142-490: Alfonso Daniel Manuel Rodríguez Castelao (30 January 1886 – 7 January 1950), commonly known as Castelao , was a Galician politician, writer, painter and doctor. He is one of the fathers of Galician nationalism , promoting Galician identity and culture, and was one of the main names behind the cultural movement Xeración Nós . He was also one of the founders and president of the Galicianist Party and had
284-763: A Briton colony and bishopric (see Mailoc ) was established in Northern Galicia ( Britonia ), probably as foederati and allies of the Suebi. In 585, the Visigothic King Leovigild invaded the Suebic kingdom of Galicia and defeated it, bringing it under Visigoth control. Later the Muslims invaded Spain (711), but the Arabs and Moors never managed to have any real control over Galicia, which
426-811: A common origin , but also a "common future". In his travels to Portugal, and sporadically to Brazil while residing in Argentina, Castelao was impressed with how easily he could use his native Galician in order to communicate freely with Portuguese speakers. Galician is a widespread and useful language which – with small variations – is spoken in Brazil, Portugal and in the Portuguese colonies. Nevertheless, Castelao never used Portuguese orthography in his writings, despite affirming that "I hope that one day Galician and Portuguese will, gradually and naturally, merge". Indeed, Castelao's political writings were addressed to
568-595: A separatist coup attempt in 1846 against the authoritarian regime of Ramón María Narváez . Solís and his forces were defeated at the Battle of Cacheiras , 23 April 1846, and the survivors, including Solís himself, were shot. They have taken their place in Galician memory as the Martyrs of Carral or simply the Martyrs of Liberty. Defeated on the military front, Galicians turned to culture. The Rexurdimento focused on
710-595: A "h" to derive it from Hispania ), we can embrace with it all the Peninsula, making it a synonymous of Iberia . Castelao did not support the classical idea of Iberian Federalism , as this advocated for the union of the two Iberian States , Spain and Portugal as such, and not of what he considered to be the real five nations of Iberia. He pointed out that before these nations could federate the Spanish State should "break up" first, so all nations could pact entering
852-618: A French invasion crushed the National Militia and restored absolutist rule in Spain. During the subsequent reaction, many liberals were forced into exile, many—ironically—ending up in France, but generally Ferdinand VII was less strident in his policies through the remainder of his reign. When the monarchy was overthrown in 1873, the king was forced into exile. The Senate was abolished because of its royally appointed nature. A republic
994-612: A Galician audience mostly, hence he used a type of language and spelling that could be easily understood by all. He did make use of old Galician words, often common in Portuguese, as a way to progressively introduce them into colloquial speech; for example his preference for the term Galiza instead of Galicia for the name of the country. Galicia (Spain) Galicia ( / ɡ ə ˈ l ɪ ʃ ( i ) ə / gə- LISH -(ee-)ə ; Galician : Galicia [ɡaˈliθjɐ] (officially) or Galiza [ɡaˈliθɐ] ; Spanish : Galicia [ɡaˈliθja] )
1136-486: A Galician from Ferrol – ruled as dictator from the civil war until he died in 1975. Franco's centralizing regime suppressed any official use of the Galician language, including the use of Galician names for newborns, although its everyday oral use was not forbidden. Among the attempts at resistance were small leftist guerrilla groups such as those led by José Castro Veiga ("O Piloto") and Benigno Andrade ("Foucellas"), both of whom were ultimately captured and executed. In
1278-772: A day-to-day basis, while 48% most often used Spanish. The name Galicia derives from the Latin toponym Callaecia, later Gallaecia , related to the name of an ancient Celtic tribe that resided north of the Douro river, the Gallaeci or Callaeci in Latin , or Καλλαϊκoί ( Kallaïkoí ) in Greek . These Callaeci were the first tribe in the area to help the Lusitanians against the invading Romans. The Romans applied their name to all
1420-623: A declaration for the history of Galician nationalism . In 1920, he starts publishing the magazine Nós , together with Vicente Risco and Otero Pedrayo . That same year he travelled through France , the Netherlands and Germany . In 1922, he wrote the novel Un ollo de vidro and in 1924 he joined the Seminário de Estudos Galegos ("Seminar of Galician Studies") and founded the Pontevedra Polyphonic Choir; as he
1562-489: A former monarchist Minister wary of the authoritarianism of the right, dissolved Parliament. The next election was held in 1936. It was hotly contested, with all parties converging into three coalitions: the leftist Popular Front , the right-winged National Front [ es ] and a Centre coalition. In the end, the Popular Front won with a small edge in votes over the runner-up National Front, but achieved
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#17327937202261704-697: A general revolt, the monarchs ordered the banishing of the rest of the great lords like Pedro de Bolaño, Diego de Andrade, or Lope Sánchez de Moscoso, among others. The establishment of the Santa Hermandad in 1480, and the Real Audiencia del Reino de Galicia in 1500—a tribunal and executive body directed by the Governor - Captain General as a direct representative of the King—implied initially
1846-454: A great influence on the renovating group of Galician art known as Os renovadores . Castelao is considered to be the most important figure in Galician culture of the 20th century. Alfonso Daniel Rodríguez Castelao was born on 30 January 1886 in the town of Rianxo , Galicia . He was the firstborn of Manuel Rodríguez Dios, a mariner who made sails for ships, and Joaquina Castelao Genme. On
1988-520: A lesser degree of Romanization . In the 3rd century, it was made a province, under the name Gallaecia, which included also northern Portugal, Asturias , and a large section of what today is known as Castile and León . In the early 5th century, the deep crisis suffered by the Roman Empire allowed different tribes of Central Europe ( Suebi , Vandals and Alani ) to cross the Rhine and penetrate
2130-412: A nationalist (...) (I would support an) open and frontal fight for our national independence, in case no other possibility of federation or confederation with Spain was possible Although bilingual in Galician and Spanish, Castelao always wrote and published in Galician, with very rare exceptions. He was a keen defender of Galician culture and considered the language to be the key element of cohesion among
2272-454: A new language: Latin . The Roman Empire established its control over Galicia through camps ( castra ) as Aquis Querquennis , Ciadella camp or Lucus Augusti ( Lugo ), roads ( viae ) and monuments as the lighthouse known as Tower of Hercules , in Corunna , but the remoteness and lesser interest of the country since the 2nd century AD, when the gold mines stopped being productive, led to
2414-530: A number of other texts. Sempre en Galiza has been considered one of the most advanced political texts of its time. Also in that year he became the first president of the Consello de Galiza , the Government of Galicia in exile. In 1945, together with Catalan and Basque intellectuals in exile, he founded the magazine Galeuzca as an evocation of the political alliance of 1933 between Galicia, Catalonia and
2556-614: A pastoral letter that was not well received by the Franco regime, about a demonstration in Bazán (Ferrol) where two workers died. As part of the transition to democracy upon the death of Franco in 1975, Galicia regained its status as an autonomous region within Spain with the Statute of Autonomy of 1981, which begins, "Galicia, historical nationality, is constituted as an Autonomous Community to access to its self-government, in agreement with
2698-587: A process of centralisation. At the same time the kings began to call the Xunta or Cortes of the Kingdom of Galicia , an assembly of deputies or representatives of the cities of the Kingdom, to ask for monetary and military contributions. This assembly soon developed into the voice and legal representation of the Kingdom, and the depositary of its will and laws. The modern period of the Kingdom of Galicia began with
2840-407: A route for the propagation of Romanesque art and the words and music of the troubadors . During the 10th and 11th centuries, a period during which Galician nobility become related to the royal family, Galicia was at times headed by its own native kings , while Vikings (locally known as Leodemanes or Lordomanes ) occasionally raided the coasts. The Towers of Catoira (Pontevedra) were built as
2982-611: A solid majority due to the new electoral system introduced by the CEDA government hoping that they would get the edge in votes. The new Parliament then dismissed Alcalá-Zamora and installed Manuel Azaña in his place. During the third term, the extreme polarisation of the Spanish society was more evident than ever in Parliament, with confrontation reaching the level of death threats. The already bad political and social climate created by
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#17327937202263124-787: A stronger role for the Cortes but was crushed by the Constable 's royalist forces at the 1521 Battle of Villalar and then brutally suppressed. Reorganized, the corteses retained some power over the realm's finances—particularly in Aragon —but became limited to a consultative entity. By the reign of Philip II , the delegates of the Cortes of Castile were financially dependent on the Crown for their income. The Imperial Cortes and its deputation ( Spanish : Diputación General de Cortes ) primarily concerned themselves with overseeing previous agreements and
3266-496: A system of fortifications to prevent and stop the Viking raids on Santiago de Compostela. In 1063, Ferdinand I of Castile divided his realm among his sons, and the Kingdom of Galicia was granted to Garcia II of Galicia . In 1072, it was forcibly annexed by Garcia's brother Alfonso VI of León ; from that time Galicia was united with the Kingdom of León under the same monarchs. In the 13th century Alfonso X of Castile standardized
3408-513: A task because 208 out of 265 members of the Senate are elected by popular vote in each province, and only 58 are representatives appointed by the regional legislatures of autonomous communities. Proposals to reform the Senate have been discussed for at least ten years as of November 2007. One of the main themes of reform is to move towards a higher level of federalization and make the Senate a thorough representation of autonomous communities instead of
3550-624: Is Galicia . Due to Galicia's history and culture with mythology, the land has been called " Terra Meiga " (land of the witches/witch(ing) land). The oldest attestation of human presence in Galicia has been found in the Eirós Cave, in the municipality of Triacastela , which has preserved animal remains and Neanderthal stone objects from the Middle Paleolithic . The earliest culture to have left significant architectural traces
3692-487: Is Santiago de Compostela , in the province of A Coruña . Vigo , in the province of Pontevedra , is the largest municipality and A Coruña the most populated city in Galicia. Two languages are official and widely used today in Galicia: the native Galician ; and Spanish , usually called Castilian . While most Galicians are bilingual, a 2013 survey reported that 51% of the Galician population spoke Galician most often on
3834-503: Is a ski resort. Galicia is poetically known as the "country of the thousand rivers " ("o país dos mil ríos"). The largest and most important of these rivers is the Miño , poetically known as O Pai Miño (Father Miño), which is 307.5 km (191.1 mi) long and discharges 419 m (548 cu yd) per second, with its affluent the Sil , which has created a spectacular canyon. Most of
3976-534: Is an autonomous community of Spain and historic nationality under Spanish law. Located in the northwest Iberian Peninsula , it includes the provinces of A Coruña , Lugo , Ourense , and Pontevedra . Galicia is located in Atlantic Europe . It is bordered by Portugal to the south, the Spanish autonomous communities of Castile and León and Asturias to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to
4118-566: Is commonly understood as Spanish landscape. Nevertheless, Galicia has some important environmental problems. Deforestation and forest fires are a problem in many areas, as is the continual spread of the eucalyptus tree, a species imported from Australia, actively promoted by the paper industry since the mid-20th century. Galicia is one of the more forested areas of Spain, but the majority of Galicia's plantations, usually growing eucalyptus or pine, lack any formal management. Massive eucalyptus plantation, especially of Eucalyptus globulus , began in
4260-524: Is partly directly elected in that four senators per province are elected as a general rule and partly appointed by the legislative assemblies of the autonomous communities , one for each community and another one for every million inhabitants in their territory. Although the Senate was conceived as a territorial upper house, it has been argued by nationalist parties and the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party that it does not accomplish such
4402-633: Is the Megalithic culture, which expanded along the western European coasts during the Neolithic and Calcolithic eras. Thousands of Megalithic tumuli are distributed throughout the country, mostly along the coastal areas. Within each tumulus is a stone burial chamber known locally as anta ( dolmen ), frequently preceded by a corridor. Galicia was later influenced by the Bell Beaker culture . Its rich mineral deposits of tin and gold led to
Alfonso Daniel Rodríguez Castelao - Misplaced Pages Continue
4544-592: The Irmandades da Fala ("Brotherhoods of the Language"). Rodríguez Castelao developed an emotional attachment with Pontevedra and frequently claimed he wanted to be considered a native of that city; he even expressed a will to be buried there and not back in his original Rianxo or elsewhere. Also in 1916, he participated in the Asembleia Nazonalista de Lugo ("Nationalist Assembly of Lugo"), signing
4686-540: The tuna , with which he visited Portugal in a number of occasions. He passed his doctorate in Madrid in 1909, where he began to gain some popularity as a caricaturist and cartoon artist. In fact, Rodríguez Castelao often admitted he only studied medicine to please the wishes of his father. He rarely practiced medicine professionally despite having the credentials for it. He eventually settled down in Rianxo, where he joined
4828-714: The Basque Country . In 1946 he was appointed as minister without portfolio in the Spanish Republican government in exile led by José Giral , while living in Paris . In 1947, back in Buenos Aires and after being diagnosed with lung cancer, he published As cruces de pedra na Galiza . Castelao died on 7 January 1950 at the hospital of the Centro Gallego in Buenos Aires. The Argentine Senate and
4970-663: The Canary and Balearic archipelagos forms a different constituency in the Senate. As a parliamentary system , the Cortes confirm and dismiss the Prime Minister of Spain and their government ; specifically, the candidate for Prime Minister has to be invested by the Congress with a majority of affirmative votes. The Congress can also dismiss the Prime Minister through a vote of no confidence . The Cortes also hold
5112-755: The Confederación Española de Derechas Autónomas (CEDA) ( right ). Initially, only the Radical Party entered the Government, with the parliamentary support of the CEDA. However, in the middle of the term, several corruption scandals (among them the Straperlo and the Nombela affairs) sank the Radical Party and the CEDA entered the Government in 1934. This led to uprisings by some leftist parties that were quickly suffocated. In one of them,
5254-537: The Francisco Franco era, largely on behalf of the paper company Empresa Nacional de Celulosas de España (ENCE) in Pontevedra , which wanted it for its pulp. Galician photographer Delmi Álvarez began documenting the fires in Galicia in 2006 in a project called Queiman Galiza (Burn Galicia) . Wood products figure significantly in Galicia's economy. Apart from tree plantations, Galicia is also notable for
5396-461: The Galician people . In Sempre en Galiza he stated "If we are Galician still that is by deed and grace of speaking our own language". Castelao often criticised the imposition of Spanish language in Galicia, and demanded for Galician to become an official language and thus the preferred language in the administration and education. Castelao could, in a way, be considered a pre- reintegrationist as he claimed that Galician and Portuguese had not just
5538-524: The Iberian Peninsula as a whole, and not just to the country known as Spain . In fact, he would use the term España in a depreciative way, an example of the "past" and what "should be avoided". It was his ideal that a federation of "Iberian Nations" should emerge to create this new Hespaña . For Rodríguez Castelao these nations were: Castile , Catalonia , the Basque Country , Portugal and Galicia . He also implied that apart from creating
5680-578: The Iberian peninsula 's various kingdoms came to be known as cortes ( Castilian Spanish ) or corts ( Valencian Spanish ). They began as advisory councils made up of the most powerful nobles and the feudal lords closest to the king. General councils were convened in 873, 1020, 1050, and 1063. The 1188 Cortes of León convened by Alfonso IX is sometimes taken to mark the beginning of parliamentary bodies in Western Europe because it
5822-689: The Nationalist faction , resulting in a bombing in May 1937. Francisco Franco did not prioritize the creation of a consultative or legislative type of assembly during his rule . In 1942, following the first symptoms of change in the international panorama in favour of the Allied Powers , a law established the Cortes Españolas (Spanish Cortes), a non-democratic chamber made up of more than 400 procuradores (singular procurador ). Both
Alfonso Daniel Rodríguez Castelao - Misplaced Pages Continue
5964-576: The Partido Galeguista (PG) was the most important of a shifting collection of Galician nationalist parties. Following a referendum on a Galician Statute of Autonomy , Galicia was granted the status of an autonomous region. Galicia was spared the worst of the fighting in that war: it was one of the areas where the initial coup attempt at the outset of the war was successful, and it remained in Nationalist hands (Franco's army) throughout
6106-679: The Popular Front coalition, which included the Galicianist Party. The Spanish civil war began whilst Castelao was in Madrid presenting the results of the referendum for the Galician Statute of Autonomy , which had been approved by 98 per cent of voters, and in which Castelao had played a role, together with his personal friend Alexandre Bóveda . During the war he organised the Galician militias in collaboration with
6248-548: The Reconquista , the growth of trade and an urbanized middle class ( Spanish : burguesía ) expanded their importance at the various corteses. The king retained the ability to call and dismiss the Cortes but tended to exchange fueros , further grants of privileges and autonomy, to the residents of certain cities in exchange for lump sum payments to meet military and other obligations. (Modern Navarre preserves certain rights and privileges in its current statute of autonomy directly derived from these fueros.) In some cases,
6390-417: The Romans , along with Finistère in Brittany and Land's End in Cornwall , to be the end of the known world. All along the Galician coast are various archipelagos near the mouths of the rías . These archipelagos provide protected deepwater harbors and also provide habitat for seagoing birds. A 2007 inventory estimates that the Galician coast has 316 archipelagos, islets, and freestanding rocks. Among
6532-439: The Serra dos Ancares (on the border with León and Asturias ), O Courel (on the border with León), O Eixe (the border between Ourense and Zamora ), Serra de Queixa (in the center of Ourense province), O Faro (the border between Lugo and Pontevedra), Cova da Serpe (border of Lugo and A Coruña), Montemaior (A Coruña), Montes do Testeiro , Serra do Suído , and Faro de Avión (between Pontevedra and Ourense); and, to
6674-408: The Spanish Communist Party and declared his support to the government of the Spanish Republic . As the Nationalist troops advanced Castelao fled to Valencia – where he still had time to publish Galicia Martir and Atila en Galicia – and later moved to Barcelona . In 1938, he was sent by the Spanish government to the Soviet Union , the United States and Cuba , in order to obtain support for
6816-417: The Spanish Constitution and with the present Statute (…)". Varying degrees of nationalist or independentist sentiment are evident at the political level. The Bloque Nacionalista Galego or BNG, is a conglomerate of left-wing parties and individuals that claims Galician political status as a nation. From 1990 to 2005, Manuel Fraga, former minister and ambassador in the Franco dictatorship, presided over
6958-405: The Statute of Autonomy of 1936 , soon frustrated by Franco's coup d'état and subsequent long dictatorship. After democracy was restored the legislature passed the Statute of Autonomy of 1981 , approved in referendum and currently in force, providing Galicia with self-government. The interior of Galicia is characterized by a hilly landscape; mountain ranges rise to 2,000 m (6,600 ft) in
7100-445: The bicameral legislative chambers of Spain , consisting of the Congress of Deputies (the lower house ) and the Senate (the upper house ). The Congress of Deputies meets in the Palacio de las Cortes . The Senate meets in the Palacio del Senado . Both are in Madrid . The Cortes are elected through universal, free, equal, direct and secret suffrage , with the exception of some senatorial seats, which are elected indirectly by
7242-421: The 'People's Party' lost its absolute majority, though remaining (barely) the largest party in the parliament, with 43% of the total votes. As a result, power passed to a coalition of the Partido dos Socialistas de Galicia (PSdeG) ('Galician Socialists ' Party'), a federal sister-party of Spain's main social-democratic party, the Partido Socialista Obrero Español (PSOE, 'Spanish Socialist Workers Party') and
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#17327937202267384-406: The 13th century on, the kings of Castile, as kings of Galicia, appointed an Adiantado-mór , whose attributions passed to the Governor and Captain General of the Kingdom of Galiza from the last years of the 15th century. The Governor also presided the Real Audiencia do Reino de Galicia , a royal tribunal and government body. From the 16th century, the representation and voice of the kingdom
7526-404: The 1490s but her grandson the Habsburg emperor Charles V (Charles I of Spain) was able to easily provide for Ferdinand Magellan 's 1519 expedition and then to pointedly sell away all of Spain's rights to the Spice Islands (now Indonesia 's Malukus ) without any consultation with the Toledo Cortes in 1529. The 1520 Revolt of the Comuneros had intended to reverse this trend and provide
7668-431: The 16th century through to the mid-18th century, when written Galician almost completely disappeared except for private or occasional uses but the spoken language remained the common language of the people in the villages and even the cities. From that moment Galicia, which participated to a minor extent in the American expansion of the Spanish Empire , found itself at the center of the Atlantic wars fought by Spain against
7810-461: The 1960s, ministers such as Manuel Fraga Iribarne introduced some reforms allowing technocrats affiliated with Opus Dei to modernize administration in a way that facilitated capitalist economic development. However, for decades Galicia was largely confined to the role of a supplier of raw materials and energy to the rest of Spain, causing environmental havoc and leading to a wave of migration to Venezuela and to various parts of Europe. Fenosa ,
7952-463: The 2000–2010 decade has degraded it partially. Galicia is quite mountainous , a fact which has contributed to isolate the rural areas, hampering communications, most notably in the inland. The main mountain range is the Macizo Galaico ( Serra do Eixe , Serra da Lastra , Serra do Courel ), also known as Macizo Galaico-Leonés , located in the eastern parts, bordering with Castile and León . Noteworthy mountain ranges are O Xistral (northern Lugo ),
8094-506: The A Nave Cape in Fisterra (also known as Finisterre), and Cape Touriñán, both in the province of A Coruña. The interior of Galicia is a hilly landscape, composed of relatively low mountain ranges, usually below 1,000 m (3,300 ft) high, without sharp peaks, rising to 2,000 m (6,600 ft) in the eastern mountains. There are many rivers, most (though not all) running down relatively gentle slopes in narrow river valleys, though at times their courses become far more rugged, as in
8236-509: The Castilian language (i.e. Spanish) and made it the language of court and government. Nevertheless, in his Kingdom of Galicia the Galician language was the only language spoken, and the most used in government and legal uses, as well as in literature . During the 14th and 15th centuries, the progressive distancing of the kings from Galician affairs left the kingdom in the hands of the local knights, counts, and bishops, who frequently fought each other to increase their fiefs, or simply to plunder
8378-400: The City of Buenos Aires erected monuments to honour him. Since then, most of his work has been translated and published into other languages. In 1984, Castelao's remains were brought back to Galicia and he was buried at the Panteón de Galegos Ilustres ("Pantheon of Illustrious Galicians"), Bonaval, in the capital city of Santiago de Compostela . Castelao was a Galician nationalist (heir of
8520-404: The Congress holds the power to ultimately override any decision of the Senate by a sufficient majority (usually an absolute majority or three-fifths majority ). The Congress is composed of 350 deputies (but that figure may change in the future as the constitution establishes a maximum of 400 and a minimum of 300) directly elected by universal suffrage approximately every four years. The Senate
8662-424: The Conservatives and Liberals would have alternating periods as the majority in the Cortes, with other parties restricted to a smaller number of seats. Soon after the Soviet revolution (1917), the Spanish political parties started polarizing, and the left-wing Communist Party (PCE) and Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) blamed the Government for supposed election fraud in small towns ( caciquismo ), which
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#17327937202268804-424: The Cortes was able to independently select agents to act as permanent advisors to the king between its sessions. Beginning with the Catholic Monarchs Isabella and Ferdinand , monarchs' control over Spain's various kingdoms in personal union allowed them to curtail the power of the grandees and burghers. Queen Isabella initially had difficulty in securing funding for the voyages of Christopher Columbus in
8946-458: The Cortes was immediately set aside by Ferdinand upon his restoration in 1814. His conservative policies led to a series of military coups that culminated in Col. Rafael del Riego forcing him to accept a more liberal constitution from 1820–1823, the Trienio Liberal ("Three Liberal Years"). Ferdinand vetoed nearly every law passed during the period and repeatedly asked other nations to invade and restore him to his previous authority. Finally,
9088-403: The Cortes' founding law and the subsequent regulations were based on the principles of rejection of parliamentarism and political pluralism. Members of the Cortes were not elected and exercised only symbolic power. It had no power over government spending, and the cabinet, appointed and dismissed by Franco alone, retained real legislative authority. In 1967, with the enaction of the Organic Law of
9230-462: The French and the Protestant powers of England and the Netherlands, whose privateers attacked the coastal areas, but major assaults were not common as the coastline was difficult and the harbors easily defended. The most famous assaults were upon the city of Vigo by Sir Francis Drake in 1585 and 1589, and the siege of A Coruña in 1589 by the English Armada . Galicia also suffered occasional slave raids by Barbary pirates , but not as frequently as
9372-419: The Galician autonomous government, the Xunta de Galicia . Fraga was associated with the Partido Popular ('People's Party', Spain's main national conservative party) since its founding. In 2002, when the oil tanker Prestige sank and covered the Galician coast in oil, Fraga was accused by the grassroots movement Nunca Mais ("Never again") of having been unwilling to react. In the 2005 Galician elections,
9514-411: The Language) developed first as a cultural association but soon as a full-blown nationalist movement. Vicente Risco and Ramón Otero Pedrayo were outstanding cultural figures of this movement, and the magazine Nós ('Us'), founded in 1920, its most notable cultural institution, Lois Peña Novo the outstanding political figure. The Second Spanish Republic was declared in 1931. During the republic,
9656-409: The Mediterranean coastal areas. The most famous Barbary attack was the bloody sack of the town of Cangas in 1617. At the time, the king's petitions for money and troops became more frequent, due to the human and economic exhaustion of Castile; the Junta of the Kingdom of Galicia (the local Cortes or representative assembly ) was initially receptive to these petitions, raising large sums, accepting
9798-424: The Middle Ages from Gallaecia , sometimes written Galletia , to Gallicia . In the 13th century, with the written emergence of the Galician language, Galiza became the most usual written form of the name of the country, being replaced during the 15th and 16th centuries by the current form, Galicia , which is also the spelling of the name in Spanish . The historical denomination Galiza became popular again during
9940-406: The Netherlands, France, and England hampered Galicia's Atlantic commerce, which consisted mostly in the exportation of sardines, wood, and some cattle and wine. In the late years of the 15th century the written form of the Galician language began a slow decline as it was increasingly replaced by Spanish, which would culminate in the Séculos Escuros "the Dark Centuries" of the language, roughly from
10082-425: The Republic had been backstabbed. Also, for the second time in Spanish history, some regions were granted autonomous governments within the unitary state. Many on the extreme right rose up with General José Sanjurjo in 1932 against the Government's social policies, but the coup was quickly defeated. The elections for the second term were held in 1933 and won by the coalition between the Radical Party ( center ) and
10224-465: The Republic. From New York City he cruised to Buenos Aires , where in 1941 he performed for the first time the play Os vellos non deben de namorarse , Castelao's contribution to Galician theatre. In 1944, while in Buenos Aires, he finished and published a work of Galician political theory: Sempre en Galiza (lit. "Always in Galicia"), which was in fact a compilation of three books (three parts) and
10366-601: The Romans called Gallaeci , which were composed of a large series of nations or tribes, among them the Artabri , Bracari , Limici , Celtici , Albiones and Lemavi . They were capable fighters: Strabo described them as the most difficult foes the Romans encountered in conquering Lusitania , while Appian mentions their warlike spirit, noting that the women bore their weapons side by side with their men, frequently preferring death to captivity. According to Pomponius Mela all
10508-700: The Rías Baixas regions, at places such as Tourón and Campo Lameiro . The Castro culture ('Culture of the Castles') developed during the Iron Age , and flourished during the second half of the first millennium BC. It is usually considered a local evolution of the Atlantic Bronze Age, with later developments and influences overlapping into the Roman era. Geographically, it corresponds to the people
10650-539: The State , the accommodation of "two family representatives per province, elected by those on the electoral roll of family heads and married women" (the so-called tercio familiar ) ensued, opening a fraction of the Cortes' composition to some mechanisms of individual participation. The Cortes are a bicameral parliament composed of a lower house ( Congreso de los Diputados , congress of deputies ) and an upper house ( Senado , senate ). Although they share legislative power,
10792-561: The a re-edition of Cousas . He became a member of the Royal Galician Academy in 1933, and shortly after that, in 1935, he was forced into exile by the Spanish government to the Spanish city of Badajoz , in Extremadura , where he worked as a civil servant. It was then where he began to write what would become his key work, Sempre en Galiza . In 1936 he gained a seat at the Spanish parliament, this time representing
10934-500: The area under Decimus Junius Brutus in 137–136 BC, but the country was only incorporated into the Roman Empire by the time of Augustus (29 BC – 19 BC). The Romans were interested in Galicia mainly for its mineral resources, most notably gold. Under Roman rule, most Galician hillforts began to be – sometimes forcibly – abandoned, and Gallaeci served frequently in the Roman army as auxiliary troops. Romans brought new technologies, new travel routes, new forms of organizing property, and
11076-515: The autonomy of the Crown of Aragon . Philip also acted to repeal or curtail most of the diverse grants of autonomy and privilege ( fueros ) throughout his kingdom. Navarre was finally merged during the 1833 territorial division of Spain . With both the Bourbon monarchs Charles IV and Ferdinand VII having abdicated their throne and Napoleon Bonaparte having appointed his brother Joseph as
11218-732: The canyons of the Sil river, Galicia's second most important river after the Miño . Topographically, a remarkable feature of Galicia is the presence of many firth -like inlets along the coast, estuaries that were drowned with rising sea levels after the ice age . These are called rías and are divided into the smaller Rías Altas ("High Rías"), and the larger Rías Baixas ("Low Rías"). The Rías Altas include Ribadeo, Foz, Viveiro, O Barqueiro, Ortigueira, Cedeira, Ferrol, Betanzos, A Coruña, Corme e Laxe and Camariñas. The Rías Baixas, found south of Fisterra, include Corcubión, Muros e Noia, Arousa , Pontevedra and Vigo. The Rías Altas can sometimes refer only to those east of Estaca de Bares , with
11360-523: The chronicler Jeronimo Zurita defined as "doma del Reino de Galicia": 'It was then when the taming of Galicia began, because not just the local lords and knights, but all the people of that nation were the ones against the others very bold and warlike'. These reforms, while establishing a local government and tribunal (the Real Audiencia del Reino de Galicia ), and bringing the nobleman under submission, also brought most Galician monasteries and institutions under Castilian control, in what has been criticized as
11502-628: The civil governors of all four Galician provinces; Juana Capdevielle , the wife of the governor of A Coruña; mayors such as Ánxel Casal of Santiago de Compostela, of the Partido Galeguista; prominent socialists such as Jaime Quintanilla in Ferrol and Emilio Martínez Garrido in Vigo ; Popular Front deputies Antonio Bilbatúa , José Miñones , Díaz Villamil , Ignacio Seoane , and former deputy Heraclio Botana ); soldiers who had not joined
11644-578: The collection of taxes in Castile and the larger empire; separate deputations oversaw similar work in Aragon and Navarre. The corteses were able to regain some of their previous powers and influence during the 17th century, as repeated sovereign defaults reduced the monarchy to financial dependency and a series of deputies including the Count-Duke of Olivares oversaw most day-to-day government. Under
11786-500: The conscription of the men of the kingdom, and even commissioning a new naval squadron which was sustained with the incomes of the Kingdom. After the rupture of the wars with Portugal and Catalonia , the Junta changed its attitude, this time due to the exhaustion of Galicia, now involved not just in naval or oversea operations, but also in an exhausting war with the Portuguese, war which produced thousands of casualties and refugees and
11928-623: The day of his birth he was baptised at the parish church of Santa Comba with his maternal aunt and uncle, Pilara and Francisco Castelao, as godparents. He spent his childhood and adolescence in Santa Rosa de Toay , Argentina. In 1900, the Rodríguez Castelao family returned to Rianxo. In 1908 he obtained his degree in medicine from the University of Santiago de Compostela . During his university years Rodríguez Castelao joined
12070-469: The defeat of some of the most powerful Galician lords, such as Pedro Álvarez de Sotomayor, called Pedro Madruga , and Rodrigo Henriquez Osorio, at the hands of the Castilian armies sent to Galicia between the years 1480 and 1486. Isabella I of Castile , considered a usurper by many Galician nobles, defeated all armed resistance and definitively established the royal power of the Castilian monarchy. Fearing
12212-710: The development of Bronze Age metallurgy , and the commerce of bronze and gold items all along the Atlantic coast of Western Europe. A shared elite culture evolved in this region during the Atlantic Bronze Age . Dating from the end of the Megalithic era, and up to the Bronze Age , numerous stone carvings ( petroglyphs ) are found in open air. They usually represent cup and ring marks , labyrinths , deer , Bronze Age weapons, and riding and hunting scenes. Large numbers of these stone carvings can be found in
12354-555: The early Galicianism ), federalist , pacifist , progressive , and internationalist . He accepted the autonomy granted to Galicia by the Second Spanish Republic as a tool to construct a possible Galician State, in federation with other Iberian nations. He was also a convinced pro-European . He wrote in Sempre en Galiza that one of his dreams was to "one day see the emergence of a 'United States of Europe' ". At
12496-463: The east and south. The coastal areas are mostly an alternate series of rias and beaches. The climate of Galicia is usually temperate and rainy, with markedly drier summers; it is usually classified as Oceanic . Its topographic and climatic conditions have made animal husbandry and farming the primary source of Galicia's wealth for most of its history, allowing for a relatively high density of population. Except shipbuilding and food processing, Galicia
12638-405: The end of his life, and as expressed in the final parts of Sempre en Galiza , Castelao became somewhat disappointed with the Spanish Republican politicians in exile, and began to discuss the advantages of a completely independent Galician State. Castelao always used the term of Hespaña instead of España , taken directly from the old name Hispania . By using Hespaña he was in fact referring to
12780-402: The end of the 19th and the first three-quarters of the 20th century and is still used with some frequency today. The Xunta de Galicia , the local devolved government , uses Galicia . The Royal Galician Academy , the institution responsible for regulating the Galician language, whilst recognizing Galiza as a legitimate current denomination, has stated that the only official name of the country
12922-518: The extensive surface occupied by meadows used for animal husbandry, especially cattle , an important activity. Hydroelectric development in most rivers has been a serious concern for local conservationists during the last decades. Cortes Generales Supported by (20) Opposition (153) Supported by (25) Opposition (178) The Cortes Generales ( Spanish pronunciation: [ˈkoɾtes xeneˈɾales] ; English: Spanish Parliament , lit. 'General Courts') are
13064-708: The inhabitants of the coastal areas were Celtic people . Gallaeci lived in castros . These were usually annular forts, with one or more concentric earthen or stony walls, with a trench in front of each one. They were frequently located on hills, or in seashore cliffs and peninsulas. Some well known castros can be found on the seashore at: Fazouro, Santa Tegra, Baroña, and O Neixón; and inland at: San Cibrao de Lás , Borneiro, Castromao, and Viladonga. Some other distinctive features, such as temples, baths, reservoirs, warrior statues, and decorative carvings have been found associated with this culture, together with rich gold and metalworking traditions. The Roman legions first entered
13206-452: The intrinsic values of our nation, and we are "unionist" when we consider that there is a need to co-ordinate our relative values with the relative values of the rest of Hespaña and the World. The fundamental problem of Spain can only be resolved in two ways: federation or secession. From an ideological point of view I am willing to consider secession and all of its consequences, because I am
13348-466: The invaders. The 1833 territorial division of Spain put a formal end to the Kingdom of Galicia, unifying Spain into a single centralized monarchy. Instead of seven provinces and a regional administration, Galicia was reorganized into the current four provinces. Although it was recognized as a "historical region", that status was strictly honorific. In reaction, nationalist and federalist movements arose. The liberal General Miguel Solís Cuetos led
13490-614: The lands of others. At the same time, the deputies of the Kingdom in the Cortes stopped being called. The Kingdom of Galicia, slipping away from the control of the King, responded with a century of fiscal insubordination. On the other hand, the lack of an effective royal justice system in the Kingdom led to the social conflict known as the Guerras Irmandiñas ('Wars of the brotherhoods'), when leagues of peasants and burghers, with
13632-496: The left wing government of Catalonia, which had been granted home rule, formally rebelled against the central government, denying its power. This provoked the dissolution of the Generalitat de Catalunya and the imprisonment of their leaders. The leftist minority in the Cortes then pressed Alcalá Zamora for a dissolution, arguing that the uprising were the consequence of social rejection of the right-wing government. The President,
13774-503: The legislatures of the autonomous communities . The Cortes Generales are composed of 615 members: 350 Deputies and 265 Senators. The members of the Cortes Generales serve four-year terms, and they are representatives of the Spanish people. In both chambers, the seats are divided by constituencies that correspond with the fifty provinces of Spain, plus Ceuta and Melilla . However, each island or group of islands within
13916-682: The long-term left-right confrontation worsened, and many right-wing rebellions were started. Then, in 1936, the Army's failed coup degenerated into the Spanish Civil War , putting an end to the Second Republic. From November 1936 to October 1937, the Cortes were held at Valencia City Hall , which was still being used for its local purposes at the same time. The building was a target for the Italian Air Force in service of
14058-480: The lower portion of the Miño and the portions of various rivers that have been dammed into reservoirs. Some rivers are navigable by small boats in their lower reaches: this is taken great advantage of in several semi-aquatic festivals and pilgrimages. Galicia has preserved some of its dense forests. It is relatively unpolluted, and its landscapes composed of green hills, cliffs, and rias are generally different from what
14200-500: The mid-7th century placed the kings, Visigoths , and native Spanish under a single law and formed the basis of Spanish law through the medieval period. The Visigothic councils, however, gradually came to be completely dominated by the clergy under the leadership of the archbishop of Toledo ; with ecclesiastical prerogatives completely secure, they then tended to allow royal edicts to come into effect without further ratification. The royal councils ( Latin : curia regis ) of
14342-406: The monarchist cause nationally, but most provincial capitals and other sizable cities sided heavily with the republicans. This was interpreted as a victory, as the rural results were under the always-present suspicion of caciquismo and other irregularities while the urban results were harder to influence. The King left Spain, and a Republic was declared on 14 April 1931. The Second Spanish Republic
14484-521: The monopolistic supplier of electricity, built hydroelectric dams, flooding many Galician river valleys. The Galician economy finally began to modernize with a French Citroën factory in Vigo, the modernization of the canning industry and the fishing fleet, and eventually a modernization of small peasant farming practices, especially in the production of cows' milk. In the province of Ourense, businessman and politician Eulogio Gómez Franqueira gave impetus to
14626-622: The most important of these are the archipelagos of Cíes , Ons , and Sálvora . Together with Cortegada Island , these make up the Atlantic Islands of Galicia National Park . Other significant islands are Islas Malveiras, Islas Sisargas, and, the largest and holding the largest population, Arousa Island . The coast of this 'green corner' of the Iberian Peninsula, some 1,500 km (930 mi) in length, attracts great numbers of tourists, although real estate development in
14768-625: The most votes. Galicia has a surface area of 29,574 square kilometres (11,419 sq mi). Its northernmost point, at 43°47′N, is Estaca de Bares (also the northernmost point of Spain); its southernmost, at 41°49′N, is on the Portuguese border in the Baixa Limia-Serra do Xurés Natural Park . The easternmost longitude is at 6°42′W on the border between the province of Ourense and the Castilian-Leonese province of Zamora ) its westernmost at 9°18′W reached in two places:
14910-589: The name of the ancient Callaeci either from Proto-Indo-European *kl(H)-no- 'hill', through a local relational suffix -aik-, also attested in Celtiberian , so meaning 'the hill (people)'; or from Proto-Celtic *kallī- 'forest', so meaning 'the forest (people)'. In any case, Galicia , being per se a derivation of the ethnic name Kallaikói , means 'the land of the Galicians'. Another recent proposal comes from linguist Francesco Benozzo after identifying
15052-580: The nationalist Bloque Nacionalista Galego (BNG). As the senior partner in the new coalition, the PSdeG nominated its leader, Emilio Pérez Touriño , to serve as Galicia's new president, with Anxo Quintana , the leader of BNG, as its vice president. In 2009, the PSdG-BNG coalition lost the elections, and the government went back to the People's Party (conservative), even though the PSdG-BNG coalition obtained
15194-539: The new Constitution , with the ex-monarchist leader Niceto Alcalá Zamora as President of the Republic and the left-wing leader Manuel Azaña as Prime Minister. The election gave a majority in the Cortes and thus, the Government, to a coalition between Azaña's party and the PSOE. A remarkable deed is universal suffrage , allowing women to vote, a provision highly criticized by Socialist leader Indalecio Prieto , who said
15336-501: The new federation on equal political terms, as free-states . He resented that Spain had a disproportionate influence from Castile , which was taking over the other nations and regions. Then again, Castelao seemed to have gained a sympathy for the idea of full independence for Galicia in the last years of his life, as succinctly mentioned in Sempre in Galiza and in a number of late texts and letters. We are "secessionist" when we defend
15478-545: The new king, a " Cortes of Cádiz " was convened that claimed sovereignty over Spain and operated as a government-in-exile . The Cortes was the first to act as a single representative body for the entire country and empire, although substitutes had to be chosen from among the people of Cádiz for many regions occupied by the French and unable to send their own delegates. Extremely liberal, the Constitution of 1812 enacted by
15620-550: The other tribes in the northwest who spoke the same language and lived the same life. The toponymy of the name has been studied since the 7th century by authors such as Isidore of Seville , who wrote that "Galicians are called so, because of their fair skin, as the Gauls", relating the name to the Greek word for milk. (See the etymology of the word galaxy .) In the 21st century, some scholars (J.J. Moralejo, Carlos Búa) have derived
15762-615: The others being called Rías Medias ("Intermediate Rías"). Erosion by the Atlantic Ocean has contributed to the great number of capes . Besides the aforementioned Estaca de Bares in the far north, separating the Atlantic Ocean from the Cantabrian Sea, other notable capes are Cape Ortegal , Cape Prior, Punta Santo Adrao, Cape Vilán, Cape Touriñán (westernmost point in Galicia), Cape Finisterre or Fisterra, considered by
15904-512: The political capital Santiago de Compostela and the industrial cities Vigo and Ferrol . The population is largely concentrated in two main areas: from Ferrol to A Coruña on the northern coast, and in the Rías Baixas region in the southwest, including the cities of Vigo , Pontevedra , and the interior city of Santiago de Compostela . There are smaller populations around the interior cities of Lugo and Ourense . The political capital
16046-413: The political conditions for it, cultural conditions (education) should also be provided. (...) Hespaña , a name we had to sweeten by adding a letter in order to make it respectable to our eyes, since all we can say about its government is that it is hateful because it is even more hypocritical than simply tyrannical. If we remove of the word España all that it has of Castilian legacy (we just have to add
16188-423: The political movement Acción Gallega ("Galician Action"). As a caricaturist, Rodríguez Castelao focussed on the everyday in a humorous way, although after experiencing the Spanish Civil War , he turned to using his art to denounce the cruelties of Fascism in a collection of paintings. His paintings would also depict casual moments of Galician life and culture. In 1916, he moved to Pontevedra , where he joined
16330-489: The power to enact a constitutional reform. The modern Cortes Generales were created by the 1978 Constitution of Spain , but the institution has a long history. The tribal councils organized under Germanic law in the Visigothic Kingdom had the power of appointing and confirming kings, as well as passing laws and judgment. The Visigothic Code compiled under kings Chindasuinth and Recceswinth in
16472-678: The profit of the Galician cause. In 1930, he founded the Galician Republican Federation at Lestrove Palace and participated in the meetings of the Galician Nationalist Republican Party and in the assembly for the Federal State of Galicia. The next year he published the book Nós and became the official representative of the Galicianist Party to the Cortes Generales . In 1934, he published Retrincos , Os dous de sempre and
16614-522: The raising of livestock and poultry by establishing the Cooperativa Orensana S.A. (Coren). During the last decade of Franco's rule, there was a renewal of nationalist feeling in Galicia. The early 1970s were a time of unrest among university students, workers, and farmers. In 1972, general strikes in Vigo and Ferrol cost the lives of Amador Rey and Daniel Niebla. Later, the bishop of Mondoñedo - Ferrol , Miguel Anxo Araúxo Iglesias , wrote
16756-539: The rebellion, such as Generals Rogelio Caridad Pita and Enrique Salcedo Molinuevo and Admiral Antonio Azarola ; and the founders of the PG, Alexandre Bóveda and Víctor Casas , as well as other professionals akin to republicans and nationalists, as the journalist Manuel Lustres Rivas or physician Luis Poza Pastrana . Many others were forced to escape into exile, or were victims of other reprisals and removed from their jobs and positions. General Francisco Franco – himself
16898-526: The recovery of the Galician language as a vehicle of social and cultural expression. Among the writers associated with this movement are Rosalía de Castro , Manuel Murguía , Manuel Leiras Pulpeiro , and Eduardo Pondal . In the early 20th century came another turn toward nationalist politics with Solidaridad Gallega (1907–1912) modeled on Solidaritat Catalana in Catalonia . Solidaridad Gallega failed, but in 1916 Irmandades da Fala (Brotherhood of
17040-629: The rivers in the inland are tributaries of this river system, which drains some 17,027 km (6,574 sq mi). Other rivers run directly into the Atlantic Ocean or the Cantabrian Sea , most of them having short courses. Only the Navia , Ulla , Tambre , and Limia have courses longer than 100 km (62 mi). Galicia's many hydroelectric dams take advantage of the steep, deep, narrow rivers and their canyons. Due to their steep course, few of Galicia's rivers are navigable, other than
17182-488: The root gall- / kall- in a number of Celtic words with the meaning "stone" or "rock", as follows: gall (old Irish), gal (Middle Welsh), gailleichan (Scottish Gaelic), kailhoù (Breton), galagh (Manx) and gall (Gaulish). Hence, Benozzo explains the ethnonym Callaeci as being "the stone people" or "the people of the stone" ("those who work with stones"), about the builders of the ancient megaliths and stone formations so common in Galicia. The name evolved during
17324-575: The rule on 31 December 406. Its progress towards the Iberian Peninsula forced the Roman authorities to establish a treaty ( foedus ) by which the Suebi would settle peacefully and govern Galicia as imperial allies. So, from 409 Galicia was taken by the Suebi, forming the first medieval kingdom to be created in Europe, in 411, even before the fall of the Roman Empire, being also the first Germanic kingdom to mint coinage in Roman lands. During this period
17466-615: The south, A Peneda , O Xurés and O Larouco , all on the border of Ourense and Portugal . The highest point in Galicia is Trevinca or Pena Trevinca (2,124 metres or 6,969 feet), located in the Serra do Eixe, at the border between Ourense and León and Zamora provinces. Other tall peaks are Pena Survia (2,112 metres or 6,929 feet) in the Serra do Eixe, O Mustallar (1,935 metres or 6,348 feet) in Os Ancares , and Cabeza de Manzaneda (1,782 metres or 5,846 feet) in Serra de Queixa, where there
17608-460: The submission of the Kingdom to the Crown, after a century of unrest and fiscal insubordination. As a result, from 1480 to 1520 the Kingdom of Galicia contributed more than 10% of the total earnings of the Crown of Castille , including the Americas, well over its economic relevance. Like the rest of Spain, the 16th century was marked by population growth up to 1580, when the simultaneous wars with
17750-536: The successful uprising of the local people against the new French authorities, together with the support of the British Army , limited the occupation to six months in 1808–1809. During the pre-war period the Supreme Council of the Kingdom of Galicia ( Junta Suprema del Reino de Galicia ), auto-proclaimed interim sovereign in 1808, was the sole government of the country and mobilized near 40,000 men against
17892-456: The support of several knights, noblemen, and under legal protection offered by the remote king, toppled many of the castles of the Kingdom and briefly drove the noblemen into Portugal and Castile. Soon after, in the late 15th century, in the dynastic conflict between Isabella I of Castile and Joanna La Beltraneja , part of the Galician aristocracy supported Joanna. After Isabella's victory, she initiated an administrative and political reform which
18034-683: The war. While there were no pitched battles, there was repression and death: all political parties were abolished, as were all labor unions and Galician nationalist organizations as the Seminario de Estudos Galegos . Galicia's statute of autonomy was annulled (as were those of Catalonia and the Basque provinces once those were conquered). According to Carlos Fernández Santander , at least 4,200 people were killed either extrajudicially or after summary trials, among them republicans, communists, Galician nationalists, socialists, and anarchists. Victims included
18176-477: The west, and the Cantabrian Sea to the north. It had a population of 2,701,743 in 2018 and a total area of 29,574 km (11,419 sq mi). Galicia has over 1,660 km (1,030 mi) of coastline, including its offshore islands and islets, among them Cíes Islands , Ons , Sálvora , Cortegada Island , which together form the Atlantic Islands of Galicia National Park , and the largest and most populated, A Illa de Arousa . The area now called Galicia
18318-693: The young and chronically ill Charles II , the Cortes of Castile was responsible for naming his mother Mariana regent. During the War of the Spanish Succession , the Bourbon king Philip V suppressed the Cortes of Aragon and Valencia in 1707 and those of Catalonia and the Balearic Islands in 1714. Following the Peace of Utrecht , the 1716 Nueva Planta Decrees fully abolished
18460-501: Was an amateur musician). Two years, in 1926, he published Cousas . He travelled to Brittany in 1928 to study calvaries and publish As cruces de pedra na Bretaña . That is also the year when his only son dies at the age of 14. From 1930 Rodríguez Castelao's political activism intensifies even further. His life and work always revolved around politics and his Galician nationalist ideas. In his book Sempre en Galiza he states that all his works, talent and efforts would always be used for
18602-471: Was based on a farming and fishing economy until after the mid-20th century, when it began to industrialize. In 2018, the nominal gross domestic product was €62.900 billion, with a nominal GDP per capita of €23,300. Galicia is characterised, unlike other Spanish regions, by the absence of a metropolis dominating the territory. Indeed, the urban network is made up of 7 main cities: the four provincial capitals A Coruña , Pontevedra , Ourense and Lugo ,
18744-699: Was considered the southernmost city of ancient Galicia. In the 9th century, the rise of the cult of the Apostle James in Santiago de Compostela gave Galicia particular symbolic importance among Christians, an importance it would hold throughout the Reconquista . As the Middle Ages went on, Santiago became a major pilgrim destination and the Way of Saint James (Camiño de Santiago) a major pilgrim road,
18886-469: Was established as a presidential republic , with a unicameral Parliament and a President of the Republic as the Head of State . Among his powers were the appointment and dismissal of the Prime Minister , either on the advice of Parliament or just having consulted it before, and a limited power to dissolve the Parliament and call for new elections. The first term was the constituent term charged with creating
19028-731: Was first inhabited by humans during the Middle Paleolithic period, and takes its name from the Gallaeci , the Celtic people living north of the Douro River during the last millennium BC. Galicia was incorporated into the Roman Empire at the end of the Cantabrian Wars in 19 BC, and was made a Roman province in the 3rd century AD. In 410, the Germanic Suebi established a kingdom with its capital in Braga ; this kingdom
19170-536: Was heavily disturbing to the local economy and commerce. So, in the second half of the 17th century the Junta frequently denied or considerably reduced the initial petitions of the monarch, and though the tension did not rise to the levels experienced in Portugal or Catalonia, there were frequent urban mutinies and some voices even asked for the secession of the Kingdom of Galicia. During the Peninsular War
19312-418: Was held by an assembly of deputies and representatives of the cities of the kingdom, the Cortes or Junta of the Kingdom of Galicia . This institution was forcibly discontinued in 1833 when the kingdom was divided into four administrative provinces with no legal mutual links. During the 19th and 20th centuries, demand grew for self-government and for the recognition of the culture of Galicia. This resulted in
19454-830: Was incorporated into that of the Visigoths in 585. In 711, the Islamic Umayyad Caliphate invaded the Iberian Peninsula conquering the Visigoth kingdom of Hispania by 718, but soon Galicia was incorporated into the Christian kingdom of Asturias by 740. During the Middle Ages , the kingdom of Galicia was occasionally ruled by its own kings , but most of the time it was leagued to the kingdom of Leon and later to that of Castile , while maintaining its own legal and customary practices and culture. From
19596-504: Was incorrectly supposed to have been wiped out in the 1900s by the failed regenerationist movement. In the meantime, spiralling violence started with the murders of many leaders by both sides. Deprived of those leaders, the regime entered a general crisis, with extreme police measures which led to a dictatorship (1921–1930) during which the Senate was again abolished. The dictatorship, now ruled by Admiral Aznar-Cabañas , called for local elections. The results were overwhelmingly favorable to
19738-410: Was later incorporated into the expanding Christian Kingdom of Asturias , usually known as Gallaecia or Galicia ( Yillīqiya and Galīsiya ) by Muslim chroniclers, as well as by many European contemporaries. This era consolidated Galicia as a Christian society which spoke a Romance language . During the next century Galician noblemen took northern Portugal, conquering Coimbra in 871, thus freeing what
19880-401: Was proclaimed and the Congress of Deputies members started writing a Constitution, supposedly that of a federal republic , with the power of Parliament being nearly supreme (see parliamentary supremacy , although Spain did not use the Westminster system ). However, due to numerous issues, Spain was not ready to become a republic; after several crises the government collapsed, and the monarchy
20022-505: Was restored in 1874. The regime just after the First Republic is called the Bourbon Restoration . It was formally a constitutional monarchy , with the monarch as a rubberstamp to the Cortes' acts but with some reserve powers, such as appointing and dismissing the Prime Minister and appointing senators for the new Senate , remade as an elected House. In practice there was an artificial two-party system called El Turno Pacífico (peaceful rotation) in which elections were informally fixed so
20164-675: Was the first to provide formal national representation of the free urban citizens alongside the clergy and hereditary nobility. Subsequently, larger and more inclusive Cortes occurred in the Principality of Catalonia in 1192, the Kingdom of Portugal in 1211, the Kingdom of Castile in 1250, the Kingdom of Aragon in 1274, the Kingdom of Valencia in 1283, and Kingdom of Navarre in 1300. The Leonese and Castilian Corteses were merged in 1258, after which it provided representation to Burgos, Toledo, León, Seville, Córdoba, Murcia, Jaén, Zamora, Segovia, Ávila, Salamanca, Cuenca, Toro, Valladolid, Soria, Madrid, Guadalajara, and (after 1492) Granada. During
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