Basque Country, Catalonia, and Galicia: Why Do Some Regions Have Stronger Sub-national Identities than Others?

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Sabino Arana, founder and so-called godfather of Basque nationalism, viewed race as a better means of exclusion because of its primordial or unchangeable nature. As he put it, “So long as there is a good grammar and a good dictionary, language can be restored even though no one speaks it. Race, once lost, cannot be resuscitated”(Barnes, 2013). Sabino Arana was a young upper middle class intellectual from the Basque region. Interestingly enough, Arana came up with the idea for the movement in 1883 while living in Catalonia, not Basque Country. He was an 18 year old student at the University of Barcelona where he was first exposed to the ideas of Catalan regionalism and sub-nationalism. There, he quickly came to the conclusion that cultural identity, material development, and religious salvation could be achieved only through the creation of exclusive Basque nationalism for the native population of his home region (Payne, 1971). Arana moved back home and spent the rest of his life devoted to this task. He promoted the Basque language, formed the Basque Nationalist Party in 1895, wrote the national anthem, and designed the flag (Barnes, 2013).
The importance of race to Basque nationalism is evident in the regions most popular soccer club, Athletic Bilbao. The club is most well known for their Cantera policy, which states that one must be born as a Basque in order to play for the team. The club’s motto explaining the thought behind this ideology is “Con cantera y afición, no hace falta importación” which means, “With home-grown teams and supporters, there is no need for imports” (Stratton, 2014). Basque exclusion by ethnic origin is highlighted by the fact that one must be born in Basque Country to be considered Basque and to qualif...

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..., Spain." OECD. OECD, 4-5 Dec. 2012. Web. 29 Apr. 2014. .
Beswick, Jaine. Regional Nationalism in Spain: Language Use and Ethnic Identity in Galicia. Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters, 2007. Print.
Payne, Stanley. "Catalan and Basque Nationalism." Journal of Contemporary History 6.1 (1971): 15-51. JSTOR. Web. 30 Apr. 2014. .
Frayer, Lauren. "While Spain Struggles, The Basque Region Shines." NPR. NPR, 25 Oct. 2012. Web. 01 May 2014.

"Catalonia Profile - Overview." BBC News. BBC, 14 Aug. 2013. Web. 01 May 2014.

Joy, Oliver. "Spain's next Threat: Losing 20% of Its Economy." CNN. Cable News Network, 25 Nov. 2012. Web. 01 May 2014.

"Catalonia Independence Vote Rejected." BBC News. BBC, 8 Apr. 2014. Web. 01 May 2014.

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