Features of the Formation of Regional Identity: the Spanish Case

Abstract

The article examines the peculiarities of the formation of regional identity in such regions of Spain as Catalonia, the Basque Country and Galicia. The peculiarities of collective identities, which is a regional identity as such, is a social fact with unique characteristics: unpredictability, tendency to transform over time, rooted in the so-called markers or "areas of identity" (language, religion, etc.), are exclusive and they can be turned into a platform for political claims and protests. In other words, collective identities are constructed artifacts. Thus, attention should be paid to their triple dimension. First, their construction and evolution, the task facing historians in the first place, and secondly, their main components, domains and markers on which representation is based, the task that is the field of research for anthropology and sociology, and finally, their dissemination, significance and use as a platform for political demands and protests, aspects addressed by political science.
It is stated that the progressive construction of Spain, consisting of different Autonomous Communities (Comunidades Autónomas), in parallel recognized and promoted regional identity to such an extent that different studies highlighted (albeit with territorial variations and different intensities) the consolidation of regional and dual identity and regional identity) to the detriment of the Spanish identity alone.
Common and distinctive features in the formation of regional identity of the studied regions are identified. Emphasis is placed on the tendencies of attraction to separatist manifestations, as a threat to the integrity of Spain. Potential mechanisms for their prevention are analyzed, among which first of all economic stability of the region.