¿European or Español?

Siestas, bullfights, gazpacho, flamenco, Roman Catholicism, the peseta, the Castilian dialect, and the Spanish language…immediately cue our thoughts to the country of Spain. But for how long? As Spain enters the 21^st century, many changes are taking place. After the death of dictator Francisco Franco in 1975 and recently becoming a member of the European Union in 1986, Spain has made many adjustments. Attempting to conform to the requirements and standards of the European Community and the demands of the outside world, Spain is rapidly changing. What does this change mean? What remains part of the national identity of Spain? What have been the consequences for Spanish national identity? These questions will be addressed through an analysis of national identity, language (spoken and written), culture, and territory and with evidence from public opinion data. I have organized the paper into the following parts:

Nation and National Identity

Language

Culture

Territory

Influence of the European Union

I argue that national identity in Spain is changing, more Spaniards are beginning to identify also as Europeans rather than solely as Spaniards due to the influence of the European Union and the newly arrived corporate, economic, and modern world in Spain.

First and foremost, what is a "nation"? What is "national identity"? How do groups of people in certain regions gain this national identity? A nation, as defined by Webster’s dictionary, consists of a stable group of people with a territory, history, culture and language in common. Therefore, this group gains an idea of national identity by recognizing and accepting its common territory, history, culture and language. First, we should examine "nation" more closely. As Umut Ozkirimli explains in his book, Theories of Nationalism,

While some scholars emphasize ‘objective’ criteria like religion, language or race, others stress the importance of ‘subjective’ criteria such as self-awareness or solidarity in the definition of a nation. Most scholars employ a combination of the two. A similar disagreement exists between those who see the nation as ‘self-defined’ (that is self-awareness) entity and those who see it as ‘other-defined’ (that is recognition by the international community) (Ozkirimli 58).

So, in actuality "nation" is both a subjective and an objective concept.

Focusing on the objective criteria for the nation of Spain is its territory is the Iberian Peninsula excluding Portugal, its history stretches at least from the Roman conquest to present day, its culture includes most invisibly siestas, flamenco, bullfights, and its language, Spanish. But we also have subjective criteria, like self-awareness (for example, what is it to be Spanish compared to British) or solidarity (Spain as its own separate country). Knowing this, national identity is formed from these concepts, this is to say a person in this nation, in our case, Spain, identifies him/herself more or less according to this criteria. Therefore, when these elements are threatened, what happens to the nation and its citizens? What remains part of the national identity of Spain? How do Spaniards identify with one another? In order to answer these questions, focus must be concentrated in the core elements of a nation: language, culture, and territory.

Language is the first element that shall be examined. Castilian is the national language of the entirety of Spain, as pointed out in the first clause of Article 3 of the 1978 Constitution, ‘Castilian is the official language of the state.’ "The use of the term ‘Castilian’, and not ‘Spanish’, makes an important statement acknowledging the existence of various ‘Spanish’ languages" (Mar-Molinero 337). The second clause of the constitution states that ‘The other Spanish languages will also be official in the respective autonomous communities in accordance with their statues’ (Mar-Molinero 337). Therefore the existence of the other languages in the northern and eastern autonomies (the Kingdom of Spain is broken into 17 Autonomous Communities) of Spain makes these parts bilingual. Yet, the people in these bilingual areas do not all speak the same two languages. It is generally accepted that Spain contains four ‘languages’: Castilian, Catalan, Basque, and Galician, although arguments in favor of Asturian and Aragonese, for instance, or for Galician to be a ‘dialect’ of Portuguese, will always remain" (Mar-Molinero 337). All these bilingual people speak their respective regional language as well as Castilian. For example, in Northern Spain the people speak Catalonian, Galician, Basque (or Euskera), and Asturian, each a different language from the next. Catalonian is more similar to French and Galician to Portuguese, whereas Basque holds few similarities, (Euskera has some, but few lexical imports from Castilian and other Romance languages) to any language other than itself.

These bilingual northern regions that exist in Spain separate the Spaniards who live in the north from those of the south. If an Andalusian travels to Northern Spain, he or she is not likely to communicate in the local language. Although he or she will be able to communicate in Spanish, the sense of nationalism is not as strong because there is a lack of identity through language between the northern Spaniards and the southern Spaniards. For example, throughout the cities of Northern Spain there are street signs, shops, and information in the dominant language of that region, i.e. the Galician language, the Catalonian language, or the Basque language or the Asturian language. The southern Spaniard cannot identify with these signs or languages because s/he speaks only Spanish, not Galician, Catalonian, Basque or Asturian. Likewise, the Northern Spaniard traveling south would encounter people who only knew one language, Castilian, which the Northern Spaniard could identify with. Yet, there would not likely be the same bond between them as there would be between two Northern Spaniards from the same area because of the absence of that second language (i.e. Catalonian, Galician, Basque, or Asturian). Clearly the issues of national and group identity are evident through these minority languages. "By limiting the promotion of non-Castilian languages to discrete geographical areas, the continued domination of Castilian as ‘national’ language is ensured. The minorities’ cultural identities are acknowledged only when they are linked to territorial issues" (Mar-Molinero 337). Therefore the division of these people because of their extra language sets them apart from other Spaniards, making their ability to identify with other Spaniards even more difficult.

While Spain struggles with these language conflicts within its borders, there are other language conflicts with the European Union. In the European Union there are several different languages spoken by the members, including English, French, Spanish, Danish, German, Greek, Dutch, Italian, Portuguese, Swedish, and Finnish. However, English, French, and German are the main languages of the Union.

In addition to the languages used by the European Union, the modernity of the European Community has been effective in altering the language aspect of Spanish national identity. Alteration is occurring through the:

challenge of mass communications in modern technological societies. Satellite television, international travel, computer technology, multinational business creating the so-called global village inevitably weaken the role of lesser-used languages and strengthen the position of world languages, above all English (Mar-Molinero 337).

The majority of the European Union documents are published in English and French, yet the "minority" languages like Spanish are recognized. In the 44^th Report of Eurobarometer, a public opinion survey in the European Union, a study was done on languages, which examined three areas: "the recorded mother tongue of respondents, the other languages in which respondents felt competent to converse and finally their judgment as to which languages they considered to be the most useful". Table I shows the percentages:

Within the Union, the German language holds the highest percentage of people who use German as their mother tongue at 25%, and then French, Italian and English are the same at 16%. Spanish is spoken by 9% as a mother tongue. So, Spanish is the 5^th most spoken mother tongue, and it only falls behind French, Italian and English by 7%. However, if we look at the languages in which people of the Union consider the most useful, Spanish is a mere 15%, whereas English takes the lead at 78% and French follows behind at 45%. So, if the Spanish government and Spanish citizens look at this statistical evidence, then it is obvious that the use of the English and French languages is crucial for Spain’s recognition in the European Community. If Spaniards simply look at this evidence, how does it make them feel about the importance of their own language in the Union? They might be well aware that their language does not hold the same value that English or French does, therefore not making Spanish (Castilian) a major European Union language.

Additionally, the English language is becoming influential as a result of "Americanization" within Spain. The influence of the English language is quickly establishing itself in Spain. Many brochures, street signs, and shops are in English as well as Spanish, attributable to the influence of tourism and the European Union. Many people of the larger cities of Spain are fluent in both Spanish and English, in order to accommodate the needs of the modern world, including travelers and visitors from many different countries. And although the English language is foreign to the Spaniard, this foreign language is becoming a part of their culture.

Surely, many Spaniards must have felt uncomfortable about the importance of their language in the Union when "in the early 1990’s, the European Union tried to get the Spanish to take the tilde—the squiggle over the letter n—from their keyboards to conform with the single market enshrined in the Treaty of Rome" (Daley, "Spain Rudely..." 1). After all, the European Commission was asking Spain to remove a letter it uses in order to spell it’s own country’s name in Spanish: España. This effort threatened Spanish identity and generated protest. It is my opinion that this effort makes the Spanish feel inferior and question their language (a part of their national identity)—it’s value and it’s worth. Although, the European Union eventually backed down, due to strong Spanish protest, there still exists the idea that the Spanish language in terms of its lettering is less important than others, after all the Commission did not ask the French to do away with their cedilla or the German umlaut (Debelius, par. 5). Spanish’s abnormal lettering, according to the European Union, was to be erased. Since the Spanish were concerned about their language and identity, they successfully resisted this overt assault of their language. However, the Spanish were aware of this negative opinion toward their language, and it became a part of their consciousness of their language.

Language in Spain, a central idea to nation and national identity, is being threatened by bilingualism or the lack of bilingualism throughout the country, the major languages of the European Union, English through Americanization, and attacks on their lettering by the European Union. Through these factors the national identity in Spain is being questioned and threatened. It’s possible that more Spaniards are beginning to identify also as Europeans rather than solely as Spaniards due to these factors that may involve feelings of inferiority or abnormality to other European Union countries. Therefore to avoid feeling like outsiders, Spaniards may begin to identify less with one another and more with Europeans.

Along with language it is likely that Spain’s culture is being affected by the European Union and the global economy. The entrance into the corporate, economic, modern world is affecting three of Spain’s core culture elements: 1-the peseta 2-the siesta 3-the bullfight. First, the peseta is to be removed from the economic system of Spain by January 2002, and replaced with the "Euro" (a single monetary unit for the countries in the European Union). While some countries, like Great Britain, were able to avoid this change, the Spanish government chose to conform to the new monetary unit. During this transition, each item purchased by a Spaniard includes directions in English and Spanish. The price on the tag is in both pesetas and the equivalent in euros. This is especially foreign to the Spaniard, who might pay 5, 250 pesetas for a shirt, whereas the price in euros would be 42. Soon, only the 42 euros price will be appearing on all items that Spaniards purchase—making the Spaniard do a conversion in his or her head back to pesetas, to know the value of an item. While this conversion process may be temporary, it will still affect each Spaniard, especially those of the older generations.

This concept of having to convert one monetary value into another is something that typically happens when one visits a foreign country. Yet, the Spaniard is in his or her home country. The older Spaniards who are accustomed to the peseta are especially affected by this concept, because it is so different from what they know. In a personal interview with Aurora Morcillo, a native of Granada, Spain, I learned that this is not the first time Spain has gone through this type of change, "I remember my grandmother thinking in reales instead of pesetas when I was a child", Morcillo recalled. Of course, this time the conversions of the two monetary units are being introduced by placing the price in both currencies on an item, yet when it comes to the items only being in euros will it be a problem? Will Spanish children of today see their grandparents thinking in pesetas to figure out a price in euros? Will this generation gap effect the Spanish people? After all, if an item has a price in US dollars and a price in Spanish pesetas, at which price will an American look? Although, the value of the euro has been introduced, when the peseta value is no longer on an item, how will this affect the Spanish? Specifically, the older generation? Will younger generation Spaniards identify with fellow Italians and Frenchmen more because their economic minds will be similar in the same currency, euros? The currency of a nation is very important. For example, the Danish were very against the euro due to the fact that their currency, the Danish krone, was a part of their identity. Therefore, they enacted a referendum against the single currency. As Jette Brandt, a retired shopworker, pointed out, "I’ve had enough of this. I don’t like to lose the Danish krone. I don’t like to lose my identity" (Fletcher par. 3). Although the euro will help the economic situation in Spain, this single European currency may affect their national identity as Spaniards. The currency of a nation helps each individual identify with one another because they all think in the same currency; this is to say that their notion of value applies to their monetary unit. Therefore, because the Spanish are accepting the euro, this means they will not only identify with one another, but also eventually with the other countries in the Union that have accepted the euro.

Another effect of the European Union on the Spanish culture is the possible loss of the siesta. Although this idea has yet to hit the smaller cities and countryside of Spain, it is already the new trend in the bigger cities, like Madrid. In order to be at work when the other members of the European Union are at work, Spain is cutting down the time taken for the siesta. As Suzanne Daley points out in her article "Spain Rudely Awakened to Workaday World" which appeared in the New York Times (December 26, 1999, 1) the Spanish siesta is becoming more and more scarce:

With Spain under pressure to conform to the shorter lunch break habits in most of the 14 other countries in the European Union, its traditional workday—with its three-hour siesta break to eat and sleep—is disappearing. Increasingly, large companies are cutting lunch to two hours and corporate culture is turning against the concept of nodding off during the day, seeing it as a sign of laziness.

As the corporate culture grows in Spain, "Spaniards say they are working harder these days and sleeping less, feeling at once more prosperous and fatigued" (Boudreaux par. 2). The modernization of Spain is mostly to blame. With the thriving Spanish Economy, one of the fastest growing in Europe (Boudreaux par. 2), creating new jobs, more and more Spaniards are joining the work force, including women, who were typically at home preparing the meals before the long siesta (Daley, "Adios Siesta" par. 5). According to one nationwide survey, the regular siesta-takers have been reduced to 24 per cent of the population (Boudreaux par. 2).

Suddenly, the country that gave the siesta its universal name, has adopted more northerly European practices that assault one of their nation’s icons, the siesta. One gentleman, Roberto Suarez Santos, quoted in the article says that the siesta gave his parents two or three hours in the middle of the day to share their lives with one another (Daley, "Spain Rudely…" 3). Modern life is changing these customs at a rapid pace. What does this mean? What sort of effect will it have on Spaniards and their customs and their ability to identify with one another, particularly the older generation with the younger generation? Perhaps, now that they are adopting the customs of northerly European countries, they will be able to relate more as Europeans rather than only with one another.

Thirdly, the European Union and other activists have threatened the Spanish bullfight, perhaps the essence of Spain. In Catalonia, the northeastern autonomy of Spain, bullfights have been banned altogether. Additionally, "it is a well-known social fact that people from Galicia do not like ‘the bulls’" (Douglas 52). Also, the "Entrance to the European Community (EC) brought high prices, inflation, and demands in the European parliament for the abandonment of the abomination of bullfighting in Spain" (McCormick 50). As Francisco Umbral, a writer long active against bullfighting, said, "Spain will not be considered a serious country until it abandons this barbarous pastime" ("Not in Front of the Children" par. 5). In 1985, after Spain had finished the accords for its entry into the European Union,

But before the formal signing of the treaty in June, a British member of the European Parliament submitted an amendment that would have banned Spain’s and Portugal’s entry into the European Union until bullfights were prohibited. The amendment, which was backed by English, German, and Italian animal protection societies, was based on the European Union prohibition of degrading animal treatment and unnecessary cruelty to animals" (Douglas 98).

Although the struggle was quietly abandoned after a warm campaign in northern Europe and Spain itself, the fact still remains, just like the ñ, a rich Spanish tradition had been insulted and offended.

This issue has divided many Spaniards, "The bulls are now central to contemporary debates over Spain’s inclusion in the European Union. To be for or against los toros (the bulls) is widely read within Spain as being for or against Europe" (Leitch 382). Carrie Douglas reiterates this notion, "to be "against" los toros is to be "European" and "modern," to be "for" the bulls is to be "Spanish" and "traditional" (94). Certainly, this division among Spaniards puts the Spanish national identity in a shaky position. It is difficult to relate or bond with one another, when opinions and feelings are so strong about bullfights. For the Spaniard who does not approve of the bullfight, a relation to European identity may make more sense then associating himself/ herself solely as a Spaniard. As an anti-bullfighting Spaniard, you can relate more to the ideals of the Europeans who disagree with it, than the Spanish who agree with bullfighting.

The territory issue, like the cultural and language elements, is another element that will affect the nation of Spain. Spain has been divided in two sections, North and South, for a considerable amount of time, perhaps since Catholic Spain took over the Moorish south of Spain in 1498. While not only being differentiated through historical experiences, the North and the South are divided by weather conditions, land sizes, urbanization levels, and religious levels. The North is associated with its humid type weather and the south with its dryer weather. Agriculturally, the North has small land parcels, while the South holds large land tracts. Urbanization settlement in the South is 10,000 to 30,000 people, whereas the North, there are two thousand people or less. Lastly, the North is known as the most religious part, whereas the South has lost many of its practicing Catholics (Douglas 55).

In addition to this concept of "Two Spains" there is the regional issue within Spain. The former fifteen regions (present during the dictatorship of Francisco Franco), were reorganized into seventeen Autonomous Communities (comunidades autónomas) in 1978. In her book, Bulls, Bullfighting, and Spanish Identities, Carrie Douglass points out this new diversity in Spain:

It assumes a unity while permitting, even emphasizing, diversity...This new nomenclature avoids the asymmetry of nation/ region and implies equivalence between all the Autonomous Communities, while maintaining an underlying Spanishness. The "nationalities" points out that this equivalence still ignores their distinctiveness as a people with a different language, history, and culture from many of the other communities. In other words, they say some of the Autonomous Communities are "nations," while others are merely regions of Spain (49-50).

The regional issue is even stronger in the bilingual regions of Spain; three Autonomous Communities that claim to be nacionalidades [nationalities] (Basque Country, Catalonia, and Galicia), "not all citizens participate in national elections. Separatist political parties urged people to abstain…The "not Spain" concept is associated primarily with the Basques but also to some degree with the Catalans, Galicians, and even the Valencians" (Douglas 51-52). While the percentages of the number of people who want to remain "Spanish" are higher in these regions than those who do not, there are still the threats of terrorist groups who want their independence. Without a doubt, the Basques are the ones who are associated with wanting to be separate from Spain.

In the autonomy of País Vasco (Basque region), a terrorist group called ETA (Basque Fatherland and Liberty) dedicated to promoting Basque independence has been bombing various areas of Madrid and País Vasco in an attempt to get its idea across of wanting to be separate from Spain. "ETA targets primarily Spanish security forces, military personnel, and Spanish Government officials. The group has carried out numerous bombings against Spanish Government facilities and economic targets" ("Background Notes…" 52). According to the article, "ETA Claims Responsibility for 17 Attacks" on the CNN.com website, "ETA is blamed for some 800 deaths since 1968 in its drive for an independent Basque state in northern Spain and southwestern France" (2000). Terrorism in any European country is an evil, for example, IRA in Ireland is also a nationalist independent movement. These people do not want to be a part of anyone, the bigger Europe or the smaller country, they want to be independent, which threatens national unity and identity within a country. While I was in Santiago de Compostela (in the autonomy of Galicia on the northwestern tip of Spain) two years ago, I saw "Isto nom é Espanha" ("This is not Spain") spray-painted on a wall. While this is not as extreme at the Terrorist Group, ETA, it still ties back to the bilingual issue that separates the people of Spain, not only the southerners from the northerners, but also the northerners from the northerners. They continue not to identify with each other, endangering the national identity of Spain.

After examining the threats to the core elements of Spain’s nationalism: language, culture and territory, it is now necessary to look how other elements affect this feeling of national identity, as well as looking at the opinions of Spaniards in this area. The European Union has worked diligently to make the countries of the European Union bond with one another. In order to understand this concept, we must first look at identity. As Heinrich Schneider points out in his article, "The Dimensions of the Historical and Cultural Core of a European Identity" in the Working Paper, Reflections on European Identity:

Identity is founded on "spiritual ties", it can be grasped in a "core of shared meanings" in sharing consensually a common universe of symbols and relevancies. We do not only speak a common language; we also agree about the things that must be talked about as well as the things that are important without words (8).

Knowing this, the European Union has found ways, just like the countries in the world to make "spiritual ties" among the Europeans. First, in order to establish a "core of shared meanings", the European Community has created a flag, which can be seen in any member state of the European Union. Also, this flag or EU symbol can be seen on the license plates of the member state countries. So that the only difference on the license plate that separates a Spaniard from a Frenchman is the numbers on the license plate and the "E" for "Espana" and the "F" for "France", respectively. Also, in order to firmly establish a "common universe of symbols and relevancies", the European Union created the Euro. Sure, the new monetary unit will prove to be economically helpful for those of the European Union, but it also establishes a common symbol for the member states. A Spaniard’s money is a Frenchman’s money, too! As for the common language, this has not whole-heartedly been solved, yet the Union has found, as stated before, that English and French seem to be the most useful. And therefore, many signs, brochures, etc. throughout the European Union are published in these languages in order to provide unity and commonality in this area.

Later, in his article Schneider says, "An analysis of nationalism shows that national identity is mostly defined through relating to ‘counter identities’" (8). The European Union has tried to avoid these "counter identities" through the license plates, the flag, the Euro, etc. in order to find a common identity among Europeans. The free movement of people and labor is another strategy to eliminate counter identities. The borders between the member states of the Union have been lifted and anyone can travel freely by car through the states (free movement of people)—making it one big region, Europe. Furthermore, members of the EU can work in any EU member country without having to obtain a visa (free movement of labor). A visa, which used to establish a difference, a counter identity, is no longer prevalent for these European Union members. The European Union has eliminated this. Why? To create this feeling of European identity in the European Union member states. We can go a step further and say, by trying to eliminate or put an end to Spanish practices like the siesta, the bullfight, and the ñ; the Union is attempting to rid the member states of these "counter identities", so that no one has a siesta, no one has a bullfight and no one has abnormal lettering, therefore they can all relate to one another.

Among them, Spaniards have been looking at the idea of modernity and this concept, as it is associated with Europe. Particularly, the younger generations are more interested in this concept of modernity and therefore, want to associate as Europeans to show they are modern. As mentioned earlier in discussing the aspect of bullfighting, to be "modern" is to be "European", however to be "traditional" is to be "Spanish." Helen Graham and Antonio Sanchez make this point evident in their conclusion to Cultural Studies: An Introduction: A Struggle for Modernity:

The contemporary cultural trend is for Spaniards to adopt ‘modernity’ as their mark of identity. This has been underlined by overwhelming popular support for Spain’s integration into Europe…Spaniards have essentially associated it [modernity] with ‘being European’, which progressives have regarded as a ‘good thing’...Closer European integration is greeted enthusiastically because it provides a temporary safe structure for a historically fragmented national identity (411).

So, amongst the younger generations (the future generations) there exists this concept of being modern is to be European. Therefore if these younger generations want to be modern, then they are going to identify as Europeans. Younger generations are the ones who are more interested in the newer things in life, i.e. the modern things, hence identifying solely as a Spaniard signifies the transgression to tradition (which is not associated with modernity) and wanting to be Spanish.

Perhaps, this new wave toward modernity and identifying as a European is evident through public opinions surveys. Since 1992 the EuroBarometer, a public opinion survey of the European Union, annually asks respondents to describe their own feelings of European and national identity, by asking the following:

Spain has been apart of these pulls since 1992 and below are the Spanish trends of this poll from 1994 until 1999.

From 1994 to 1999, there is a slight increase in both Nationality and European (from 51% to 53%) and European and Nationality (from 5% to 6%) for Spain. But those who consider themselves "European Only" actually show a slight decline. The time span is still too short to come to a clear conclusion about direction of change. Table III compares Spain’s feeling of Nationality and European identity with Italy, France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and the European Union Average. I choose to only look at Nationality and European, rather than all four factors: Nationality only, Nationality and European, European and Nationality, European Only, to make the table simple and easier to read. Additionally, each category seems to have about the same variations between the countries, therefore showing one factor more or less shows them all. Spanish feelings of Nationality and European identity were second strongest among the different European countries in the Union in 1999. The strongest is held by Italy in 1999.

*All numbers are percentages.

In 1994, 1996, 1997, and 1998 Spanish feelings of Nationality and European were only fourth or fifth from the countries that felt the strongest Nationality and European identity: Italy and France. Of course, all of these countries (Italy, France, Luxembourg and the Netherlands) were (in addition, West Germany) the founding members of the European Community. Therefore, they have had the opportunity to belong and feel apart of this Union since 1957, whereas Spain has had a mere 14 years (since 1986) to identify as Europeans. As far as identity is concerned, the fact that Spain falls above the EU average since 1996 for feeling Nationality and European shows that they are moving a lot faster and closer to the European identity than other countries like Great Britain, who has been in the Union for 13 more years (entered in 1973) than Spain.

While looking at attitudinal evidence, behavioral evidence of this possible changing identity is also important. Behavioral evidence can be found through Spanish voting turnout for the European Parliament. Voting for this legislature takes place every five years. Below are the voting turnout results for all the European Union member states and the EU Average from 1989-1999.

*Please note in regards to the EU Average the number of member states in 1989 and 1994 were the same at 12 member states, in 1999 there were 15 member states.

As evident, there is an increase in turnout for Spain from 1989-1999 of 8.2%, whereas for most of the other countries there is a decrease in turnout. In 1994 and 1999, Spanish voter turnout was higher than the EU Average. However, Spanish voter turnout for Spanish Legislative Elections was lower than the average of the voter turnout for all the European Union member countries.

Source: "Voter Turnout: The Greatest Unknown in Election ‘98"

This behavioral evidence points to the fact that the Spanish think it important to vote in their legislative elections as well as European Parliament elections. Voting for one’s country or nation says something about how one identifies with the country; after all one is supporting the political system of your appropriate country. Therefore when a Spaniard goes to a European Parliament election, s/he is supporting the political system of the EU and is identifying her/himself as a part of this political system.

This attitudinal and behavioral data shows us that Spaniards are beginning to identify more as Europeans, rather than solely as Spaniards. They are identifying at their own nationality as well as European as shown through Table II and III. In addition they have strong voter turnout at the European Parliament elections as shown in Table IV, which only shows their interest and concern with the European community.

As seen through the elements of language, culture and territory, as well as thought the attempts of the European Union to establish a common identity, the traditions of the nation of Spain are being threatened by the demands of the 21^st century, those of the modern, corporate, economic world and also those of the European Union. As a result of these rapid changes, I theorize that Spain’s national identity is likely to change. I expect over time that the attitudinal data will show a shift. Indicated by their turnout, Spaniards are already seeing that the European Parliament is a serious policy-making institution. Spaniards have chosen to be a serious part of it, and therefore have chosen to be identified with it. Unfortunately this period of time (1975-present) is rather short in order to show the complete change. After all, the change would have to be very dramatic in this short period of time to completely prove this theory. Nonetheless, I maintain my hypothesis. So, as the European Union expands further, what will happen to Spanish feelings of identity? Will they identify more as Europeans? Only time will tell.

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