Blaverism
Encyclopedia
Blaverism is a body of ideas in the Valencian Community
, Spain
that emerged with the Spanish transition to democracy
after the death of Francisco Franco
, and characterised by its opposition to Joan Fuster
's book Nosaltres, els valencians (1962), which revived the concept of Països Catalans which includes Valencia. They consider Fuster's ideas as an imperialist Catalan nationalist movement that tries to impose the Catalan language
and culture.
Blaverism takes its name from the blue (Valencian
: blava) fringe which distinguishes the Valencian flag from other flags with a common origin
, particularly from the Catalonian.
The term "blaverism" normally has a negative connotation, often pejorative. Adherents to this political tendency identify themselves as valencianistes
instead, while the blavero term is used by Valencian leftists and nationalists, who couple this term with the extreme right, or, simply, with ignorance. Notwithstanding, the term may be used by minority proponents of blaverism to distinguish themselves from other branches of Valencianism
.
In its origins in the second half of the twentieth century, blaverism was a popularist
and heterogeneous movement, which grouped together regionalists and supporters of Valencian foral civil law. Support for blaverism has been strongest in the city of Valencia and in the areas immediately surrounding it.
in his 1962 essay
Nosaltres els valencians ("We the Valencians"), which was very influential among Catalan nationalists during the 1960s and early 1970s. Fuster's thesis was that the Valencians and the Catalans
form part of the same nationality. In his words,
Blaverism not only rejects the thesis of a common nationality (flag, language, culture, etc.) but also promotes symbols of a distinct Valencian nationality: in this sense it can be described as a nationalist
movement, although many of its early proponents were, in fact, latter-Francoists
.
On September 11, 1981, two bombs exploded in Fuster's house, damaging heavily his library and archive. Nobody was prosecuted, but it is widely believed that it was the blaverist response to Fuster's political and cultural position.
, and particularly the economic problems of the time, could radicalize the conservative positions of a part of the right. The first public attacks against a perceived
pancatalanism of the left-wing parties occurred in the run up to the first democratic elections, in June 1977, and there were a number of violent attacks on left-wing activists and bookshops from this time on.
In terms of democratic politics, the party which most closely espoused the blaverist cause was the centre-right Unión de Centro Democrático (UCD), which was in
power nationally (under Adolfo Suárez
) but which trailed the socialists in Valencia
and Alicante
. The first speech attacking pancatalanism came in December 1977 from Emilio Attard, its leader in the province of Valencia. Manuel Broseta, another leading member of the UCD, published an influential essay "Paella and the Catalan Countries"
a few months later, the first in a substantial series of anti-Catalanist articles to appear in the newspaper Las Provincias.
The UCD would defend, with some success, a staunchly Valencianist position throughout the negotiations leading up to the first Statute of Autonomy.
, the socialists of the PSOE and the communists (PCE)—were represented, and all signed a call for Valencian autonomy on 8 October, the eve of the Valencian national
day.
After the approval of the Spanish Constitution in December 1978, the Consell approved the first draft of a Statute of Autonomy at its meeting in Morella on 9 January 1979: this draft has become known as the "Statute of Morella".
The political climate degraded significantly after the elections of March and April 1979—with some hyperbole, the period has become known as the "Battle of Valencia". The elections gave the left another majority in the parliamentary deputation (PCE, 3; PSOE, 19; UCD, 19) but gave the UCD the majority of seats on the Consell del País Valencià (PCE, 1; PSOE, 7; UCD, 10), which were attributed under a different voting system. It was initially agreed that socialist Josep-Lluís Albinyana should rest as President of the Consell but the tensions between left and right were such that Albinyana was ousted after a vote of censure on 22 December 1979. The UCD accused Albinyana of using his position as President of the Consell to bounce through a Statute of Autonomy without consensus, while the socialists accused the UCD of wanting to reopen the consensus reached at Morella. There were elements of truth in both
positions, and the close balance of electoral strength made the arguments particularly virulent.
As a result of the tensions in regional politics and of a certain number of developments at the national level, the Statute of Autonomy remained deadlocked throughout 1980, despite petitions in favour of Valencian autonomy from 529 of the 542 municipalities. The Valencian parliamentarians took the matter in hand after the failed military coup of 23 February 1981 (during which the city of Valencia suffered several hours of military occupation), producing a compromise draft Statute known as the "Statute of Benicàssim". It is this draft, along with a set of amendments proposed by the UCD and the communists, which was submitted for approval to the Cortes Generales
in Madrid.
The Statute of Benicàssim was modified in favour of blaverist held positions by the Constitutional Committee of the Congress of Deputies, where the UCD held a majority.
However Article 1 of the modified text, which named the autonomous community as the "Kingdom of Valencia", was rejected by the full Chamber (for, 151; against, 161; absentions, 9) on 9 March 1982 and the text returned to the Constitutional Committee. A final compromise resulted in the name "Valencian Community": the Statute of Autonomy entered into force on 1 July 1982.
(named as "pancatalanism"), whether real, perceived or, according to their opponents, simply made up. The positions associated with blaverism have varied somewhat since the return to democracy, depending on the direction of the supposed "threat". Some blaverist positions have become mainstream (e.g., the flag), some have lost
their association with blaverism (e.g., role of the autonomous institutions) while some have become more associated with blaverism, and more hotly debated (e.g., the Valencian language).
) and that
Valencian groups who had used different flags in the years before Franco "knew not what they did" (no sabien el que es feien, p. 26). The Senyera in its simplest form—sometimes referred to as the quatribarrada—gained a certain (but not overwhelming) support in Valencianist circles, and
was on view at the march in favour of autonomy of 9 October 1977.
The Statute of Morella proposed that the flag of the autonomous community be the Senyera with the royal coat of arms at the centre (those of Peter III of Aragon
(1336–87), who did much to formalize the autonomy of the Kingdom of Valencia
within the Crown of Aragon
). This was adopted as the flag of the Consell del País Valencià on 24 April 1979: however the decision was seen as a
provocation by the UCD, coming as it did after elections
which would have given the centre-right a majority on the Consell but before the new Consell could be constituted.
The more extremest blaverist groups seized the opportunity provided by the tense political climate: the flags of the Valencia Town Hall were burnt by demonstrators on 9 October 1979, far from the only act of political violence that year.
The socialist representative left the Consell on 22 December 1979 and the choice of flag was reversed on 14 January 1980. The blaverists continued to insist that the flag of the new autonomous community be recognisably different from that of any other, and particularly that of Catalonia
(the Senyera in its simplest form). The Statute of Benicàssim proposed a new design, but the UCD representative on the
Constitutional Committee of the Congress of Deputies managed to impose an amendment making the flag of the autonomous community the same as that of the city of Valencia (for, 17; against, 16; abstention, 1) which includes the blue fringe (the Senyera Coronada).
Since the adoption of the first Statute of Autonomy, the issue has lost much of its controversy. The use of the Senyera coronada has a wide acceptance within the Valencian Community, although some small groups on the left of the political spectrum (e.g. Els Verds, ERPV) continue to refer to it as the "blavera" and the Senyera quatribarrada
can be seen from time to time, particularly in the districts furthest from the capital.
. However it became the issue which almost caused the rejection of the Statute of Autonomy by the Congress of Deputies in 1982.
At the start of the democratic transition Valencian: País Valencià, Spanish
: País Valenciano (roughly translated as "Valencian Country") seemed to enjoy a wide consensus. It was under this name that the Consell del País Valencià was established, and it was this name which was used in the Call for Autonomy of 8 October 1978, signed by both the UCD and by the postfranquists of the Alianza Popular.
The blaverist view, minority even on the right at first, was that the term País Valencià implied an identification with the Països Catalans, an anathema to the blaverists. In the context of the political tensions of 1979–80, they called ever more loudly for the alternative name Regne de Valencia ("Kingdom of Valencia
").
Valencian Community
The Valencian Community is an autonomous community of Spain located in central and south-eastern Iberian Peninsula. Its capital and largest city is Valencia...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
that emerged with the Spanish transition to democracy
Spanish transition to democracy
The Spanish transition to democracy was the era when Spain moved from the dictatorship of Francisco Franco to a liberal democratic state. The transition is usually said to have begun with Franco’s death on 20 November 1975, while its completion has been variously said to be marked by the Spanish...
after the death of Francisco 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...
, and characterised by its opposition to Joan Fuster
Joan Fuster
Joan Fuster i Ortells was a Valencian writer, who published mostly in Catalan.- Life and works :He was born in the village of Sueca near Valencia, Spain, in a relatively prosperous middle class family. Both his parents were pious Roman Catholics and Carlists. His father was a renowned local...
's book Nosaltres, els valencians (1962), which revived the concept of Països Catalans which includes Valencia. They consider Fuster's ideas as an imperialist Catalan nationalist movement that tries to impose the Catalan language
Catalan language
Catalan is a Romance language, the national and only official language of Andorra and a co-official language in the Spanish autonomous communities of Catalonia, the Balearic Islands and Valencian Community, where it is known as Valencian , as well as in the city of Alghero, on the Italian island...
and culture.
Blaverism takes its name from the blue (Valencian
Valencian
Valencian is the traditional and official name of the Catalan language in the Valencian Community. There are dialectical differences from standard Catalan, and under the Valencian Statute of Autonomy, the Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua has been established as its regulator...
: blava) fringe which distinguishes the Valencian flag from other flags with a common origin
Senyera
The Senyera is a vexillological symbol based on the coat of arms of the Crown of Aragon, which consists of four red stripes on a golden background...
, particularly from the Catalonian.
The term "blaverism" normally has a negative connotation, often pejorative. Adherents to this political tendency identify themselves as valencianistes
Valencianism
Valencian nationalism or Valencianism is a political movement in the Valencian Community, one of the Autonomous Communities of Spain.It advocates to reach the highest level of self-government, or independence itself, for the Valencian Country....
instead, while the blavero term is used by Valencian leftists and nationalists, who couple this term with the extreme right, or, simply, with ignorance. Notwithstanding, the term may be used by minority proponents of blaverism to distinguish themselves from other branches of Valencianism
Valencianism
Valencian nationalism or Valencianism is a political movement in the Valencian Community, one of the Autonomous Communities of Spain.It advocates to reach the highest level of self-government, or independence itself, for the Valencian Country....
.
In its origins in the second half of the twentieth century, blaverism was a popularist
Populism
Populism can be defined as an ideology, political philosophy, or type of discourse. Generally, a common theme compares "the people" against "the elite", and urges social and political system changes. It can also be defined as a rhetorical style employed by members of various political or social...
and heterogeneous movement, which grouped together regionalists and supporters of Valencian foral civil law. Support for blaverism has been strongest in the city of Valencia and in the areas immediately surrounding it.
Reaction against Fuster
Blaverism is usually seen as a reaction against the ideas expressed by Joan FusterJoan Fuster
Joan Fuster i Ortells was a Valencian writer, who published mostly in Catalan.- Life and works :He was born in the village of Sueca near Valencia, Spain, in a relatively prosperous middle class family. Both his parents were pious Roman Catholics and Carlists. His father was a renowned local...
in his 1962 essay
Nosaltres els valencians ("We the Valencians"), which was very influential among Catalan nationalists during the 1960s and early 1970s. Fuster's thesis was that the Valencians and the Catalans
Catalonia
Catalonia is an autonomous community in northeastern Spain, with the official status of a "nationality" of Spain. Catalonia comprises four provinces: Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona. Its capital and largest city is Barcelona. Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² and has an...
form part of the same nationality. In his words,
-
- "No és que la bandera valenciana siga igual que la catalana. És la mateixa. Igual que amb la llengua i tantes altres coses."
- "It isn't that the Valencian flag should be the same as the Catalan. It is the same. Same as with the language, and so many other things."
Blaverism not only rejects the thesis of a common nationality (flag, language, culture, etc.) but also promotes symbols of a distinct Valencian nationality: in this sense it can be described as a nationalist
Nationalism
Nationalism is a political ideology that involves a strong identification of a group of individuals with a political entity defined in national terms, i.e. a nation. In the 'modernist' image of the nation, it is nationalism that creates national identity. There are various definitions for what...
movement, although many of its early proponents were, in fact, latter-Francoists
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...
.
On September 11, 1981, two bombs exploded in Fuster's house, damaging heavily his library and archive. Nobody was prosecuted, but it is widely believed that it was the blaverist response to Fuster's political and cultural position.
The democratic transition
Some observers warned as early as in 1976 that the transition to democracySpanish transition to democracy
The Spanish transition to democracy was the era when Spain moved from the dictatorship of Francisco Franco to a liberal democratic state. The transition is usually said to have begun with Franco’s death on 20 November 1975, while its completion has been variously said to be marked by the Spanish...
, and particularly the economic problems of the time, could radicalize the conservative positions of a part of the right. The first public attacks against a perceived
pancatalanism of the left-wing parties occurred in the run up to the first democratic elections, in June 1977, and there were a number of violent attacks on left-wing activists and bookshops from this time on.
In terms of democratic politics, the party which most closely espoused the blaverist cause was the centre-right Unión de Centro Democrático (UCD), which was in
power nationally (under Adolfo Suárez
Adolfo Suárez
Adolfo Suárez y González, 1st Duke of Suárez, Grandee of Spain, KOGF is a Spanish lawyer and politician. Suárez was Spain's first democratically elected prime minister after the dictatorship of Francisco Franco, and the key figure in the country's transition to democracy.-Parents:He is a son of...
) but which trailed the socialists in Valencia
Valencia (province)
Valencia or València is a province of Spain, in the central part of the Valencian Community.It is bordered by the provinces of Alicante, Albacete, Cuenca, Teruel, Castellón, and the Mediterranean Sea...
and Alicante
Alicante (province)
Alicante or Alacant is a province of eastern Spain, in the southern part of the Valencian Community. It is bordered by the provinces of Murcia on the southwest, Albacete on the west, Valencia on the north, and the Mediterranean Sea on the east...
. The first speech attacking pancatalanism came in December 1977 from Emilio Attard, its leader in the province of Valencia. Manuel Broseta, another leading member of the UCD, published an influential essay "Paella and the Catalan Countries"
a few months later, the first in a substantial series of anti-Catalanist articles to appear in the newspaper Las Provincias.
The UCD would defend, with some success, a staunchly Valencianist position throughout the negotiations leading up to the first Statute of Autonomy.
Valencian autonomy
The Consell del País Valencià was established by Royal Decree on 17 March 1978 and held its first meeting at the Monastery of El Puig on 10 April. All four main parties—the UCD, the postfranquists of the Alianza PopularPopular Alliance (Spain)
The People's Alliance was a electoral coalition, and later a political party, founded in 1976 by Manuel Fraga along with six other former Francoist ministers.- History :...
, the socialists of the PSOE and the communists (PCE)—were represented, and all signed a call for Valencian autonomy on 8 October, the eve of the Valencian national
day.
After the approval of the Spanish Constitution in December 1978, the Consell approved the first draft of a Statute of Autonomy at its meeting in Morella on 9 January 1979: this draft has become known as the "Statute of Morella".
The political climate degraded significantly after the elections of March and April 1979—with some hyperbole, the period has become known as the "Battle of Valencia". The elections gave the left another majority in the parliamentary deputation (PCE, 3; PSOE, 19; UCD, 19) but gave the UCD the majority of seats on the Consell del País Valencià (PCE, 1; PSOE, 7; UCD, 10), which were attributed under a different voting system. It was initially agreed that socialist Josep-Lluís Albinyana should rest as President of the Consell but the tensions between left and right were such that Albinyana was ousted after a vote of censure on 22 December 1979. The UCD accused Albinyana of using his position as President of the Consell to bounce through a Statute of Autonomy without consensus, while the socialists accused the UCD of wanting to reopen the consensus reached at Morella. There were elements of truth in both
positions, and the close balance of electoral strength made the arguments particularly virulent.
As a result of the tensions in regional politics and of a certain number of developments at the national level, the Statute of Autonomy remained deadlocked throughout 1980, despite petitions in favour of Valencian autonomy from 529 of the 542 municipalities. The Valencian parliamentarians took the matter in hand after the failed military coup of 23 February 1981 (during which the city of Valencia suffered several hours of military occupation), producing a compromise draft Statute known as the "Statute of Benicàssim". It is this draft, along with a set of amendments proposed by the UCD and the communists, which was submitted for approval to the Cortes Generales
Cortes Generales
The Cortes Generales is the legislature of Spain. It is a bicameral parliament, composed of the Congress of Deputies and the Senate . The Cortes has power to enact any law and to amend the constitution...
in Madrid.
The Statute of Benicàssim was modified in favour of blaverist held positions by the Constitutional Committee of the Congress of Deputies, where the UCD held a majority.
However Article 1 of the modified text, which named the autonomous community as the "Kingdom of Valencia", was rejected by the full Chamber (for, 151; against, 161; absentions, 9) on 9 March 1982 and the text returned to the Constitutional Committee. A final compromise resulted in the name "Valencian Community": the Statute of Autonomy entered into force on 1 July 1982.
Blaverist positions
Blaverism's characteristic feature is its opposition to Catalan nationalismCatalan nationalism
Catalan nationalism or Catalanism , is a political movement advocating for either further political autonomy or full independence of Catalonia....
(named as "pancatalanism"), whether real, perceived or, according to their opponents, simply made up. The positions associated with blaverism have varied somewhat since the return to democracy, depending on the direction of the supposed "threat". Some blaverist positions have become mainstream (e.g., the flag), some have lost
their association with blaverism (e.g., role of the autonomous institutions) while some have become more associated with blaverism, and more hotly debated (e.g., the Valencian language).
Flag of the autonomous community
The question of which flag should be used to represent the Valencian Community is at the origin of the name "blaverism", which is derived from the Valencian "blava", meaning "blue". The origin of the dispute can be traced to Fuster's "Nosaltres els valencians", where he claims that Valencians and Catalans have always shared the same flag (the SenyeraSenyera
The Senyera is a vexillological symbol based on the coat of arms of the Crown of Aragon, which consists of four red stripes on a golden background...
) and that
Valencian groups who had used different flags in the years before Franco "knew not what they did" (no sabien el que es feien, p. 26). The Senyera in its simplest form—sometimes referred to as the quatribarrada—gained a certain (but not overwhelming) support in Valencianist circles, and
was on view at the march in favour of autonomy of 9 October 1977.
The Statute of Morella proposed that the flag of the autonomous community be the Senyera with the royal coat of arms at the centre (those of Peter III of Aragon
Peter III of Aragon
Peter the Great was the King of Aragon of Valencia , and Count of Barcelona from 1276 to his death. He conquered Sicily and became its king in 1282. He was one of the greatest of medieval Aragonese monarchs.-Youth and succession:Peter was the eldest son of James I of Aragon and his second wife...
(1336–87), who did much to formalize the autonomy of the Kingdom of Valencia
Kingdom of Valencia
The Kingdom of Valencia , located in the eastern shore of the Iberian Peninsula, was one of the component realms of the Crown of Aragon. When the Crown of Aragon merged by dynastic union with the Crown of Castile to form the Kingdom of Spain, the Kingdom of Valencia became a component realm of the...
within the Crown of Aragon
Crown of Aragon
The Crown of Aragon Corona d'Aragón Corona d'Aragó Corona Aragonum controlling a large portion of the present-day eastern Spain and southeastern France, as well as some of the major islands and mainland possessions stretching across the Mediterranean as far as Greece...
). This was adopted as the flag of the Consell del País Valencià on 24 April 1979: however the decision was seen as a
provocation by the UCD, coming as it did after elections
which would have given the centre-right a majority on the Consell but before the new Consell could be constituted.
The more extremest blaverist groups seized the opportunity provided by the tense political climate: the flags of the Valencia Town Hall were burnt by demonstrators on 9 October 1979, far from the only act of political violence that year.
The socialist representative left the Consell on 22 December 1979 and the choice of flag was reversed on 14 January 1980. The blaverists continued to insist that the flag of the new autonomous community be recognisably different from that of any other, and particularly that of Catalonia
Catalonia
Catalonia is an autonomous community in northeastern Spain, with the official status of a "nationality" of Spain. Catalonia comprises four provinces: Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona. Its capital and largest city is Barcelona. Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² and has an...
(the Senyera in its simplest form). The Statute of Benicàssim proposed a new design, but the UCD representative on the
Constitutional Committee of the Congress of Deputies managed to impose an amendment making the flag of the autonomous community the same as that of the city of Valencia (for, 17; against, 16; abstention, 1) which includes the blue fringe (the Senyera Coronada).
Since the adoption of the first Statute of Autonomy, the issue has lost much of its controversy. The use of the Senyera coronada has a wide acceptance within the Valencian Community, although some small groups on the left of the political spectrum (e.g. Els Verds, ERPV) continue to refer to it as the "blavera" and the Senyera quatribarrada
can be seen from time to time, particularly in the districts furthest from the capital.
Name of the autonomous community
The question of the name of the autonomous community was initially seen as fairly minor compared to the debates over the flag and the powers which would be granted to the Generalitat ValencianaGeneralitat Valenciana
The Generalitat Valenciana is the generic name covering the different self government institutions under which the Spanish autonomous community of Valencia is politically organised....
. However it became the issue which almost caused the rejection of the Statute of Autonomy by the Congress of Deputies in 1982.
At the start of the democratic transition Valencian: País Valencià, 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...
: País Valenciano (roughly translated as "Valencian Country") seemed to enjoy a wide consensus. It was under this name that the Consell del País Valencià was established, and it was this name which was used in the Call for Autonomy of 8 October 1978, signed by both the UCD and by the postfranquists of the Alianza Popular.
The blaverist view, minority even on the right at first, was that the term País Valencià implied an identification with the Països Catalans, an anathema to the blaverists. In the context of the political tensions of 1979–80, they called ever more loudly for the alternative name Regne de Valencia ("Kingdom of Valencia
Kingdom of Valencia
The Kingdom of Valencia , located in the eastern shore of the Iberian Peninsula, was one of the component realms of the Crown of Aragon. When the Crown of Aragon merged by dynastic union with the Crown of Castile to form the Kingdom of Spain, the Kingdom of Valencia became a component realm of the...
").