The Rise and Decline of Constitutional Patriotism in Spain: Issues Arising in Multi-ethnic States

a comienzos de la década del 2000, los dos partidos políticos mayoritarios en españa incorporaron la idea de patriotismo constitucional a su programa político, lo que generó un intenso debate tanto académico como periodístico. Declaraban pretender con ello promover un sentimiento colectivo de pertenencia en relación a españa, basado en una idea amplia e incluyente de ciudadanía, que se entendía reconocida en la Constitución de 1978. Una oportunidad para atenuar las tensiones nacionalistas. Hoy en día las referencias al patriotismo constitucional prácticamente han desaparecido del discurso público en españa. en el presente estudio se argumenta que las razones de ello han sido dos. Por un lado, una crítica recurrente señalaba divergencias entre lo que los dos partidos españoles mayoritarios propugnaban y el patriotismo constitucional genuino. en segundo lugar ―cuestión apenas abordada―, el caso español evidencia algunas contradicciones internas en la propia fórmula del patriotismo constitucional, y los inconvenientes casi irresolubles que puede encontrar en su aplicación práctica.at the beginning of this millennium the two main political parties in spain included constitutional patriotism in their political programs, an initiative that was followed by an intense debate in both academia and the media. the stated aim was to foster collective identification and attachment with spain based on a broad and inclusive concept of citizenship, which was considered to be endorsed by the spanish Constitution of 1978 and could help mitigate nationalist-based tensions. Yet nowadays references to constitutional patriotism have virtually disappeared from public discussion in spain, and this article offers two main reasons for this change. In the first place, it is frequently argued that there are discrepancies between genuine constitutional patriotism and that which the two main political parties espouse in spain. secondly, though seldom addressed in this matter, the spanish case exemplifies certain internal contradictions in the formulation of constitutional patriotism, along with unsolved problems in terms of its practical application to real situations