Galician people
Encyclopedia
The Galicians are an ethnic group
, a nationality whose historical homeland is Galicia in north-western Spain. Most Galicians are bilingual, speaking both their historic language, Galician
, and Castilian Spanish
.
Other Galician-speaking areas are situated in the Spanish provinces of Asturias
in the same name of the Asturian Autonomous Community; León
and Zamora
in the Autonomous Community of Castile and León
; and in the north of Portugal.
, 355.406 in Lugo, 336.002 in Ourense, and 953.218 in Pontevedra
). The most important cities in this region, which serve as the provinces' administrative centres, are Vigo
, Pontevedra
(in Pontevedra), Santiago de Compostela
, A Coruña
, Ferrol (in A Coruña), Lugo
(in Lugo), and Ourense
(in Ourense). The official languages are Galician and Spanish. Knowledge of Spanish is compulsory according to the Spanish constitution and virtually universal. Knowledge of Galician, after declining for many years owing to the pressure of Spanish and official persecution, is again on the rise due to favorable official language policies and popular support. Currently about 82% of Galicia's population can speak Galician and about 61% has it as a mother tongue.
, I
, E1b1b1b (E-M81), J2
and G
.
Galician is an Iberian Romance language
belonging to the Western Ibero-Romance branch of the Indo-European languages
. It is spoken in Galicia
, an autonomous community
with the constitutional status of an "historic nationality" in northwestern Spain. Galician is also spoken in the neighboring autonomous communities of Asturias
and Castile and León
, near its border with Galicia, and in Portugal.
Galician and Portuguese were, during medieval times, a single language spoken in the Kingdom of Galicia
and in Portugal. The language is variously called Galician-Portuguese
, Medieval Galician, or Archaic Portuguese. The two modern languages continue to be linked by a dialect continuum
in the north of Portugal.
Despite the positive effects of official recognition of the Galician language, Galicia's socio-linguistic development has suffered from the growing influence of Spanish, a world language. The drift toward Spanish is ascribed to the growth of urban centers, the emergence of a Galician middle class, and the worldly influences of education and the media.
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 constitutes a priceless cultural heritage, much of which is shared with its neighbor Portugal.
Galicia was entirely immersed in the Megalithic Culture, common to other areas of Atlantic Europe
. Galician cultural elements can be traced back to the Bronze Age
(Celtic) civilization known as Castro Culture
. It also boasts a wealth of Roman
remains, highlights of which include the Walls of Lugo, declared a World Heritage Site
, as well as the Tower of Hercules
in A Coruña
. The Way of St James has also been acknowledged by UNESCO
, as has Galicia's capital, Santiago de Compostela
, declared a World Heritage City in 1985.
More than 30,000 centers of population make up a decidedly humanised land and landscape. These settlements are home to magnificent examples of the Galician people's architectural and ethnographic heritage. Stone crosses, raised granaries and shrines, etc., are all fine examples of the traditional constructions to be found in this land.
Unlike the Basque and the Catalan regions which were rich, urbanized, and industrialized, Galicia remained relatively poor, agricultural village society, as industry, and apart from ship building, large scale industry had yet to make its appearance. Moreover, its agricultural sector continued to be among the most backward in Spain, and farm productivity was severely hampered by the tiny size of the individual farmsteads known as minifundios. The minifundio was the product of an attempt to distribute land plots in a closed rural system to a growing population by requiring that equal shares be bequeathed to each heir. After just a few generations, the land had been subdivided so much that most of the plots were too small to support a family or to be economically viable. On the positive side, the system ensured that there were relatively few who were completely without means and the rich seas and large fishing industry provided alternative sources for a living.
For these reasons, Galicia was a net exporter of population to the rest of Spain. Between 1900 and 1981, the net outflow of people from Galicia was more than 825,000. In fact, the city with the second greatest number of Galician people is Buenos Aires
, Argentina, where immigration from Galicia was so massive that all Spaniards are now known as gallegos (Galicians). During the Franco
years, there was a new wave of emigration out of Galicia to other European countries, most notably to France, Switzerland, Germany and the United Kingdom.
Galician cuisine refers to the typical dishes and ingredients found in the cuisine of the Galicia region of Spain. These include shellfish
and fish, many pork-related dishes (chourizos, zorza, botelo, androlla), empanada
s, torta de Santiago
(cake of Santiago), polbo á feira
(a dish made of octopus), the cheese queixo de tetilla, the ribeiro
and albariño
wines, and orujo liquor. In Galician cuisine, the freshness and quality of the produce are paramount.
Potatoes are nowadays a staple of Galician cooking; however potato crops only started to be widespread in Galicia as late as the 18th century. Potatoes supplanted the ancient use of chestnut
s in many Galician dishes such as the popular caldo galego (Galician vegetable soup). Another innovation was the widespread use of olive oil
from the 19th century on which replaced the older use of pork tallow.
Some taboos of Galician cooking are the wide disregard for most mushroom
s (with some exceptions) and some mollusks such as snail
s.
In Galicia, a wide variety of sea produce can be found in traditional dishes due to the province's long shoreline and traditional fishing economy. Agriculture products such as potatoes, maize, and wheat are also a staple in the Galician diet, along with dairy and meat products from animals such as cows, sheep and pigs; Galicia's grasses and shrubs are green year-round and are excellent for grazing. Historically, rye
was the most traditional cereal crop in Galicia.
– which appeared as early as the 1840s in the form of Galicianism
– recalled the "Golden Age" of the Kingdom of Galicia
, when that kingdom played a major role in the politics of medieval Iberia
. That was the time when the northern half of Galicia was hemmed in and isolated while the southern portion expanded southward in the wake of the Moors
' withdrawal. This southern part of the realm eventually became Portugal.
and Castile
, namely after 1486, Galicia's political and cultural influence was severely diminished, a process that was later to continue with the establishment of the Bourbon
dynasty in Spain in the 18th century and the establishment of a liberal state in the 19th century. This would lead to the gradual centralization of the monarchic institutions and the total loss of Galicia's political rights and institutions.
With the spread of Romanticism
throughout Europe and its call for the acknowledgement of the cultures of stateless nation
s, Galicia began to experience a Revival, characterised by a resurgence of national awareness. Nineteenth century political movements such as provincialism and regionalism
, and the consolidation of the concept of Galicianism
, spur on the creation of alternatives designed to endorse the region with its own self-governing institutions and to embark upon a process aimed at promoting and standardizing both the Galician language and culture.
in 1936 suffered a sharp setback following the military coup that took place that same year and marked the start of the Spanish Civil War
.
During the forty years of dictatorship, the Galician nationalist movement
was forced into exile, leading to its restructuring in order to be able to carry out the political and cultural projects that would have been practically infeasible in Galicia until the consolidation of democratic resistance groups that challenged the dictatorship.
's regime saw the revival of the sense of national identity amongst the people of Galicia, starting off in the field of culture, and then gradually generating an extending towards political movement in favor of self-government and cultural standardization within the framework of the Spanish State, seen as a multinational and multilingual political entity.
. He believed that Galicia should try to modernise itself without losing its valuable traditions. Fraga's past as a Franco minister was put aside during this stage of his life, in which he assumed some of the claims of Galician nationalists such as the use of the Galician language. He governed Galicia strictly with a sometimes hard hand. Fraga's rule over Galicia came to an end in April 2005.
route that acted as the cultural backbone of Europe enabled it to soak up European thought and art forms from the Middle Ages until today .
's Contemporary Art Museum (MARCO), without forgetting, in the area of dramatic art, the network of theatres and auditoriums. In addition, the Galician City of Culture, although currently undergoing the redefinition and reorganization of its contents and spaces, also constitutes a global cultural project. A description of Galicia's cultural scene would not be complete without a mention of the many socio-cultural centers, networks of libraries, alternative exhibition centres and the multiple associations that organize, promote and support root cultural projects.
, which first took on this task back in the 15th century. The Museum of the Galician people (Museo do Pobo Galego) also serves as an important cultural institution.
The major driving forces for culture in Galicia today are the publishing industry, which is producing a growing number of publications, and the audiovisual and art industries, in which private initiative is currently thriving.
Ethnic group
An ethnic group is a group of people whose members identify with each other, through a common heritage, often consisting of a common language, a common culture and/or an ideology that stresses common ancestry or endogamy...
, a nationality whose historical homeland is Galicia in north-western Spain. Most Galicians are bilingual, speaking both their historic language, Galician
Galician language
Galician is a language of the Western Ibero-Romance branch, spoken in Galicia, an autonomous community located in northwestern Spain, where it is co-official with Castilian Spanish, as well as in border zones of the neighbouring territories of Asturias and Castile and León.Modern Galician and...
, and Castilian Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
.
Political and administrative divisions
The autonomous community (a concept established in the Spanish constitution of 1978) that is known as (a) Comunidade Autónoma Galega in Galician, and as (la) Comunidad Autónoma Gallega in Spanish (in English: Galician Autonomous Community), is composed of the four Spanish provinces of A Coruña, Lugo, Ourense, and Pontevedra.Other Galician-speaking areas are situated in the Spanish provinces of Asturias
Asturias
The Principality of Asturias is an autonomous community of the Kingdom of Spain, coextensive with the former Kingdom of Asturias in the Middle Ages...
in the same name of the Asturian Autonomous Community; León
León (province)
León is a province of northwestern Spain, in the northwestern part of the autonomous community of Castile and León.About one quarter of its population of 500,200 lives in the capital, León. The weather is cold and dry during the winter....
and Zamora
Zamora (province)
Zamora is a Spanish province of western Spain, in the western part of the autonomous community of Castile and León.The present-day province of Zamora province was one of three provinces formed from the former Kingdom of León in 1833, when Spain was re-organised into 49 provinces.It is bordered by...
in the Autonomous Community of Castile and León
Castile and León
Castile and León is an autonomous community in north-western Spain. It was so constituted in 1983 and it comprises the historical regions of León and Old Castile...
; and in the north of Portugal.
Population, main cities and languages
The official Statistical body of Galicia is the Instituto Galego de Estatística (IGE). According to the IGE, Galicia's total population in 2008 was 2,783,100 (1,138,474 in A CoruñaA Coruña (province)
The province of A Coruña is the most North-western Atlantic-facing province of Spain, and one of the four provinces which constitute the autonomous community of Galicia...
, 355.406 in Lugo, 336.002 in Ourense, and 953.218 in Pontevedra
Pontevedra (province)
Pontevedra is a province of Spain along the country's Atlantic coast in southwestern Europe. The province forms the southwestern part of the autonomous community of Galicia...
). The most important cities in this region, which serve as the provinces' administrative centres, are Vigo
Vigo
Vigo is a city and municipality in north-west Spain, in Galicia, situated on the ria of the same name on the Atlantic Ocean.-Population:...
, Pontevedra
Pontevedra
Pontevedra is a city in the north-west of the Iberian Peninsula. It is the capital of both the comarca and province of Pontevedra, in Galicia . It is also the capital of its own municipality which is, in fact, often considered as an extension of the actual city...
(in Pontevedra), Santiago de Compostela
Santiago de Compostela
Santiago de Compostela is the capital of the autonomous community of Galicia, Spain.The city's Cathedral is the destination today, as it has been throughout history, of the important 9th century medieval pilgrimage route, the Way of St. James...
, A Coruña
A Coruña
A Coruña or La Coruña is a city and municipality of Galicia, Spain. It is the second-largest city in the autonomous community and seventeenth overall in the country...
, Ferrol (in A Coruña), Lugo
Lugo
Lugo is a city in northwestern Spain, in the autonomous community of Galicia. It is the capital of the province of Lugo. The municipality had a population of 97,635 in 2010, which makes is the fourth most populated city in Galicia.-Population:...
(in Lugo), and Ourense
Ourense
Ourense is a city in northwestern Spain, the capital of the province of the same name in Galicia. Its population of 108,674 accounts for 30% of the population of the province and makes it the third largest city of Galicia.-Population:...
(in Ourense). The official languages are Galician and Spanish. Knowledge of Spanish is compulsory according to the Spanish constitution and virtually universal. Knowledge of Galician, after declining for many years owing to the pressure of Spanish and official persecution, is again on the rise due to favorable official language policies and popular support. Currently about 82% of Galicia's population can speak Galician and about 61% has it as a mother tongue.
Y-Dna
The most frequent Y-Dna haplogroups (male lineages) present in the Galician people are R1bHaplogroup R1b (Y-DNA)
The point of origin of R1b is thought to lie in Eurasia, most likely in Western Asia. T. Karafet et al. estimated the age of R1, the parent of R1b, as 18,500 years before present....
, I
Haplogroup I (Y-DNA)
In human genetics, Haplogroup I is a Y-chromosome DNA haplogroup, a subgroup of haplogroup IJ, itself a derivative of Haplogroup IJK....
, E1b1b1b (E-M81), J2
Haplogroup J2 (Y-DNA)
In human genetics, Haplogroup J2 is a Y-chromosome haplogroup which is a subdivision of haplogroup J. It is further divided into two complementary clades, J2a-M410 and J2b-M12.-Origins:...
and G
Haplogroup G (Y-DNA)
In human genetics, Haplogroup G is a Y-chromosome haplogroup. It is a branch of Haplogroup F . Haplogroup G has an overall low frequency in most populations but is widely distributed within many ethnic groups of the Old World in Europe, northern and western Asia, northern Africa, the Middle East,...
.
| N | E-M35 | E-M78 | E-M81 | G | I | J1 | J2 | K | R1b |
| 88 | 1.14% | 6.82% | 9.09% | 5.68% | 10.23% | 1.14% | 6.82% | 1.14% | 57.95% |
mtDna
The most frequent mtDna haplogroups (female lineages) present in the Galician people are H, U, T, J and K.| N | H | U(xU6) | T | J | K | V | X | L | W | U6 | N | R | I |
| 282 | 47.52% | 13.83% | 9.22% | 8.16% | 6.38% | 4.61% | 2.48% | 2.48% | 1.42% | 1.06% | 1.06% | 1.06% | 0.71% |
Galician language
Iberian Romance languages
The Iberian Romance languages or Ibero-Romance languages are the Romance languages that developed on the Iberian Peninsula, an area consisting primarily of Spain, Portugal, and Andorra....
belonging to the Western Ibero-Romance branch of the Indo-European languages
Indo-European languages
The Indo-European languages are a family of several hundred related languages and dialects, including most major current languages of Europe, the Iranian plateau, and South Asia and also historically predominant in Anatolia...
. It is spoken in Galicia
Galicia (Iberian peninsula)
Galicia is an autonomous community in northwest Spain, with the official status of a nationality of Spain.Its component provinces are A Coruña, Lugo, Ourense and Pontevedra. It is bordered by Portugal to the south, the Spanish autonomous communities of Castile and León and Asturias to the east,...
, an autonomous community
Autonomous communities of Spain
An autonomous community In other languages of Spain:*Catalan/Valencian .*Galician .*Basque . The second article of the constitution recognizes the rights of "nationalities and regions" to self-government and declares the "indissoluble unity of the Spanish nation".Political power in Spain is...
with the constitutional status of an "historic nationality" in northwestern Spain. Galician is also spoken in the neighboring autonomous communities of Asturias
Asturias
The Principality of Asturias is an autonomous community of the Kingdom of Spain, coextensive with the former Kingdom of Asturias in the Middle Ages...
and Castile and León
Castile and León
Castile and León is an autonomous community in north-western Spain. It was so constituted in 1983 and it comprises the historical regions of León and Old Castile...
, near its border with Galicia, and in Portugal.
Galician and Portuguese were, during medieval times, a single language spoken in the Kingdom of Galicia
Kingdom of Galicia
The Kingdom of Galicia was a political entity located in southwestern Europe, which at its territorial zenith occupied the entire northwest of the Iberian Peninsula. Founded by Suebic king Hermeric in the year 409, the Galician capital was established in Braga, being the first kingdom which...
and in Portugal. The language is variously called Galician-Portuguese
Galician-Portuguese
Galician-Portuguese or Old Portuguese was a West Iberian Romance language spoken in the Middle Ages, in the northwest area of the Iberian Peninsula. It was first spoken in the area bounded in the north and west by the Atlantic Ocean and the Douro River in the south but it was later extended south...
, Medieval Galician, or Archaic Portuguese. The two modern languages continue to be linked by a dialect continuum
Dialect continuum
A dialect continuum, or dialect area, was defined by Leonard Bloomfield as a range of dialects spoken across some geographical area that differ only slightly between neighboring areas, but as one travels in any direction, these differences accumulate such that speakers from opposite ends of the...
in the north of Portugal.
Despite the positive effects of official recognition of the Galician language, Galicia's socio-linguistic development has suffered from the growing influence of Spanish, a world language. The drift toward Spanish is ascribed to the growth of urban centers, the emergence of a Galician middle class, and the worldly influences of education and the media.
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 constitutes a priceless cultural heritage, much of which is shared with its neighbor Portugal.
Culture and landscape
Galicia's cultural heritage is characterized by its extensive, abundant and varied geography. Indeed, the entire region could be considered as a sort of museum that never closes its doors to the public.Galicia was entirely immersed in the Megalithic Culture, common to other areas of Atlantic Europe
Atlantic Europe
Atlantic Europe is a geographical and anthropological term for the western portion of Europe which borders the Atlantic Ocean. The term may refer to the idea of Atlantic Europe as a cultural unit and/or as an biogeographical region....
. Galician cultural elements can be traced back to the Bronze Age
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...
(Celtic) civilization known as Castro Culture
Castro culture
Castro culture is the archaeological term for naming the Celtic archaeological culture of the northwestern regions of the Iberian Peninsula from the end of the Bronze Age until it was subsumed in local Roman culture...
. It also boasts a wealth of Roman
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
remains, highlights of which include the Walls of Lugo, declared a World Heritage Site
World Heritage Site
A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a place that is listed by the UNESCO as of special cultural or physical significance...
, as well as the Tower of Hercules
Tower of Hercules
The Tower of Hercules is an ancient Roman lighthouse on a peninsula about from the centre of A Coruña, Galicia, in north-western Spain. Until the 20th century, the tower itself was known as the "Farum Brigantium". The Latin word farum is derived from the Greek pharos for the Lighthouse of...
in A Coruña
A Coruña
A Coruña or La Coruña is a city and municipality of Galicia, Spain. It is the second-largest city in the autonomous community and seventeenth overall in the country...
. The Way of St James has also been acknowledged by UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
, as has Galicia's capital, Santiago de Compostela
Santiago de Compostela
Santiago de Compostela is the capital of the autonomous community of Galicia, Spain.The city's Cathedral is the destination today, as it has been throughout history, of the important 9th century medieval pilgrimage route, the Way of St. James...
, declared a World Heritage City in 1985.
More than 30,000 centers of population make up a decidedly humanised land and landscape. These settlements are home to magnificent examples of the Galician people's architectural and ethnographic heritage. Stone crosses, raised granaries and shrines, etc., are all fine examples of the traditional constructions to be found in this land.
Emigration
Like other Iberian regions, Galicia's history has been defined by mass emigration. There was significant Galician emigration in the 19th and early 20th centuries to other parts of Spain, Portugal, and to the American continent.Unlike the Basque and the Catalan regions which were rich, urbanized, and industrialized, Galicia remained relatively poor, agricultural village society, as industry, and apart from ship building, large scale industry had yet to make its appearance. Moreover, its agricultural sector continued to be among the most backward in Spain, and farm productivity was severely hampered by the tiny size of the individual farmsteads known as minifundios. The minifundio was the product of an attempt to distribute land plots in a closed rural system to a growing population by requiring that equal shares be bequeathed to each heir. After just a few generations, the land had been subdivided so much that most of the plots were too small to support a family or to be economically viable. On the positive side, the system ensured that there were relatively few who were completely without means and the rich seas and large fishing industry provided alternative sources for a living.
For these reasons, Galicia was a net exporter of population to the rest of Spain. Between 1900 and 1981, the net outflow of people from Galicia was more than 825,000. In fact, the city with the second greatest number of Galician people is Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
, Argentina, where immigration from Galicia was so massive that all Spaniards are now known as gallegos (Galicians). During the Franco
Francisco Franco
Francisco Franco y Bahamonde was a Spanish general, dictator and head of state of Spain from October 1936 , and de facto regent of the nominally restored Kingdom of Spain from 1947 until his death in November, 1975...
years, there was a new wave of emigration out of Galicia to other European countries, most notably to France, Switzerland, Germany and the United Kingdom.
Galician cuisine
Shellfish
Shellfish is a culinary and fisheries term for exoskeleton-bearing aquatic invertebrates used as food, including various species of molluscs, crustaceans, and echinoderms. Although most kinds of shellfish are harvested from saltwater environments, some kinds are found only in freshwater...
and fish, many pork-related dishes (chourizos, zorza, botelo, androlla), empanada
Empanada
An empanada is a stuffed bread or pastry baked or fried in many countries in Latin America, Southern Europe and parts of Southeast Asia. The name comes from the verb empanar, meaning to wrap or coat in bread. Empanada is made by folding a dough or bread patty around the stuffing...
s, torta de Santiago
Tarta de Santiago
Tarta de Santiago is a famous type of almond cake or pie from Galicia, literally meaning cake of St. James, invented in the Middle Ages. The Galician name for cake is Torta whilst it is often referred to Tarta, which is the Spanish word. The filling principally consists of ground almonds, eggs and...
(cake of Santiago), polbo á feira
Polbo á feira
Polbo á feira alternatively known as polbo estilo feira and pulpo á galega is a traditional Galician dish....
(a dish made of octopus), the cheese queixo de tetilla, the ribeiro
Ribeiro
Ribeiro is a surname common in Galicia, Portugal and Brazil. It is also a wine-making region of Southeast central Galicia.* Jose F Ribeiro Providence RI*Adriano Leite Ribeiro, Brazilian football striker born 1982*Alfonso Ribeiro, American actor...
and albariño
Albariño
Albariño or Alvarinho is a variety of white wine grape grown in Galicia , Monção and Melgaço , where it is used to make varietal white wines.Albariño is actually the Galician name for the grape...
wines, and orujo liquor. In Galician cuisine, the freshness and quality of the produce are paramount.
Potatoes are nowadays a staple of Galician cooking; however potato crops only started to be widespread in Galicia as late as the 18th century. Potatoes supplanted the ancient use of chestnut
Chestnut
Chestnut , some species called chinkapin or chinquapin, is a genus of eight or nine species of deciduous trees and shrubs in the beech family Fagaceae, native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. The name also refers to the edible nuts they produce.-Species:The chestnut belongs to the...
s in many Galician dishes such as the popular caldo galego (Galician vegetable soup). Another innovation was the widespread use of olive oil
Olive oil
Olive oil is an oil obtained from the olive , a traditional tree crop of the Mediterranean Basin. It is commonly used in cooking, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, and soaps and as a fuel for traditional oil lamps...
from the 19th century on which replaced the older use of pork tallow.
Mushroom
A mushroom is the fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground on soil or on its food source. The standard for the name "mushroom" is the cultivated white button mushroom, Agaricus bisporus; hence the word "mushroom" is most often applied to those fungi that...
s (with some exceptions) and some mollusks such as snail
Snail
Snail is a common name applied to most of the members of the molluscan class Gastropoda that have coiled shells in the adult stage. When the word is used in its most general sense, it includes sea snails, land snails and freshwater snails. The word snail without any qualifier is however more often...
s.
In Galicia, a wide variety of sea produce can be found in traditional dishes due to the province's long shoreline and traditional fishing economy. Agriculture products such as potatoes, maize, and wheat are also a staple in the Galician diet, along with dairy and meat products from animals such as cows, sheep and pigs; Galicia's grasses and shrubs are green year-round and are excellent for grazing. Historically, rye
Rye
Rye is a grass grown extensively as a grain and as a forage crop. It is a member of the wheat tribe and is closely related to barley and wheat. Rye grain is used for flour, rye bread, rye beer, some whiskeys, some vodkas, and animal fodder...
was the most traditional cereal crop in Galicia.
Religion
The majority (about 80%) of Galicians are Roman Catholics with a small minority are Protestants and a substantial non-religious minority.Nationalism and history
Galician nationalismGalician nationalism
Galician nationalism is a political movement arguing for the recognition of Galicia as a nation. The political movement referred to as modern Galician nationalism was born at the beginning of the twentieth century from the idea of Galicianism.- Ideology :...
– which appeared as early as the 1840s in the form of Galicianism
Galicianism (Galicia)
Galicianism is a political ideology of nationalist character whose objective is the defence of Galicia and its culture by the means of the establishment and strengthening of its own institutions.-Origins:...
– recalled the "Golden Age" of the Kingdom of Galicia
Kingdom of Galicia
The Kingdom of Galicia was a political entity located in southwestern Europe, which at its territorial zenith occupied the entire northwest of the Iberian Peninsula. Founded by Suebic king Hermeric in the year 409, the Galician capital was established in Braga, being the first kingdom which...
, when that kingdom played a major role in the politics of medieval Iberia
Iberian Peninsula
The Iberian Peninsula , sometimes called Iberia, is located in the extreme southwest of Europe and includes the modern-day sovereign states of Spain, Portugal and Andorra, as well as the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar...
. That was the time when the northern half of Galicia was hemmed in and isolated while the southern portion expanded southward in the wake of the Moors
Moors
The description Moors has referred to several historic and modern populations of the Maghreb region who are predominately of Berber and Arab descent. They came to conquer and rule the Iberian Peninsula for nearly 800 years. At that time they were Muslim, although earlier the people had followed...
' withdrawal. This southern part of the realm eventually became Portugal.
A revival and a sense of national willpower
Following the dynastic union of the kingdoms of AragonAragon
Aragon is a modern autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. Located in northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces : Huesca, Zaragoza, and Teruel. Its capital is Zaragoza...
and Castile
Castile (historical region)
A former kingdom, Castile gradually merged with its neighbours to become the Crown of Castile and later the Kingdom of Spain when united with the Crown of Aragon and the Kingdom of Navarre...
, namely after 1486, Galicia's political and cultural influence was severely diminished, a process that was later to continue with the establishment of the Bourbon
House of Bourbon
The House of Bourbon is a European royal house, a branch of the Capetian dynasty . Bourbon kings first ruled Navarre and France in the 16th century. By the 18th century, members of the Bourbon dynasty also held thrones in Spain, Naples, Sicily, and Parma...
dynasty in Spain in the 18th century and the establishment of a liberal state in the 19th century. This would lead to the gradual centralization of the monarchic institutions and the total loss of Galicia's political rights and institutions.
With the spread of Romanticism
Romanticism
Romanticism was an artistic, literary and intellectual movement that originated in the second half of the 18th century in Europe, and gained strength in reaction to the Industrial Revolution...
throughout Europe and its call for the acknowledgement of the cultures of stateless nation
Stateless nation
A stateless nation is a group, usually a minority ethnic group, considered as a nation entitled to its own state for that nation. Since there are few objective criteria for whether a particular group is a nation, or which particular group "has" any given multinational state, usage of the term is...
s, Galicia began to experience a Revival, characterised by a resurgence of national awareness. Nineteenth century political movements such as provincialism and regionalism
Regionalism (politics)
Regionalism is a term used in international relations. Regionalism also constitutes one of the three constituents of the international commercial system...
, and the consolidation of the concept of Galicianism
Galicianism (Galicia)
Galicianism is a political ideology of nationalist character whose objective is the defence of Galicia and its culture by the means of the establishment and strengthening of its own institutions.-Origins:...
, spur on the creation of alternatives designed to endorse the region with its own self-governing institutions and to embark upon a process aimed at promoting and standardizing both the Galician language and culture.
Galicia during the time of exile and resistance
The process of setting up Galicia's first government following the passing of the Statute of AutonomyStatute of Autonomy
Nominally, a Statute of Autonomy is a law hierarchically located under the constitution of a country, and over any other form of legislation...
in 1936 suffered a sharp setback following the military coup that took place that same year and marked the start of the Spanish Civil War
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
.
During the forty years of dictatorship, the Galician nationalist movement
Galician nationalism
Galician nationalism is a political movement arguing for the recognition of Galicia as a nation. The political movement referred to as modern Galician nationalism was born at the beginning of the twentieth century from the idea of Galicianism.- Ideology :...
was forced into exile, leading to its restructuring in order to be able to carry out the political and cultural projects that would have been practically infeasible in Galicia until the consolidation of democratic resistance groups that challenged the dictatorship.
Democratic self-government for the future
The final years of FrancoFrancisco Franco
Francisco Franco y Bahamonde was a Spanish general, dictator and head of state of Spain from October 1936 , and de facto regent of the nominally restored Kingdom of Spain from 1947 until his death in November, 1975...
's regime saw the revival of the sense of national identity amongst the people of Galicia, starting off in the field of culture, and then gradually generating an extending towards political movement in favor of self-government and cultural standardization within the framework of the Spanish State, seen as a multinational and multilingual political entity.
Fraga's Galicia
In 1990, politician Manuel Fraga took over as President of GaliciaPresident of Galicia
Under the Galician Statute of Autonomy, the President of the Xunta of Galicia is the head of the government of the Spanish autonomous community of Galicia...
. He believed that Galicia should try to modernise itself without losing its valuable traditions. Fraga's past as a Franco minister was put aside during this stage of his life, in which he assumed some of the claims of Galician nationalists such as the use of the Galician language. He governed Galicia strictly with a sometimes hard hand. Fraga's rule over Galicia came to an end in April 2005.
Galicia today
Today Galician culture is slowly but gradually recovering. Firmly rooted in tradition, it has also incorporated more contemporary aspects. The fact that Galicia was home to the end of a pilgrimagePilgrimage
A pilgrimage is a journey or search of great moral or spiritual significance. Typically, it is a journey to a shrine or other location of importance to a person's beliefs and faith...
route that acted as the cultural backbone of Europe enabled it to soak up European thought and art forms from the Middle Ages until today .
A strong cultural fabric
Modern Galician culture has been built on solid historical foundations, with a cultural industry currently under consolidation supported by a dynamic cultural framework. The principal cultural spaces include, within the field of art, the Centre for Galician Contemporary Art (CGAC) in Santiago de Compostela and VigoVigo
Vigo is a city and municipality in north-west Spain, in Galicia, situated on the ria of the same name on the Atlantic Ocean.-Population:...
's Contemporary Art Museum (MARCO), without forgetting, in the area of dramatic art, the network of theatres and auditoriums. In addition, the Galician City of Culture, although currently undergoing the redefinition and reorganization of its contents and spaces, also constitutes a global cultural project. A description of Galicia's cultural scene would not be complete without a mention of the many socio-cultural centers, networks of libraries, alternative exhibition centres and the multiple associations that organize, promote and support root cultural projects.
Cultural institutions
The principal official institutions in terms of cultural affairs include the Galician Royal Academy, founded in Cuba in 1906, and the Galician Council for Culture, whose aim is to advise the Galician autonomous governments in all matters concerning culture. The region's universities also play a major role in Galicia's cultural development. This is particularly true of the University of Santiago de CompostelaUniversity of Santiago de Compostela
The Royal University of Santiago de Compostela - USC is a public university located in the city of Santiago de Compostela, Galicia, Spain. A second campus is located in Lugo, Galicia....
, which first took on this task back in the 15th century. The Museum of the Galician people (Museo do Pobo Galego) also serves as an important cultural institution.
The major driving forces for culture in Galicia today are the publishing industry, which is producing a growing number of publications, and the audiovisual and art industries, in which private initiative is currently thriving.
See also
- Celtic NationsCeltic nationsThe Celtic nations are territories in North-West Europe in which that area's own Celtic languages and some cultural traits have survived.The term "nation" is used in its original sense to mean a people who share a common traditional identity and culture and are identified with a traditional...
- History of GaliciaHistory of GaliciaThe Iberian Peninsula has been inhabited for at least 500,000 years, first by Neanderthals and then by modern humans.-Megalithic culture:Galicia, northern Portugal, Asturias, western León, and Zamora formed a single megalithic area since the Neolithic and Chalcolithic Ages, around 4500–1500...
- Timeline of Galician historyTimeline of Galician History-Paleolithic:*200th millennium BC – In the Paleolithic period the Neanderthal Man enters the Iberian peninsula.*70th millennium BC**Neanderthal Mousterian culture.**Beginning of the Last Ice Age.*40th millennium BC**Beginning of the Upper Paleolithic....
- Galician nationalismGalician nationalismGalician nationalism is a political movement arguing for the recognition of Galicia as a nation. The political movement referred to as modern Galician nationalism was born at the beginning of the twentieth century from the idea of Galicianism.- Ideology :...
- The Way of St James
- Santiago de CompostelaSantiago de CompostelaSantiago de Compostela is the capital of the autonomous community of Galicia, Spain.The city's Cathedral is the destination today, as it has been throughout history, of the important 9th century medieval pilgrimage route, the Way of St. James...
- Fillos de GaliciaFillos de GaliciaFillos de Galicia is a web portal and virtual community which focuses on Galician culture and diaspora. The site focuses on promoting unity between Galicians and descendants of Galicians around the world. The community is a hub where many objectives can be accomplished, such as learning more...
- Nationalities of SpainNationalities of SpainNationalities of Spain can refer to:*A Spanish constitutional designation of certain subnational political entities *Spaniards, as a people from Spain.*A member of a foreign nationality living in Spain....
- Spanish peopleSpanish peopleThe Spanish are citizens of the Kingdom of Spain. Within Spain, there are also a number of vigorous nationalisms and regionalisms, reflecting the country's complex history....
- Wikipedia:WikiProject Galicia
External links
- Galician Portal
- A collaborative study of the EDNAP group regarding Y-chromosome binary polymorphism analysis
- Galician language portal
- Galician Music, Culture and History
- Galician Government
- Galician History and Language
- Galician History
- Santiago Tourism
- Page about The Way of St James
- Oficial page about The Way of St James