Los gobiernos locales de España han implementado normativas diversas, nacionales y autonómicas, de transparencia en los últimos años. Todo el acervo normativo aprobado establecía principios e imponía obligaciones de índole muy diversa al conjunto de entes públicos, entre ellos los más de 8.000 ayuntamientos. Este trabajo se interesa por el proceso de implementación de la(s) normativa(s) de transparencia en los gobiernos locales españoles de mayor población. Concretamente, se plantea hasta qué punto esta normativa ha impulsado el cambio organizacional e institucional en los entes locales y el nivel de desempeño en términos de publicidad activa. Mediante un cuestionario específico dirigido a los municipios de mayor población y el análisis de las páginas web de los ayuntamientos, obtenemos información sobre el proceso y el nivel de implementación efectiva. En este artículo discutimos sobre dos factores determinantes para comprender el proceso de implementación: la existencia de path dependency interna o el establecimiento de normativa y obligaciones legales. Los resultados apuntan hacia una explicación y efectos combinados de la existencia de normativa específica y la aplicación anticipada de la transparencia, tanto para el nivel de cumplimiento de ésta como para el cambio institucional provocado.

Local public authorities have traditionally been an area for experimenting with reforms of varying impact for the overall institutional framework. In implementing these reforms, a prominent part has been taken by mayors in their role as the highest-ranking officials in their organisations. This article reports evidence for, and reflects on, the connection between the figure of the Spanish mayor (in the way mayors perceive their own role) and their relations with both the municipal governments they head and the processes of transformation to which these governments are exposed. Based on data obtained from the project entitled "Political Leaders in European Cities", concerned with identifying mayors' attitudes towards several aspects of local government, this article develops its argument in two stages. In the first stage, we describe the profiles of Spanish mayors, with a prime focus on how they perceive their functions and the importance they attach to their role as managers of the local authority. In the second stage, we analyze the connection between these perceptions and the relations the mayors establish with the local authority (that is, the relations between politicians and public executives and governmental employees). Finally, based on the classifications made, the positions taken up by mayors in relation to various processes of government reform are determined. The conclusions allow for various scenarios of administrative reform to be established

No abstract

Southern countries are undergoing a severe economic crisis that has renewed debates about the available strategies to economize their public resources. Political leaders have launched a wide range of different strategies aimed at reducing spending. According to generally accepted political discourse, drastic actions should be taken to guarantee economic and financial sustainability in times of austerity. We explore the main measures adopted by Spanish municipalities in order to examine their impact in budgetary terms. First of all, we identify the most frequently implemented mechanisms including organizational structure, public services and operational economic restructuration. After their quantification, we monitor the presence and impact of each set of policies to analyse the relationship between concrete measures and effective economic impact. The effective reduction of budgets is being implemented but data shows that local governments are resilient to non-compulsory changes. The 'government at a distance' policy pursued by the central state administration has effectively

The hit of the pandemic in Spain has been one of the most important in number of deaths and infected people in all Europe and the central government implemented one of the toughest confinement measures. Aside from this government's performance, opposition parties and, particularly VOX have mainly driven the political tension that has filled Spain during the months of lockdown. In this scenario, VOX has sensed this opportunity and has decided to use the pandemic to direct fierce criticism at the Spanish government, to the point of becoming practically an antiestablishment party. In a complete different role, Podemos has been conditioned by its institutional position as part of the Spanish government. While the two parties have adopted differing strategies towards the government's performance, however, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, both have discarded their populist standpoints to a great extent and, instead, highlighted the ideological content of their proposals.