Hiszpańska autonomia u progu XXI wieku

The problem of the world’s globalization is one of the most important issues of the academic discussion in the very beginning of the 21st century. It is because of the significant influence of decisions, taken at the international level of political decision making, for the political situation in many states in the world. But at the same time one can observe that in parallel to the process of globalization, the process of regionalization develops, in particular in Europe. It means that political units, smaller than the state, seek for new ideas and strive for the new political position. In this context the Spanish case appears to be a very interesting one. This state, with its strong historical tradition, related with the respect of the central power to the regional customs and privileges, has come up against the mandatory centralization at the time of gen. Franco’s authoritarian regime. Take away of rights to the autonomous political decision making of the peripheric and specific regions has caused serious tensions between them and the political center. For this reason one of the most important problems of the democratic transition in 1970s and 1980s was the problem of the state decentralization. Spanish political elites have decided to introduce the model of the regional state. Thus, the main aim of this article is to show the present effects of the political decisions, taken to resolve this problem more than thirty years ago.