When the rules King of Castile Alfonso X the Wise wrote his Royal "Fuero" (Code of Laws) between 1256 and 1265, he did so in Galician-Portuguese, symbolizing the cultural and linguistic plurality of his kingdom. Over the centuries Spain was built out of a nationa, linguistic and institutional diversity. Even under the system of national unity created by the Catholic Monarchs, a variety of regional privileges remained, including those of Aragon, Catalonia, Navarre, Alava, Guipuzcoa, Vizcaya; and there was rich cultural variety including Celtic elements in Galicia and links with the Caribbean in the Canary Islands. Repeated attempts in Spanish history to abolish the fueros and unify institutions and cultures by force (attempts that were successful in other European countries, France for example) run up against deep popular feeling, and in the nineteenth century, against a movement among the bourgeoisie and middle classes of Catalonia and Euskadi (Basque Country) for separation from a central State remote from their history and social interests.

Hence, the construction of the State of regions in a democratic Spain was guided by a main principle: to achieve a consensus of political forces and public opinion at both national and regional levels. The Constitution does not precisely delimit the scope of the powers at each level of government, thus avoiding the rigid formalization of a federal State. Instead, the Constitution established procedures for the creation of Autonomous Regions with powers defined through a variable geometry steered by the political process. The result of this approach, contained in Title VIII of the Constitution, was to extend the right to autonomy beyond what are known as the historial regions (Catalonia, Euskadi and Galicia) which were the regions that had raised the politically unavoidable problem of the autonomous structure of the State. Out of this came the two paths originally envisaged for the formation of self-governing regions: the path of direct access to the maximun level of jurisdiction, regulated by Article 151, and essentially intended for the historical nationalities; and another more restricted path, set out in Article 143, for other regions. Andalusia, though not considered an historical nationality, also successfully used the arduous path of Article 151, which involved a popular referendum to be won by absolute majority in all provinces of the future Autonomous Regions. In the case of restricted autonomy, the Constitution left open the possibility of extending the transfer of powers beyond those specified in Article 148.1, after five years of self-government under Article 143.

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AUTONOMOUS COMMUNITIES SET UP IN ACCORDANCE WITH ARTICLE 151 OF THE
CONSTITUTION OF 1978:
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Autonomy Statute                                Regional Referendum
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BASQUE COUNTRY (EUSKADI)..............................25-10-79
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CATALONIA.............................................25-10-79
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GALICIA...............................................21-12-80
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ANDALUSIA: The first autonomy referendum in Andalusia held on
           28-2-80 was unsucessful, since it did not achieve
           the mayority required by Article 151 of the Constitution
           in one province (Almeria), and therefore a second
           referendum had to be held on...............20-10-81
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The remaining Autonomous Communities were constituted in accordance with the provisions of Article 143, and consequenty they did not require a referendum for the ratification of their Statutes.