RT Journal Article
T1 COVID-19 and territorial politics: towards a redefinition of Spanish intergovernmental relations?
A1 Hernández-Moreno, Jorge
A1 Harguindéguy, Jean-Baptiste
K1 España
K1 Federalismo
K1 COVID
AB When the COVID-19 struck Spain, it caused a multidimensional crisis that sparked countless debates on its health, social and political implications. Drawing on the literature on multilevel crisis management and federalism, this paper focuses on the impact of the pandemic on the Spanish intergovernmental relations between 2020 and 2022. This research demonstrates that several intergovernmental coordination and cooperation mechanisms were activated or reactivated at the political and technical levels. This change improved joint decision-making and strengthened the system’s own capacity to cope with future crises. In particular, this article shows how and to what extent the health crisis broke down the existing logic of discretionary collaboration and increased coherence among regional governments by strengthening the role of central ministries. Three movements have been observed and measured consisting in a growing institutionalisation, coordination, and cross-sectoral logic of action. Consequently, we conclude that intergovernmental relations in Spain have been strengthened by the pandemic under the leadership of central ministries. The Spanish intergovernmental system has demonstrated its capacity to adapt to external shocks and its learning ability.
PB Taylor and Francis
YR 2024
FD 2024-07-16
LK https://hdl.handle.net/10433/23730
UL https://hdl.handle.net/10433/23730
LA en
NO Regional Studies, Regional Science, 11(1), 387–405
NO Área de Ciencia Política y de la Administración
NO Departamento de Derecho Público
DS RIO
RD May 24, 2026