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One of the main identified causes of energy poverty (EP) is the low energy efficiency of housing. In this line, since 2018, public administrations and NGOs collaborating with the Naturgy Foundation's Energy Renovation Solidarity Fund have implemented several shallow renovation interventions in 3660 Spanish vulnerable households. However, the effects of these measures on domestic energy affordability were not evaluated before because of a lack of a proper method. This paper presents a methodology to objectively assess the impact of these interventions on EP. In particular, this work proposes calculating a hidden EP indicator using data from a primary survey and applies it to a local case study (54 vulnerable households in Catalonia—10% of dwellings renovated by the Fund in the region) by processing their characteristics and energy bills before and after the implementation of the interventions. Considering the whole sample of households analysed, the hidden EP indicator drops by 10% in absolute terms (11.2% in relative terms) after the retrofit, and the average EP gap goes from 423 €/year to 313 €/year, thus marking a significant positive effect of the analysed interventions on the EP situation of this population. Eventually, extrapolating the results to the vulnerable population in Spain, this paper points out a series of recommendations that could be useful for decision-makers and organisations when designing and implementing shallow renovation interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The football rivalry between Real Madrid CF and FC Barcelona is one of the most popular at club level globally. In Spain, where it is known as El Clásico (the Classic), it has an unrivalled status in the sports media industry. Its significance relies in part to the historical tension between Catalonia, the region of which Barcelona is the main centre, and Madrid, the capital of Spain. The exaltation of confrontation and partisanship is the central feature of highly popular radio programmes devoted to El Clásico. This study aimed to observe how the media discourse articulated by these programmes was affected by the fact that, during the Covid-19 pandemic, matches were played in empty venues. Through the comparisons of broadcasts of two games, one from 2017 and from 2020, the paper shows that the sensationalistic style is toned down, and a less polarised and partisan sports journalism is possible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies the dynamics of political mobilization of two transnational organizations – Assemblea Nacional Catalana and Marea Granate – formed by Spanish/Catalan migrants in different European cities. By conducting cross-organization and cross-city research, we analyze why and how migrants' transnational networks perceive themselves to be stronger in some cities and weaker in others. This paper demonstrates that there is no one-size-fits-all mechanism that explains perceived organizational strength in all contexts. The same urban context might provide different opportunities and constraints depending on organizational characteristics of migrant movements. Our study shows the ways that organizations' political agenda and their preferred action forms affect the perception of positionality as they navigate in different urban contexts with diverging national/local political settings, political cultures, civil society networks, and migration trajectories. The empirical data in this research stem from a content analysis of the events organized by the organizations and semi-structured in-depth interviews with organizations' representatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the nature of intergovernmental relations (IGR) on immigrant integration in Spain, a relatively recent immigration country, with a focus on Catalonia. By means of qualitative document analysis and semi-structured interviews at both levels of government, the paper demonstrates that despite the formal existence of multilateral and institutionalized fora for intergovernmental relations, most intergovernmental relations on immigrant integration tend to be informal and bilateral. The paper also highlights that the conflictual nature of IGR on integration varies across sub-policy areas and over time. The paper contributes to strengthen existing hypotheses regarding institutional features (the distribution of competencies and the territorial organization of power) and party politics for explaining the patterns of IGR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social‐democratic parties face a dilemma between the universalist ethos of their socialist tradition and the nationalism that they share with the other political actors of the state where they act. In this paper, we examine comparatively the position of the Spanish party Partido Socialista Obrero Español (PSOE) and the Catalan party Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya (ERC) on three political debates that pertains to the link between welfare and identity in Spain. We show how these parties experience opposite tensions between nationalism and the universalism of their left‐wing ideology. Whereas ERC calls for a withdrawal from the Spanish system of social security, the PSOE advocates imposing on Catalonia a symmetric form of solidarity with the rest of Spain, despite recognising the region's different identity. Above all, both parties take identity for granted as a pre‐political factor that 'naturally' justifies differential treatment, according to ERC, or equalising federalism, in the case of the PSOE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper asks how we can explain the remarkable punitive turn against the political opponents of a liberal democratic state in twenty-first-century Europe. It uses Michel Foucault's analysis as a point of departure for understanding how the form of state power witnessed in Catalonia is entirely consistent with a Westphalian fixation with the indissoluble unity of statehood. Moreover, we identify a classic dual strategy of criminalization and depoliticization that will be familiar to critical students of the criminal justice system. The form of justice resorted to by the postfascist Spanish state is one that seeks to replace politics with law; to impose a kind of legalized violence that is at the same time a proxy for war and a proxy for politics. yet, in the process of presenting state repression as having only legal – rather than social or political content – all the Spanish state can do is repack age this political struggle in a form that reflects the war-making origins of the state. We argue, therefore, that in the Catalan case, as in countless other political conflicts, the autonomy of the political realm is a fallacy: the political realm cannot hide its violent origins. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the relationship between the economic turmoil generated by the Great Recession and the increase of secessionism. Some authors have stressed that the Great Recession triggered changes in territorial preferences and, in the context of a conflict between the centre and the periphery, fuelled secessionism as a radical shift of the institutional setup. Nevertheless, other researchers have remarked that a recession may enhance the status quo bias and decrease the likelihood of changes. Our paper aims at contributing to this debate by analysing the case of Catalonia. We use an aggregate and an individual-level empirical design to explore the relationship between the deterioration of the economic situation and the increase of preferences for secession among the Catalan population. The findings from the analysis of our empirical models do not support the hypothesis that the effects of the Great Recession had any significant impact on political preferences in Catalonia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intermediate living arrangements, like shared flats, collective accommodation or double residence, have become increasingly common due to the individualization of life scripts, and because of economic and cultural shifts in western societies. However, they have been assumed to be negligible in Mediterranean Europe, where housing transitions are 'late but simple'. This paper challenges this assumption, using Catalonia (Spain) as a case study. Data coming from the 2017 Catalan Youth Survey offer some clear-cut results. First, shared flats and double residence are not uncommon among Catalans: respectively 15.7% and 8.1% of youngsters experience them sometime during their twenties. Second, multinomial regression models show that double residence implies economic reliance on parents, it is most common among university students, especially those with well-off parents, and among young people coming from rural areas. Conversely, shared flats appear to be linked to precarious economic situations, and they are common among young immigrants, and those living in the city of Barcelona. Both arrangements are transitory, being less frequent among older people. Some expected predictors of intermediate living turned out to predict double residence instead, so this semi-dependent practice could be the equivalent of 'living away from home' for youngsters in 'familistic' territories as Catalonia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of A&C - Administrative & Constitutional Law Review - Revista de Direito Administrativo e Constitucional is the property of A&C - Revista de Direito Administrativo & Constitucional (Instituto Bacellar) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper explores the nationalist conflict in Catalonia and how it is lived and experienced by actors within it. It focuses on the people mobilised against independence who see themselves primarily as defenders of the Spanish Constitution and not of Spanish nationalism. Critics of civic nationalism in political theory and Nationalism Studies argue that anti‐nationalist rhetoric tends to be the expression of structural or hegemonic nationalism. Drawing on fieldwork carried out in Barcelona, I look at how the conflict has influenced discourse and language used in everyday life, how participants negotiate their identity, why people do (and do not) get involved in organisations that defend their political ideas, how they see themselves within the conflict and their perceptions of public space and its significance in relation to the constitution. An ethnographic approach explores these issues and discovers that although anti‐independence actors base their mobilisation in nationalism, civic nationalism cannot be reduced to just another form of nationalism. I aim to go beyond critics of civic nationalism to explore how my interlocutors act within and against nationalism, reproducing nationalist discourse in some aspect (boundaries of the nation) in order to challenge it in others (content and relevance of nationalism in everyday life). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, forced marriage as a manifestation of violence against women has entered the public agenda in European Union countries. This is partly due to higher numbers of migrants from regions where it is a regular practice. This paper aims to show the different ways violence manifests itself in forced marriage, both symbolically and practically - in terms of experiences - based on a qualitative sample of women with a range of migration backgrounds residing in Catalonia. The intersectional gender approach of the analysis enables the interaction to be considered of various factors when it comes to understanding contexts of risk and violence, as well as exit strategies from forced marriage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Investigaciones Turisticas is the property of Investigaciones Turisticas and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Identity and democracy and, more particularly, national identity and deliberative democracy account for a controversial relationship. However, from a classical deliberative democratic point of view, the controversy over who is the 'we' that needs to stand together in contemporary complex societies settled with the constitution of modern states. In this sense, the main contribution of this paper is twofold. On the one hand, I rebut the analytical appropriateness and conceptual coherence of Habermas' discursive approach to democracy for the case of plurinational societies in contemporary constitutional democracies. A discussion of a test case – Catalonia – demonstrates that this inadequacy renders incoherent the deliberative model regarding one of its most fundamental premises: the equal weight of the principles of law and the principle of democracy. On the other hand, I sustain that the challenge is not about identity but democracy, and more particularly, about the role deliberative democracy is called to play when controversy challenges whether the people of a state do conform to a single people or not. More concretely, I explore the opportunities offered by the systemic turn to sustain a more realistic approach to deliberative democracy regarding its capacity to steer society towards integration in the context of the system of public deliberation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Palabra Clave is the property of Universidad de la Sabana and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This article analyses the 2019 local, regional, European and April general elections in Spain. The constitutional crisis in Catalonia in 2017, the motion of no-confidence leading to the new Socialist government and the emergence of a radical right-wing party, VOX, all led to Spanish politics becoming more polarised. This paper also discusses polarisation from both the left-right and the territorial perspectives, intimately linked in Spain both for historical reasons but also because of agency decisions during the period analysed. Finally, the article shows the electoral results, government formation processes and political implications of polarisation in a non-institutionalised party system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to measure the effect that knowing the Catalan language has on individuals' comparative advantage to perform certain jobs in Catalonia (Spain), where Catalan and Spanish coexist. Design/methodology/approach – Using census data for 1991 and 1996, and for individuals born in Spain, the paper first estimates a Probit model for individuals' level of Catalan proficiency in order to correct for the possible endogeneity of Catalan knowledge, as it may be jointly determined with occupational selection or be a reflection of unobserved human capital or innate ability. Then, it estimates a bivariate Probit model for the probability of choosing a given occupation conditional on a given Catalan proficiency level. Findings – The paper finds that advanced proficiency in Catalan reinforces selection into being employed, being an entrepreneur, and into white-collar occupations and communication-intensive jobs. Being able to read and speak Catalan increases selection into white collar occupations by between 11 and 16 percentage points, while writing Catalan increases by 4 to 7 percentage points the probability of engaging in services, and government and educational activities. Practical implications – Because census data are cross-sectional panel effects on language selection cannot be analyzed. Nevertheless, the paper's results suggest that investing in learning the local language, at the firm and the government level, improves job matching and assimilation of workers to multilingual economies. The authors suggest a cost-benefit analysis to assess the effectiveness of language policies for further research. Originality/value – The results contribute to the scarce literature on the economic value of a language, i.e. on how much language knowledge as a form of human capital reinforces individuals' comparative advantage to perform certain tasks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Like other migrant groups in Catalonia, Moroccans can solicit financial and technical assistance to help better conditions in their localities of origin within the framework of co-development policies. This policy environment reflects international trends of integrating migration and development, including a strengthening of the participatory role of the migrants themselves. Drawing on a qualitative study of Moroccan migrant transnationalism in Catalonia, I analyse the interplay between Catalan actors' support for migrant civic transnationalism and the perception of and participation in projects of co-development among Moroccan migrants. One of the key aims is to explore to what extent timing, that is, the combination of recent patterns of Moroccan migration and the relatively intense debate on migration and development, influences the balance between top-down implementation of the migration development agenda and bottom-up initiatives from the Moroccan migrants. The paper shows how participation in co-development projects varies among Moroccan associations and outlines the main explanations for both involvement and non-involvement. Thus, the paper engages with the growing literature on the relationship of migrants' transnational practices with local and transnational power hierarchies, highlighting the role of receiving-country political actors, policy discourses and initiatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Regional Science Policy & Practice is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The sustainable, integrated, and representative management of water is one of the main challenges faced by governments worldwide, especially where water resources are not abundant, such as the Ebro River basin in Spain. The Spanish state has granted powers in matters related to water that has adhered river basins. The main objective of this study is to examine the specific case of water management in Catalonia, a region within the Ebro basin, through literature review and interviews conducted with key informants in water organizations operating in Catalonia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista Ateliê Geográfico is the property of Revista Atelie Geografico and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Purpose: This paper aims to report on a case study concerning the development of sustainable energy partnerships involving engineering faculty and undergraduate students at the University of Girona, Catalonia, Spain. Design/methodology/approach: Faculty were motivated to seek partnerships with public and private entities in the local area for the purposes of realising mutually beneficial outcomes. The educational programmes of future engineers, when sustainability is considered, are analysed. Education for sustainable development has to include multidisciplinary active learning as a desirable competence. Active learning can be obtained when problems are based on real life because they are most motivating for students. Constructive alignment component is obtained because learning objectives are linked with learning activities related to the needs of public and private entities. Findings: Through the provision of technical expertise, the adoption and success of renewable energy projects was facilitated on the one hand, while final year undergraduate students benefited in terms of hands-on experience in helping to bring these projects to life, drawing on the knowledge and skills they had acquired throughout their degree programmes. These works are addressed to students by faculty members with the aim of developing and promoting renewable energies. Outcomes from partnerships surpassed expectations; not only were different benefits realised as were initially hoped for, but this success led to partnerships being sustained over time. Originality/value: Fossil fuel-based energy systems are associated with a myriad of negative environmental and social externalities. It is difficult to overstate the importance of transitioning towards alternative low carbon energy sources for climate change mitigation which are less centralised compared to the status-quo for energy security and energy independence. By actively facilitating the development of decentralised renewable energy sources in Catalonia, the projects reported herein are of significant value in social environmental and educational terms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the prevailing conflict framings of national (El País and El Mundo) and Catalan (La Vanguardia and El Periódico de Cataluña) newspapers in response to the management of the regional independence conflict (2010-2014). For this, a new conflict framing typology was developed, based on level of substantivity. The study has verified that territorial origin affects, but does not determine, the media's definition of the conflict and its preference for specific territorial models. The alignment between parties and the media appears to be the variable that best explains the orientation (pro-independence, constitutionalist, or federalist) of each newspaper. We have also verified the media's action as a polarizing agent based on territorial model preferences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 2023 Spanish general election was a snap election called unexpectedly by the PM Pedro Sánchez the day after the local and regional elections in May 2023. Turnout was higher than expected (66.6%) and the result confirmed the high degree of multi-dimensional polarisation in Spanish society. Right-wing parties improved their position: the mainstream conservative PP increased its support mainly at the expense of Ciudadanos and the far-right VOX. Yet, parties on the left, especially the incumbent PSOE, performed better than predicted by polls and, together with the seats won by regional parties, were able to keep a dominant position in Congress. A left-wing minority coalition cabinet was ultimately formed with two parties in government (PSOE and Sumar) and the parliamentary support of several regional parties. Parliamentary support was reached after an agreement that includes decentralisation measures and an amnesty to repair the judiciary consequences of the 2017 independence referendum in Catalonia, which showcases the multilevel and multidimensional complexity of Spanish politics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista Internacional de Relaciones Públicas is the property of Instituto de Investigacion en Relaciones Publicas and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Catalonia is in a situation of political conflict with the Spanish State regarding its right to self-determination, a conflict that has been exacerbated in recent years by the growing demand from a part of Catalan society for an independent state. Throughout this situation rumours have appeared in relation to events as they unfold. One of the key moments in the conflict was the referendum on self-determination, which was approved, prepared, and held on 1 October 2017, in the face of continuous opposition from the Spanish State. The tensions, uncertainties, and fears experienced by those in favour of the referendum were fuelled by rumours that in many cases were ultimately proven to be false. The present paper will analyse the rumours that emerged in relation to the referendum and the political atmosphere at that time. The study will analyse the rumours relating to aspects such as the logistics required to hold the referendum, the key figures in the process, the organizations that support it and the actions of the media, among others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to identify the values that make up a knowledge-friendly culture in the consulting industry, in which the implementation of in-house knowledge management (KM) projects has positive performance outcomes. Design/methodology/approach – An exploratory analysis and a structural equation model were used on a sample of 100 knowledge workers (managers and internal KM project managers) in the consulting sector. Findings – The results of this study indicate that the values identified (trust, transparency, flexibility, collaboration, commitment, honesty and professionalism) bear a close positive relation to the success of the KM project implementation (innovation, employee satisfaction, capabilities, quality and productivity). These values are divided into three groups. Research limitations/implications – This research focuses on the consulting industry in Catalonia, Spain; further research will be required in order to apply the findings to other countries in the world. Practical implications – The study provides a better understanding of the cultural success factor in knowledge management initiatives. It offers a significant and practical advance in terms of systematizing KM in organizations. Originality/value – Knowledge management plays a crucial role in consulting companies, so it is necessary to determine the factors that contribute to its success, and particularly the factor of knowledge culture. However, few empirical studies have analyzed these values. The paper's main contribution is therefore identification of the core values of a knowledge-friendly culture and their impact on performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The paper seeks to describe the Catalan corporate e-learning providers from the perspective of quality perception, quality assessment and quality control. Design/methodology/approach – A literature review reveals key aspects of the definition of quality in e-learning. The results of the review constitute the basis for exploratory research into the way quality is perceived and handled within the Catalan corporate e-learning sector. Findings – It was found that the organisations studied attribute major importance to quality dimensions related to any kind of teaching/learning, whereas other dimensions with clear relation to e-learning receive lower priority. The study also reveals certain incoherence between the dimensions of quality and the applied strategies of quality assessment and control. Research limitations/implications – The presentation of pre-defined quality indicators could have led to a distortion in the answers given to the questionnaire presented. It would be interesting to compare and contrast the findings using interviews addressed to quality managers and focus groups in organisations representative of the sector. Originality/value – The paper integrates the discussion of theoretical approaches and models for quality in e-learning with the description of important players in the field of e-learning that had not yet been studied from the perspective of quality perception and quality control. It can be understood as an exploratory step towards further studies in order to contribute to an improvement in the quality policies applied in the corporate e-learning sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the impact in Catalonia of the grape Phylloxera plague in Europe (1865–90). A statistical model is used to analyse the economic resilience of 35 districts in Catalonia to this external ecological and economic shock, and to explain why districts in the provinces of Barcelona and Tarragona resumed growing wine grapes after the plague, in contrast to districts in Girona and Lleida provinces. The opportunity cost of labour, the demand pull of Barcelona's commercial growth, and the agro-climatic suitability of land for growing grapes are used to explain the differing capacities of districts to endure the Phylloxera plague in Catalonia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to assess the touristic potential of music festivals in Catalonia. It is an opportune goal because even though this region is experiencing an important increase of new festivals and cultural events, there is a lack of adequate coordinating and guiding tourism policies. Design/methodology/approach - The data was gathered with a survey to managers of music festivals that provided information about their management structure and economic results. The study findings are the result of an analysis done with a statistical multivariate technique and constructing indicators of event economic feasibility and tourism specialisation. Findings - Data reveals the coexistence of two different types of festivals in Catalonia depending on their cultural or touristic orientation and with clear differences in their management style. Both types have a pro fessionalized management structure and an economic self-sufficiency when compared with the rest of Catalan cultural events, so they can be considered as an asset for regional tourism development. Nevertheless, some problems are detected in management practices that should be improved when implementing a specific tourism event policy Originality/value - The research has built a unique event data base that can be useful for decision making in tourism public administration. The paper suggests that local and regional administration should consider music festivals and cultural events, in general, as excellent resources to create new tourism products. Some of the characteristics of festivals, such as their important potential as tourism attractions and their cultural identity or the economical success, are critical assets to their high potential in local tourism development. These findings should justify a more resolute public policy of events and music festivals in Catalonia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines educational policy production through an exploration of the shifting policies of educational decentralisation in Catalonia, Spain. It seeks to illuminate how in the era of globalisation, policy is produced through multiscalar processes involving a range of intersecting factors. This analysis shows that policy concepts surrounding educational decentralisation are not only formed in relation to national-regional dynamics but are influenced more broadly by a more complex set of supranational and global considerations. This article thus maps how decentralisation policies in Catalonia are in a constant state of flux, rearticulated through contrasting pressures on state arrangements and educational governance structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we estimate the impact of higher early preschool access on offending behavior later in time, exploiting a nationwide public preschool expansion that took place in Spain over the 1990s. This is the first study providing evidence on the relationship between preschool and crime using a large-scale, universal-access program rather than targeted initiatives reserved for disadvantaged children. Our identification strategy relies on the staggered implementation of the Spanish preschool expansion across regions and birth cohorts. We link the education data to a unique administrative crime dataset recording the offenses committed in the region of Catalonia over the period 2009–2014. On average, a 1 percentage point increase in preschool access among the age 0–3 population yields 1.6% fewer crime actions during youth and young adulthood. Larger effects on impulsive-crime categories provide suggestive evidence for non-cognitive-skills improvements being important drivers of our results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses the public-private mix in the Spanish National Health System (SNS) presenting six case studies dealing with both insurance and provision: 1. The special health insurance of civil servants.' 2. The construction of public hospitals with a PFI scheme; 3. The total healthcare concessions of the 'Alzira model' in the Valencian Community and Madrid, which subcontract public insurance; 4. The contract between a large private teaching hospital and the Madrid Health Service; 5. The provision of primary health care in Catalonia through cooperative-like companies of health professionals; 6. A Children s Dental Care Program using public and private dentists. The great complexity, opacity, cost overruns and difficulty of public control of the PFI contracts, the concessions as well as the activity-based contract for hospital services, point out to the outright rejection of theses systems. The comparative nature of the public-private debate in healthcare should emphasize that the problems of 'the public' in the SNS are not due to its public nature but stem from its governance and management arrangements, clearly in need of deep reforms, many of which are included in the Conclusion-Dictamen on health of the Reconstruction Commission of the Congress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper shows a comparison from the perspective of flood risk management between two regions of different countries: Tokyo Metropolis (Japan) and Catalonia (Spain). The comparison is based on flood damage data for a 30-year period (1981-2010), legislation, disaster management plans, recovering measures, and communication strategies. A total of 219 flood events and 110 deaths were recorded in Catalonia during 1981-2010, while there were 191 floods in Tokyo, during the same period, giving place to 27 deaths and missing people. In both countries, most of the deaths occurred outdoors and the majority as a consequence of imprudent behavior. Nearly 10% of flood victims in Catalonia were foreign citizens. Regarding the institutions from the state and the communities involved in flood risk management, we have found a similar structure between the two countries. In accordance with the European Floods Directive, all the Spanish regions susceptible of having floods have flood hazard maps for different return periods, including 500 years while in the case of Japan the return periods are usually shorter. Recently, flood risk maps have been built for Catalonia, but none is available in a foreign language. Although all the maps are available in Internet, in Spain it is not mandatory to distribute maps to the public neither evacuation maps in flood-prone areas. On the contrary, evacuation and hazard maps in Japan have some parts written in different languages. In both countries, flood hazard maps are not compulsorily linked to other countermeasures such as land-use regulation (the municipality has the last decision) or flood insurance. Thresholds of heavy rain warnings are similar in both countries, using rain amounts over both short and long periods. Although the Japanese method appears more sophisticated using humidity and runoff indexes, it is too complicated for people to understand it. In contrast, only Catalonia has forecast thresholds considering probability levels. On flood insurance, only Spain has governmental aid to the flood insurance system. The level of flood risk perception is low among the population in both countries, and social communication for flood risk is insufficient, mainly in Catalonia. Thus, it is very important that individuals recognize the flood risk in the area to reduce the number of victims. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite Spain’s neutrality during the First World War, 2000 Spaniards (a thousand of them from Catalonia) fought with the French Foreing Legion. The majority of them were scarcely politicized immigrants living and working in France when the conflict broke out. Catalan separatism used the enlistment of those natives from Catalonia for propaganda purposes. Separatists aimed to internationalize the nationalist cause and sought support from the Allies. The creation of a Catalan Committee of Brotherhood in Barcelona and a Spanish Patronate of Brotherhood in Madrid distorted the life of those combatants. Through the correspondence maintained with one or both organizations the volunteers from Catalonia became aware of their national identity. They realized that modelling their national adscription to the Spanish or the Catalan project could be useful to obtain parcels, with first aid products, food, money and newspapers, from one or both committees. This paper explores this process and shows the instrumentalization of self-identities during the First World War among Spaniard combatants. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Utilitarian greyware ceramics are one of the most abundant artefacts at rural sites in Medieval Catalonia, Spain, and were manufactured by numerous long-lived production centres. The stylistic homogeneity of this class of pottery has traditionally restricted its contribution to the archaeological interpretation of the region. However, recent scientific analyses of excavated kiln sites are offering new perspectives via the establishment of compositional reference groups for greyware ceramics. Using one such dataset, from the large workshop of Cabrera d'Anoia, this paper examines the distribution and consumption of utilitarian grey pottery at 25 Medieval sites across Catalonia. The study reveals a pattern of several regional production centres distributing their goods to small villages within the surrounding countryside and, in some cases, competing for rural markets. This is interpreted in terms of the mechanisms by which greyware pottery was distributed, as well as the socio-political and religious influences on its supply and demand in Medieval Catalonia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Mental disorders have a huge impact on the European population. Two of the main causes of this impact are stigma and discrimination. The aim of this paper is to assess the stigma regarding mental disorder in Catalonia and to explore factors associated with stigma.Methods: Cross-sectional population-based survey of a representative sample of non-institutionalized adult population (n = 1872). We evaluated attitudes (CAMI: Authoritarianism, Benevolence and Support to Community Mental Health care) and intended behaviour (RIBS) regarding mental disorder and experience of discrimination. Higher scores showed more favourable attitudes and intended behavior. Mean values and percentiles of the scales were calculated. Multivariable regression models were used to assess factors associated with stigma.Results: Mean authoritarianism, benevolence and support to community mental health scores corresponded to the 66th, 90th and 78th percentile, respectively. Mean RIBS score corresponded to the 76th percentile. More favourable attitudes were associated with being male, younger, having a higher education, being Spanish, having suffered a mental disorder and having contact with a person with a mental disorder.Similarly, more favourable intended behaviour was associated with being younger, having secondary education, having Spanish nationality, belonging to a higher social class and having contact with a person with a mental disorder. People with depression or anxiety showed lower discrimination experiences than people with other mental disorders.Conclusions: The levels of stigma were generally low among the Catalan population. However, efforts should be made to decrease stigma related to authoritarianism. Interventions addressed to reducing stigma should take into account other mental disorders apart from depression or anxiety. They should be focused on older, immigrant population, people with lower educational attainment and people who have not had contact with someone with a mental disorder. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Review of International Affairs (04866096) is the property of Institute of International Politics & Economics and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper presents the results of a study that links information from the prison system with information from the Spanish Social Security System in order to study the employability of former inmates of prisons in Catalonia, Spain. Few studies of this type have been carried out in the world and this is the first in Spain. The results show that 43.6 percent of ex-prisoners find a job after serving their sentence, but their integration in the labour market tends to be fragile, confirming that it is a very vulnerable group. It was also found that prison work has a favourable effect on employability and that vocational training has a lesser or no effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores linguistic and cultural identities as they emerge in ethnographic data from plurilingual children with transnational and ethnic minority backgrounds in Catalonia, Spain. The particular sociolinguistic and multicultural context where these young people currently live, characterised by the coexistence of local, national and heritage languages with unequal social status, as well as their own trajectories and experiences of socialisation, implies that they often forge complex "in-between" linguistic and cultural identities and senses of belonging. To reflect on these complexities, we analyse multimodal data from transnational- and minority-background children as they participate in an autobiographical activity aimed at promoting linguistically and culturally inclusive pedagogical approaches and participatory action research (PAR). The analysis shows that children's identity constructions fluently intertwine elements from their "home" and "host" languages and cultures with features characteristic of child/youth popular cultures, and with adscriptions to diverse real and imagined communities. These hybrid articulations, which can be described as plurilingual and transcultural, foreground how identity is both an individual and a social process, transversed by different axes, including cultural and ethnic referents, linguistic repertoires, historic, family and personal trajectories, urban cultures and the influence of friends and peers, among others. The identification of these emergent traits in our data foregrounds both the particularities and commonalities of pupils' identity construction, which challenges and reshapes traditional understandings of identity. Finally, this work aims to illustrate how transnational children's complex senses of being and belonging can be recognised and supported through inclusive pedagogical proposals as the one described herein. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Investigaciones Regionales is the property of Asociacion Espanola de Ciencia Regional and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This article focuses on the representation of preferences with regards to language policy in Catalonia. By comparing social surveys produced by a variety of organizations with its own data, this paper demonstrates that there is a substantial gap between the political preferences of significant segments of the general population of Catalonia and the political preferences of their representatives at the Parliament of Catalonia. In particular, the language policy implemented by the Catalan elites is not consistent with the preferences of Castilian-speaking working-class citizens. The article identifies two mechanisms of ‘blocked articulation’ which serve to impede the representation of the preferences of these voters in the region's representative institutions. These mechanisms are: (1) the under-representation of Castilian-speakers in the region's representative institutions; and (2) the partial assimilation of elected Castilian-speakers into the attitudes and preferences of the Catalan-speaking, hegemonic fraction of the political establishment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper estimates the level of projection bias in the issue placement of the main Spanish political parties. We find a different pattern of projection for regional and the main national parties. Whereas assimilation is generalised and homogeneous, contrast is exclusive of the main national parties. We provide indirect evidence that this heterogeneity reflects differences in party acceptability by showing a positive correlation between the party-specific level contrast and the magnitude of non-declared vote. We discuss the implications of our findings for the literature on spatial models and suggest testable hypotheses of why contrast levels vary between regional and national parties. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The effect of immigration preferences on electoral outcomes in Spain is understudied. This paper hypothesises that, even in the absence of a radical right party, immigration preferences can be associated with mainstream voting when they are incorporated into established axes of political conflict. The analyses show that the electoral strength of immigration preferences is connected with the strength of the centre–periphery cleavage in Spain. More specifically, immigration preferences are a stronger determinant of the vote for parties with relatively more pro-decentralisation stances, among individuals with more coherent immigration and decentralisation attitudes, and in regions where the centre–periphery cleavage is stronger. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Why are the Basques and Catalans the most left-wing societies in Europe? Treating peripheral nationalism and ideology as two orthogonal dimensions, the literature to date has not yet provided a systematic theoretical account of this pattern. In an attempt to fill this gap, this paper explores how nationalism has marked the meaning of ideology in these regions. Contrary to the left, the right has been treated as the opponent of regional devolution. The findings highlight the need to revise the orthogonality assumption often made when employing these two dimensions in the study of public opinion in Catalonia and the Basque Country. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Copyright of Population (1634-2941) is the property of Institut National d'Etudes Demographiques and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper examines the context, actors, campaign, and results of the Catalan election of 2010, which took place in a context of economic recession and growing political discontent. I argue that certain circumstances concurred in this particular contest to enhance the influence of factors pertaining to the first-order (i.e. national) arena as compared with the influence of second-order (i.e. region specific) factors. As a result, regional incumbent support was found to be largely driven by evaluations of national incumbent performance, which worked against the tripartite coalition government. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Between 1900 and 1939 the regional government in Catalonia discussed a complete reform of the psychiatric institutions inherited from the nineteenth century. The debate was centred on the Spanish government’s lack of interest in mental health policies and the growing demand for services. The projects developed between 1900 and 1939 opened a wide-ranging discussion on the role of ethnic and cultural factors in shaping mental illness, and the need to adapt the new facilities to the ethnic features of Catalonia. This study explores the production of Catalan psychiatric discourses and their ideological roots, and the development of public policies up to the end of the Spanish Civil War (1936—39). The paper concludes with a discussion of the influence of pre-war Catalan mental health policies on the wartime practice of psychiatry and, later, on the development of the French psychothérapie institutionnelle after World War II. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Copyright of El Profesional de la Información is the property of EPI SCP and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)