doxa.comunicación | nº 31, pp. 303-314 | 311
July-December of 2020
Carmen González Gómez
ISSN: 1696-019X / e-ISSN: 2386-3978
[There was a huge economic crisis that called into question the European social model, based on neoliberal policies, which resulted in the suffering of many of our compatriots, in the impoverishment of the working class, in the loss of expectations of the middle class, in evictions, unemployment, in poverty and in migration (Iglesias Turrión, DS, 12/12/2017, p. 14)].
In the territorial question, the concept of homeland is also commonly used. The conservative parties normally elaborate a nationalist discourse to underline the indivisibility of the Spanish state and to accuse the pro-independence forces of wanting to divide it or break it. Likewise, they attack progressive parties for not being loyal to the nation and for allying with separatist forces.
The strategy of Unidos Podemos consists of giving a new meaning to the idea of homeland in accordance with their political interests. The Spanish homeland is not one or indivisible but made up of different sovereign peoples who have the right to decide whether they are part of it or not. Any political force that considers itself patriotic must assume the plurinationality of the state. Faced with the uniform concept of nation proposed by the conservative parties, Unidos Podemos vindicate the plurinational richness of Spain and the right of all the nations that make it up to decide whether or not they want to consider and rule themselves as states.
[“We want a tax reform so that not only the working class have to tighten their belts but also the ruling class. We want democratic solutions to the problems posed by the plurinational nature of our country. We are very different.” (Iglesias Turrión, DS, 27/10/2017, p. 34)].
[The ruling experience of the Spanish right wing during the 19th and 20th centuries, from the Restoration, through the dictatorship of Primo de Rivera, through the Black Biennium or Franco´s dictatorship, until the two terms of president Aznar, configured a narrow and predominantly authoritarian vision of the Spanish reality in which they have always denied something evident, the plurinationality of our country (Iglesias Turrión, DS, 06/13/2017, p. 54)].
[This is not only the history of Catalonia, this is the history of Spain, and a patriot cannot deny the history of their homeland, they must know it, ladies and gentlemen (Iglesias Turrión, DS, 06/13/2017, p. 55)].
[In the same way that you are Basque, patriotic and proud of it, I am Spanish, and a democrat and I am proud of my homeland. I assure you that this is a great country that is going to change, that it is going to move forward against corruption and that it will succeed in opening a path to recognize a fundamental thing about our country: plurinationality. I am convinced that we will be able to find ways of mutual understanding, but you should understand that the same love you have for your country I have for mine (Iglesias Turrión, DS, 06/13/2017, p. 92)].
In addition to the economic and territorial issue, constructive patriotism is transferred to other areas and it is associated with the protection of national wealth: in ecology, to be a patriot is to safeguard the natural heritage; in culture, it consists of protecting the artistic legacy; in the business world, it means standing up for industrializing the country so that it does not depend exclusively on tourism; and in the feminist question, it is to defend equality between the two sexes. The term homeland has been meaningless until Unidos Podemos gave it a new meaning in accordance with their political project. The task of a patriot –Irene Montero states during the motion of censure– is to expel the government of the Partido Popular.