Spanish Culture
Introduction
Culture has much significance in Spain. They are based on historical influences. In their culture, they mostly practice different types of festivals namely; El chupinazo, the procession, Gigantes y Cabezudos, San Sebastian drum festival, The Enciero among many others. These are the major events marking these festivals.
The Enciero started as early as before 1592, it’s characterized by bullfighting and its used to promote global growth and popularization. The Moore festival of Villajoyosa celebrates remembrance of how Christians defeated the Moors and Berbers. It usually occurs on 24th to 31st July annually. In this festival, the Spaniards believe removing Muslims is the key factor of their culture. These festivals are celebrated in different regions, provinces and towns. For example, La Tomatina. It is celebrated in Bunal, Valencia on the last Wednesday of every august and started in 1944.This festival has no religious or political significant and serves no productive purpose.it demonstrates a secular identity. With time it has shifted towards modernity.
Identity
The identity of most Spanish depends on where they live. Most of the population is concentrated in towns. Spaniards identify themselves with their local region which they are found in and secondly nationwide identity. These are the primary identities of the Spaniards. They are usually distinguished according to ethnic make-up, dialects or independence. People who have migrated to cities usually leave their local identity and see themselves as superiors after acquiring regional identity. In some regions including Catalan, Galicia or Valencia, the regional pride is highly is extremely strong and no single person will want to identify themselves with their local identity.
Secularization
Refers to historical process in which religion loses social and cultural significance. During contemporary days Spain was a Catholic dominated country. Although a large percentage of Spaniards still identify themselves as Catholics though what contributed most to its secularization is the change from dictatorship to democracy. In recent years there’s been a drastic drop in regular church attendance. Laws made by the government are also a key factor contributing to the increase in secularization.
Modernity
Modernization in the Spanish culture started in the mid nineteen century. It led to changes in the contemporary culture. The Moore festival started over 250 years ago but modernity has changed the techniques used for celebrating this festival. With time the celebrations have become more regular unlike before. During this festival, there’s use of torn of lights, recorded sounds and fire, these are used to encourage the tourists to stay longer. This made it to be recognized as the National tourist interest day. Modernity has helped each festival to be unique and brings unity to the whole country.
Conclusion
With modernity, Culture is expected to change as time goes. These changes affect the culture either negatively or positively. Some of this modernity such as introduction of democracy in the government has led to a negative change to the culture while other types of modernization have had a positive change in the Spanish culture.
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