População e Sociedade no. 40

Judite Gonçalves de Freitas (editor)

Thematic Issue

Portugal-Galicia Relations. Regional Perspectives on Transformation

Coordinators

Celso Cancela Outeda
Judite Gonçalves de Freitas
Diogo Ferreira

In the second half of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century, Peninsular Iberism enshrined the idea that there was a shared political space between Portugal and Galicia. Today, the transnational vision refers to the analysis of a multiform space, in which the region is identified from a supranational perspective, thus surpassing the traditional integrative perspective of the nation-state. The idea of the existence of a non-territorialised mesoregion that crosses the borders of the state, society, the economy and culture (Trobest, 2012) offers a bundle of hypotheses for research and comparative analysis that makes it possible to pair entities with greater or lesser homogeneity, without, however, neglecting the issue of transfers of various kinds and the dynamism of crossings and rapprochements that go beyond state borders.

In this way, there is a "mental cartography" (Kingston, 2010), especially of the Portuguese in the north of the country, who have very close ties with Galicia and vice versa. In fact, "the brotherhood that exists between Galicia and Portugal is a deeply rooted popular idea that has been used and proclaimed by writers and poets" (Villares, 2022) and politically enshrined by the European Union as the Galicia-Northern Portugal Euroregion, recognising that it is a territory that tends to converge or, at the very least, admit a mutual gaze.

This thematic dossier, made up of seven articles, presents different aspects of the transnational dynamics of relations between Portugal and Galicia, past and present, at a time when it is necessary to promote joint reflection on the basis of relations between these communities (Portuguese and Galician) which, due to their proximity in political, economic and cultural characteristics and geographical contiguity, are in a position to strengthen cooperation in sectors that are crucial for consolidated and reciprocal development.

The Varia section has four articles. One on maritime law to be respected on board ships; one on the environmental disaster that led to the formation of a migratory network (the case of Longarone and Urussanga); another analysing Food and Nutrition Security policies in the countries of the Community of Portuguese-Speaking Countries; and, finally, a piece on journalism in insular Macaronesia (Canary Islands, Madeira, Azores and Cape Verde) in Iberian news systems