Localised, regional, inter-regional and national memory politics: The case of Spain’s La Ranilla prison and Andalusia’s mnemonic framework

Abstract

The article takes as its point of departure the memory initiatives centring on the former Provincial Prison of Seville in Spain, better known as La Ranilla, and the Law on Historic and Democratic Memory of Andalusia, enacted by the regional government of Andalusia in March 2017. The study examines the local and inter-regional entanglement of memories of collectives, such as local neighbourhood associations, trade unions and Francoist political prisoners and their impact on regional and national memory policies. I argue that regional communities such as Andalusia and other autonomous regions have developed distinct regional collective identities and memories and are hence extending and/or opposing national memory politics by drawing on select localised, inter-regional and global paradigms, evident in the production of counter-narratives by regional governments. The study aims to provide new perspectives for understanding the combination and limitations of localised, regional, inter-regional and national memory politics in regional communities. The conclusion examines the limits to regional justice initiatives when opposing state laws such as the 1977 Amnesty Law.