Why Spaniards wave regional flags more than the national one in celebrations

Token patriotism: why Spaniards prefer the regional flag when celebrating

Every time the Spanish national team wins something, the controversy returns: why are there more regional flags than Spanish flags on the streets? Argentina's criticism of "patriotismo de chichinabo" (token, shallow patriotism) has peine the debate about national identity in Spain.

While in other countries, such as Germany or Italy, the national flag dominates without question, in Spain it is common to see the flags of Catalonia, the Basque Country, Andalusia or even a city alongside the national one. Some see it as a wealth of identities; others, as a symptom of a lack of cohesion.

What does the international comparison show?

The most similar case is the United Kingdom: the Union Jack is hardly used outside England, and each nation has its own flag. In France or Germany, by contrast, regional flags (Bavaria, Occitania) are a minority during sporting celebrations. The exception comes from the presence of other countries' flags — such as African ones in France — but that reflects migratory diversity, not an internal identity debate.

The two souls of the debate

One camp holds that displaying a regional flag is fully compatible with feeling Spanish; another sees it as a sign of patriotic weakness. And there is a third, more sceptical one, that questions the fetishism of any flag. In any case, the Argentine criticism has struck a sensitive nerve: Spain's difficulty in projecting a single, unambiguous patriotism.

The debate remains open. While in other countries the answer is automatic, here every celebration reopens the same question. Perhaps the problem is not which flag is waved, but the expectation that they should all be the same.