As old as you are and more than 17,200 days after its entry into force, the 1978 constitution has become the longest in the history of Spain.
No other seminal text, no other Carta Magna, has withstood decay economic crisis, social change, political cycles and territorial tensions.
In a country that has known ephemeral constitutions, military declarations and civil wars, this is not an insignificant fact: it is a historical achievement that should be celebrated without exception.
Especially when you compare the heart and soul of Spain’s history with the experience of the six constitutions that preceded it in its terrible history, which should serve as a warning to adventurers and supporters of all political levels.
1. The first long-lasting key is known, but it is best to repeat it. The 1978 constitution is the first in which the program of one part of Spain was not subject to the imposition of another, pending the outcome of a pact between the adversaries.
El consensus de la Transición (entre reformistas del régimen de Francisco Francosocial democrats, Christian democrats, liberals, moderate nationalists and communists) in order to create an intentionally inclusive text, able to include different political projects under shared rules of the game.
This clear will, expressed after a roundly positive referendum (87.8% of Spaniards voted for it, 59% of the electoral votes at the time), gave the Carta Magna a legitimacy of origin that no other Spanish constitution had.
2. The second key e.g a combination of clarity in the essentials and flexibility in accessories.
The Constitution clearly defines the pillars of the system (parliamentary monarchy, social and democratic state of the country, unity of the Spanish nation, rights and fundamental freedoms), but has broad rules for different legislative mayors to implement economic, social or territorial policies within the country.
This “constructive ambiguity” allowed the government to be run by the right, with steps of major economic liberalization or major public interventions, without having to rewrite the highest norm every time the political cycle changed.
3. The third club is based in its territorial division.
The concept of an autonomous state was not a clear-cut eschema, but an open process that allowed the integration of the aspirations of the self-government of Catalonia and the country, while at the same time extending competences to all communities.
For all its shortcomings, this proposal avoids repeating the previous paragraphs: no rigid centralism, no sent confederalism.
I have hard problems, comparative aggravation and painful sentences. However, over the decades, the autonomous model has functioned as an integration valve rather than a breakthrough valve.
4. Finally, the architecture of his reforms (challenging but not impossible) contributed to his stability. The difficulty of editing core titles discouraged large simple adventures and forced me to look for more extensive information when I read the text.
This balance between rigidity and adaptation cemented the constitution as a tough man, nothing more than ordinary law susceptible of being overwritten by a political coup.
It is precisely because of everything that they care so much about the threats that weigh on this agreement today. It is not just the Catalan independence movement that tried to replace the constitutional order with a unilateral plebiscite mandate in 2017.
The most corrosive controversy is the gradual breakdown of the consensus that supported the legitimacy of the Carta Magna during the mid-century cases. And this erosion is the current prime minister, Pedro Sánchezundeniable paper.
Sánchez has decided to rule Spain by adopting a systematic form of forces that is recognized not only by the Constitution, but because they see it as an obstacle to be overcome.
Los pardons and los leaders del processThe criminal reform that punished the costs of criminals linked to this challenge, and above all the amnesty negotiated with those who declared secession, brought a clear idea: to seriously undermine the constitutional order you can raise the rent if you have the capacity for parliamentary chants.
This logic deprives the Constitution of protection and weakens the principle of equality before the law.
Here comes the rhetorical delegitimization of the basic institutions of the former state. Repeated use of palabra statutory fee When we talk about judicial decisions, the presidency in judicial power and the absence of real will to enforce state agreements with the opposition have eroded the atmosphere of minimal trust that any robust constitutional architecture requires.
When the government presents itself to the courts as a more political actor, and the opposition responds by denying the moral legitimacy of the executive, the ground under Pact 78’s feet is strengthened.
No wonder the Constitution has aged badly, as long as the children’s behavior must be guaranteed. The People’s Party (with all its faults) essentially maintains a strict defense of the 1978 brand, the separation of property, the unity of the nation, and the need for large acuerdos to achieve the rules of the game.
The current PSOE, on the other hand, has gone from being a pillar of consensus in a few years to adopting a distinctive program for members who live in questioning the very existence of Spain as a political nation.
It is not a minor or co-intural drift. It is a first-order coexistence improvement.
For all that, this record of longevity cannot be reduced to smug reminiscence. It must be a call for attention and a renewed compromise.
The Constitution of 1978 is, in fact, the stamp that has ensured the most years of peace, freedom and economic prosperity in Spain’s current history. We find that we have consolidated a democracy that is comparable to Europeans, we have joined the European Union, we have modernized the economy and we have raised the standard of living of citizens in a sustainable way.
There is no other comparable stage in our national tradition.
Today’s defender of the constitution is not an exercise in nostalgia, but responsibility. It means to demand that great knowledge should be brought to the top of the country’s parliamentary arithmetic; that necessary reforms are beyond agreement and not beyond truth; that the control institutions restore their prestige; that the Spanish unit needs to exchange money.
This is ultimately to argue that the consensual spirit of the Transition helped guide political action. The alternative is not a blank slate to build a “new Spain” until our country’s descent into the darkest years of our history.
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