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The Spanish Constitution of 1978 faced the traditional Spanish territorial problem through the recognition of a political autonomy that could be reached by nationalities and regions. The result has been a political system with a high level of decentralization. At the root cause were the special needs of some territories who were looking for a bilateral relationship with the central administration, but finally decentralization spread and the whole of the country was split into 17 autonomous territories. As an effect, multilateralism became the priority, and the system was leading to a federalizing development. Several federal instruments were adopted, and the political model seemed to turn into a functional federalism. However, this evolution has not prospered, and and in these pages an explanation is sought. The Sectorial Conferences, considered as the main tool for intergovernmental cooperation, are analyzed through the dynamic of their meetings and the evaluation of their tasks. This analysis provide two ideas about the problems the system generates: How a centralized power is going to adapt itself to a new decentralized system forgetting its previous position of superiority, and in parallel to how the Autonomous Communities are going to assume their full responsibility overcoming their political dependence on the central power. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]