Historical regions in Spain
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Historical regions in Spain are those that are granted by the 1978 Constitution a special status as autonomous communities. These historical regions are: Catalonia, the Basque Country, Galicia and Andalusia, all of them officially recognized as nationalities. The other 13 autonomous communities were granted less devolved powers and became autonomous communities by the so-called slow track[1].
They were intended to recognize the regions that had their statutes of autonomy in an advanced stage during the Second Spanish Republic.
Actually, only the Catalan statute was active before the Spanish Civil War. Andalusia statute of autonomy was drawn and submitted by Blas Infante at the same time [2], then approved by parliament in June 1936, to be voted in referendum in September 1936. However the start of the Civil War in July and the assassination of Infante by Franco's rebels in August of the same year put an end to the autonomist project for Andalusia.
The Basque statute was approved during the war and was effective only on the limited part of the region under the control of the Basque Government.
As of 2007, the autonomous communities which are defined in their statutes of autonomy as nationalities or historic regions[3], therefore legally recognised as such are:
Andalucía (1981 and 2006 statutes), Aragón (1996), Canary islands (1996), Catalonia (1979 and 2006), Valencia (1982 and 2006), Galicia (1981) and Basque Country (1979).
[edit] References
- ^ Vía lenta in Spanish, referring to article 143 of the Spanish Constitution of 1978
- ^ http://www.andalucia.com/history/people/blasinfante.htm
- ^ (Spanish) Statutes of Autonomy of the Autonomous Communities of Spain
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