48 Europe The EconomistNovember 7th 2020
M
ostnorthern-hemispherewine
isproducedata latitudeofbetween
30°and50°.Anyfarthernorthandit gets
toocold.Ahusvineyard,inSkanecounty
onSweden’sBalticcoast,isata chilly
55.9°.Butsince 2005 it hasbeencultivat-
ingvinesona hectareoffarmland.Last
yearit producedaround3,000bottles,
mostlyfromsolarisgrapes,a variety
suitedtocoolerclimes.It alsowelcomes
tourists.Thissummersawa rushof
interestfromSwedishoenophilesholi-
dayingathomebecauseofthepandemic.
Visitorswouldask,“Canwebuya bottle
asa souvenir?”saysKarinBirch,who
helpsrunthevineyard.“AndI would
havetosayno.”
In 1955 Swedenreplaceda rationing
systemsoineffectivethateventhetem-
perancemovementopposedit witha
statemonopolyonalcoholsales.Today446 shopscalledSystembolagetsarethe
onlyplaceswhereSwedescanbuyalco-
holstrongerthan3.5%,besidesbarsand
restaurants.Similarmonopoliesexistin
otherNordiccountries,andthearrange-
mentremainsbroadlypopular.
Thestate’sgriponboozesalesmaybe
abouttoweaken,however.Lastyear,in
exchangeforproppinguptheminority
government,themoderateCentreParty
negotiateda consultationonthein-
troductionof“farmsales”.Thepolicy
wouldallowproducerssuchasAhusto
selldirectlytocustomers.Buttheideais
controversial.
Theiogt-nto, a Swedishtemperance
movement,claimsthatfarmsalesarea
Trojanhorsethatwillenduplettingbig
producersflogtheirwaresontheopen
market,notingthattheSwedishfarmers’
associationhasarguedagainstputtinga
sizelimitonsales.Opponentsalsoargue
thatfarmsalescouldbeillegalunder
EuropeanUnionlaw,thoughthishasyet
tobetested.In1997,twoyearsafterSwe-
denjoinedthebloc,theEuropeanCourt
ofJusticeruledthatthemonopolycom-
pliedwiththeeu’s rulesonthefree
movementofgoods,sinceit didnot
discriminateagainstanyproducers.But
farmsaleswouldbytheirnatureexclude
alcoholfromabroad.
AccordingtoSofiaNilsson,a Centre
PartympforSkane,farmsalesarenota
waytoabolishthestate’smonopolyby
thebackdoor,butcouldboosttourism
andjobsinthecountryside.Thegovern-
mentconsultationwilltaketime,butMs
Nilssonisoptimistic:“Ireallyhopethat
ina coupleofyearswecancyclearound
Skane,stopata vineyardandbuya bottle
ofwinefordinner.”Thestate’sgripongrapeandgrain
AlcoholinSwedenAcontroversialplantowaterdowna governmentmonopolyonboozeI
t is aplace apart, a land of mists, forests
and long Atlantic rías(inlets); of pilgrim
routes to the vast medieval cathedral of
Santiago de Compostela; remote from al-
most everywhere, its people famous for
their caginess. Today Galicia stands out for
two other reasons. The first is that since de-
mocracy arrived four decades ago, it has
progressed from being one of the poorest
regions of Spain to enjoying an income
only slightly below the national average. Its
second peculiarity is that like Catalonia or
the Basque Country it is a cultural nation
but, unlike them, it is one that is comfort-
able in Spain. Separatism is the pursuit of a
fairly small minority.
Its economic success is broad-based.
Apart from Europe’s largest fishing indus-
try, shipbuilding, dairying and timber, Ga-
licia has two industrial mainstays: Inditex,
based near A Coruña, has grown into the
world’s biggest provider of fast fashion
through Zara and its other chains. A vast Ci-
troën plant near Vigo anchors 30,000 car-
industry jobs. The regional government
has invested European funds in motor-
ways: it is still six hours to Madrid, but it
used to take twice as long. A high-speed
railway link should be completed by 2022.
There are other factors behind Galicia’s
success. A tradition of dividing farms
among all children led to rural poverty (and
emigration) but also to a culture that values
private property, the leira(homestead) and
hard work. Alberto Núñez Feijóo, the presi-
dent of the regional government since
2009, highlights Galicia’s political stabil-
ity. Mr Feijóo is from the conservative Peo-
ple’s Party, which at national level has be-
come increasingly centralist. In Galicia it
has adopted a strong regional identity that
Mr Feijóo calls Galleguismo. “We have de-
fended Galicia as a place that has its own
language, culture, heritage and special
characteristics,” he says. This has “halted
nationalism”. At an election in July, Mr Fei-
jóo retained his absolute majority of seats
in the Galician parliament, another rarity
for Spain.
Critics complain that he has failed to
halt an exodus of talent, as young profes-
sionals seek opportunities abroad. In fact,
Galicia has seen more immigrants than
emigrants in this century. But it is an age-
ing society. The dynamism of the coast
contrasts with a depopulated interior,
prone to forest fires. The covid-19 pandem-
ic, although mild in the region, may exposeflaws in the Galician formula (with cases
rising, on October 30th Mr Feijóo restricted
movement into and out of the main
towns). “The economic model gave priority
to cement over knowledge,” says Xosé Ma-
noel Núñez Seixas, a historian at the Uni-
versity of Santiago de Compostela.
Galicia suffers the vices as well as the
virtues of Spanish devolution. It has three
airports, where one would do; Gallegos
cross the border to Porto in Portugal for
many international flights. Politics fea-
tures localism. Abel Caballero, the mayor
of Vigo since 2007, has made a successful
political career out of battling Mr Feijóo. He
wants the high-speed train to go straight to
his city, rather than via Santiago. Thatwould cost €2bn to save just 15 minutes,
says Mr Feijóo.
A nationalist party came second in the
election. Its leader, Ana Pontón, wants Ga-
licia “to take our own decisions” on energy,
infrastructure and taxes and “the right to
decide” on independence. She also wants
50% of teaching to be in Gallego. But most
Gallegos seem happy enough with what Mr
Feijóo calls “cordial bilingualism” rather
than the language war of Catalonia. The
nationalist vote seems to have a ceiling of
about 25%. “The Gallego has ambitions to
lead Spain,” says Miguel Conde-Lobato, an
advertising man in A Coruña. “We’re more
interested in captaining the ship than cap-
sizing it.” 7SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA
Galicia shows an idiosyncratic region
can remain happy in SpainSpainUs Gallegos