Abstract
This chapter reflects on the position of local governments in the Spanish political system and on their autonomy, its evolution, patterns, strengths, and weaknesses. It first defines the context of the emergence of autonomous local governments in the democratic transition of the late 1970’s and describes their evolution through the successive legal reforms of the Local Government Act together with their implications. Measured by the Local Autonomy Index, Spain offers a case of medium levels of autonomy from a European perspective, with relatively high levels of organizational and legal autonomy but weak points when it comes to the functions and competences that municipalities can exert. And there are still some issues to be tackled in order to fully comply with the obligations of the European Charter of Local Self-Government as the last report issued by the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe has remarked.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Agranoff R (2010) Local governments and their intergovernmental networks in federalizing Spain. McGill-Queen’s Press-MQUP
Angulo JV, María J, Ámez R, García AJP (2009) Política de vivienda y urbanismo. Ciudad y territorio estudios territoriales 411:61–162
Council of Europe-Congress of Local and Regional Authorities (2021) Monitoring of the application of the European Charter of Local Self-Government in Spain. Report C G (2021) 41-07final, 22 September 2021
Domínguez FC (2004) Autonomía Local y Constitución. Dos propuestas para otro viaje por el callejón del gato. Revista Española De Derecho Constitucional 70:161–188
Font i Llovet T (2008) La Autonomía Local en España, a los veinte años de la Constitución: perspectivas de cambio. Madrid
Font i Llovet TF (2018) El municipio constitucional: balance y perspectivas de reforma. In: Estudios de Derecho Público en homenaje a Luciano Parejo Alfonso. Tirant lo Blanch, pp 2409–2437
Font i Llovet T, Galán A (2016) Principio democrático, autonomía local, estabilidad presupuestaria y servicios públicos: ¿hacia la cuadratura del círculo?
García Roca JG (2000) El concepto actual de autonomía local según el bloque de la constitucionalidad. Revista de Estudios de la Administración Local y Autonómica
Guillén AM, León M (eds) (2011) The Spanish welfare state in European context. Ashgate Publishing
Hesse J, Sharpe LJ (1991) Local government in international perspective. Some comparative observations. In: Hesse J, Sharpe LJ (eds) Local government and Urban Affairs in international perspective. Analysis of twenty Western industrialized countries. Nomos, Baden-Baden, pp 603–621
Iglesias Á, Barbeito R (2018) Challenges related to implementing the European charter of local self-government in Spanish legislation. Lex Localis 16(4):907–913
Ladner A, Keuffer N, Baldersheim H, Hlepas N, Swianiewicz P, Steyvers K, Navarro C (2019) Patterns of local autonomy in Europe. Palgrave Macmillan, London, pp 229–230
Lippi A, Tsekos TN (eds) (2019) Local public services in times of austerity across Mediterranean Europe. Palgrave Macmillan
Lucarelli A, Marcou G, Wollmann H (2005) El libro blanco sobre la reforma de la autonomía local en España. Cuadernos de derecho local 8:7–32
Magre J, Pano E (2016) Delivery of municipal Services in Spain: an uncertain picture. In: Public and social services in Europe. Palgrave Macmillan, London, pp 119–134
MAP-Ministerio de Administraciones Públicas (2005) Libro Blanco para la Reforma del Gobierno Local. Madrid
Medir L, Pano E, Viñas A, Magre C (2017) Dealing with austerity: a case of local resilience in Southern Europe. Local Gov Stud 43(4):621–644
Ministerio de Hacienda y Función Pública Haciendas Locales en Cifras (2020) https://www.hacienda.gob.es/esES/CDI/Paginas/SistemasFinanciacionDeuda/InformacionEELLs/HaciendasLocalesencifras.aspx. Accessed Dec 2021
Moulder E (2008) Municipal form of government: trends in structure, responsibility, and composition. In: The municipal year book 2008. International City/County Management Association, Washington, DC
Mouritzen PE, Svara JH (2002) Leadership at the apex: politicians and administrators in Western local governments. University of Pittsburgh Press
Navarro C, Pano E (2019) Spanish local government and the austerity plan: in the eye of the perfect storm. In: Local public Services in Times of austerity across Mediterranean Europe. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham, pp 95–114
Navarro C, Sweeting D (2015) La elección directa de alcaldes. Características, experiencias comparadas y el singular caso de los alcaldes quasi-directamente elegidos españoles. In: Anuario de Derecho Municipal. Marcial Pons-Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, pp 105–216
Navarro C, Velasco F (2015) In wealth and in poverty? The changing role of Spanish municipalities implementing childcare policies. Int Rev Admin Sci. https://doi.org/10.1177/0020852315576707
Sellers JM, Lidström A (2007) Decentralization, local government, and the welfare state. Governance 20(4):609–632
Sosa Wagner FS (1989) La Autonomía Local. Revista de Estudios de la Administración Local y Autonómica
Velasco F, Viver i Pi-Sunyer C (2012) Competencias para la reforma de la planta local. In Fundación Democracia y Gobierno Local Elementos para un debate sobre la reforma institucional de la planta local en el Estado Autonómico
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2022 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Navarro, C., Pano, E. (2022). Local Autonomy in Spain: The Place of Spanish Municipalities in the Multilevel System of Government. In: Alonso, Á.I. (eds) Local Governance in Spain. Local and Urban Governance. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-14804-0_11
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-14804-0_11
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-031-14803-3
Online ISBN: 978-3-031-14804-0
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)