How did Spain become a state if there are so many linguistic and cultural divisions?

Question

And how did Portugal manage to become/attain independence if it's just as diverse as say the Basque community or the Galicians?

Answer 1

Statehood has nothing to do with linguistic and cultural differences.  It depends mostly on historical circumstances.  There are many states which have a great variety of languages and ethnic communities.

Answer 2

Warfare no doubt.  I have wondered how Portugal managed to avoid being swallowed up.  They have been independent for hundreds of years.

Answer 3

Could you not ask the same question RE: The U.S.A?

Answer 4

Portugal did not obtain its independence from Spain because Portugal is much older than Spain and it was since the begining exceptional in the sense that it was a country "created".

The area where is now Portugal has been unique since pre-history, the Megalithic culture that later erected Stonehenge started right here in Portugal, 9000 years ago, the country has the highest number of pre-historic monuments in the world.

Then came the pre-celtic civilizations, Tartessos and Conios, again very specific and unique to the atlantic coast, with its own writing (as yet to be decyphred).

Then followed the celtic nation of the Lusitans, very strong and that dominated the whole area matching what is now Portugal.

Then romans, visigoths, arabs followed and in the late 11th century the northern part of Portugal became a County, propriety of the House of Burgundy, and with it the characteristic that maintained the portugese identity very strong: the Templar knights. the Portucalensis County was given to count Henry of Burgundy as a reward for his commitment to the Crusades. And Count Henry and the county became the first territory directly ruled by the Order of the Temple.

In 1143 the son of Count Henry, Afonso Henriques (himself a templar) proclaimed the birth of the kingdom of Portugal, henceforth known throughout Europe as a "templar" kingdom, the first and the only one ever.

By the early 13th century the moorrs had been expelled and Portugal had defined its borders that remained the same until today, making it the oldest country in Europe, hundreds of years before Spain that by this time didn't even exist.

The Order of the Temple maintained a strong influence on Portugal, in fact when the Order was extinct by the vatican, its members killed or persecuted, the portuguese king Dinis proclaimed that Portugal was to be a sanctuary for persecuted templar knights and even "created" an order, the Order of Christ, effectively the Templars under a new name.

This Order of Christ and its rulers were to propell Portugal on its sea explorations, in fact Prince Henry the Navigator, the portuguese ruler responsible for a massive plan of discoveries pioneer in Europe was, none other than the Grand Master of the Order of Christ.

The rest is history, Portugal build a huge Empire, much bigger and truly blobal than that of Spain. In its heyday the Portugese Empire was Africa (the whole of Africa), Brazil, India, the whole Indian Ocean and its several islands, parts of China and even parts of Japan.

This strong cultural identity was what always differentiated Portugal from Spain, until today.