Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
It looks as if we, valencians
really enjoy talking about what we are or aren't
about what we feel, about the symbols the represent us...
Thus, there is a sense of bewilderment within us as
though being valencian was somthing yet to be defined or settled
As though there were much things to do...
At the beginnig of the 20th century
Valencian intellectuals realised that everything which identifies us
and makes us feel proud needed to be named
to live up to our country
The Kingdom of Valencia had been divided
into regions for nearly one hundred years
therefore regaining its former nomenclature seemed rather old-fashioned
Just then that it was decided to bolster the other name
that historically (dating back from the 16th century) everybody had been using to refer to our country
Valencian Country was far more than a name for a territory
It represented the yearning of keep being and still feeling valencians
The yearning of moving forward towards a future of progress
in which to contribute by keep on giving marvellous things to the world
Ever since the Second Spanish Republic, the term Valencian Country
was commonly adopted by organizations
by the media and by people from different ideologies
Even on the three attempts to establish a Statue of Autonomy
was it thought to make this term as the official name
Unfortunately, the outbreak of he Civil War
and the following 40 years of dictatorship
cut short every wish our country had to regain the self-government
we used to have 250 years before
However, Franco's death and the subsequent horizon of freedom
that came along helped to get valencian people out to the streets
to demand the reestablishment of our institutions and our self-government
At that time, the term Valencian Country was thoroughly accepted by the valencians
by the media and by the political organizations
On that term were reflected the people who truly desired a democratic transition
the ones who wanted to break up with the dictatorship
to establish a self-government
Once again, the term Valencian Country
was associated to progress and to a new horizon of dignity for our country
In fact, the Pre-autonomous Council
was officially called 'Council of the Valencian Country'
And so it was reflected in 1981 at the Statue of Autonomy
which was commonly accepted by all the political forces regardless of their ideology
Known as the Statue of Benicàssim
it had, at last and after many historical attempts, the basis of
our autonomy and it was fixed by the agreement of the main parties
of the Valencian Country as the official name of our territory
It will not be until the debate of the Statue at the Parliament in Madrid
when the name that the valencians had freely decided was rejected and substituted
for 'Valencian Community', which was invented at that very moment
and so the Statute began to be known as 'Statue of Madrid'
A Statue that, by the way, the valencians never got the chance to vote for
Hence, the valencian agreement was broken in Madrid
and along with it the possibility to decide something pivotal for our society
its name
Due to these facts there are people, organizations and entities
that in spite of the imposed name from Madrid are still using the term Valencian Country
A name that represents much more than a territory
that represents a sens of modernity
a sense of hope and illusion of a country that believes in its future
So whenever you hear the term Valencian Country
remember all the values that stand behind it
and if you love this country and everything we are
you have to say outloud
Valencian Country, I love you!