Asymmetric federalism and new contentions in Spain

The differences between the practices as regards the identity and autonomy of the 17 Autonomous Communities which were founded after the 1978 Constitution have made the concept of asymmetry one of the essential components of the political system. As a result of this asymmetric reality, because the regional organization of the state drawn by the Constitution makes it possible to transform this State of Autonomies without any constitutional reforms, it has become difficult to entitle and classify the model. In this study the historical origins and the future of the State of Autonomies are discussed from the perspective of asymmetric federalism, and the problems that Spain is faced with in the 21st century and the demands of regional autonomy are found to be closely associated with the constitutional model. We aim to set down a general perspective from which the development of the Spanish model of regional organization, discussions of its reform and its future will be evaluated in a historical and legal framework. Therefore, this study will closely examine the historical developments about the regionalization of Spain, documents, laws, the Constitution and the Constitutional Court decisions. Owing to the extensive asymmetries between the regions as a consequence of historical identity and autonomy practices, and as a result of the fragile stability of the return of democracy period, multi-nationalism and decentralization taken together has become the root cause for the structural problems of the State of Autonomies. Therefore, it seems to us that the new contentions have two basic difficulties concerning the structural problems of the model and identity. It is argued in this study that the contentions of the powerful State of Autonomies on the one side, and structural problems about the regional organization of the sate on the other are very closely v related to the present constitutional model and are becoming more and deep-rooted within it. In this context, asymmetric federalism should best be regarded as the most effective instrument to solve the structural problems of the regional organization model and to incorporate national plurality into the constitutional system. Key Words: Asymmetric Federalism, State of Autonomies, Spain, Regional State, Autonomy