Diversity and decentralization in the democratization process in Spain

Abstract

This paper will deal with the history of an important political change in Spain during the transition to democracy between 1976 and 1982: the transformation of a unitary and centralized state to one composed of several political units capable of self-government. The starting point of that process was the confirmation of regional diversity and of the existence of clearly differentiated political sensibilities in some of its territories. The researchers shall rely especially on the legacy of some of the principal actors, and explore the connection between such diversity and the political change that took place.