The regions desert Madrid: Pressure in Spain to grant more power to local governments is likely to increase after the elections, writes Phil Davison

IN HIS last political comment before he died this month, Don Juan de Borbon, the King of Spain's father, warned that the country was being 'torn apart, with its unity threatened'. He was a man who, despite decades of exile, knew Spain more than most. But despite his wisdom and experience, they were words largely written off as the senile observations of a dying man.

In January, the Prime Minister, Felipe Gonzalez, made similar headlines: there was, he said, 'a very grave danger that Spain could collapse into sort of Taifa kingdoms'. These were the Arab factions that feuded among themselves during part of the 800 years of Arab rule in the Iberian peninsula. Mr Gonzalez's remarks seemed party political, implying that only his Socialist Party could prevent the nation's disintegration. But friends say he was never more serious.

Spanish unity has been a sporadic and delicate affair. The strong possibility that general elections called by Mr Gonzalez for 6 June will result in a hung parliament, giving more power to the regions, raises the spectre of further regional break-up, even secession. The party that wins most votes - the Socialists or the conservative Popular Party - is likely to be forced into a coalition with the nationalists of the Basque Country and/or Catalonia. Quid pro quo will be the name of the game.

While Spain may be superficially seen as the land of bullfighting, paella and flamenco, such cultural colour is largely regional and as alien to many parts of the peninsula as caber-tossing or haggis to a Welshman. And regional feeling is not only strong, but often racist.

As for 'Spanishness', the central government made much last year of the warm welcome given to King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia during the Barcelona Olympics. But intense politicking is said to have taken place in the run-up to the Games before the local Catalan government leaders put the word out that the royal family was to be treated with respect. The King had after all been booed, albeit by a minority, at the same site a few years earlier. It is not uncommon to see a Spanish flag abused by football fans in Barcelona or San Sebastian, or - even with the Basque separatist guerrilla group's decline - an ETA banner on the terraces.

A recent military document cited several senior officers of the armed forces as expressing deep concern over increasing separatism and lack of regional respect for the military or the national flag. 'The Spaniards have lost the concept of Fatherland and the virtue of solidarity,' one air force colonel wrote. There was an increasing 'tendency towards separation and secession, which is completely irrational and selfish'. Movements to abolish military service have grown, particularly in the Basque Country and Catalonia.

Most agree that Spanish unity dates back to the late 15th century when the Moors were finally defeated and the two major crowns of Aragon and Castile were united. But 'unity' is a relative term. The long Arab occupation, and the step-by-step regionalised nature of the 'reconquest' left inhabitants of this peninsula a special historic case. They have always looked to region first, nation second.

The 'glue' of Franco's centralist dictatorship ensured superficial unity for almost 40 years. The King, a surging appetite for democracy, then strong support for the Socialist government, helped to continue some sense of national solidarity. A new and fragile coalition, however, could cause cracks in the national facade.

The Basque Country and Catalonia are autonomous. Galicia, which, like the other two, has its own language, is seeking control of its affairs under a new system proposed by Manuel Fraga, its conservative Prime Minister. Ironically, Mr Fraga was a minister under Franco, who banned the public use of regional languages and used the Guardia Civil to ensure that everyone 'speaks Christian (Spanish)'.

Thousands of residents of the so-called autonomous community of Aragon recently converged on Madrid seeking more self-rule. 'Independence' is a word rarely used by the regional politicians but a concept left open to varying degrees, depending on the audience. A speech in Barcelona, for example, by Catalonia's foxy Prime Minister, Jordi Pujol, will invariably suggest that his community has nothing in common with the lazy scoundrels in Madrid. When in the Spanish capital, however, Mr Pujol is careful to rephrase his remarks.

In a typical speech this week, on his home patch, Mr Pujol accused the central government of 'economic discrimination' against Catalonia and repeated his insistence that Catalonia, before handing over its citizens' income tax to Madrid, should be allowed to administer at least 15 per cent of the sum. Ideally, he would like Catalonia's entire tax revenue to be administered locally - as is the case in the Basque Country. If, as expected, Catalonian seats will be crucial to Spain's next central government, Mr Pujol's bargaining position will be strong.

Xavier Arzalluz, the regional leader of the Basque Country, surprised and angered many Spaniards, but not Basques, this year when he insisted that true Basques have a distinct blood type, RH negative, which 'those from outside' - immigrant workers from other Spanish regions - do not. When questioned, he replied that all he meant was that 'a Swede and a Zulu, they're different, right?'

Although Spain's 1978 constitution puts foreign policy in the hands of central government, regional leaders such as Mr Pujol increasingly travel the world to seek advantage for their communities. The central government has expressed concern that such activities could be detrimental to other regions or the country as a whole. Madrid said the governments of Catalonia, Galicia and Andalusia, for example, had signed bilateral agreements with foreign governments. Based on a 1985 ruling by the constitutional court, all such accords are illegal, government sources said.

Expressing the fears of increased regionalisation, Rafael Perez Escolar, a columnist writing in the conservative daily ABC, described regional campaigns against Spanish as 'exactly the same as the persecution of the vernacular tongues during the dictatorship'. As for Galicia's moves to cut off the central government from its administrative affairs, 'if put into practice, it would bring about the disintegration of Spain'.

'Is there no one capable of putting the interests of Spain before the interests of seats in parliament? Will no one raise his voice to denounce what could mean the rupture of the nation?' he wrote.