Ángel IGLESIAS, University Rey Juan Carlos, Spain
Manuel AGUILAR, University Rey Juan Carlos, Spain
One characteristic of the local government system in Spain is the existence of small municipalities where more than 80% of the 8131 municipalities have less than 5000 inhabitants and more than half have less than 1000 inhabitants. In certain areas of the peninsular interior this situation is aggravated with more than 1200 municipalities with less than 100 inhabitants, with growing depopulation processes that generate significant territorial imbalances, a lack of public services, which small municipalities are unable to provide due to a lack of resources and, ultimately, a deterioration of local democracy.
In many central and northern European countries, the atomization of the municipal map has been resolved through the merger of municipalities, but not in Spain, where a strong tradition of identity has made such mergers difficult.
In this context, two municipalities in the Spanish region of Extremadura have agreed to carry out a popular consultation for their merger which, if it takes place, would result in a municipality with the third largest population in the region, generating an important pole of economic and social development and, at the same time, a model that could serve as an incentive for further similar mergers in the rest of the Spanish territory.
For this reason, this paper aims to give an account of the local leadership in the initiative and the interaction processes of the different actors with an interest in the territory, putting forward and developing the hypothesis that local governance is the explanatory variable for the success of the merger.
Mots clés : Local governance|Rural municipalities|Local government|Spain|Municipal mergers
A102498?I