The Spanish prime minister, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, has brought a new and refreshing style to Spanish politics. Limits to political change in Spain had been set by the difficult conditions of its transition to democracy in the late 1970s. These limits were converted into dogmas under the conservative Partido Popular (PP) from 1996 to 2004. But they have been opened up for debate under Zapatero's Socialist Party (PSOE) administration, still less than 18 months old. In principle, this is a healthy development.
His bold initiative in offering talks to the Basque terrorist group ETA, strictly conditional on its abandonment of violence, has still not borne tangible fruit, as a bombing last Saturday demonstrates.
In Catalonia, however, things are moving very fast indeed. Zapatero may yet regret his promise, made in Barcelona in 2003, that he would not oppose any new statute of autonomy agreed by the Catalan parliament, and brought to Madrid for ratification. Of course, at that stage he was not prime minister, and the 'catalanista' tone of his party's campaign there brought the Socialists to power in the region for the first time, in a coalition which includes the pro-independence radicals of the Catalan Republican Left (ERC).
This coalition is now drafting a statute which redefines Catalonia as a "nation", and seeks financial powers that may come close to fiscal independence. Some of his own ministers have reminded Zapatero that Spain is the only nation recognised by the constitution, which defines Catalonia as a "nationality". PSOE leaders from poorer regions, which benefit from fiscal transfers from Barcelona, have also been vocal in protesting against what they see as Catalan selfishness in abandoning the principle of inter-regional solidarity.
The PP, in tones approaching hysteria, accuses the prime minister of precipitating the "break-up of Spain". The Catalans are internally divided, and are still debating the proposals, but they are due to agree a final text by Friday, and should present a new statute in Madrid in early October.
Zapatero now says that his 2003 promise was conditional on the statute remaining within the limits of the Spanish constitution. In that case, he might have been better advised to change the constitution itself before encouraging other reforms which stretch its limits to breaking point. He will certainly need all his political adroitness to handle an issue where he may be forced to choose between offending Catalan sensibilities and antagonising his own supporters elsewhere.