Nominally, a Statute of Autonomy (Spanish: Estatuto de Autonomía, Catalan: Estatut d'Autonomia, Galician: Estatuto de Autonomía, Asturian: Estatutu d' Autonomía, Basque: Autonomia Estatutua) is a law hierarchically located under the constitution of a country, and over any other form of legislation (including organic laws). This legislative corpus concedes autonomy (self-government) to a subnational unit, and the articles usually mimic the form of a constitution, establishing the organization of the autonomous government, the electoral rules, the distribution of competences between different levels of governance and other regional-specific provisions, like the protection of cultural or lingual realities.
In Spain, the process of devolution after the transition to democracy (1979) created 17 autonomous communities and 2 autonomous cities, each having its own Statute of Autonomy. On 18 June 2006, Catalonia approved by referendum a new but controversial Catalan Statute of Autonomy, enhancing the Spanish territory's degree of autonomy. The original such statute was granted by the Spanish Republic in 1932.[1]
See also
- Autonomous communities of Spain
- Government of Wales Act 1998
- Nationalities and regions of Spain
- Northern Ireland Act 1998
- Scotland Act 1998
References
- ^ Force, Marina, "Catalonia's Place in Spain: A Brief History" (subscription required), Wall Street Journal, 11 October 2017. Retrieved 16 October 2017.