ABSTRACT
A central aspect of the success of present Spanish democracy is its territorial definition as a state of autonomies (estado de autonomias). This compromise formula of the architects of the constitution remained the most important issue to achieve a lasting constitutional settlement in Spain. Indeed, the constitutional formula was so open-ended, that today there are growing calls for a further revision of the constitution to acknowledge the present reality of seventeen autonomous communities. The danger of such open-endedness spilling over into an unstable unresolved settlement is quite real (Villacorta Mancebo, 2000: 88-102; Colomer, 1999: 41; Nagel and Requejo, 2007: 278-81; Nuñez Seixas, 2007). Indeed, the compromise formula envisaged only a restricted autonomy to the historical regions of the Basque Country and Catalonia. Article 151 allowed these historical regions to become autonomous communities with greater powers through a fast-track route.
