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A Consociational Compromise? Constitutional Evolution in Spain and Catalonia

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Power-Sharing in Europe

Part of the book series: Federalism and Internal Conflicts ((FEINCO))

Abstract

This chapter examines the prospects of a consociational compromise in Spain and Catalonia as a response to the protracted constitutional stalemate between the two governments. While Spain’s transition to democracy in the late 1970s had a clear consociational tinge, it has since evolved toward the entrenchment of a majoritarian and mononational interpretation of the state, hostile to its plurinational reality and to minority nationalist aspirations in territories like Catalonia. Hitherto, no institutional resolution has been found to satisfy the demands of both sides. This chapter argues that consociational philosophy has much to offer to Spain and Catalonia. While a more consensual approach to politics is crucial to thawing the frosty relations between the pro- and anti-independence sides, the development of a fully-fledged consociational system has yet to gain much traction.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    In a recent survey, 49.3% of Catalans supported independent statehood, while 41.2% were against. In response to the question, “a referendum should be held in Catalonia because Catalans should decide the sort of relationship they want between Catalonia and Spain,” 70.8% agreed. In the same survey, 75.2% of respondents considered the imprisonment of pro-independence representatives ‘unjust’ while only 16.4% supported this course of action (CEO 2019).

  2. 2.

    Field (2016: 49–55) notes that contextual factors, party goals and political institutions have all influenced the preference for minority government over coalition government in Spain. Often, the largest party following an election “did not fall far short of an absolute majority” (Field 2016: 51), hence a reduced incentive for smaller parties to join a coalition, or for the larger party to seek a coalition partner.

  3. 3.

    In response to this, President Puigdemont fled to Brussels to escape arrest. Some pro-independence representatives fled to other European countries, while others, including Vice-President Oriol Junqueras, were arrested and remanded in custody on charges of rebellion, sedition and misuse of public funds.

  4. 4.

    At the time of writing (early 2020), Catalan President, Quim Torra, has vowed to call regional elections to break the deadlock between the pro-independence parties vis-à-vis an agreed independence strategy.

  5. 5.

    Successive studies by the Centro de Investigaciones Sociológicas have recorded growing support for the devolution of fewer rather than more powers to ACs.

  6. 6.

    In a recent survey asking Catalans their preferred end result of the Catalan sovereignty process, 45.7% supported the devolution of more powers of self-government for Catalonia (33.9% supported independence) (ICPS 2019) and 71.9% of Catalans supported a revision of the 1978 Constitution to give more autonomy to the autonomous communities as an avenue to solve ongoing territorial tensions. In the rest of Spain, support for this option was markedly lower at 40.5% (CEO 2019).

  7. 7.

    The Declaration of Barcelona was a joint declaration signed on 16 July 1998 by the main Catalan (CiU), Basque (PNV) and Galician (Galician Nationalist Bloc—BNG) parties. It complained that, after 20 years of democracy, Spain had yet to establish any official juridical or political recognition vis-à-vis the historical nationalities and called for a radical reform of the Spanish Constitution to recognize Spain as a multilingual, multicultural and multinational state.

  8. 8.

    The negotiations involved in the renewal of the agreement necessitate mutual agreement between both the Basque and Spanish governments and in essence “gives both Spanish and Basque delegations equal veto power” (Gray 2016: 126).

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  1. School of Law, Policing and Social Sciences, Canterbury Christ Church University, Canterbury, UK

    Paul Anderson

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  1. School of Law, Policing and Social Sciences, Canterbury Christ Church University, Canterbury, UK

    Soeren Keil

  2. Department of Political Science, Brandon University, Brandon, MB, Canada

    Allison McCulloch

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Anderson, P. (2021). A Consociational Compromise? Constitutional Evolution in Spain and Catalonia. In: Keil, S., McCulloch, A. (eds) Power-Sharing in Europe. Federalism and Internal Conflicts. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-53590-2_9

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