  We review the two main interpretations of $J/\psi$ suppression proposed in
the literature. The phase transition (or deconfining) scenario assumes that
below some critical value of the local energy density (or of some other
geometrical quantity which depends both on the colliding systems and on the
centrality of the collision), there is only nuclear absorption. Above this
critical value the absorptive cross-section is taken to be infinite, i.e. no
$J/\psi$ can survive in this hot region. In the hadronic scenario the $J/\psi$
dissociates due both to nuclear absorption and to its interactions with
co-moving hadrons produced in the collision. No discontinuity exists in
physical observables. We show that an equally good description of the present
data is possible in either scenario.
