155-422: Sindicato Labrego Galego-Comisións Labregas ( SLG , Galician Peasant Union – Peasant Commissions ) is a Galician farmers' and breeders' union centered on family farms and small peasants. The SLG has a Galician nationalist and left-wing ideology. The union supports cooperativism , mutual aid , food sovereignty , feminism , the anti-globalization movement , environmentalism and self-management . The SLG
310-763: 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
465-595: 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
620-665: A triumph back in Rome, receiving the name Callaicus . Recently a very large marching Roman camp was discovered at high altitude, in Lomba do Mouro, at the very frontier of Galicia with Portugal. In 2021 a C-14 dating showed that it was built during the 2nd century BCE; since it is north of the Limia, it probably belonged to this campaign. The Roman contact had a very large impact on the Castro Culture: an increase in commerce with
775-469: A Celtico promunturio ad Pyrenaeum usque. Perpetua eius ora, nisi ubi modici recessus ac parva promunturia sunt, ad Cantabros paene recta est. In ea primum Artabri sunt etiamnum Celticae gentis, deinde Astyres. In Artabris sinus ore angusto admissum mare non angusto ambitu excipiens Adrobricam urbem et quattuor amnium ostia incingit: duo etiam inter accolentis ignobilia sunt, per alia Ducanaris exit et Libyca "That ocean front for some distance has
930-486: 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
1085-598: A campaign of conquest against Gallaecians, Asturians and Cantabrians. The most memorable episode of this war was the siege on the Mons Medullius, who Paulus Orosius placed near the Minho river: it was surrounded by a 15 mille trench before a simultaneous Roman advance; according to Anneus Florus the besieged decided to kill themselves, by fire, sword, or by the venon of the yew tree . Tens of Roman camps have been found related to this war, most of them corresponding to
1240-616: A common appellative : Dacosta (or Da Costa ), "of the slope", Dopazo or Do Pazo ("of the palace/manor house"); Doval , "of the valley" (cfr. French Duval ), Daponte ("of the bridge"), Davila ("of the town", not to be confused with Spanish Dávila ), Daporta ("of the gate"); Dasilva ("of the forest"), Dorrío ("of the river"), Datorre ("of the Tower"). Through rebracketing , some of these surnames gave origin to others such as Acosta or Acuña . A few of these toponymic surnames can be considered nobiliary , as they first appear as
1395-772: 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
1550-697: 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
1705-415: A hundred exemplars are known. This culture is now known as Castro Culture ; another characteristic of this culture is the absence of known burials: just exceptionally urns with ashes have been found buried at foundational sites, acting probably as protectors. Occasional contacts with Mediterranean navigators, since the last half of the second millennium BCE, became common after the 6th century BCE and
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#17328023892121860-520: 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
2015-677: A local relational suffix -aik- , also attested in Celtiberian language and so meaning 'the highlanders'; or either from Proto-Celtic * kallī - 'forest' and so means 'the forest (people)'. Another recent proposal comes from the linguist Francesco Benozzo , who is not specialized in Celtic languages and identified 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), galagh (Manx) and gall (Gaulish). Hence, Benozzo explains
2170-600: A maritime campaign along the Atlantic shores which ended in Brigantium . According to Cassius Dio , the locals, who had never seen a Roman fleet, surrendered in awe. Recent excavations at the Castro de Elviña hillfort, near A Coruña, have found both evidences of siege and partial destruction of the walls of the site, and also of a temple, dated to the middle of the first century BCE. Finally, in 29 BCE, Augustus launched
2325-507: A narrow circuit, the city of Adrobrica and the mouth of four rivers." The Atlantic and northern coast of today's Galicia was inhabited by Celtic peoples, with the exception of the southern extreme. Others geographers and authors (Pliny, Strabo), as well as the local Latin epigraphy, confirm the presence of Celtic peoples. As for the language or languages spoken by the Galicians previously to their romanization , most scholars usually perceive
2480-454: 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
2635-545: A pack of three aurochs ; the genetic study of her remains revealed a woman that was an admixture of Western Hunter-Gatherer and Magdalenian people. This type of admixture has been observed in France, also. Later on, some 6,500 years ago, a new population arrived from the Mediterranean , bringing agriculture and husbandry with them. Half of the woodland was razed to pasture and farmland, almost replacing all of
2790-666: 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
2945-556: A primitive Indo-European layer, another later one hardly distinguishable from Celtic and identifiable with Lusitanian , most notable in the south, the Gallaecia Bracarense (as a result, Lusitanian is sometimes called Lusitanian-Gallaecian ) and finally Celtic proper; as stated by Alberto J. Lorrio: "the presence of Celtic elements in the Northwest is indisputable, but there is no unanimity in considering whether there
3100-587: 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
3255-407: 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
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#17328023892123410-555: A stone footing ; later on they were entirely made with stone walls, having up to two storeys. Specially in the south, houses or public spaces were adorned with carved stones and warrior sculptures. Stone heads, mimicking severed heads, are found at several locations and were perhaps placed near the gates of the forts. A number of public installations are known, for example saunas of probable ritual use. Of ritual use and great value were also items such as bronze cauldrons, richly figured sacrificial hatchets and gold torcs, of which more than
3565-513: A straight bank, then, having taken a slight bend, soon protrudes a little bit and then it is drawn back, and again and again; then, lying on a straight line, the coast extends to the promontory which we call Celtic. All of it is inhabited by Celtics, except from the Durio until the bend, where the Grovi dwelt —and through them flow the rivers Avo, Celadus, Nebis, Minius and Limia, also called Oblivio—. On
3720-496: 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
3875-485: 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 was first inhabited by humans during
4030-529: A very large culture impact, replacing collectivism with individualism , as exemplified by their burial in individual cists , along with the reuse of old Neolithic tombs. From this period and later dates a rich tradition of petroglyphs , which find close similarities in the British Isles, Scandinavia or northern Italy . Motives include cup and ring marks , labyrinths , Bronze Age weaponry, deer and deer hunting, warriors, riders and ships . During
4185-624: 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
4340-487: 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
4495-503: 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
4650-571: Is also characterized by the apparition of longhouses of ultimately north European tradition which were replaced later in much of Galicia by roundhouses . By the 4th century BCE hill-forts have expanded all along Galicia, also on lowlands, soon becoming the only type of settlements. These hill-forts were delimited usually by one or more walls; the defences also include ditches, ramparts and towers, and could define several habitable spaces. The gates were also heavily fortified. Inside, houses were originally built with perishable materials, with or without
4805-566: 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
Sindicato Labrego Galego-Comisións Labregas - Misplaced Pages Continue
4960-489: Is distinct from Gaulish *cal(l)io- "hoof" or "testicle", related to Welsh caill , Breton kell "testicle" (> Gaulish *caliavo > Old French chaillou , French caillou ), all from the Proto-Indo-European root *kal- "hard hardness" (perhaps via suffixed zero-grade *kl̥H-no-(m)). For instance, in Latin callum "hard or thick substance" is also found and so both E. Rivas and Juan J. Moralejo relate
5115-586: Is simply one variety of Galician-Portuguese, along with European Portuguese, Brazilian Portuguese, African Portuguese, the Galician-Portuguese still spoken in Spanish Extremadura, ( Fala ), and other variations. Nowadays, despite the positive effects of official recognition of the Galician language, Galicia's socio-linguistic development has experienced the growing influence of Spanish and persistent linguistic erosion of Galician due to
5270-633: 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
5425-683: The Cantabrian mountains after the war, later reduced to the Legio VII Gemina in León , with three auxiliary cohorts in Galicia (the Cohors I Celtiberorum in Ciadella, Sobrado dos Monxes , near Brigantium ; other unity at Aquis Querquennis , and another one near Lucus Augusti ) and others elsewhere. Soon Roma began to recruit auxiliary troops locally: five cohorts of Gallaecians from
5580-541: The Common Agricultural Policy . In fact, milk quotas and new taxes damaged the Galician agrarian sector during the second half of the 1980s, which saw the closing of many farms. The struggle against the milk quotas and taxes became the new focus of the CCLL. In 1989 the organization changed its name to Sindicato Labrego Galego-Comisións Labregas and its acronym to SLG. The same year Lidia Senra became
5735-537: 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
5890-573: The Gothic personal name Froila , "lord"); Giance (Latin Iulianici ); González ; Henríquez ( Henry ); Martís ( Martin ); Méndez ( Menendici ); Miguéns , Miguez (from Michaelici , equivalent to Michaels ); Páez , Pais , Paz (from Pelagici , Pelagio ); Ramírez ; Reimúndez ( Raymond ); Rodríguez ; Sánchez ; Sueiro (from Suarius ); Tomé (from Thomas ); Viéitez , Vieites (Benedictici, Benedict ), among many others. Because of
6045-694: 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
6200-576: 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
6355-553: The Portuguese Empire . The two varieties are still close together, and in particular northern Portuguese dialects share an important number of similarities with Galician ones. The official institution regulating the Galician language, backed by the Galician government and universities, the Royal Galician Academy, claims that modern Galician must be considered an independent Romance language belonging to
Sindicato Labrego Galego-Comisións Labregas - Misplaced Pages Continue
6510-579: 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
6665-490: 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
6820-488: 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
6975-459: 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
7130-561: 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
7285-522: 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
7440-550: 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
7595-461: 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 ,
7750-526: 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 ),
7905-615: The 2nd century of our era, the formula: The known personal names used by locals in northern Gallaecia were largely Celtic: Aio , Alluquius , Ambatus , Ambollus , Andamus , Angetus , Arius , Artius , Atius , Atia , Boutius , Cadroiolo , Caeleo , Caluenus , Camalus , Cambauius , Celtiatus , Cloutaius , Cloutius , Clutamus , Clutosius , Coedus , Coemia , Coroturetis , Eburus , Eburia , Louesus , Medamus , Nantia , Nantius , Reburrus , Secoilia , Seguia , Talauius , Tridia , Vecius , Veroblius , Verotus , Vesuclotus , among others. Three legions were stationed near
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#17328023892128060-561: 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
8215-718: The Andrade, Soutomaior or Lemos (who originated in Monforte de Lemos ). As a result, these surnames are by now distributed all around the world. The third group of surnames are the occupational ones, derived from the job or legal status of the bearer: Ferreiro ("Smith"), Carpinteiro ("Carpenter"), Besteiro ("Crossbow bearer"), Crego ("Priest"), Freire ("Friar"), Faraldo ("Herald"), Pintor ("Painter"), Pedreiro ("Stonemason"), Gaiteiro ("Bagpiper"); and also Cabaleiro ("Knight"), Escudeiro ("Esquire"), Fidalgo ("Nobleman"), Juiz ("Judge"). The fourth group includes
8370-453: The CCLL created the Galician Agrarian Association (AGA) as their legal wing, thanks to the new association laws. Despite this, the first General Assembly of the AGA was banned by the authorities. The same year, a group of dissidents who were opposed to the Galician People's Union policies left the CCLL and formed Comisiós Labregas-Terra . The same year Comisiós Labregas decided to adopt the name Comisiós Labregas-Sindicato Labrego Galego (although
8525-433: The CCLL itself. Due to the Francoist regime the union was illegal, and its activities clandestine. In the winter of 1973 the official newspaper of the CCLL, Fouce (Sickle), appeared. In 1974 and 1975 the union experienced a significant growth. The main struggles during those years were the recovery of the Montes Comunais (territories that traditionally were a common property of a parroquia that had been nationalized by
8680-509: 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
8835-462: 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
8990-419: 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,
9145-415: The Greeks as Καλλαϊκoί ( Kallaikoí ). They lived in what is now Galicia and northern Portugal and were defeated by the Roman General Decimus Junius Brutus Callaicus in the 2nd century BCE and later conquered by Augustus . The Romans later applied that name to all the people who shared the same culture and language in the north-west, from the Douro River valley in the south to the Cantabrian Sea in
9300-429: The Guide's child) and Mesón do Bento (Galician: Benedict's house ) was translated as Mesón del Viento (Spanish: House of Wind). The oldest human occupation of Galicia dates to the Palaeolithic , when Galicia was covered by a dense oak temperate rain forest . The oldest human remains found, at Chan do Lindeiro , are from a woman who lived some 9,300 years ago and died because of a landslide, apparently while leading
9455-404: The Holy Land ) Many Galician surnames have become Castilianized over the centuries, most notably after the forced submission of the Galician nobility obtained by the Catholic Monarchs in the last years of the 15th century. This reflected the gradual spread of the Spanish language through the cities, in Santiago de Compostela , Lugo , A Coruña , Vigo and Ferrol , in the last case due to
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#17328023892129610-411: 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,
9765-491: The Late Bronze Age a new type of ceremonial henge -like ring structures, of some 50 metres in diameter, are built all along Galicia. This period and interchange network, usually known as Atlantic Bronze Age , which appears to have had its centre in modern-day Brittany , was proposed by John T. Koch and Sir Barry Cunliffe as the one that originated Celtic languages —as a product of pre-existing and closely related Indo-European languages— which could have expanded along with
9920-412: The Late Bronze Age and until 800-600 BCE the contacts with both southern Spain to the south, and Armorica and the Atlantic Isles to the north, intensified, probably fuelled by the abundance of local gold and metals such as tin , which allowed the production of high quality bronze . It is at this moment that began the deposition or hoarding of prestige items, frequently in aquatic context. Also, during
10075-585: The Lethes or Oblivio ( Limia , which frightened his troops because of its other name ), in a successful campaign, managing to conquer many places of the Galicians. After reaching the Minho river, and in his way back, he attacked (again successfully) the Bracari , who had been harassing his supply chain: Appian describe the Bracari women fighting bravely side by side with their men; of the women who were taken prisoners, some killed themselves, and others killed their children, preferring death to servitude. The spoils of war allowed Decimus Junius Brutus to celebrate
10230-609: The Lougei, Gigurri and Tiburi dwelt lands now in Galicia; finally the Bracarenses 24 civitates and 285,000, of whom the Grovi , Helleni, Querquerni , Coelerni , Bibali, Limici , Tamacani and Interamici dwelt, at least partially, in modern-day Galicia. The names of some of these peoples have been preserved as the names of regions, parishes and villages: Lemos < Lemavos, Cabarcos, Soneira < *Sub Nerii, Céltigos < Celticos, Valdeorras < Valle de Gigurris, Trives < Tiburis, Támagos < Tamacanos. Some other Galician regions derive from some populi or subdivision not listed by
10385-409: 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
10540-424: 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
10695-406: 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
10850-408: The Northwest of the Iberian Peninsula from Vulgar Latin , becoming the language spoken and written in the medieval kingdoms of Galicia (from 1230 united with the kingdoms of León and Castille under the same sovereign) and Portugal . The Galician-Portuguese language developed a rich literary tradition from the last years of the 12th century. During the 13th century it gradually replaced Latin as
11005-494: 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
11160-700: 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
11315-500: 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
11470-433: The bearer. These places can be European countries (as is the case in the surnames Bretaña , Franza , España , Portugal ) or nations ( Franco , " Frenchman "); Galician regions ( Bergantiños , Carnota , Cavarcos , Sanlés ); or cities, towns or villages, which gave origin to a few thousand surnames. Another related group is formed with the preposition de , usually contracted with the definite article as da or do , and
11625-523: The bend there is the city of Lambriaca and the receding part receives the rivers Laeros and Ulia. The prominent part is inhabited by the Praestamarci, and through them flow the rivers Tamaris and Sars —which are born not afar— Tamaris by harbour Ebora, Sars by the tower of Augustus, of memorable title. For the rest, the Supertamarici and Neri inhabit in the last tract. Up to here what belongs to
11780-732: 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
11935-523: 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
12090-628: 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
12245-402: The classic authors, among them: Bergantiños < Brigantinos, from Briganti , Nendo < Nemetos, from Nemeton , Entíns < Gentinis ('the chieftains'). A common characteristic of both Gallaecians and western Astures were their onomastic formula and social structure: while most of the other Indo-European peoples of Hispania used a formula such as: Gallaecians and western Astures used, until
12400-822: The coasts of northwestern Iberia: Frons illa aliquamdiu rectam ripam habet, dein modico flexu accepto mox paululum eminet, tum reducta iterum iterumque recto margine iacens ad promunturium quod Celticum vocamus extenditur. Totam Celtici colunt, sed a Durio ad flexum Grovi, fluuntque per eos Avo, Celadus, Nebis, Minius et cui oblivionis cognomen est Limia. Flexus ipse Lambriacam urbem amplexus recipit fluvios Laeron et Ullam. Partem quae prominet Praesamarchi habitant, perque eos Tamaris et Sars flumina non longe orta decurrunt, Tamaris secundum Ebora portum, Sars iuxta turrem Augusti titulo memorabilem. Cetera super Tamarici Nerique incolunt in eo tractu ultimi. Hactenus enim ad occidentem versa litora pertinent. Deinde ad septentriones toto latere terra convertitur
12555-559: 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
12710-495: The conventus Lucenses, other five of bracarenses, two mixed ones of Galicians and Asturians, and an ala and cohort of Lemavi. 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] ) is an autonomous community of Spain and historic nationality under Spanish law. Located in
12865-469: 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
13020-654: 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
13175-463: 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
13330-601: The electric company decided not to build the plant there. In 1978 elections to the Cámaras Agrarias The CCLL gained 545 representatives in Galicia. The same year the CCLL launched a campaign against the Cuota Empresarial , the company contribution, an amount of money that the Galician farmers had to pay to the social security despite the small and familiar character of their farms. This tax
13485-595: The elite ideology associated with this cultural complex ( Celtic from the west theory). Alleged difficulties with this theory and with pre-existing theories ("Celtic from the east") have led Patrick Simms-Williams to propose an intermediate "Celtic from the centre" theory, with an expansion of Celtic languages from the Alps during the Bronze Age. A recent study shows the large scale admixture of an earlier population from Britain with people arriving probably from France during
13640-402: 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
13795-403: The entrails of beasts, the flight of birds and the divine lightnings; sometimes they delight to chant rude songs in their fatherland's tongues, other times they make the ground tremble with alternative foot while happily clashing their caetra at the same time. This leisure and diversion is a sacred delight for the men, the feminine laboriosity do the rest: adding the seed to the furrow and working
13950-507: The establishment of an important base of the Spanish navy there in the 18th century. For example, surnames like Orxás , Veiga , Outeiro , became Orjales , Vega , Otero . Toponyms like Ourense , A Coruña , Fisterra became Orense , La Coruña , Finisterre . In many cases this linguistic assimilation created confusion, for example Niño da Aguia (Galician: Eagle's Nest ) was translated into Spanish as Niño de la Guía (Spanish:
14105-561: The expropriations. The local CCLL organized a large protest that transformed a local conflict into a problem for all Galicia. The peasants were led by Moncho Valcarce, the local priest and a member of the Galician People's Union. The resistance of the locals against Fenosa and the Guardia Civil became a symbol of the Galician peasants' struggle. In 1978 Fenosa, the CCLL, and the people of As Encrobas were finally defeated and
14260-551: The ground with the plough while the men idle. Everything which must be done, with the exception of the hard war, is made restlessly by the wife of the Galician." He later also mentions the Grovii of southern Galicia and northwestern Portugal, with their capital Tui , apart from the other Galicians; other authors also marked the distinctness of the Grovii: Pomponius Mela by addressing that they were non Celtic, unlike
14415-670: The group of Ibero-Romance languages and having strong ties with Portuguese and its northern dialects. However, the Associaçom Galega da Língua (Galician Language Association) and Academia Galega da Língua Portuguesa (Galician Academy of the Portuguese Language), belonging to the Reintegrationist movement, support the idea that differences between Galician and Portuguese speech are not enough to justify considering them as separate languages: Galician
14570-708: 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
14725-466: 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
14880-746: The islands and peninsulas of western Galicia (probable origin of the Cassiterides island myth) and probably also gold. Incidentally, Avienus ' Ora Maritima says after Himilco that the Oestrymni (inhabitants of western Iberia) used hide boats to navigate, an assertion confirmed by Pliny the Elder for the Galicians. First recorded contact with Rome happened during the Second Punic War , when Gallaecians and Astures , together with Lusitanians , Cantabrians and Celtiberians —that is,
15035-614: 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
15190-474: The language used in public and private charters, deeds, and legal documents, in Galicia, Portugal, and in the neighbouring regions in Asturias and Leon. Galician-Portuguese diverged into two linguistic varieties – Galician and Portuguese – from the 15th century on. Galician became a regional spoken language under the influence of Castilian Spanish , while Portuguese became the international one, as language of
15345-573: The late Bronze Age. These people, in the opinion of the authors, constitute a plausible vector for the expansion of Celtic languages into Britain, as no further Iron Age people movement of relevant scale is shown in their data. The Bronze Age - Iron Age transition (locally 1000-600 BCE) coincides with the hoarding of large quantity of bronze axes, unused, both in Galicia, Brittany , and southern Britain . During this same transitional period, some communities began to protect their villages, settling in very protected areas where they built hill-forts . Among
15500-699: The later stages of the war, against Asturians and Cantabrians, some twenty of them in Galicia. Augustus' victory over the Gallaecians is celebrated in the Sebasteion of Aphrodisias, Turkey, where a triumphal monument to Augustus mentions them among other fifteen nations conquered by him. Also, the triumphal arch of Capentras probably represents a Gallaecian among other nations defeated by Augustus. Pomponius Mela (a geographer from Tingentera, modern day Algeciras in Andalusia) described, circa 43 CE,
15655-731: The leader of the SLG, and remained in that position until 2007. In the late 1990s the organization became more independent of the Galician People's Union and of the Galician Nationalist Bloc . The SLG joined Via Campesina and helped to create the anti-globalization movement in Galicia. The union also adopted a policy of promoting food sovereignty . During the 1990s the fight against the Common Agricultural Policy continued, with work stoppages , demonstrations and tractoradas (demonstrations of tractors for
15810-516: The local farmers, the Bell beaker people, coming ultimately from the Pontic steppe , who introduced copper metallurgy and weaponry , and probably also new cultivars and breeds . Some scholars consider that they were the first people to bring Indo-European languages into Western Europe. They lived in open villages , only protected by fences or ditches; local archaeologists consider that they caused
15965-480: 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
16120-698: The major Indo-European nations of Iberia— figured among the mercenary armies hired by Hannibal to go with him into Italy. According to Silus Italicus 's Punica III: Fibrarum, et pennæ, divinarumque sagacem Flammarum misit dives Callæcia pubem, Barbara nunc patriis ululantem carmina linguis, Nunc, pedis alterno percussa verbere terra, Ad numerum resonas gaudentem plaudere cætras. Hæc requies ludusque viris, ea sacra voluptas. Cetera femineus peragit labor: addere sulco Semina, et inpresso tellurem vertere aratro Segne viris: quidquid duro sine Marte gerendum, Callaici conjux obit inrequieta mariti. "Opulent Galicia sent her youth, expert in divination through
16275-548: The media as well as legal imposition of Spanish in learning. Galicia also boasts a rich oral tradition, in the form of songs, tales, and sayings, which has made a vital contribution to the spread and development of the Galician language. Still flourishing today, this tradition shares much with that of Portugal. Galician surnames, as is the case in most European cultures, can be divided into patronymic (originally based on one's father's name), occupational , toponymic or cognominal . The first group, patronymic includes many of
16430-619: The mine was built. The other main event of 1977 was the opposition to the nuclear power plant of Xove . That year a huge movement opposing the construction of the plant started. CCLL and ADEGA were the main organizers, although the Galician National-Popular Bloc also played a key role. On 10 April 1977 8,000 people marched from Viveiro to Xove against the plant. The struggle against the nuclear power plant continued until 1979 when, due to popular pressure (including another anti-nuclear march with 20,000 participants),
16585-521: 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
16740-581: The most frequent surnames and became fixed during the Low Middle Ages ; it includes surnames derived from etyma formed with or without the additions of the patronymical suffixes -az, -ez, -iz: Alberte ( Albert ); Afonso (Alfons); Anes , Oanes , Yanes ( Iohannes ); Arias ; Bernárdez ( Bernard ); Bermúdez (Medieval Galician Uermues , cf. Wermuth ); Cristobo ( Christopher ); Diz (from Didaci ); Estévez ( Stephan ); Fernández ; Fiz (from Felici ); Froiz , Frois (From Froilaci , from
16895-556: 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
17050-625: 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:
17205-528: The name Callaecia and its ethnonym Callaeci as being "the stone people" or "the people of the stone" ("those who work with stones"), in reference to the ancient megaliths and stone formations that are so common in Galicia and Portugal. Specialists of the Celtic languages do not consider there is a hypothetical Gaulish root *gall meaning "stone" or "rock", but *galiā "strength" (> French gaill-ard "strong"), related to Old Irish gal "berserk rage, war fury", Welsh gallu and Breton galloud "power". It
17360-504: The name has been studied since the 7th century by authors such as Isidore of Seville , who wrote, "Galicians are called so because of their fair skin, as the Gauls" and related the name to the Greek word for "milk," γάλα (gála). However, modern scholars like J.J. Moralejo and Carlos Búa have derived the name of the ancient Callaeci either from Proto-Indo-European *kl̥(H)‑n‑ 'hill', through
17515-630: The name of some Galician noble houses, later expanding when these nobles began to serve as officials of the Spanish Empire , in Spain or elsewhere, as a way of maintaining them both far from Galicia and useful to the Empire: Andrade (from the house of Andrade, itself from the name of a village), Mejía or Mexía (from the house of Mesía ), Saavedra , Soutomaior (Hispanicized Sotomayor ), Ulloa , Moscoso , Mariñas , Figueroa among others. Some of these families also served in Portugal, as
17670-473: 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
17825-580: 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
17980-766: The north and west to the Navia River . That encompassed such tribes as the Celtici , the Artabri , the Lemavi and the Albiones . The oldest known inscription referring to the Gallaeci (reading Ἔθνο[υς] Καλλαικῶ[ν] , "people of the Gallaeci") was found in 1981 in the Sebasteion of Aphrodisias, Turkey; a triumphal monument to Roman Emperor Augustus mentions them among other 15 nations that he conquered. The etymology of
18135-592: The northern Portuguese people and have their historic homeland in Galicia , in the north-west of the Iberian Peninsula . Two Romance languages are widely spoken and official in Galicia: the native Galician and Spanish . The ethnonym of the Galicians ( galegos ) derives directly from the Latin Gallaeci or Callaeci , itself an adaptation of the name of a local Celtic tribe known to
18290-649: 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 the west, and the Cantabrian Sea to the north. It had a population of 2,701,743 in 2018 and
18445-539: The oldest of these are Chandebrito in Nigrán , Penas do Castelo in A Pobra do Brollón and O Cociñadoiro in Arteixo , on a sea cliff and protected by a 3-metre-tall wall, it was also a metal factory, perhaps dedicated to the Atlantic commerce, all of them founded some 2,900-2,700 years ago. These earlier fortified settlements seem to be placed to control metallurgical resources and commerce. This transitional period
18600-446: 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
18755-615: 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
18910-512: 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
19065-528: The protests against the gold mine in Coristanco in 2013. Due to the massive opposition to the project, the Xunta de Galicia decided not to give the license to the mining company. Galician people Galicians ( Galician : galegos [ɡaˈleɣʊs] ; Spanish: gallegos [ɡaˈʎeɣos] ) are a Romance-speaking European ethnic group from northwestern Spain; they are closely related to
19220-591: The province of Hispania Tarraconensis . Pliny wrote that the Lucenses comprised 16 populi and 166,000 free heads, and mentions the Lemavi , Albiones , Cibarci , Egivarri Namarini , Adovi, Arroni , Arrotrebae, Celtici Neri, Celtici Supertamarci , Copori, Celtici Praestamarci , Cileni among them (other authors mention also the Baedui, Artabri and Seurri ); the Astures comprised 22 populi and 240,000, of whom
19375-597: The purpose of blockading roads). During the 2000s there was an internal tension between the supporters of the Galician People's Union (UPG) and the Galician Nationalist Bloc and the sector that wanted a fully independent union. In 2009 the supporters of the UPG split and formed a new union, the FRUGA . The SLG has continued to participate in the social movements since then, being one of the main organizers of
19530-522: 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
19685-539: 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
19840-526: 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
19995-539: The rest of the inhabitants of the coasts of Galicia; Pliny by signalling their Greek origin. After ending victoriously the Lusitanian war with the assassination of Viriathus , consul Caepio tried to wage war, unsuccessfully, on Gallaecians and Vettones , for the help they lent to the Lusitanians. In 138 BCE, another consul, Decimus Junius Brutus , in command of two legions, passed de Douro river and later
20150-566: 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
20305-488: 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
20460-575: 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
20615-548: The settlement of Galician colonists in southern Spain during the Reconquista , some of the more frequent and distinctively Galician surnames also became popular in Spanish (which had its own related forms) and were taken later into the Americas , as a consequence of the expansion of the Spanish empire : The largest surname group is the one derived from toponyms, which usually referred to the place of origin or residence of
20770-466: The south and the Mediterranean; adoption or development of sculpture and stone carving; the warrior ethos appear to increase in social importance; some hill-forts are built new or rebuilt as true urban centres, oppida , with streets and definite public spaces, as San Cibrao de Las (10 ha ) or Santa Trega (20 ha). In 61 BCE Julius Caesar , commanding thirty cohorts , launched from Cádiz
20925-615: 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
21080-672: The state in the 19th and 20th centuries) and the struggle against the abusive payments to the Social Security network . The CCLL also organized protests, rallies and boycotts against the construction of dams on the Galician rivers, that flooded entire parroquias . A sector of the union, close to the Galician Socialist Party (PSG), split in 1975 and formed a new organization, the Sindicato Agrario Galego (SAG, Galician Agrarian Union). In 1976,
21235-404: 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
21390-411: 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
21545-456: 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
21700-975: The surnames derived from nicknames, which can have very diverse motivations: a) External appearance, as eye colour ( Ruso , from Latin roscidus, grey-eyed ; Garzo , blue-eyed ), hair colour ( Dourado , "Blonde"; Bermello , "Red"; Cerviño , literally "deer-like", "Tawny, Auburn"; Cao , "white"), complexion ( Branco , "White"; Pardo , "Swarth"; Delgado , "Slender") or other characteristics: Formoso ("Handsome"), Tato ("Stutterer"), Forte ("Strong"), Calviño ("Bald"), Esquerdeiro ("Left-handed"). b) Temperament and personality: Bonome , Bonhome ("Goodman"), Fiúza ("Who can be trusted"), Guerreiro ("Warlike"), Cordo ("Judicious"). c) Tree names: Carballo ("Oak"); Amieiro , Ameneiro ("Alder"); Freijo ("Ash tree"). d) Animal names: Gerpe (from Serpe , "Serpent"); Falcón ("Falcon"); Baleato ("Young Whale"); Gato ("Cat"); Coello ("Rabbit"); Aguia ("Eagle") e) Deeds: Romeu (a person who pilgrimaged to Rome or
21855-459: The toponym Gallaecia / Callaecia with the Latin word callus . Galician is a Romance language belonging to the Western Ibero-Romance branch; as such, it derives from Latin . It has official status in Galicia . Galician is also spoken in the neighbouring autonomous communities of Asturias and Castile and León , near their borders with Galicia. Medieval or Old Galician, also known by linguists as Galician-Portuguese , developed locally in
22010-446: The union maintained the acronym CCLL). In 1977 three milestones happened in the history of the CCLL. The union was legalized in the spring of that year, and as a result the AGA was disbanded. The same year a conflict erupted between peasants and inhabitants of the parroquia of As Encrobas , Cerceda and the electric company Fenosa . Fenosa had expropriated the locals' land to mine lignite . The inhabitants of As Encrobas were against
22165-435: The voyage of Himilco . Punic importations from southern Spain became frequent along the coast of southern Galicia, although they didn't penetrate very far to the north or to the interior; also, new decorative motives, as the six-petal rosettes , are popularized, together with new metallurgical techniques and pieces (ear pendants) and some other innovations as the round hand mill. In exchange, Punics obtained tin , abundant in
22320-575: 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
22475-403: The western coast. From there all the coast is turned to the north, from the Celtic promontory to the Pyrenees. Its regular coast, except where there are small retreats and small headlands, is almost straight by the Cantabrians. On it first of all are the Artabri, still a Celtic people, then the Astures. Among the Artabri there is a bay which lets the sea through a narrow mouth, and encircles, not in
22630-457: The woodland some 5,000 years ago. This new population also changed the landscape with the first permanent human structures, megaliths such as menhirs , barrows and cromlechs . During the Neolithic Galicia was one of the foci of Atlantic European Megalithic Culture , putting in contact the Mediterranean and south Iberia with the rest of Atlantic Europe. Some 4,500 years ago a new culture and population arrived and presumingly admixed with
22785-406: Was an only Indo-European language in the West of Iberia, of Celtic kind, or either a number of languages derived from the arrival of non-Celtic Indo-Europeans first, and Celts later on". Some academic positions on this issue: After the Roman conquest, the lands and people of northwestern Iberia were divided in three conventi ( Gallaecia Lucensis , Gallaecia Bracarensis and Asturia) and annexed to
22940-471: 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 ,
23095-420: Was considered abusive by the majority of the Galician farmers at the time. The CCLL supported not paying the tax, which led to a mass civil disobedience movement against the cuota . After 16 years of protests, in 1994, the Spanish government abolished the cuota . CCLL was against the entrance of Galicia in the Common Market , due to the dismantlement the Galician agrarian productive sectors faced with
23250-416: 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,
23405-409: Was founded in 1973 under the name Comisiós Labregas (CCLL), with the union of several local Committees of Support of the Peasants Struggle ( Comités de Axuda á Loita Labrega in Galician ). The creation of the CCLL was supported by the Galician People's Union , that at the time tried to create a National-popular movement with sectoral organizations, like the Galician Workers Union , ADEGA , or
23560-417: 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
23715-418: 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
23870-525: 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
24025-410: 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
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