España y los españoles

The author here argues in favour of the historical reality that we call Spain. To recognize the Cadiz Constitution of 1812 as the origin of present Spain, he maintains, does not imply that our country had no national identity before the 19th century. And to this effect he expounds the famous controversy between Americo Castro and Claudio Sánchez-Albornoz. Before the Arab invasion there were no “españoles”, since this word of provençal origin dates back to the 11th century, as Castro points out. However, it is also true that during the Roman as well the Gothic domination, the peninsular inhabitants were known as “hispani”, as Sánchez-Albornoz sarcastically alleges. In addition, this article includes a number of quotations from Latin, Gothic and Spanish writers of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, references which bear witness to a feeling of belonging to an old country called “Hispania” or “España”.

El autor aporta argumentos en favor de la realidad histórica que llamamos España. Sostiene que reconocer a la Constitución de Cádiz de 1812 como origen de la España política actual no implica que nuestro país careciera de identidad nacional antes del siglo XIX. Y expone la controversia de Américo Castro y de Claudio Sánchez-Albornoz sobre la génesis histórica de España para concluir que, si bien antes de la invasión árabe no había “españoles”, vocablo provenzal del siglo XI como advierte Castro, también es cierto que durante la dominación romana y goda los peninsulares eran “hispani”, como alega con sorna Sánchez-Albornoz. Además, se recogen citas de autores latinos, godos y españoles tanto medievales como renacentistas que testimonian su sentimiento de pertenecer a un viejo país llamado Hispania o España