Galicia the Province of Galicia

Galicia

The province of Galicia is located on that country's northwestern frontier, abutting the Bay of Biscay (Mar Cantabrico) and the Atlantic Ocean. To the south lies Portugal. Galicia is effectively cut off from the rest of Spain by the Leon Mountains. The result is that the region has many uniques features that distinct Galicia and its people from the rest of Spain (Galicia Guide, 2005). Galicia's climate is temperate, and the land is covered in both coniferous and deciduous forest. The province is covered in low mountains that have had the effect of concentrating development along the coast. There are cliffs along the coast, giving the province a more rugged topography than many other parts of Spain.

Politically, Galicia is divided into four provinces. A Coruna is located in the extreme northwest corner, along the coast. Lugo is in the northeast corner, bordering Asturias. Ourense is the southeastern part of Galicia. Pontevedra is in the southwestern corner, bordering Portugal.

As a result of this isolation, the Galician people have retained much of their distinctiveness, long after having been incorporated into the Spanish state. The Galician language, for example, is distinct from Spanish and is indeed more closely related to Portuguese. There are occasional Celtic influences in the Galician language, a function of Galicia's pre-Roman Celtic history (Lycos Spain, 1999).

All together, there are approximately 2.7 million people in Galicia. This population level has remained stable for the past twenty-five years. As with most Iberians, Galicians are generally Catholics, although there is a non-religious segment of the population. There is no religious remnant of the region's Celtic history.

Repression under both the Castillians and the dictatorship has resulted in a significant diaspora. This has spread Galician cuisine throughout other parts of Spain, and to sizable Galician communities in South America. This diaspora has been likened to the fifth province of Galicia (Alvarez, 2009).

The Galician economy is mixed, but overall the region is considered one of the least-developed areas within the European Union. Along the more populated coast, there are manufacturing industries. This complements a strong traditional fishing industry, of which Galicia has the largest in the EU. In the sparsely-interior, small scale agriculture dominates, based around tiny landholdings known as minifundios (Celtia.info, 2004).

Galicia today is an integral part of Spain, but has throughout the centuries existed as a component of any number of political entities. The first political organization in Galicia came with the arrival of the Romans, who conquered the local Celtic tribes and created the province of Gallaecia. Germans followed the Romans into the area, which at that time also received an influx of Celtic migrants from the British Isles. After three hundred years, the Arabs arrived. The province of Galicia is split from Asturias and Portugal at this point.

The country flourished under independence, but would later fall under Castillian influence in the 14th century. The local culture remained suppressed until the 19th century, during a period of widespread national awakening in Europe. Galicia voted for autonomy in 1936, but the nascent Franco dictatorship crushed those ambitions brutally. Galicia finally restored a degree of autonomy in 1980 following the downfall of the dictatorship, and at that point established its current political structure (Celtia.info, 2004).

During the periods of Galician nationalism, the connection to the Celtic world remained one of the hallmarks of Galician culture, as it was something that no other Spanish people could claim. In the Galician highlands, people still lived in Celtic-style thatched huts up until the 1970s. Recent years have brought about reconnection between Galicia and the other Celtic nations. Traditional Galician music has strong Celtic influences, and these influences are also found in jewelery, clothing, druid legends, and fortified Iron Age villages (DeLopez, no date).