MEMÒRIA, GUERRA CIVIL I IDENTITAT NACIONAL EN LA PREMSA ESPANYOLA CONTEMPORÀNIA: LES CONTROVÈRSIES SOBRE ELS PAPERS DE SALAMANCA I L’ARXIU CENTELLES (2004–2009)

Abstract

Two controversies emerged strongly in Spanish and Catalan public opinion between 2004 and 2009: the question of the return of the Salamanca Papers to Catalonia and the sale of the Centelles Archive to the Spanish Ministry of Culture. Both debates increased the confrontation between Spanish and Catalan nationalism and made evident the use of the memory of the Spanish Civil War by media outlets to build or reinforce a specific national identity. This use of memory took place in the context of nationalist tensions and disputes over financial distribution within the Spanish state. Through a close reading of newspaper editorials from Madrid and Barcelona, this article aims to show how some dailies took advantage of the polemics to construct opposing narratives. While some media outlets saw an attempt to fragment Spain by removing the documents from their current location, others regarded the efforts to keep papers and photographs away from Catalonia as an impediment to its national reconstruction after the tra...