Editing Autonomous communities of Spain (section)

===Background===
[[File:España1757.jpg|thumb|upright=1.6|A map of [[Iberia]] in 1757]]
Spain is a diverse country made up of several different regions with varying economic and social structures, as well as different languages and historical, political and cultural traditions.<ref name=villar>{{cite web|url=http://www.stormingmedia.us/46/4624/A462453.html|last=Villar|first=Fernando P.|title=Nationalism in Spain: Is It a Danger to National Integrity?|publisher=Storming Media, Pentagon Reports|date=June 1998|access-date=3 February 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130927225951/http://www.stormingmedia.us/46/4624/A462453.html|archive-date=27 September 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name=shabad>{{cite journal|title=Language, Nationalism and Political Conflict in Spain|journal = Comparative Politics|volume = 14|issue = 4|pages = 443–477|last1=Shabad|first1=Goldie|last2=Gunther|first2=Richard|publisher=Comparative Politics Vol 14 No. 4|date=July 1982|jstor = 421632|doi = 10.2307/421632}}</ref> While the entire Spanish territory was united under one crown in 1479, this was not a process of national homogenization or amalgamation. The constituent territories—be they crowns, kingdoms, principalities or dominions—retained much of their former institutional existence,{{sfn|Moreno|2007|loc=}} including limited legislative, judicial or fiscal autonomy. These territories also exhibited a variety of local customs, laws, languages and currencies until the mid 19th century.{{sfn|Moreno|2007|loc=}}

From the 18th century onwards, the [[Spanish royal family|Bourbon kings]] and the government tried to establish a more centralized regime. Leading figures of the [[Spanish Enlightenment]] advocated for the building of a Spanish nation beyond the internal territorial boundaries.{{sfn|Moreno|2007|loc=}} This culminated in 1833, when Spain was [[1833 territorial division of Spain|divided]] into 49 (now 50) [[provinces of Spain|provinces]], which served mostly as transmission belts for policies developed in Madrid.

Spanish history since the late 19th century has been shaped by a dialectical struggle between Spanish nationalism and peripheral nationalisms,{{sfn|Conversi|2002|loc=}}{{sfn|Moreno Fernández|2008|loc=}} mostly in Catalonia and the Basque Country, and to a lesser degree in [[Galicia (Spain)|Galicia]].

In a response to Catalan demands, limited autonomy was granted to the [[Commonwealth of Catalonia]] in 1914, only to be abolished in 1925. It was granted again in 1932 during the [[Second Spanish Republic]], when the [[Generalitat of Catalonia|Generalitat]], Catalonia's mediaeval institution of government, was restored. The constitution of 1931 envisaged a territorial division for all Spain in "autonomous regions", which was never fully attained—only [[Autonomous Region of Catalonia (1931–1939)|Catalonia]], the Basque Country and Galicia had approved "[[Statute of Autonomy|Statutes of Autonomy]]"—the process being thwarted by the [[Spanish Civil War]] that broke out in 1936, and the victory of the rebel Nationalist forces under [[Francisco Franco]].{{sfn|Conversi|2002|loc=}}

[[Francoist Spain|Franco's dictatorial regime]] strongly believed that the only way of preserving the "unity of the Spanish nation" was by ruling Spain as a highly centralized state.{{sfn|Conversi|2002|loc=}} Peripheral nationalism, along with communism and atheism, were regarded by his regime as the main threats.<ref name=frans/> His attempts to fight separatism with heavy-handed but sporadic repression,<ref name=shabad/> and his often severe suppression of language and regional identities<ref name="shabad"/> backfired: the demands for democracy became intertwined with demands for the recognition of a pluralistic vision of Spanish nationhood.{{sfn|Conversi|2002|loc=}}{{sfn|Moreno Fernández|2008|pages=78,79}}

When Franco died in 1975, Spain entered into a phase of [[Spanish transition to democracy|transition to democracy]]. The most difficult task of the newly democratically elected {{Lang|es|[[Cortes Generales]]|italic=no}} (the Spanish Parliament) in 1977 acting as a Constituent Assembly was to transition from Franco's rigid centralism to a more decentralized model{{sfn|Colomer|1998|loc=}} in a way that would satisfy the demands of the peripheral nationalists.<ref name=mundo>{{cite web|url=http://www.elmundo.es/especiales/2005/06/espana/estatutos_autonomia/historia.html|title=Café para Todos|work=La España de las Autonomías. Un Especial de elmundo.es|last=Aparicio|first=Sonia|access-date=29 January 2012}}</ref><ref name=portero>{{Cite book |last=Portero Molina |first=José Antonio |title=El Estado Autonómico: Integración, Solidaridad, Diversidad. |publisher=Instituto Nacional de Administración Pública |year=2005 |isbn=978-8478799770 |editor-last=Vidal Beltrán |editor-first=José María |volume=1 |pages=39–64 |trans-title=The Autonomous State: Integration, Solidarity, Diversity. |chapter=El Estado de las Autonomías en Tiempo de Reformas |trans-chapter=The State of the Autonomies in the time of reforms |oclc=83606618 |editor-last2=García Herrera |editor-first2=Miguel Ángel}}</ref>

The [[Prime Minister of Spain]], [[Adolfo Suárez]], met with [[Josep Tarradellas]], president of the [[Generalitat of Catalonia]] in exile. They agreed to restore the Generalitat and transfer limited powers while the constitution was still being written. Shortly after, the government allowed the creation of "assemblies of members of parliament" made up of deputies and senators of the different territories of Spain, so that they could constitute "pre-autonomic regimes" for their regions as well. {{citation needed|date=December 2015}}

The [[Fathers of the Constitution]] had to strike a balance between the opposing views of Spain—on the one hand, the centralist view inherited from monarchist and nationalist elements of Spanish society,{{sfn|Colomer|1998|loc=}} and on the other hand [[federalism]] and a pluralistic view of Spain as a "nation of nations";<ref name=sinopsis2>{{cite web |url=http://www.congreso.es/consti/constitucion/indice/sinopsis/sinopsis.jsp?art=2&tipo=2|title=Sinópsis artículo 2|work=Constitución española (con sinópsis) |last=Delgado-Ibarren García-Campero|first=Manuel| publisher=[[Congress of Deputies (Spain)|Congress of the Deputies]]|date=June 2005|access-date=28 January 2012}}</ref> between a uniform decentralization of entities with the same powers and an asymmetrical structure that would distinguish the nationalities. Peripheral nationalist parties wanted a multinational state with a federal or confederal model, whereas the governing [[Union of the Democratic Centre (Spain)|Union of the Democratic Centre]] (UCD) and the [[People's Alliance (Spain)|People's Alliance]] (AP) wanted minimum decentralization; the [[Spanish Socialist Workers' Party]] (PSOE) was sympathetic to a federal system.<ref name=frans/>

In the end, the constitution, published and ratified in 1978, found a balance in recognizing the existence of "nationalities and regions" in Spain, within the "indissoluble unity of the Spanish nation". In order to manage the tensions present in the Spanish transition to democracy, the drafters of the current Spanish constitution avoided giving labels such as 'federal' to the territorial arrangements,<ref>[https://foreignpolicy.com/2016/03/18/why-talk-of-federalism-wont-help-peace-in-syria-assad/ Why Talk of Federalism Won't Help Peace in Syria]. ''[[Foreign Policy]]''</ref> while enshrining in the constitution the right to autonomy or self-government of the "nationalities and regions", through a process of asymmetric [[devolution]] of power to the "autonomous communities" that were to be created.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.mreza-mira.net/wp-content/uploads/Devolution-in-Spain-May-2014.pdf |title=Devolution of Powers in Spain |access-date=2016-03-31 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161012014346/http://www.mreza-mira.net/wp-content/uploads/Devolution-in-Spain-May-2014.pdf |archive-date=2016-10-12 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>[http://www.brandeis.edu/departments/politics/researchcircle/publications/docs/chernyha-burgpaper.pdf Devolution and Democracy: Identity, Preferences, and Voting in the Spanish "State of Autonomies"]</ref>