Las banderas solitarias

Federico García Sanchiz (1886-1964) was a Spanish writer who authored several novels and travel books, including Nao española: Asia, América y Oceanía, a collection of fragmentary travel impressions in the form of articles, which included a couple on the Philippines. The reason for this inclusion is that García Sanchiz was in Manila twice, once in 1925 and again in 1938, doing what made him famous: giving talks. In Manila, he was named Doctor Honoris Causa at the University of Santo Tomas. 

Whereas his talks during his first visit to the archipelago were reproduced in general Spanish-language newspapers to great public enthusiasm, this talk. delieved on December 19, 1938 in Manila was reproduced in the fascist newspaper ¡Arriba España!  During the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939), García Sanchiz supported the rebels and later, General Franco’s regime. ¡Arriba España! was published between 1938 and 1939 and reported on the progress of the Civil War in Spain from a pro-Franco point of view.

One of the main pillars of Franco's regime was the recovery of Spain's world influence during the time of the empire between the 16th and 18th centuries. The talk reproduced here is part of this line, taking up a very popular discourse both in the newspaper Hispanidad, published by UST in the 1940s, and in ¡Arriba España!: the supposedly great advantages that the Spanish empire had left in its former territories –including the Philippines– and the need to recognize, remember and perhaps recreate the brotherhood among all these territories.

Díaz-Trechuelo, M.ª Lourdes. 2000. "Filipinas y el 98", in Francisco Morales (coord.), III Coloquio  de  historia  canario-americana:  VIII  Congreso  Internacional  de  Historia  de América (AEA) 1998. Las Palmas: Cabildo de Gran Canaria y Casa de Colón: 664-681

García Sanchiz Federico. 1942. Nao Española. San Sebastián: Editoral Española.

Luque  Talaván, Miguel. 2013.  “Como  meteoros  incandescentes:  mensajeros  de  ciencia y de  letras  españoles  en  la  Filipinas  de  principios  del  siglo  XX”, Perro  berde: revista cultural  hispanofilipina, 5: 78-84.

Ortuño Casanova, Rocío. 2018. "Embajadores Culturales: Recepción Y Trascendencia Del Viaje De Gerardo Diego a Filipinas En El archipiélago asiático", Revista De Literatura 80 (159): 223-43. 

Rodao Florentino. 2012. Franquistas Sin Franco: Una Historia Alternativa De La Guerra Civil Española Desde Filipinas. Granada: Comares.