Reform, mutation and ... constitutional bankruptcy

Since the approval of the Spanish Constitution in 1978, constitutional amendment was only a matter of academic discussion until very recently. The victory of the PSOE in March 2004, and its alliance with the secessionist and nationalist parties of Catalonia and the Basque country, pushed to the forefront the problem of constitutional change. This article developed out of reflection on this issue, and is divided in three parts; the first merely sets out the notion of constitutional reform and related concepts; the second addresses the constitutional change that occurs not through formal amendment of the text; and the third faces the implications for the Spanish Constitution and political system of the unconstitutional reform carried out by the so-called "Ley de reforma del Estatuto de Cataluna". The conclusion is that we have witnessed an unbelievable legal fraud and a rupture of the Constitution which only the Spanish Constitutional Court could remedy.