The Galician National-Popular Bloc (BNPG or BN-PG, ''Bloque Nacional-Popular Galego'' in

Galician language Galician ( , ), also known as Galego (), is a Iberian Romance languages, Western Ibero-Romance language. Around 2.4 million people have at least some degree of competence in the language, mainly in Galicia (Spain), Galicia, an Autonomo ...

) was a Galician electoral candidacy. It had as the national

sovereignty Sovereignty can generally be defined as supreme authority. Sovereignty entails hierarchy within a state as well as external autonomy for states. In any state, sovereignty is assigned to the person, body or institution that has the ultimate au ...

for

Galiza Galicia ( ; or ; ) is an autonomous community of Spain and historic nationality under Spanish law. Located in the northwest Iberian Peninsula, it includes the provinces of A Coruña, Lugo, Ourense, and Pontevedra. Galicia is located in A ...

as its main objective and as an alternative to

autonomism Autonomism or ''autonomismo'', also known as autonomist Marxism or autonomous Marxism, is an anti-capitalist social movement and Marxist-based theoretical current that first emerged in Italy in the 1960s from workerism (). Later, post-Marxist ...

. It was formed by the

Galician People's Union The Galician People's Union () is a Galicia (Iberian Peninsula), Galician nationalist and communist political party, and is one of the registered political parties of Spain. The party publishes the magazine ''Terra e Tempo'', and the secretary gene ...

(UPG) and Galician National-Popular Assembly (ANPG).

History

The candidacy was boosted by the UPG and was created as a group of voters to stand in the general election of 1977, since both the UPG and the AN-PG were not legal. In these elections the BN-PG obtained 22,771 votes, 2.02% of the votes in

. BN-PG organized numerous protests over a variety of issues (self-determination, ecologist causes, normalization of the

, international solidarity, amnesty, ...). Among the biggest were the traditional demonstrations in the National Day of Galicia, were the BN-PG usually convocated large crowds. The biggest one was the 1978 demonstration, with around 35.000 protestors (according to

Europa Press Europa Press is a Spanish news agency founded in 1953. It broadcasts news 24 hours a day, publishing 3,000 articles on average per day. Originally founded as a book distribution company by five monarchists, Europa Press became a news agency in ...

). The party was heavily linked to the Intersindical Nacional Galega (industrial and services workers) and Sindicato Labrego Galego (peasants) unions and to a series of mass

social movements A social movement is either a loosely or carefully organized effort by a large group of people to achieve a particular goal, typically a social or political one. This may be to carry out a social change, or to resist or undo one. It is a type of ...

and platforms, like the ecologist ADEGA. The candidacy, already as a coalition, repeated in the general election of 1979, in which obtained 60,889 votes and the 5.95% of the votes in

. In neither of the two elections the BN-PG won any parliamentary representation. In the municipal elections of 1979 it reached its electoral ceiling, obtaining the 7.1% of the Galician vote and gained representation in a lot of Galician municipalities (including five of the seven major municipalities in

), with a total of 253 town councillors. The BN-PG called to vote "no" for both the

Spanish Constitution of 1978 The Spanish Constitution () is the supreme law of the Kingdom of Spain. It was enacted after its approval in 1978 in a constitutional referendum; it represents the culmination of the Spanish transition to democracy. The current version was a ...

and the Statute of Autonomy of Galicia. In the Galician parliamentary elections of 1981 the BN-PG presented a joint list with the Galician Socialist Party (PSG). The coalition won 61,870 votes (6.15%), which resulted in 3 seats (1 for

A Coruña A Coruña (; ; also informally called just Coruña; historical English: Corunna or The Groyne) is a city and municipality in Galicia, Spain. It is Galicia's second largest city, behind Vigo. The city is the provincial capital of the province ...

, another

Lugo Lugo (, ) is a city in northwestern Spain in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia. It is the capital of the Lugo (province), province of Lugo. The municipality had a population of 100,060 in 2024, ...

and another one for

Pontevedra Pontevedra (, ) is a city in the autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia, in northwestern Spain. It is the capital of both the ''Pontevedra (comarca), Comarca'' and Province of Pontevedra, and the capital of the Rías Baixas. It is als ...

). Two corresponded to BNPG and the remaining one for the PSG. In 1982 the BN-PG became the

Galician Nationalist Bloc The Galician Nationalist Bloc ( , BNG) is a political party from Galicia (Spain), Galicia, formed with the merger of a series of left-wing Galician nationalism, Galician nationalist parties. It is self-defined as a "patriotic Popular front, front" ...

Electoral results

The electoral results of the bloc varied over years. In the first elections the result was weaker than expected, but the bad result didn't cause any internal crisis in the bloc, since it was more focused in street protest and workers and peasant struggles than electoral politics. In 1979 there were both local and general elections, with the BN-PG gaining better results, and stabilizing in a 6-7% of the vote until the general elections of 1982, in which the front lost numerous votes to the

PSOE The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party ( , PSOE ) is a Social democracy, social democratic Updated as required.The PSOE is described as a social-democratic party by numerous sources: * * * * List of political parties in Spain, political party ...

Felipe González Felipe González Márquez (; born 5 March 1942) is a retired Spanish politician who was Prime Minister of Spain from 1982 to 1996 and leader of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party from 1974 to 1997. He is the longest-serving democratically- ...

. The strongholds of the party were either industrial towns or rural areas with a strong presence of the Sindicato Labrego Galego (SLG). In the

province of A Coruña The province of A Coruña ( ; ; historical ) is the northwesternmost province of Spain, and one of the four provinces which constitute the autonomous community of Galicia. This province is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the west and north ...

the bloc tended to have its best results in the metro area of Ferrol and in the Eume comarca, specially in Fene (11.95% of the vote in the general elections of 1979) and

As Pontes de García Rodríguez As Pontes de García Rodríguez is a municipality in the northwest of the province of A Coruña, in the autonomous community of Galicia, Spain. It belongs to the comarca of Eume. It is the largest municipality in the province and it has a popula ...

(13.64% in the same elections). In the

Province of Lugo Lugo is a province (Spain), province of northwestern Spain, in the northeastern part of the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia. It is bordered by the provinces of Ourense Province, Ourense, Ponteved ...

the BN-PG was stronger in the eastern area, specially in the Ancares mountains, were the SLG was very active. The results were particularly high in Becerreá (18.01%), Castroverde (27.84%) Pedrafita do Cebreiro (37.15%), Ribeira de Piquín (15.93%), As Nogais (33.67%) and Navia de Suarna (19.92%). In the

Province of Ourense Ourense (; ) is a province of Spain, in the southeastern part of the autonomous community of Galicia. It is bordered by the provinces of Pontevedra to the west, Lugo to the north, León and Zamora, (which both belong to Castile and León) to ...

the BN-PG had its main bases of support in the Allariz - Maceda comarca, specially in the municipalities of

Allariz Allariz is a town and municipality () in the province of Ourense, in the autonomous community of Galicia, Spain. It occupies the center of the western half of the province, connecting with the towns (''concellos'') of Taboadela, Paderne, Sand ...

(14.71%), Maceda (19.02%) and

Baños de Molgas Baños de Molgas is a municipality in the province of Ourense, in the autonomous community of Galicia, Spain. It belongs to the comarca of Allariz – Maceda Allariz – Maceda is a comarca in the Galician Province of Ourense. The overall popul ...

(12.8%) and Montederramo (14.94%). In the

Province of Pontevedra Pontevedra is a province of Spain, located in the southwestern part of the autonomous community of Galicia. It is bordered by the provinces of A Coruña, Lugo, and Ourense, the country of Portugal and the Atlantic Ocean. There is a public insti ...

O Morrazo O Morrazo is a ''comarca'' in the Galician province of Pontevedra. It covers an area of 140.1 sq.km, and the overall population of this ''comarca'' was 83,305 at the 2011 Census; the latest official estimate (as at the start of 2018) was 82,445.E ...

and the whole Ría de Vigo were the main stronghold of the "national-populars". In the local elections of 1979 the bloc gained 258 town councillors and 9 mayors (out of 313). The towns that had a BN-PG mayor in the 1979-1982 were: Ourol, Pedrafita do Cebreiro,

Bueu Bueu is a municipality in Galicia, Spain, in the province of Pontevedra Pontevedra (, ) is a city in the autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia, in northwestern Spain. It is the capital of both the ''Pontevedra (comarca), Comarca' ...

, Fene,

Láncara Láncara is a municipality in the province of Lugo, in the autonomous community of Galicia, Spain. It belongs to the comarca of Sarria. Notable people * Ángel Castro y Argiz (1875–1956) – Galician-born Cuban farmer and businessman; kno ...

Moaña Moaña is a municipality located in Galicia, Spain in the province of Pontevedra. In 2018, it had a population of 19,448 inhabitants. It is one of the five municipalities with Bueu, Cangas do Morrazo, Marin and Vilaboa that forms the peninsula of ...

, As Nogais, Ribeira de Piquín,

Bóveda Bóveda () is a municipality in the province of Lugo, in the autonomous community of Galicia, northwestern Spain. It belongs to the comarca A ''comarca'' (, , , ) is a traditional region or local administrative division found in Portugal, Sp ...

and

Corcubión Corcubión (AGAL ortography: ''Corcubiom'') is a municipality in the province of A Coruña, in the autonomous community of Galicia, Spain. It belongs to the comarca of Fisterra. It is located on the river with the same name. History Corcubi� ...

(1980-1982, the mayor was elected in the lists of the

Party of Labour of Spain Communist Party of Spain (international) (in Spanish language, Spanish: ''Partido Comunista de España (internacional)''), was a Communism, communist political party in Spain. History The PTE was formed around 1967, following a split from t ...

(PTE), but after the dissaparition of this party in 1980 the local PTE assembly joined the BN-PG).

References

* Manuel Anxo Fernández Baz, A formación do nacionalismo galego contemporáneo (1963–1984), Laiovento, 2003. * Beramendi, X.G. and Núñez Seixas, X.M. (1996): ''O nacionalismo galego''. A Nosa Terra,

Vigo Vigo (, ; ) is a city and Municipalities in Spain, municipality in the province of province of Pontevedra, Pontevedra, within the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia, Spain. Located in the northwest ...

* Beramendi, X.G. (2007): ''De provincia a nación. Historia do galeguismo político''. Xerais,

Notes

{{Galician nationalism, state=collapsed 1977 establishments in Spain 1982 disestablishments in Spain Defunct socialist parties in Galicia (Spain) Galician nationalist parties Left-wing nationalist parties in Spain Political parties disestablished in 1982 Political parties established in 1977 Secessionist organizations in Europe