Resumen de Forty years of Autonomous Statutes in Spain and their response to health,economic and political crises
Forty years on from introducing the figure of Autonomous Communities(ACs) as a subdivision of the Spanish State, it seems like a good moment to assess theircurrent situation and problems, and to analyze their handling of the aspects of the Covidpandemic they controlled, considering how their relative success during this period hasstrengthened their position. However, the far-right political party VOX blames theSpanish Autonomous State (SAS) for the economic and political problems of thecountry, and it wants to eliminate them in order to recentralize state. Yet at the sametime, VOX stands for election to occupy positions in the ACs to achieve a position ofinfluence from which they can fight central government. As we progress, I maintain thatwe must exert caution in response to the simplistic tales and the metaphors being usedin this battle, such as that of the “Empty Spain”, which favor populist movements anddo not really describe the complexity of the true situation. In Spain, it is not only ruralareas that are suffering depopulation but also, medium sized cities that serve and bringtogether these regions are also suffering a loss of their population. These cities can nolonger compete with global metropoles, as reflected for example by the emigrationoccurring from some Castilian cities to Madrid. Thus, we argue that, at this point in time,the culture of political pluralism and multi-level administration should be maintained andeven enhanced.
