The Spanish «Estado de las Autonomías» did not arise from an initial allencompassing plan, but rather is the result of a process of trial and error, in which after almost thirty years, some tendencies can now be ascertained. The first is the progressive transfer of powers from the Central government to the Autonomous Communities, which have already assumed the majority of the State¿s functions. The second is surely the construction of a federal system in all but name, in which all of the Autonomous Communities have very similar powers, in spite of the initial asymmetry among them. The latest reforms of the Autonomy Statutes, and particularly of the Statute of Catalonia, represent a decisive step toward the federalization of the system. The remaining and decisive question to be resolved is how to coordinate the policies of the central government with the policies of Spain¿s seventeen Autonomous Communities.