Referendum and popular consultation: terminological and jurisdictional clarifications in the light of the jurisprudence of Tribunal Constitutional

The last pronouncements of the Tribunal Constitucional related to the institution of the consultative referendum in Article 92 of the constitutional text and its hypothetical transfer to the sphere of the comunidades autonomas, dictated essentially in the context of the Catalan independence conflict, make it necessary to compile and update the doctrine established by the highest interpreter of the Constitution in this matter. For this reason, after a brief introduction to the Spanish democratic model and the proposal of a pos-sible alternative interpretation of Article 92 of the Constitution, different to that established by Tribunal Constitucional, this article reviews its main rulings which have defined the terms "referendum" and "popu-lar consultation" in the sphere of competence of the Estado autonomico. On the other hand, after noting that, in general, constitutional jurisprudence has notably restricted the possibility of a referendum of comunidades autonomas, the paper also proposes different solutions for studying the viability of a consultative referendum in this sphere.