This paper analyses the effect of the Great Recession on territorial voting in 18 regions across five Western European states, assessing whether its evolution depended more on economic deterioration or on their position along the centre–periphery axis. To this end, it proposes the Centre Distance Index (CDI), a multidimensional indicator integrating territorial, sociocultural and political dimensions. The results show almost no variation in territorial voting in regions close to the centre, larger increases in those further away, and considerable heterogeneity among regions in intermediate positions. The association between the CDI and changes in territorial voting is positive and moderate, whereas its relationship with economic impact is weak. The centre–periphery position therefore has greater explanatory power than economic deterioration. The Great Recession appears to have acted as an activating factor for pre-existing territorial conflicts, whose electoral expression depended on the political, sociocultural and institutional conditions of each region. Thus, crises may reactivate existing cleavages without necessarily generating new divisions or pro-independence radicalisation. The results are exploratory in nature.