**6. Conclusions**

If we were to make a semasiological analysis of the concept of plurinationality, as Reinhart Koselleck suggests, we would reach the conclusion that this concept, in the Spanish case at least, has followed a somewhat somnambulistic path, midway between daydream and nightmare. Without any doubt, it is a concept with grea<sup>t</sup> potential to explain the national phenomenon in Spain but, at the same time, it has become an extremely controversial term in the political debate. In a pirandellian manner of speaking, it is a *concept* in search of a *term*, a formal expression that is seeking acceptance but not merely in the twilight. The term plurinationality was eluded in the juridical-constitutional debate by using convoluted formulas, and the distinction between the ideas of "nation" and "nationality" is quite possibly Spanish constitutionalism's strange contribution to this question. This acceptance of plurinationality without naming it has enabled some parties (above all, the PP and CIU, and now Ciudadanos and Vox as well) to develop discursive strategies opposing the formation of plurinational governments, especially since the 2000s, as occurred in its day with the plurinational governmen<sup>t</sup> of the PSOE in Catalonia, or currently with the plurinational national governmen<sup>t</sup> of the PSOE in Navarre. In the case of those parties that opt for plurinational governments, such as the PSOE, its strategy has solely been aimed at spreading that practice at the regional level, minimising its costs but without assuming the vertigo that extending this formula to the central governmen<sup>t</sup> would involve.

The term plurinationality has received scant analysis in the Spanish academic literature. Preference has been given to studying the term "subjective national identity" as a static category, instead of exploring the advantages of what, in this paper, we have called intersubjective national identity, which due to its relational character is of greater value for studying the identitarian question in overlapping plurinational societies. It is significant that in Spain, for example, we do not know the opinion of citizens on the di fferent plurinational governments that have been formed in the country and their suitability in comparison to other governmen<sup>t</sup> formulas in which national identities are not mixed. It would appear that the term plurinationality floats like a vague idea in the Spanish political debate, without substantive content that might subsequently give rise to a political discussion on its scope and possible benefits. There have been plurinational governments but it seems that nobody wants to recognise them as such: They are seen as exceptional formulas that involve compromise (the PNV-PSE governmen<sup>t</sup> in the Basque Country fits this idea) or strongly criticised governmen<sup>t</sup> formulas (the PSC-ERC governmen<sup>t</sup> in Catalonia is the best example), which makes it di fficult to extend this formula, especially to the central government. The enormous pressure against recognising plurinationality as a useful expression, beyond its concrete meaning, make it a very costly term and thus an easy target for stigmatising those who approach it. It is significant that, in general, those who speak of Spain as a "plurinational state" are the ones most reluctant to recognise plurinationality in its regions; just as those who demand respect for national plurality in di fferent communities, as happens in Catalonia with the *procé<sup>s</sup>*, are the ones most reluctant to speak of Spain in plurinational terms. As the saying goes: This is a case of "seeing the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and paying no attention to the plank in your own eye" (that is, they criticise the nationalist bias of the other while ignoring their own nationalist bias). The question arises whether it will be possible, and desirable, to imagine the term plurinationality having a meaning in Spain in the future that goes beyond the nationalist attitudes that are today dedicated to exchanging vetoes on this issue. It seems, for the time being at least, that it will continue to remain trapped in the labyrinth.

**Funding:** This research received no external funding.

**Conflicts of Interest:** The author declares no conflict of interest.
