ABSTRACT
This chapter analyzes the conditions that led to the formation of neighborhood associations in Spain from the mid 1960s. It focuses specifically on associations that were established within barrios chabolistas and other peripheral urban neighborhoods. Neighborhood associations were not necessarily born of a coherent political vision. The chapter contends that during the final decade of the dictatorship neighborhood associations all across Spain functioned as an interim model between the regime-sponsored associations and the illegal associations of the democratic opposition. Despite the innovative nature of the associations not all groups within the barrio enjoyed an equal level of visibility and influence within them. Interviews conducted with women activists within the Orcasitas Neighborhood Association show that even those women who did attend the assemblies found it hard to express themselves. Despite the regime's attempts to combat the phenomenon of illegal self-construction through the mechanisms of eviction and alternative planning it failed miserably.
