De la España nacional a la nación constitucional. Nación, nacionalidades y territorios en el tránsito de la dictadura a la democracia

Authors

José M. Portillo Valdés Universidad del País Vasco / Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea

Keywords:

Spanish Transition, Nation and Nationalisms, National-Catholicism, Autonomy

Abstract

From National Spain to the Constitutional Nation. Nation, Nationalities and Territories in the Transition from Dictatorship to Democracy

The Spanish Transition discarded the possibility of a revolutionary process and a rupture with the Francoist regime. Francoism was finally substituted by a democratic and constitutional system, but all the way to this point (properly the Transi- tion), was indelibly marked by the obsession of preserving the State and its institutions. Historiography has already stressed the institutional weakness evidenced by the Francoist State during the Transition. This articles argues that, paradoxically, a similar conclusion can be reached for the Spanish nation, a deeply nationalist regime like Franco’s, left behind a completely useless idea of nation for political purposes. As a consequence during the Transition Spain had to be reinvented as a national body and it also left a wide field for the development of alternative national identities in Spain.

Received: 30-03-2020

Admitted: 31-05-2020

Author Biography

José M. Portillo Valdés, Universidad del País Vasco / Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea

José María Portillo Valdés è professore ordinario di Storia del Diritto all’Università dei Paesi Baschi. Le sue linee di ricerca si sono concentrate sulla storia costituzionale spagnola, in particolare la storia istituzionale basca, e sul processo di riforma costituzionale nel XVIII e all’inizio del XIX secolo, che culminò con la promulgazione della Costituzione del 1812. È membro del gruppo di ricerca HICOES. Ha insegnato e svolto ricerche in varie istituzioni europee e americane, tra cui il Centro di Studi per la Storia del Pensiero Giuridico Moderno, presso l’Università di Firenze; La Georgetown University, dove ha ricoperto la cattedra del Principe delle Asturie, l’Università del Nevada, el Colegio de México e la Universidad Externado de Colombia. Nel 2003 è stato insignito dell’Ordine al merito costituzionale del governo spagnolo.