ANAYASAL ÇATIŞMA VE BÖLGESEL ÇOĞULCULUK: KATALAN BAĞIMSIZLIK REFERANDUMU VE 2010 ANAYASA MAHKEMESİ KARARININ DEĞERLENDİRİLMESİ
CONSTITUTIONAL CONFLICT AND REGIONAL PLURALISM: THE CATALAN INDEPENDENCE REFERENDUM AND THE 2010 CONSTITUTIONAL COURT RULING

Summary/Abstract: This article adopts a dual analytical framework, integrating a critical examination of the 2010 Constitutional Court ruling (STC 31/2010) with an analysis of the political dynamics that unfolded between 2010 and 2017. Rather than presenting novel empirical data, the study provides a comprehensive assessment of how the Court's decision reconfigured the territorial balance of power, delegitimized the reform of the Catalan Statute of Autonomy, and precipitated a broader constitutional crisis within the Spanish ‘State of Autonomies.’ The analysis demonstrates that the ruling exacerbated deep-seated structural tensions arising from jurisdictional ambiguities, fiscal asymmetries, and the limited recognition of Spain's plurinational character. These structural factors, compounded by the economic crisis and eroding institutional trust, catalyzed the transformation of traditional autonomy-oriented Catalanism into a mass pro-independence movement, culminating in the unilateral referendum of October 2017. The article argues that this crisis underscores a fundamental dissonance between Spain's constitutional architecture and the imperatives of regional pluralism. Consequently, it concludes that sustainable conflict management requires substantial constitutional reform-potentially via a federal reconfiguration-or renewed political dialogue addressing both institutional asymmetries and societal grievances.

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