Covid-19 and the Response of Local Governance in Spain

Abstract

In Spain, the unexpected arrival of the global pandemic caused by COVID-19, however, its impact being of a local nature, came at a time of weakness for local governments, which have not yet recovered from the consequences of the austerity policies derived from the 2008 financial crisis and which, in Spain, have particularly affected the local level of government. In a decentralized political–administrative system such as the Spanish one, the spread of the virus beyond any political and administrative borders has led to the need to rethink its local governance system. In this context, the purpose of this contribution is to give an account of the initial impact of the pandemic on the existing local governance networks in Spain, in their various degrees of institutionalization, focusing our analysis on the public, private, and third sector actor networks created “ad hoc” to face the public healthcare emergency aspects, as the foreseeable social and economic impacts, among others, are yet to materialize. We will look at the reasons behind creating these networks, their impact on existing networks, their main drivers and leadership, the innovations they have introduced, the challenges derived from coordination and management between public and private actors in an emergency, and the existence or lack of democratic control in decision-making processes. Our preliminary analysis will be based on the study of data so far collected from public actors (central, regional, and local governments), private actors (business organizations), and third sector actors (neighborhood associations). As far as possible, and the situation permits, this analysis includes interviews with critical public and private actors involved in the governance processes of the health crisis, as well as citizens, for they are the ultimate recipients and the party affected by the measures taken on the pandemic.