Speaking in Name of the Constituent Power: the Spanish Constitutional Court and the New Catalan Estatut

In June 2010 the Spanish Constitutional Court rendered a very important judgment on the constitutional legitimacy of the new fundamental charter (Estatut) of the Autonomous Community of Catalonia. Coping with a very long and ambitious legal document, the Court succeeded in ‘rescuing’ most of its controversial provisions by means of consistent interpretation. Thus, those provisions aiming at ‘constitutionalizing’ Catalan identity have been widely neutralized. By doing so, however, the Court has undergone widespread criticism, possibly paving the way for further conflicts.