Conflicting nationalist traditions and immigration: theBasque case from 1950 to 1980

Abstract

ABSTRACT. Immigration from the different regions in Spain to the Basque Country has traditionally opposed Basque and Spanish nationalism. This article provides an overview of the discourse of both nationalist traditions with respect to the intraregional migration movement of the second half of the twentieth century as well as of the resulting controversy. Whereas the Basque nationalist movement claims to have defended the need to integrate immigrants since the middle of the twentieth century, particularly through politics, Spanish nationalism claims that Basque nationalism has helped marginalise these same immigrants. A qualitative analysis is used to contrast this controversy by consulting the opinion of the Spanish immigrants who settled in the Basque Country and did not avail of the political integration proposed by Basque nationalism. The main conclusion is that these immigrants tend to avoid the heart of the matter of discord between both nationalist traditions, granting little importance to political and cultural elements though stressing their social integration in the Basque Country.KEYWORDS: Basque nationalism, immigration, migrants' integration, Spanish nationalism, the Basque Country With the complex relationship existing between nationalism and migration movements as the backdrop, this article focuses more specifically on the problematic relationship between two nationalist traditions with regard to a migration movement. It tackles the controversy surrounding sub-state Basque nationalism and Spanish nationalism on the integration of Spanish migrants to the Basque Country.1 This relation between nationalism and migration is analysed in a specific migratory movement, namely, that from Spain to the Julen Zabalo (julen.zabalo@ehu.es) and Txoli Mateos (txoli.mateos@ehu.es) are lecturers and Iker Iraola (iker.iraola@ehu.es) is a temporary lecturer in the Department of Sociology and Social

Nationalism and immigration control

“…However, the literature is largely silent about whether nationalism influences a country's immigration policy per se. Only a few studies have investigated the impact of nationalism at the national level, but they tend to look at one or a few countries (e.g., Behdad, 1997; Gordon et al, 2019; Hutchins & Halikiopoulou, 2020; Solberg, 1969; Weiner, 1995; Zabalo et al, 2013) or explore the relationship with a narrow focus by looking at how special national historical experiences, such as colonialism or being a settler nation, influence a country's immigration policy (e.g., Breunig & Luedtke, 2008). Though analytically rich in detail, these qualitative studies are not ideal for generalizing the nationalism and immigration nexus across countries and across years.…”

Abertzaletasunaren bilakaera espainiar immigrazioarekiko: erreakziotik integraziora

“…Nolanahi ere, euskal nazionalismoak Espainiatik iritsitako immigrazioaren aurrean garatutako ildoa gatazka-iturri izan da, maila politikoan batez ere (Zabalo et al, 2013). Nazionalismoaren ikuspegi teorikotik, eztabaida izan da ea euskal nazionalismoak autoktonoen eta espainiar jatorriko immigranteen arteko zuloa areagotu duen (Heiberg, 1989) edo, aitzitik, abertzaletasunak banaketa hori gainditzen lagundu ote duen (Conversi, 1997).…”