This paper analyses the increasing use of the concept of subnational identity, understood as a peculiar (to some extent) category that is opposed to the State or federal identity. References to it are included in the second-generation Italian (subnational) fundamental charters (Statuti) and Spanish Estatutos de autonomia. After an overview of the identity clauses contained in the sub-national constitutions, we will move to analyse the first cases of judicial relevance of these clauses when they are invoked before national courts, and test whether and how these subnational identity provisions could be interpreted in a manner consistent with the national constitution.

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In June 2010 the Spanish Constitutional Court rendered a very important judgment on the constitutional legitimacy of the new fundamental charter (Estatut) of the Autonomous Community of Catalonia. Faced with a very long and ambitious legal document, the Court succeeded in not condemning as illegitimate most of its controversial provisions by means of interpretation consistent with the Constitution. Thus, those provisions aiming at 'constitutionalizing' Catalan identity have been widely neutralized or deprived of their legal significance. By doing so, however, the Court has attracted widespread criticism, possibly paving the way for further conflicts