Commemoration and the Expression of Political Identity

Abstract

This paper adopts a narrative approach to explore the role of tourism in mobilising political identity, focusing on international visitors to memorials associated with the Spanish Civil War. Analysis of narrative interview data found that political allegiance was an important component of personal and group identity, and it was influential in determining tourist behaviour and consumption choices. Visiting memorials stirred strong emotions. It reaffirmed political identity and was capable of reenergising political commitment. This paper marks an important contribution to knowledge on how identity shapes and is shaped by tourist activity. It also points to a disconnect between the desire of tourists to express political identity and a country's choice of how to (or not to) memorialise past events. A model is put forward to indicate how battlefield tourism can be developed in a country with a contested history.