Caroline Gray is Lecturer in Politics and Spanish at Aston University in Birmingham and Deputy Co-Director of the Aston Centre for Europe. She specialises in the politics of Spain and wider Europe, focusing on nationalist movements, political decentralisation and the party system. She studied Modern Languages at the University of Oxford for her BA and MSt degrees, before later completing an ESRC-funded PhD in Politics at the University of Liverpool.

This timely book places Spain in its European context yet highlights the distinctive role of territorial tensions in explaining the chronic political instability of recent years. A valuable contribution to the literature on political competition in Spain, doing justice to the Catalan and Basque dimensions.Richard Gillespie, Emeritus Professor, University of LiverpoolThis perceptive book is essential reading for anyone who wants to make sense of the political changes Spain experienced in the aftermath of the Great Recession. Caroline Gray provides great insight into how territorial politics shaped and then was shaped by the new party system.Bonnie N. Field, Professor, Bentley University

• 1 Territorial politics and the party system in Spain2 The political consequences of the 2008 financial crisis: Spain in European context3 Decentralisation and its discontents: The role of the financial crisis in accelerating the Catalan independence movement4 Basque nationalism: A longer-term quest for co-sovereignty5 Territorial politics and the evolution of the Spanish left6 Territorial politics and the evolution of the Spanish right 7 Conclusion: Continuity or change?Index

Caroline Gray is Lecturer in Politics and Spanish at Aston University in Birmingham and Deputy Co-Director of the Aston Centre for Europe. She specialises in the politics of Spain and wider Europe, focusing on nationalist movements, political decentralisation and the party system. She studied Modern Languages at the University of Oxford for her BA and MSt degrees, before later completing an ESRC-funded PhD in Politics at the University of Liverpool.

This timely book places Spain in its European context yet highlights the distinctive role of territorial tensions in explaining the chronic political instability of recent years. A valuable contribution to the literature on political competition in Spain, doing justice to the Catalan and Basque dimensions.Richard Gillespie, Emeritus Professor, University of LiverpoolThis perceptive book is essential reading for anyone who wants to make sense of the political changes Spain experienced in the aftermath of the Great Recession. Caroline Gray provides great insight into how territorial politics shaped and then was shaped by the new party system.Bonnie N. Field, Professor, Bentley University

• 1 Territorial politics and the party system in Spain2 The political consequences of the 2008 financial crisis: Spain in European context3 Decentralisation and its discontents: The role of the financial crisis in accelerating the Catalan independence movement4 Basque nationalism: A longer-term quest for co-sovereignty5 Territorial politics and the evolution of the Spanish left6 Territorial politics and the evolution of the Spanish right 7 Conclusion: Continuity or change?Index

Caroline Gray is Lecturer in Politics and Spanish at Aston University in Birmingham and Deputy Co-Director of the Aston Centre for Europe. She specialises in the politics of Spain and wider Europe, focusing on nationalist movements, political decentralisation and the party system. She studied Modern Languages at the University of Oxford for her BA and MSt degrees, before later completing an ESRC-funded PhD in Politics at the University of Liverpool.

This timely book places Spain in its European context yet highlights the distinctive role of territorial tensions in explaining the chronic political instability of recent years. A valuable contribution to the literature on political competition in Spain, doing justice to the Catalan and Basque dimensions.Richard Gillespie, Emeritus Professor, University of LiverpoolThis perceptive book is essential reading for anyone who wants to make sense of the political changes Spain experienced in the aftermath of the Great Recession. Caroline Gray provides great insight into how territorial politics shaped and then was shaped by the new party system.Bonnie N. Field, Professor, Bentley University

• 1 Territorial politics and the party system in Spain2 The political consequences of the 2008 financial crisis: Spain in European context3 Decentralisation and its discontents: The role of the financial crisis in accelerating the Catalan independence movement4 Basque nationalism: A longer-term quest for co-sovereignty5 Territorial politics and the evolution of the Spanish left6 Territorial politics and the evolution of the Spanish right 7 Conclusion: Continuity or change?Index