CRISIS OF THE TERRITORIAL AUTONOMY AND SECESSIONIST DEMANDS: IS THE FEDERAL SYSTEM «THE» ALTERNATIVE?

Abstract

This paper considers the crisis affecting the system of territorial autonomy in Spain. And it argues that the only possible way to overcome this is evolution via the route taken by the most reliable and established federal systems in the world. The author believes that the secessionist crisis is not the cause but the effect of the crisis of our system of territorial autonomy. In this sense, it would be impossible to understand the outbreak of the secessionist crisis without taking into account the inability to resolve, in a satisfactory manner, the problems that had been increasingly apparent during recent years; in particular, the financial question. Comparative experience shows that only a strong and coherent federal system has the capacity to contain and overcome the crisis. But without forgetting that Spain needs to respond appropriately to the country’s particular circumstances