More Almeria residents feel closer to Murcia than Andalucia

A RECENT survey revealed that 68 per cent of Almeria province residents believe their identity is different from Andalucia’s.

The study was carried out for Accion por Almeria, a cultural association that since 2013 has promoted Almeria’s “inborn culture” and defends the province’s right to exist as a separate autonomous region.

Sixty per cent of those interviewed admitted that they would back a political party that could represent Almeria provincially and regionally, said Accion por Almeria’s president Gregoria Fernandez.

Fifty-two per cent went so far as to suggest that Almeria province had more in common with its neighbour to the east – Murcia – than its Andaluicia neighbour, Granada.

The Almeria en Accion president theorised that Almeria could just as easily have become part of the autonomous region of Murcia or even stood alone as a one-province autonomy. He also pointed out that 62 per cent of Almeria residents were unaware that Almeria was recognised as a separate kingdom during the Middle Ages.

“The population of Almeria and that of Andalucia have recognised each other as different for centuries,” Fernandez maintained, quoting the old saying: “Almeria belongs to Levante and not Andalucia.”