 years ago the 28 of July is declared by the Cantabrian Popular Movement of Liberation the National Day.
It started like a demo against the politicians that they went that day to “celebrated” what they name the “Day of the Institutions”, with no national, political sense, even with the presence of high officials of the Spanish army.
But know it have a popular essence. Year by year we increase in the people coming to attend it, with traditional music, food, political speech, traditional sports…and there is no doubt of its popularity in the youth, in the real left minds and in the people.
Cantabria, under the form of Province of Santander , began the century in a good economic situation : fishing, agriculture, ganadery, minery, shipyards and some heavy industry. This is with some international commercial relationships. Santander’s port was very important with regular connections with America .
Even in this good situation, obviously poverty existed in many places of the country and social oppression carried out by Church and the Spanish State was very heavy. No tolerance with our culture or Identity was allowed from the administration. It was a total disrespectful and aggressive politic against our culture, the left thinkers and republicans, and with all matters related to Cantabrian independence, History or real autonomy, our way of living and thinking.
Thousand of Cantabrian choose the emigration as the solution for the problems, and also many thousand stay at home and fight. Many died, many became outsider of the law, many died, and many end imprisoned.
The Republican movement in Cantabria against Spanish monarchy was powerful. This was part of the republican movement in all the state included Euskadi, but more powerful and active that in many of other countries. Many people start to think about the autonomy of Cantabrian Country apart of a Spanish Republican State.
And many people weren’t thinking in a centralized Spanish State with the Republican form but a Confederate State of Republic, with a Republic for Cantabria obviously. The cultural activity was high and increasing, with writers of local customs and manners, recovering tales of our mithology, our music, our culture, our Cantabrian pride. And most important is that this feelings, almost all of this activity was carried and rest in the People, the peasants and workers and let-wing thinkers or democratic intellectual, not by the elite that always remains loyal to the Monarchy, Castile and of course to a centralized an despotic Spain
Nothing specially changed during the II Spanish republic. Only that was a President instead a King at the head of the Spanish State. The reality of the vast majority of Cantabrian People remains the same in the city and more clearly in the villages. The social relations remains untouched, the influence of the Church was more that deep, the repression of the State forces still remains, the Landlord were the parallel power…
Is true that the cultural activity was growing and the Cantabrian identity was growing as well. It existed even a Cantabrist and Socialist newspaper “La Region”, one of the most read and popular in Cantabria at the time, and of course between the People. His director, Luciano Malumbres, became latter the first victim to be killed by fascist terrorists in Cantabria even after the so-call Civil War.
As it had been said the II Republic brought really only light improvements for the People. And no steps forward a real autonomy and national recognition was made. Cantabria was of course under Spanish State and still part of Castilla, as the so call Province of Santander.
In Social terms the Aristocracy, the Church, the big businessmen and the Landlords were ruling the country as in the times of Monarchy.
Is important to realize that (different than in other nations) in Cantabria the high classes were and are the classes that they are interest in stop any step forward our self-determination as a nation, and to stop any step made in the direction of achieve any bit of real freedom and national recognition. Only few individual