Díez García, Rubén2025-09-172025-09-172025-09-13Díez García, R. (2025). Mirroring persistent rival discourses in Spain. What do large-scale mobilizations tell us about the country’s main political cleavage? Journal of Civil Society, 1–21. https://doi.org/10.1080/17448689.2025.25503671744-86891744-869710.1080/17448689.2025.2550367https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/124050This article analyses the most prominent mobilizations led by civil society organizations, activist networks, and parties in Spain from 1996 to 2020. The article examines 235 large-scale mobilizations to explore how civil society actors have shaped and reflected persistent sociopolitical cleavages. Using protest event analysis and a CHAID-based classification model, it identifies terrorism and nationalism as key recurring issues. These mobilizations reveal long-term tensions rooted in Spain’s democratic transition, with victims’ associations, the 15M/Indignados movement, and Catalan secessionism illustrating the evolution of civic culture and civil institutions. Since the end of ETA terrorism in 2011, nationalist claims have sustained a polarised public sphere, exposing the enduring cleavage around Spain’s constitutional national identity.engAttribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 Internationalhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/journal articlehttps://doi.org/10.1080/17448689.2025.2550367https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17448689.2025.2550367?src=metadata only access314civic culturecivil societyprotest event analysissocial mobilizationsociopolitical cleavagesSpainSociologíaMovimientos sociales5906 Sociología Política