ALL over Andalucía you may see streets and urbanisations called 28 Febrero. This is the “Dia de Andalucía” and is a holiday throughout the region.

So what happens on the Dia de Andalucia? The children at primary school spend several days preparing flags and learning the anthem, perhaps even preparing a play. The last day of school before the holiday they may well have a national breakfast of hot chocolate and a tostado (well as close to Andaluz as there is) and spend the morning playing friendly games and singing the anthem. A fun day!

Town Halls all over Andalucia also celebrate with official acts and presentations. This is the day when many towns name their “hijos predilecto”, people who have performed services for the area.

Speaking on Sunday, President of the Junta de Andalucía, José Antonio Griñán, promised to concentrate his efforts on the creation of employment in the region which has been hard hit by the recession. He said that when the crisis was over things would not be as they were before and the region had to build a firmer and more lasting base for the future.

Malaga singer, Pasion Vega, and flamenco singer from Jaén, José Mercé, were presented with the Andalucia Medal in a ceremony held in the Maestranza Theatre in Sevilla.

The history of Andaluz autonomy dates back to the beginning of the last century. In 1918 Blas Infante, the founder of modern Andalucían nationalism, drew up a charter for Andalucía and the current flag and coat of arms were adopted.

In 1936 Blas Infante wrote a separate statute of autonomy for Andalucía and it was approved by parliament in June of that year. However the civil war intervened and Infante was assassinated in August. Incidentally, Blas Infante was a local lad from Casares near Manilva and his home there is now a museum.

Andalucía was not recognised as an autonomous region in the new post Franco constitution of 1978 but there was a referendum vote on the 28 February 1980 which achieved the overwhelming majority needed for an autonomous government - but the Andaluces still had to wait two more years for their autonomy to be ratified. The statute was again reformed in May of this year.

Spain actually has seventeen autonomous regions. They each have their own parliament, president, government, administration and Supreme Court. Obviously, they all have their own flag and capital city, Andalucia’s flag is known as the “Bandera Blanca y Verde” and is the basic subject of the Andaluz anthem (Himno de Andalucía).

Seville is the capital city and a very beautiful one too! Regional parliament elections are held in Andalucía every four years.

Andalucía has eight provinces (Cadiz, Almeria, Málaga, Huelva, Seville, Jaén, Granada and Córdoba). These provinces have responsibilities in all areas including health and education. However there is a centralised curriculum for all schools and the SAS (Servicio Andaluz de Salud) is also centrally organised as well to make best use of resources.

As an autonomous region of Spain Andalucía is of great importance. Over 22 million tourists arrive each year and contribute greatly to the national coffers. An ever growing population due to immigration from the more Northern EU states means that the traditional problem of population loss is being reversed and the working population is expanding too.

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Andalucia - Celebrating 30 Years As A Region
Monday, 01 March 2010
ALL over Andalucía you may see streets and urbanisations called 28 Febrero. This is the “Dia de Andalucía” and is a holiday...

© 2010 - Secret Andalucia - Guadiaro Valley, near Ronda

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