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Introduction

The historical origin of Blaverism largely derives from a certain rivalry between the cities of València and Barcelona. These kind of rivalries are something normal, to some extent. They occur very often between neighboring and rival towns or cities. For example, between Sabadell and Terrassa, between Alzira and Carcaixent, between Benimaclet and Alboraia... The problem comes when this rivalry, which is something more or less human, leads to an instrumentalization by foreign forces to create a conflict between two territories.

Map showing the whereabouts of València, Barcelona and Madrid.

So, what does this mean? It means that, at a certain historical moment, this rivalry was used by the centralist forces from Madrid in order to, as we have said, create a sociological conflict between Catalonia and the Valencian Country. In this way, they make the Valencian people believe that there exists a "Catalan imperialism" that seeks to "conquer" and "annex" the Valencian Country. This theory is based on four false historical and scientific premises:

Firstly, the existence of a supposed Valencian language, different from Catalan, the existence of which "Catalan imperialism" seeks to annul.
Secondly - and this is derived from the issue of language - the veracity and importance of the local denominations for the language in the Middle Ages (which is a very common phenomenon in Europe).
Thirdly, the existence of a Valencian flag different from the Catalan one, characterized by a blue stripe. This has been the main tenet to which Blaverists have perhaps clung to most insistently, leading to their common nickname "Blaverists" (from the Catalan word blau, meaning blue).
Fourthly, the belief that after James I of Aragon's reconquest, the majority of the settlers in the Valencian Country were not Catalan, but had other origins.

Let's debunk these four premises, which can otherwise be easily disproven: