A few words from the author of the Galician Anthem that will upset the separatists

At the rallies of separatist groups in my homeland, they have a custom of singing the Galician National Anthem, a poem written by Eduardo Pondal and now officially recognized.

That the separatist movement has appropriated this poem to turn it into a separatist anthem is at least paradoxical, judging by the opinion of its author. This is not an opinion we are aware of today through the testimony of another person, but rather there is clear and irrefutable documentary evidence of the meaning he wanted to give to this anthem, in the form of a letter. Manuel Ferreiro cites it in his book "De Breogán aos Pinos. O texto do Himno Galego" (Laiovento, 1996). The same author, in collaboration with Fernando López-Acuña, published the image of the letter - made up of two sheets of paper written on both sides - in his work "O Himno. Historia, texto e música", included in the book "Os signos de Galicia" (published in 2007 by the Consello da Cultura Galega and the Real Academia Galega).

"I am a staunch supporter of the unity and integrity of our great and glorious Spain."

The letter, written in Spanish, is dated April 5, 1890. At the beginning, Pondal cites "Puente-Ceso" as his place of origin, one of those Spanish place names that some absurdly label as "Francoist," although Francisco Franco's birth was two and a half years away at that time. The recipient was the composer Pascual Veiga, author of the score for the Galician National Anthem. After willingly accepting Veiga's proposal to compose the anthem, Pondal notes:

"I need not warn you that these verses aspire only to awaken in our countrymen the noble ideas of a well-understood regionalism; but in no way to promote separatism, since I am a staunch supporter of the unity and integrity of our great and glorious Spain."

Despite this, I have to say that the wording of the poem "Os Pinos" still seems unfortunate to me for the reasons I already indicated here years ago. But the fact that the Galician separatists sing with raised fists a hymn written by a supporter of Spanish unity is significant. For saying words like those Pondal wrote, in Galicia the Bloqueiros and other separatists call you "facha", "fascist" and worse.