(Re)defining Spain

an aproximation to the genesis of article 2 for the Spanish Constitution

Abstract

This article proposes an approach to the origins of article 2 of the Spanish Constitution of 1978. It explores the evolution of the writing of this article using sources parliamentary debates, contemporary opinions of jurists and historians and debates on the press. I am particularly interested in the distinction between nationalities (nacionalidades) and regions (regiones) made by article 2 to see that finally there were no constitutional differences between these two concepts. As a conclusion I will propose the idea that from the reading of Title viii of the Constitution it seems clear that the structure fo the State was by no means closed in the Constitution itself but, on the contrary, opened to a variety of forms of territorial organization. I will also propose that it was probably the best option at the moment but probably not intended to be permanent in the future evolution of the Spanish constitutionalism.