The State of Autonomies in Troubled Times: The Pandemic Provides a Catalyst for Reinvigorating Inter-Governmental Relations

Abstract

The outburst of the pandemic occurred at a moment when the cooperation and the dialogue between territorial players had been reinforced in Spain. The implosion of the two-party system, the exhaustion of case law and the impact of the EU had already changed the dynamic of the ‘State of Autonomies’. The COVID-19 reinvigorated this trend moving from permanent conflict among tiers of government to growing cooperation. This growing cooperation has clear constitutional ramifications and could gradually rebuild the essential trust among tiers of government in Spain after years of conflict instigated by the Catalan and the Eurocrisis