The Rise and Decline of Constitutional Patriotism in Spain: Issues Arising in Multi-ethnic States

Abstract

at the beginning of this millennium the two main political parties in spain included constitutional patriotism in their political programs, an initiative that was followed by an intense debate in both academia and the media. the stated aim was to foster collective identification and attachment with spain based on a broad and inclusive concept of citizenship, which was considered to be endorsed by the spanish Constitution of 1978 and could help mitigate nationalist-based tensions. Yet nowadays references to constitutional patriotism have virtually disappeared from public discussion in spain, and this article offers two main reasons for this change. In the first place, it is frequently argued that there are discrepancies between genuine constitutional patriotism and that which the two main political parties espouse in spain. secondly, though seldom addressed in this matter, the spanish case exemplifies certain internal contradictions in the formulation of constitutional patriotism, along with unsolved problems in terms of its practical application to real situations.