Abstract
This article explores the model of territorial autonomy in Spain, illustrating how Spain’s ambiguous constitutional design set the bases for a transition from centralism to a model that in practice can be considered as a federation in all but name. The author examines the importance of the territorial question during Spain’s history and the legal foundations of the State of Autonomies in the 1978 Constitution and its implementation in practice with special focus on the distribution of powers between governments, the system of financial relations and the recent developments caused by the Catalan crisis.