As Cánovas made clear in an address to the University of Madrid in 1882, the Spanish nation was a cultural and linguistic concept that tied Spain's colonies to the metropole despite the oceans that separated them.
The Spanish nation was a cultural and linguistic concept. These cultural and linguistic concept tied Spain's colonies to the metropole despite the oceans. These oceans separated them. Cánovas made clear in an address to the University of Madrid in 1882.