Pasado y Memoria (Oct 2018)

For a free, autonomous and socialist Valencian Country. The PSOE and the Valencian identity (1974-1978)

  • Vega Rodríguez-Flores Parra

DOI
https://doi.org/10.14198/PASADO2018.17.04
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 0, no. 17
pp. 103 – 125

Abstract

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This paper addresses the attitude of the Spanish Socialist Party (PSOE) in relation to the national issue in the Valencian Country, from a perspective that tries to consider the response both of the federal structure and the Valencian Federation to the problems involved. The period covered goes from the Socialist Party renewal in 1974, when the PSOE declared itself in favor of the right to self-determination and advocated a federal model, until April 1978, when the PSOE-PV presided over the Consell Preautonomic of the Valencian Country. The Valencian Country offers a singular complexity due to its remarkable historical and cultural peculiarities. Valencian nationalism became especially important during the above-mentioned period when the national and even autonomic will of the population was questioned. This lasted until the end of 1977, when the demonstration organized for the National Day of the Valencian Country, convinced most of the political spectrum otherwise. In this sense, the chapter analyses how the identity issue was addressed from the Party, how it articulated the regional and the national elements in its discourse, and how it formulated its idea of nation, of Spain and of the Valencian Country.

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