What is Spanish nationalism today? From legitimacy crisis to unfulfilled renovation (1975–2000)

Abstract The article explores the different discourses on Spanish nationalism and 'patriotic affirmation' existing in contemporary Spain. Since the end of Francoism, Spanish nationalism has existed in a de-articulated and diffuse way, rather as a reaction against the challenge of stateless nationalisms than as a substantive doctrine. However, since the mid-1980s there has been a recovery of Spanish nationalist discourse, often labelled as 'Constitutional patriotism', whose main point is the insistence on History as the founding basis for the legitimation of the present Spanish polity, as well as the vindication of the 1978 Constitution as the end-point of decentralization. Keywords: Spanish NationalismConstitutional PatriotismCultural PluralityHistory