back to the nineteenth century. The prevailing form of Spanish national identity at that time was completely dependent on Catholicism; the medieval Iberian past was understood as a struggle of national liberation against invading Muslims, culminating in a final Christian victory in 1492. This approach generated an exclusionary vision of al-Andalus as alien to Spanish identity, expressed through the notion of “Reconquista,” which reached its peak during the Franco dictatorship, the heyday of National Catholic ideology. Although the idea of Reconquista lost its historiographical hegemony after the arrival of democracy in 1978, recent events show that, despite its strong ideological connotations, or perhaps because of them, it remains the key concept in defining the medieval period within the most conservative sectors of academia, politics, and the media.
Notes on contributor
Alejandro García-Sanjuán, Senior Lecturer, Medieval History, Huelva University (Spain), 959 21 91 51, Avda. Tres de Marzo s/n, Huelva, Spain. Email: [email protected].
Notes
1 “Ley 52/2007, de 26 de diciembre, por la que se reconocen y amplían derechos y se establecen medidas en favor de quienes padecieron persecución o violencia durante la guerra civil y la dictadura.” Boletín Oficial del Estado (BOE) 310 (27 December 2007).
2 García-Sanjuán, “Al-Andalus en la historiografía del nacionalismo españolista (siglos XIX–XXI),” 65–104.
3 Manzano and Pérez-Garzón, “A Difficult Nation?” 274.
4 Tolan, “Using the Middle Ages,” 331.
5 The best study on this issue is Álvarez Junco, Spanish Identity.
6 Following Botti (Cielo y dinero, 31), Spanish National Catholic ideology is rooted in the conservative reaction against the Enlightenment and the French Revolution as well as in the revolt against the Napoleonic occupation of Spain in 1808.
7 Cited in Marco Sola, “El catolicismo identitario en la construcción de la idea de nación española.” 111.
8 Simonet, Historia, I, 1.
9 García-Sanjuán, La conquista islámica de la Península Ibérica, 40.
10 Simonet, Historia, I, 14 y 35.
11 Saavedra, Estudio, 1.
12 De Ayala, “La Reconquista,” forthcoming, mentions a Latin text from the late twelfth century that, referring to King Alfonso II of Asturias (r. 791–842), says “maximam enim partem Hispanie recunquisierat.” (I thank the author for allowing me to cite his unpublished work.) But, in spite of this evidence of the use of the idea of “reconquering” in the medieval vocabulary, the notion of Reconquista, as it would be understood from the nineteenth century onward, should be considered a neologism, given its strong nationalist overtones.
13 Ríos Saloma, La Reconquista.
14 Manzano, “La construcción histórica del pasado nacional,” 53.
15 Ortega y Gasset, España invertebrada, 129 and 140.
16 The poem was included in his book Las horas de oro (1938).
17 “Sin el General Franco, España, asediada por el marxismo del puño cerrado, acaso no hubiera podido nunca volver a ser aquella nación libre que empezó a resurgir, hace doce siglos, en la Reconquista. Fue, en efecto, otra Reconquista, arrancada, a fuerza de heroísmo, al enemigo exterior.”
18 In Spanish “Pelayo,” first King of Asturias (d. 737) and supposedly the first Christian ruler who defeated the Muslims in Iberia (in the Battle of Covadonga). It is worth noting that “pelayos” was the name of the infantry in Requetés, a Carlist paramilitary organization that played a significant role in the Spanish Civil War on Franco’s side. Between 1936 and 1938, “Pelayos” was the title of the children’s magazine published by the Junta Nacional Carlista de Guerra. After 1939 it changed its name to “Flechas y Pelayos,” which was published until 1949 under the direction of Friar Justo Pérez de Urbel. See Vázquez de Parga, Los comics del franquismo.
19 In this particular case, see Peña Pérez, “La sombra del Cid,” 155–77, and Gómez Moreno, “El Cid y los héroes de antaño.”
20 Menéndez Pidal, Los españoles, 56. On this author see Glick, “Menéndez Pidal, Ramón,” 799–800.
21 Castro was also one of the first to express criticism towards the Reconquista, calling into question the idea of historical continuity that some wanted to express through this concept: “The Spain that was to be reconquered starting in the twelfth century was different to that of the eighth century even in its geographical names, which were either Arabic or pronounced in Arabic.” See Castro, España, 350.
22 Sánchez-Albornoz, Del Islam de España y el Occidente, 111–13.
23 Sánchez-Albornoz, Estudios polémicos, 299: “la maravillosa civilización arabigoandaluza, en que llegó a inventarse el cristal y se intentó volar.”
24 In the words of Rodríguez Mediano, the idea of Muslim Spain consisted of “a de-Islamisation of al-Andalus in favour of an invariable Spanish identity” (“Culture, Identity and Civilisation,” 55).
25 Sánchez-Albornoz, Andalucía islámica, 14. The quote before his text and its translations is (partially) taken from Tolan, “Using the Middle Ages,” 343.
26 Sánchez-Albornoz, Andalucía islámica, 23: “para mal de España entraron los islamitas en ella y para nuestro bien fueron vencidos y expulsados. Demos los españoles gracias a Dios por habernos librado del Islam.”
27 Fierro, “Al-Andalus en el pensamiento fascista español,” 325–49.
28 Manzano, “Did the Arabs really.”
29 García-Sanjuán, La conquista islámica de la Península Ibérica.
30 González Ferrín, Historia general de Al Andalus.
31 Wolf, “Negating negationism.” See my response, “La tergiversación del pasado.”
32 Boone, Lost Civilization, 13.
33 See Rubio Garrido, “La fascinación,” 231–45.
34 The text of the speech is apparently not available on Aznar’s official website. See http://www.jmaznar.es/es (accessed July 21, 2016). This transcription is taken from http://its4am.blogspot.com.es/2004/10/aznars-address-at-georgetown.html (accessed August 21, 2016). See also: http://georgetownvoice.com/2004/09/23/aznar-defends-spanish-war-on-terror-as-new-gu-faculty-member/ (accessed August 21, 2016).
35 Pardo, “Aznar afirma que el problema de España con Al Qaeda empieza en el siglo VIII”, El Mundo, September 22, 2004, 12.
36 Tremlett, “Foreword,” xii.
37 See the English translation of Pope’s lecture at: http://w2.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/speeches/2006/september/documents/hf_ben-xvi_spe_20060912_university-regensburg.html (accessed September 30, 2016).
38 Pardo, “Aznar: no oigo a los musulmanes pedir perdón”, El Mundo, September 23, 2006, 27; Monge, “Aznar pretende que los musulmanes le pidan perdón por haber conquistado España y ocuparla durante ocho siglos,” El País, September 23, 2006, 22. These words of the former Spanish President were heavily criticized by the Spanish Islamic Council, see El País, “La Junta Islámica descalifica las palabras de Aznar contra la conquista musulmana,” El País, September 24, 2006, 29
39 Aznar, Cartas, 162 and 199.
40 Former president of the PP in Catalonia and vice-president of the European Parliament between 2004–2014. In 2014 he left his role in the PP to become involved in a new ring-wing political party, Vox.
41 http://www.partidopopular.us/actividades/16congreso/enmienda_ponencia_politica_1.pdf (accessed November 20, 2016).
42 Anglada, Sin mordaza, 385. He is likely reacting against proposals to recover Catalonia’s Islamic past; on this topic, see, for example, Bramón, Moros, Judíos y Cristianos.
43 He was a leading political and academic figure during the Franco dictatorship: first Abbot of the Monastery of the Holy Cross of the Valle de los Caídos, Member of the High Council of the National Fascist Party [Consejero Nacional del Movimiento], and member of the Francoist Parliament [Procurador en Cortes]. See Pasamar and Peiró, Diccionario, 485–86.
44 Upon his death, Orlandis was the oldest Prelature of Opus Dei priest in the world, with 70 years of militancy. See his obituary in Bedoya, “José Orlandis, el miembro más antiguo del Opus Dei,” El País, December 29, 2010. http://elpais.com/diario/2010/12/29/necrologicas/1293577202_850215.html (accessed November 20, 2016). On this author, see also Pasamar and Peiró Diccionario, 451–52.
45 Orlandis, “Sobre los orígenes,” 12.
46 Located in the town of San Lorenzo de El Escorial (Madrid), the Valley of the Fallen (the Benedictine Abbey of the Holy Cross of the Valley of the Fallen) is the main Francoist memorial in Spain; it was built between 1940 and 1958 to “perpetuate the memory of the fallen in our glorious Crusade” and is the current burial place of Franco and José-Antonio Primo de Rivera (founder of Falange Española, the main Spanish Fascist party). Santiago Cantera is currently prior-manager [prior administrador] of the Abbey, which means that he acts as Abbot.
47 Cañizares Llovera, El esplendor visigótico, 44.
48 Suárez Fernández is openly committed to Francoism. Thanks to his position as Rector of the University of Valladolid he was elected member of the Francoist Parliament [Procurador en Cortes]. He is currently President of the Brotherhood of the Valley of the Fallen, one of the institutions involved in perpetuating the memory of the dictator. Suárez is also the author of the entry on Franco in the Spanish Biographical Dictionary published by the Real Academia de la Historia, a text which generated a strong academic and political debate in Spain due to the author’s refusal to describe Franco as a “dictator.” Badcock, “General Franco to be officially defined by Spain as a dictator”, The Telegraph, April 8, 2015. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/spain/11519691/General-Franco-to-be-officially-defined-by-Spain-as-a-dictator.html (accessed August 21, 2016).
49 Suárez Fernández, “Los fundamentos,” 125.
50 Vidal, España frente al Islam, 59–60. On the Islamophobic dimensions of Vidal’s book, see Bravo López, “Islamofobia y antimusulmanismo,” 47–71.
51 Alvarez-Ossorio, “El Islam y la identidad española,” 276.
52 Elorza, “Yihad en Madrid,”, El País, March 18, 2004. Elorza is currently Professor of Political Sciences at the Complutense University of Madrid.
53 García-Sanjuán, “Review.”
54 Manzano Moreno, Épocas medievales; Furió, “Las Españas medievales.”
55 This issue has been widely reported in international media. See, for example, BBC, “Spain passes citizenship plan for descendants of Jews exiled centuries ago,” BBC News, June 11, 2015. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-33102891 (accessed August 21, 2016). The same decision was made by Portuguese authorities the same year: BBC, “Portugal to naturalise descendants of Jews expelled centuries ago,” BBC News, January 29, 2015. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-31051223 (Accessed August 21, 2016).
56 Alberola, “Spanish King to Sephardic Jews: How We Missed You”, El País (English edition), December 2, 2015. http://elpais.com/elpais/2015/12/01/inenglish/1448979993_879941.html (accessed November 20, 2016).
57 Arias, “Los descendientes de andalusíes dicen que la Ley de extranjería los margina,” El País, December 21, 2002. http://elpais.com/diario/2002/12/21/andalucia/1040426557_850215.html (accessed November 21, 2016). See the text of the letter on: Flores, “Primera Carta del líder andalusí Mohammad Ben Azzuz Hakim a S. M. el Rey Juan Carlos I de España”, Webislam, December 27, 2005. http://www.webislam.com/articulos/28120-primera_carta_del_lider_andalusi_mohammad_ben_azzuz_hakim_a_s_m_el_rey_juan_carl.html (accessed August 18, 2016). See in this regard the opinion of Gibson “Desagravio pendiente,” El País, December 17, 2002. http://elpais.com/diario/2002/12/17/andalucia/1040080931_850215.html (accessed November 21, 2016).
58 Boletín Oficial del Parlamento Andaluz (BOPA) 519 (2 October 2006): 28735.
59 EFE, “Los moriscos condenan por racista su exclusión de la nacionalidad española,” El Mundo, June 15, 2015.
60 Fanjul, “Inmigrantes y moriscos,” ABC, January 4, 2007, 3.
61 Boletín Oficial del Congreso (BOCG). Congreso de los Diputados Núm. D-308 de 11/12/2009.
62 Editorial, “Ahora, los Moriscos,” ABC, November 25, 2009, 4.
63 Martín Ferrand, “¡Que vienen los turcos!” ABC, November 26, 2009.
64 Machuca, “Morisquetas moriscas,” ABC, November 26, 2009.
65 Blas Infante, killed by Francoist forces in August 1936, was the founder of Andalusian nationalism, the only nationalist ideology in Spain to claim al-Andalus as an essential part of its national identity.
66 BOPA 404, July 7, 2010.
67 Royaume du Maroc. Bulletin Officiel, n° 5952 bis, 14 rejeb 1432 (17 juin 2011). http://www.amb-maroc.fr/constitution/TEXTE.PROJET.CONST.pdf (accessed 29, August 2016).
68 Del Burgo, “Cuando los vascos,” 131–32.
69 González Pons, “1212+1812+1912 = 2012,” ABC, July 17, 2012, 3.
70 Sánchez Saus, “Recordemos las Navas,” Diario de Sevilla, July 19, 2012. http://www.diariodesevilla.es/opinion/articulos/Recordemos-Navas_0_607739365.html (accessed November 21, 2016).
71 On this book, see García-Sanjuán, “La persistencia del discurso nacionalcatólico.”
72 Donaire, “Un Don Pelayo del siglo XXI,” El País (Andalucía edition), November 5, 2011. http://elpais.com/diario/2011/10/05/andalucia/1317766934_850215.html (accessed November 20, 2016).
73 Tertsch, “De Viena a Despeñaperros,” ABC, July 17, 2012, 13.
74 De Prada, “Dos conmemoraciones,” ABC, July 16, 2012.
75 One of them is Democracia Nacional, which, on the occasion of the 2016 celebration, published a “Manifesto for 2 January” on its website. It is worth quoting this text, which shows, among other things, that this organization’s vision of the past coincides with the conservative approach to medieval Iberian history: “The Taking of Granada is undoubtedly one of our founding milestones, since it meant the end of the cruel occupation to which our country was subjected for centuries, consolidating and unifying the territories that would give birth to the oldest nation-state in Europe: Spain.” See “Manifiesto del 2 de Enero,” http://democracianacional.org/dn/toma-de-granada-2016/ (accessed August 28, 2016). The idea that Spain is the oldest European nation-state is part of the official doctrine of the PP, as it was established on its 16th Congress (Valencia, 20–22 June, 2008), see “Ponencia Política,” art. 52. It has been also repeatedly affirmed by the current Spanish President, Mariano Rajoy. See, for example, VERNE, “Rajoy sigue diciendo,” El País, June 23, 2016. http://verne.elpais.com/verne/2016/06/22/articulo/1466609191_241459.html (accessed 4, September 2016).
76 El País, “La Junta y la Diputación de Granada se enfrentan por La Toma”, El País, January 1, 2013. http://ccaa.elpais.com/ccaa/2013/01/01/andalucia/1357067066_302415.html (accessed November 20, 2016). Mariana Pineda was a Spanish liberal activist executed in 1831 by order of Fernando VII, the last Spanish absolutist king, becoming a symbol of the fight for liberty and civil rights.
77 Tertsch, “Boabdil y el maquis,” ABC, January 4, 2013.
78 Bien de Interés Cultural (BIC) is a Spanish legal concept by which a competent authority (local or national) gives special protection to material goods or immaterial heritage with high value for the collective identity of a population or community.
79 Cortés, “La Junta se opone a festejar la Toma de Granada y declararla Bien de Interés Cultural,” El País, January 2, 2013: http://ccaa.elpais.com/ccaa/2013/01/02/andalucia/1357153468_319414.html (accessed November 21, 2016).
80 Jerónimo, “El PSOE tumba la iniciativa de declarar BIC la Toma de Granada,” ABC, April 11, 2013. http://sevilla.abc.es/andalucia/granada/20130411/sevi-psoe-tumba-iniciativa-declarar-201304101922.html (accessed November 21, 2016).
81 Presumably the name comes from the Arabic Mu’assasat Batalyaws, or “foundation of Badajoz,” although the correct way to say this would actually be ta’sîs Batalyaws.
82 See the information on the Badajoz City Hall Website: Ayuntamiento de Badajoz, “Almossassa 2016”, http://www.aytobadajoz.es/es/ayto/ferias-y-fiestas/almossassa-batalyaws#.VqnQGIXhDIU (accessed November 21, 2016).
83 In recent years, the Alhambra has been one of the most visited historical monuments in Spain. According to its Website, the number of visitors increased to almost 2.5 million during 2015. See Patronato de la Alhambra y el Generalife, “Presentación datos estadísticos de la actividad cultural, educativa y turística 2015. Conjunto Monumental de la Alhambra y el Generalife”. http://www.alhambra-patronato.es/fileadmin/contenidos/ficheros/2015_encuestas/BALANCE_VISITANTES_2015.pdf (accessed September 3, 2016).