Revista d'Estudis Autonòmics i Federals (Apr 2006)
LA REFORMA DEL ESTADO DE LAS AUTONOMÍAS
Abstract
In this article, its author analyzes some of the top current issues on the politicaland legal definition of the Spanish territorial model of state. From thisperspective, the author considers that there are some aspects of the territorialorganization of the state that have neither been tackled properly, norhave been approached from a problem-solving perspective. As a consequence,these aspects have ended up generating structural resistances to the full developmentof political decentralization in Spain. Thus, first of all, the authorsustains that there have been no significant changes on the territorial modelof state since its foundation in 1978; according to the author, thus, the1978 territorial status quo has hardly changed over all this period. Under thispremise, the author studies what he calls the “re-foundation” of the territorialdistribution of power in Spain, that is, the re-definition of the Stateof the Autonomous Communities.Secondly, he advocates for the need to provide a detailed definition of thede facto territorial model of State. In this sense he strongly criticizes theterritorial model of State that would result from both the process leadingto the reform of the Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia and the constitutionalreform proposed by Central Government. Thirdly, he states the importance of dealing with the different political and legal challenges arising fromthe current political debates on the territorial matter, as well as the need tofurther develop a federal paradigm which could serve as a reference for thefuture.
