Changes

This decentralising process has modified the geography of political power over the last decades. The regions have exclusive powers on key areas, especially those related to the welfare state. The national administration is both the holder of other powers and responsible for implementing policies for providing social and territorial cohesion.

This composite state, called ‘autonomous state’ in the Spanish Constitution from 1978, has been subject to a profound and structural stress test on the occasion of the global pandemic that has made necessary to promote institutional coordination mechanisms, such as the Conference of Presidents (meetings between the national Prime Minister and the regional First Ministers) as well as the Sector Conferences (meetings between the national Ministers and the regional Councillors on the various political subjects). Both mechanisms already existed before the pandemic, but had remained close to dormant for decades. The Royal Decree on the state of alarm, the Order of the Ministry of Health on the health guidelines for the first wave of the pandemic and the coordination of the national administration with the regions so that the Downscaling Scheme could be adapted to the needs of the different territories all included the concept of ’co-governance’ or shared government.

Governance initiatives at different levels throughout the first year of pandemic went above and beyond the amount of Conferences held and exceeded the powers of each level of administration. At times, contradictions, shortcomings, improvidence, disagreements and even bringing debates before the Courts of justice took place, following the trend of the rest of the European Union. The emergency situation explained much of this. Nevertheless, the four levels of administration (the European Union, the national administration, the regions and the local authorities) deployed on other occasions very important measures on different fields, such as health, education, social services, economy, finance and employment, with the shared aim of saving lives, launching economy by implementing recovery and reconstruction plans, providing ample liquidity to households and companies, and meeting the demands of the most vulnerable citizens.

{{ANETextoEpigrafe|epigrafe=Public spending by the regional administrations}}

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| style="color:MediumBlue; background:LightGoldenrodYellow; border: solid; border-width: 1px; width:80px" | '''2012''' || style="background:#ffffff; color:#000000; text-align:center; border: solid; border-width: 1px; width:80px" | 3,716.5 ||style="background:#ffffff; color:#000000; text-align:center; border: solid; border-width: 1px; width:80px" | 4,151.5||style="background:#ffffff; color:#000000; text-align:center; border: solid; border-width: 1px; width:80px" | 4,233.7||style="background:#ffffff; color:#000000; text-align:center; border: solid; border-width: 1px; width:80px" | 4,518.6||style="background:#ffffff; color:#000000; text-align:center; border: solid; border-width: 1px; width:80px" | 4,609.2||style="background:#ffffff; color:#000000; text-align:center; border: solid; border-width: 1px; width:80px" | 3,751.4||style="background:#ffffff; color:#000000; text-align:center; border: solid; border-width: 1px; width:80px" | 4,529.0||style="background:#ffffff; color:#000000; text-align:center; border: solid; border-width: 1px; width:80px" | 4,171.4||style="background:#ffffff; color:#000000; text-align:center; border: solid; border-width: 1px; width:80px" | 3,677.2||style="background:#ffffff; color:#000000; text-align:center; border: solid; border-width: 1px; width:80px" | 4,604.4||style="background:#ffffff; color:#000000; text-align:center; border: solid; border-width: 1px; width:80px" | 4,356.6||style="background:#ffffff; color:#000000; text-align:center; border: solid; border-width: 1px; width:80px" | 4,077.0||style="background:#ffffff; color:#000000; text-align:center; border: solid; border-width: 1px; width:80px" | 4,155.2||style="background:#ffffff; color:#000000; text-align:center; border: solid; border-width: 1px; width:80px" | 5,743.1||style="background:#ffffff; color:#000000; text-align:center; border: solid; border-width: 1px; width:80px" |4,150.0||style="background:#ffffff; color:#000000; text-align:center; border: solid; border-width: 1px; width:80px" | 3,859.0||style="background:#ffffff; color:#000000; text-align:center; border: solid; border-width: 1px; width:80px" |3,977.5 ||style="background:Ivory; color:#000000; text-align:center; border: solid; border-width: 1px; width:80px" | '''4,138.9'''

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| style="color:MediumBlue; background:LightGoldenrodYellow; border: solid; border-width: 1px; width:80px" | '''REGION<br />€/ inhabitant''' || style="background:Ivory; color:MediumBlue; text-align:center; border: solid; border-width: 1px; width:80px" | ANDALUSIA ||style="background:Ivory; color:MediumBlue; text-align:center; border: solid; border-width: 1px; width:80px" | ARAGÓN ||style="background:Ivory; color:MediumBlue; text-align:center; border: solid; border-width: 1px; width:80px" | ASTURIAS ||style="background:Ivory; color:MediumBlue; text-align:center; border: solid; border-width: 1px; width:80px" | BALEARIC<br />ISLANDS ||style="background:Ivory; color:MediumBlue; text-align:center; border: solid; border-width: 1px; width:80px" | BASQUE COUNTRY ||style="background:Ivory; color:MediumBlue; text-align:center; border: solid; border-width: 1px; width:80px" | CANARY<br />ISLANDS ||style="background:Ivory; color:MediumBlue; text-align:center; border: solid; border-width: 1px; width:80px" | CANTABRIA ||style="background:Ivory; color:MediumBlue; text-align:center; border: solid; border-width: 1px; width:80px" | CASTILE<br />AND LEÓN ||style="background:Ivory; color:MediumBlue; text-align:center; border: solid; border-width: 1px; width:80px" | CASTILE-<br />LA MANCHA||style="background:Ivory; color:MediumBlue; text-align:center; border: solid; border-width: 1px; width:80px" | CATALONIA ||style="background:Ivory; color:MediumBlue; text-align:center; border: solid; border-width: 1px; width:80px" | EXTREMADURA ||style="background:Ivory; color:MediumBlue; text-align:center; border: solid; border-width: 1px; width:80px" | GALICIA ||style="background:Ivory; color:MediumBlue; text-align:center; border: solid; border-width: 1px; width:80px" | LA RIOJA ||style="background:Ivory; color:MediumBlue; text-align:center; border: solid; border-width: 1px; width:80px" | NAVARRE ||style="background:Ivory; color:MediumBlue; text-align:center; border: solid; border-width: 1px; width:80px" | REGION OF<br/> MADRID ||style="background:Ivory; color:MediumBlue; text-align:center; border: solid; border-width: 1px; width:80px" | REGION OF<br />MURCIA ||style="background:Ivory; color:MediumBlue; text-align:center; border: solid; border-width: 1px; width:80px" | REGION OF<br/> VALENCIA ||style="background:Ivory; color:MediumBlue; text-align:center; border: solid; border-width: 1px; width:80px" | NATIONAL<br />AVERAGE

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| style="color:MediumBlue; background:LightGoldenrodYellow; border: solid; border-width: 1px; width:80px" | '''REGION<br />€/ inhabitant''' || style="background:Ivory; color:MediumBlue; text-align:center; border: solid; border-width: 1px; width:80px" | ANDALUSIA ||style="background:Ivory; color:MediumBlue; text-align:center; border: solid; border-width: 1px; width:80px" | ARAGÓN ||style="background:Ivory; color:MediumBlue; text-align:center; border: solid; border-width: 1px; width:80px" | ASTURIAS ||style="background:Ivory; color:MediumBlue; text-align:center; border: solid; border-width: 1px; width:80px" | BALEARIC<br />ISLANDS ||style="background:Ivory; color:MediumBlue; text-align:center; border: solid; border-width: 1px; width:80px" | BASQUE COUNTRY ||style="background:Ivory; color:MediumBlue; text-align:center; border: solid; border-width: 1px; width:80px" | CANARY<br />ISLANDS ||style="background:Ivory; color:MediumBlue; text-align:center; border: solid; border-width: 1px; width:80px" | CANTABRIA ||style="background:Ivory; color:MediumBlue; text-align:center; border: solid; border-width: 1px; width:80px" | CASTILE<br />AND LEÓN ||style="background:Ivory; color:MediumBlue; text-align:center; border: solid; border-width: 1px; width:80px" | CASTILE-<br />LA MANCHA||style="background:Ivory; color:MediumBlue; text-align:center; border: solid; border-width: 1px; width:80px" | CATALONIA ||style="background:Ivory; color:MediumBlue; text-align:center; border: solid; border-width: 1px; width:80px" | EXTREMADURA ||style="background:Ivory; color:MediumBlue; text-align:center; border: solid; border-width: 1px; width:80px" | GALICIA ||style="background:Ivory; color:MediumBlue; text-align:center; border: solid; border-width: 1px; width:80px" | LA RIOJA ||style="background:Ivory; color:MediumBlue; text-align:center; border: solid; border-width: 1px; width:80px" | NAVARRE ||style="background:Ivory; color:MediumBlue; text-align:center; border: solid; border-width: 1px; width:80px" | REGION OF<br/> MADRID ||style="background:Ivory; color:MediumBlue; text-align:center; border: solid; border-width: 1px; width:80px" | REGION OF<br />MURCIA ||style="background:Ivory; color:MediumBlue; text-align:center; border: solid; border-width: 1px; width:80px" | REGION OF<br/> VALENCIA ||style="background:Ivory; color:MediumBlue; text-align:center; border: solid; border-width: 1px; width:80px" | NATIONAL<br />AVERAGE

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{{ANETextoEpigrafe|epigrafe=National Minimum Subsistence Income, Regional Minimum Income and Active Insertion Income}}

Spain was one of the EU states with the highest levels of inequality, poverty and social exclusion before the pandemic. Different reports pointed out this structural issue: indicators barely registered changes for decades, worsened after the Great Recession from 2008-2013 that led to reducing social spending, and deteriorated even more during the first year of pandemic. Over 9.5 million people were living in relative poverty in 2019, half of them in severe poverty. Spain is the fourth state in the European Union with the highest rate of severe poverty. The economic production model favours low wages as well as a labour market with a high level of temporary and precarious work. Furthermore, public policies related to housing, family support and care for vulnerable groups are weak. All these factors explain this situation, which nevertheless shows significant differences between regions.

The other main initiative of the national government was Royal Decree Law 20/2020, of 29 May, adopted by consensus at the National Parliament, which set a national Minimum Subsistence Income trying to promote social integration. In this case, a lack of coordination between administrations hindered the deployment of this policy. According to government estimates, this benefit could reach 850,000 households and over 2.3 million citizens; in particular, households with children. In fact, it was estimated that 30% of the 2.3 million potential beneficiaries were children. A higher incidence amongst single-parent households was also expected, which would account for 16% of beneficiaries, 90% of which would be led by a woman. From the perspective of the national government, this policy should have meant the eradication of extreme poverty, which would affect some 600,000 households and 1.6 million people. This policy would be compatible with wage income, included employment incentives, and set a wide variety of household types with incomes ranging from 5,538 to 12,184 euros per year.

The first balance on how the national Minimum Subsistence Income was implemented is shown on the different maps and graphs referring to the amount of Beneficiaries of the Minimum Subsistence Income and the applications processed from the start of the programme until March 2021. Two main conclusions may be drawn: beneficiaries are concentrated in the areas where poverty levels were highest and where the economic sectors were most affected by the pandemic; and the amount of beneficiaries barely reached a third of the 850,000 households expected (around 700,000 people out of 2.3 million to be reached).

In March 2021 (the date up to which the information on the graphs and maps is extended), the national administration made its own assessment: just over 870,000 applications had been processed out of the 1,150,000 received. 600,000 of these had been rejected, 210,000 had been approved and 62,000 were in the process of being corrected. In other words, approved applications accounted for only 25% of those processed. This Department also provided information on the profile of beneficiaries and identified two particularly vulnerable groups, i.e. women and minors. Households were made up of an average of 2.77 people and the average benefit for each household was 460 euros. Over 70% of beneficiaries were women, 43% of the people living in households benefiting from the national Minimum Subsistence Income were minors, and almost 70% of the households included at least one minor.

The most severe critics shall be made on the multilevel internal governance. The imbalances and the lack of coordination and cooperation between the three levels of administration involved (national government, regional administrations and local authorities) may lead to describing the management of this policy as a relative failure.

Overall, the lack of coordination and cooperation between the different levels of administration on shared powers led to the relative failure of a very good initiative. This situation may improve once the planned agreements between the national administration and the regions are concluded and the social services of the regional governments are provided with resources.

{{ANEAutoria|Autores=Juan Romero González}}

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