This article focuses on the concept of the ‘social-democratic’ dliemma through the study of the Spanish region of Andalusia. Led by social democrats since the democratic Transition, the Andalusian government has developed a specific territorial model that has been challenged by the austerity measures adopted by the conservative cabinet ruling the central state (2011–15). Through a grass-roots interview-based analysis of Andalusian politics, this study elucidates the political and discursive strategy followed by the Andalusian government for preserving its power, protecting its regional model and resolving the social-democratic dilemma. From a systemic perspective, the article demonstrates that exogenous constraints, though heightened in a period of economic crisis, are to an extent counteracted by domestic pressures.