ABSTRACT
Changes since the transition to democracy have significantly re-shaped the boundaries of the Spanish public sector, understood as the activities and institutions that enable the executive arm of the government to implement laws. In particular, the 1978 Constitution opened the door to a process of asymmetric regional decentralization where Autonomous Communities (regions) have acquired increasing responsibility on issues that include education and health. Some authors have described this configuration in terms of ‘imperfect federalism’ where regions have acquired new competences and roles to different extents and following different paths (Moreno 1993). Moreover, the 1978 Constitution also established the local level of government that has gradually expanded its functions and policy responsibilities that nonetheless vary depending on the size of the municipality. However, as pointed out by Vallés and Brugué (2001), local government in Spain has not acquired the importance it has in other European countries. Nonetheless, the largest municipalities (over 50,000 inhabitants) manage issues that include public transport, social services, cleaning, environmental protection, libraries, food markets and fire protection.
